PilotAware ATOM Station Manual de usuario

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and 
Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020. 
 Page 1 of 25 
 
Table of Contents Click in the link. 
Introduction.....................................................................................................................2 
Issue History.....................................................................................................................3 
ATOM-GRID Uplink...........................................................................................................3 
What you need to do........................................................................................................4 
What Parts are Required ..................................................................................................4 
Installation High Level Diagram ........................................................................................6 
Installation.......................................................................................................................6 
Location for the Electronics ..............................................................................................6 
Location for the antennas.................................................................................................7 
Typical Antenna Array Construction..................................................................................7 
Making up the Co-Axial Cables..........................................................................................7 
Connecting the Electronics................................................................................................8 
Locating and Naming your Site .................................................................................................9 
Location Information ...............................................................................................................9 
Station Name.........................................................................................................................10 
Downloading and installing ATOM-GRID Software.......................................................... 11 
Configuring the Software for your Specific Location. .......................................................11 
Logging in ..............................................................................................................................11 
Configuring your Individual ATOM GRID unit. .........................................................................12 
Testing the Installation................................................................................................... 15 
Check PilotAware transmission to and from the ATOM-GRID Ground Station. .........................16 
Check Reception from The ATOM GRID Ground Station. .........................................................17 
1090MHz Reception. ......................................................................................................18 
Flarm Reception. ............................................................................................................18 
The Full Set of Receptions...............................................................................................18 
ATOM GRID Home Page..................................................................................................19 
Other Columns in the Home Page...........................................................................................20 
Rebroadcast...........................................................................................................................20 
ATOM GRID RADAR........................................................................................................21 
Configuring Virtual RADAR Server ..........................................................................................22 
Summary........................................................................................................................ 22 
Addendum .....................................................................................................................23 
Parts Required to build an ATOM-GRID uplink ........................................................................23 
Parts for The 3 Antenna Array Support ...................................................................................24 
Other Useful Hardware ..........................................................................................................25 

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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Introduction

There are many reasons to install an ATOM Ground station.

I. In doing so you will be helping the General Aviation Communities (Foot-launched,

Gliding, Microlights and Powered Aircraft) in the UK and Europe to improve the

interoperability of the various Electronic Conspicuity systems available today. These

are ADSB, FLARM, PilotAware, Mode- S and ADSB.

II. By installing an ATOM Ground station at your location (Club or House) you will be

contributing to the ground network that will assist the interoperability between

systems by up-linking situational awareness data to PilotAware equipped aircraft.

III. Installing an ATOM Ground station will provide you or your club with a

comprehensive Virtual RADAR Server that will show all aircraft detected in your

neighbourhood and beyond. This will include aircraft transmitting PilotAware,

Flarm, ADSB (1090MHz) and Mode-S using MLAT. No other ground station provides

this amount of information.

IV. You will be provided with real time METARS for your club members to see before

flight

V. You will provide real time METARS in flight to anyone who has an inexpensive

PilotAware installed in their aircraft.

VI. Its great fun and also inexpensive to build yourself.

However, we don’t expect you to do it all alone. At suitable locations PilotAware will provide

you with the electronics (Raspberry Pi, Radio Bridge SD card software and case) free of

charge for the ATOM ground based station. You will provide the rest, as described in this

document, which you can do for less than £230-300 depending on your location and the

installation.

A PilotAware Ground based station will provide about a 30-60Km area of coverage to help

aviation safety around your site. It will also provide you with a Virtual RADAR feed that will

allow your monitor screen or TV to see all aircraft, ADSB, FLARM, PilotAware around the site

in real time and also Mode-S with a nominal MLAT delay of up to 10 seconds.

From 2020 all stations will be connected to other local stations using the PilotAware

Neighbour Service to increase range and functionality.

For more information please see the following videos on You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8TtscFCRKo&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1imxhjG8ds&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCjRKH3F_Wo&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me12z7oLhI4&t=0s

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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If you are already a contributor to the OGN via the gliding community, then it is even easier

and cheaper. You will already have half the system and we will still give you the free stuff.

You can do everything yourself or we can help you by supplying some of the harder to get

bits at cost plus postage. Send us a request to [email protected] .

Interested? Let’s go.

Issue History

Significant additional features have been added to the original concept of the OGN-R

rebroadcast station. These include;

•increased server capability

•full data encryption on the GRID

•secure datalink access to all sites

•a centralised suite of Network Management and diagnostic tools.

•fully automated same day software update for all connected sites.

•smart data sharing using PilotAware Neighbour.

•increased range and increased functionality.

The new integrated network has been renamed PilotAware ATOM-GRID.

(ATOM) Air Traffic Observation Domain and Management

(GRID) Ground Relay Infrastructure Domain

ATOM is the Ground Station and GRID is the network.

ATOM-GRID Uplink

Thank you for considering to help expand the Ground Network to provide additional safety

for powered aircraft and gliders alike by up-linking FLARM and Mode-S equipped aircraft co-

ordinates to PilotAware equipped aircraft and forwarding information for safety and Search

And Rescue activities.

To help you with the costs of upgrading or installing a new ATOM-GRID uplink, PilotAware

will, whilst stocks last, provide a Raspberry Pi 2B computer, PilotAware Radio Bridge and

Case FREE OF CHARGE. This is available to supporters who want to increase the ATOM-GRID

network both in the UK and mainland Europe. In addition, if required, PilotAware will load

and configure the software to make it even easier for you. If you want to know more

Installing and maintaining an ATOM-GRID Ground Station does not require a high level of

technical knowledge. ATOM_GRID is a technical innovation but the highly technical parts do

not need to be understood by the installer or host. These step by step instructions are

provided to help you through the installation. Help is available on line and on the phone.

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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What you need to do

1. Determine what parts are needed

2. Get your free stuff and any other at cost parts from PilotAware

3. Make up the coaxial cables

4. Connect the parts together

5. Configure the software

6. Switch on and connect to the GRID

7. Test the station to ensure

a. You are receiving METARS

b. You are receiving Flarm Data

c. You are receiving 1090 data

d. You are receiving and transmitting PilotAware data

e. You are receiving and contributing MLAT data

f. The VRS is configured to your needs.

8. All is done using step by step instructions and help is available on line and on the

phone.

What Parts are Required

1. A Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer (Pi2B) Provided Free of Charge

2. A PilotAware Radio Bridge Provided Free of Charge

3. A Case Provided Free of Charge

4. Software Provided Free of Charge

5. An 8G SD Memory Card (with the software loaded) Provided Free of Charge

6. An RTLSDR software defined Radio tuned to pick up FLARM signals

7. An RTLSDR software defined Radio for Mode-S and ADSB data collection.

8. A Raspberry Pi Mains- to 5.2V 2.1A power supply. (Or power over ethernet (20W))

9. An Ethernet cable to connect to your existing router.

10. Coaxial cable (HDF400 recommended), to connect the antennas to the electronics.

11. Pigtails to connect the coaxial cable to the RTL-SDR’s.

12. Antenna mounts to support the antennas

13. 3 External antennas as follows

1. The PilotAware Antenna. This is used to transmit and receive data to aircraft

fitted with PilotAware units operating at 869.5MHz. The PilotAware antenna is

connected to the PilotAware Radio Bridge and Raspberry Pi via a co-axial cable and a

pigtail with an SMA connector.

2. The Flarm Antenna. This receives signals that are transmitted from FLARM, OGN

Tracker or Fanet+ equipped gliders and aircraft. The feed from the FLARM 868Mhz

antenna, is connected to the Raspberry Pi via a software defined receiver (SDR). This

can be inserted in any of the USB slots but by convention is located in the top left

hand USB slot on the raspberry Pi unit with the Ethernet socket to the left. The

location chosen is then configured in the set up as described later on.

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Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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3. The 1090MHz Antenna†A third 1090MHz receive only antenna is also used for

the ATOM-GRID installation. This antenna collects 1090MHz transmitted data i.e.

ADSB and Mode-S transmissions for use by 360RADAR to contribute to their network

and provide Mode-S data for use in PilotAware Mode-S/3D reception. The feed from

the 1090MHz Antenna, is connected to the Raspberry Pi via a software defined

receiver (SDR). This can be inserted in any of the USB slots but by convention is

located in the bottom left hand USB slot on the raspberry Pi unit with the Ethernet

socket to the left. The location chosen is then configured in the set up as described

later in this document.

All data collected can additionally be used to provide a feed for a local Virtual RADAR

screen which will show local PilotAware, FLARM, ADSB traffic in real time and Mode-

S traffic with a few seconds MLAT delay.

*Note using the latest software the location of the 2 RTLSDRs can be chosen to be located in any slot at

the configuration stage. This is because some RTLSDR’s are larger than others and this allows easier

mechanical fitment. However the slot used must be chosen in the configuration. It is very easy to do this.

†Note. An external 1090MHz antenna or an internal 1090MHz antenna can be used as convenient.

(external fitment is best but the 1090MHz signal is very strong so an internal antenna may work at your

location if necessary).

Here is a screenshot of the 3 antennas that can be supplied at cost.

A list of equipment and suppliers is available at the end of this document any queries

mailto:[email protected].

Flarm

Antenna

868MHz

PilotAware

Antenna

869.5MHz

ADSB /Mode-S

Antenna

1090MHz

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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Installation High Level Diagram

The above diagram is provided as a normalised visualisation of the hardware installation which can be

modified for your specific installation. Active power over ethernet (PoE) is now the popular choice for

powering the unit.

Installation

The installation consists of

1. Selecting a dry location for the electronics with access to 240V and Internet. †

1. Installing the external antennas at a suitable location as high as possible.

2. Making up and running low loss coaxial cable from the antennas to the electronics.

3. Connecting the parts together

4. Configuring the software for the specific site.

5. Power up and test.

Location for the Electronics

•The location for the electronics should be as close to the antennas as practically

possible. The co-axial cable run should be as short as possible. However when using

high grade low loss HDF 400 or RG8 co-axial cable up to 10M is OK.. Note up to 16

metres has been shown to work using the recommended HDF 400 coaxial cable.

•Mains power is usually required within 2 metres of the Raspberry Pi for the

Raspberry Pi mains to 5.2v 1.2A dc/dc converter or PoE injector.

•An Ethernet cable is required to connect the Raspberry Pi to the router.

•If the installation is a long way from the router, then the LAN can be extended over

the mains using a power line carrier device such as Devolo or TP Link units which has

been used successfully on several locations. https://www.devolo.co.uk

•Active Power over Ethernet PoE has also been used very successfully.

OGN-RRaspberryPi

andPilotAwareRadio

BridgeCombination

Antenna1

PilotAwareTx/Rx

869.5MHz

HDF400Coax

N-Type

Connector

N-Type

Connector

N-Type

Connector

N-Type

Connector

N-Type

Connector

Pigtail†

Pigtail†SMAtoMCX

N-Typeto

SMA

converter

N-Typeto

SMA

converter

Antenna2

1090MHzRx

Antenna3

FLARM 868MHzRx

RTLSDRRPi

TopLeftSMA

socket

RTLSDRRPi

BottomLeft

SMAsocket

N-Typeto

SMA

converter

N-Type

Connector

PilotAware

Bridge

SMA

connector

RJ45

Connector

EthernetCable Router

Power5.2V1.2A

TypicalOGN-R

InstallationDiagram.

(individualinstallations

mayvary) Voltage

Converter

240VAC

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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Location for the antennas

•The antennas should be positioned vertically and as high as possible avoiding

obstacles that would get in the way of transmission and reception, such as walls and

chimneys. The antennas should be a minimum 30cm apart. The further away the

better. Only the PilotAware antenna is transmitting. (It transmits at 869.5MHz and

will not affect or be affected by VHF voice antennas)

•Each and every installation will be bespoke. A wide variety of antenna mounts are

commercially available from Screw fix, Tool Station and other suppliers in the UK. A

list of typical mounts is supplied at the end of these instructions.

•The recommended antennas are all supplied with Female N-Type connectors.

Typical Antenna Array Construction.

The following screenshot shows a typical antenna array with all three antennas supported

by a single pole. Alternatively 3 individual poles can be used.

The parts for making up this, and where to get them, are described in the addendum

at the end of this document.

Making up the Co-Axial Cables

•For maximum efficiency HDF 400 (double shielded low loss coaxial cable) or

equivalent and N-Type connectors should be used for all antennas. Although a

smaller cable like RG8X or LM240 can be used for short reaches up to 5 metres if

necessary.

•HDF400 cable is fairly thick and will require a suitable Crimp tool to make off the

connectors. If you are just doing the one installation, it may be cheaper to have

these cables made up commercially. A crimp tool is about £15 from WiFi Antennas

Ltd or other suppliers.

•The Male N-type connector on the Co-Axial cable should be offered to the Female N-

Type connector on the antenna and the connectors screwed firmly together. The

joint should be weather-proofed using self-amalgamating tape.

•This should be repeated for the second and third cables.

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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•The Co-Axial cables should then be dressed to the location of the electronics which

should be as close as practically possible. (Take care that you know which cable goes

to which antenna by labelling the loose ends.)

•A suitable short pigtail is usually required to connect the N-type connector to the

chosen RTL-SDR dongle. This will either be a male SMA or Mcx connector depending

on the RTLSDR chosen.

•Female N-Type to SMA pigtails are useful as they can then be used as bulkhead

connectors on the side(s) of a larger enclosure for a more professional installation.

Note this will then require male N-type connectors on each end of the main HDF

cables.

Connecting the Electronics

A good tip is to mount the electronic onto a small wall board or box to secure the units

without putting stress onto the components or cables. The cables can then be secured with

cleats. The electronics are connected to the following interfaces. (The following diagram is

typical only and will vary between installations)

The diagram below is representative only. Your installation may change depending on the

RTL-SDR’s and connector types used. The following instructions therefore will not be the

same for all installations.

1. Pigtails are required to convert the N-Type connectors on the co-axial cable to the SMA

or Mcx connectors of the RTL-SDR dongles. This will be bespoke to your installation. In

this example a N-type to SMA converter and a SMA to Mcx pigtail is used .

2. The coaxial cable connected to the P3i Antenna (shown on the left) is connected firmly

to the SMA connector on the PilotAware Bridge. A pigtail can also be used here for

flexibility.

3. The Coaxial cable connected to the FLARM Antenna is connected to the RTL-SDR in the

top left hand USB slot. An SMA to mcx pigtail is used in this diagram. For an optimal

installation an RTLSDR with a Temperature Controlled Oscillator (TCO) is recommended.

4. The Coaxial cable connected to the 1090MHz Antenna is connected to the RTL-SDR in

the bottom left hand USB slot. An SMA to mcx pigtail is used in this diagram. It is not

necessary to have an RTLSDR with a TCO unless the optimum installation is required.

5. The Ethernet cable is connected to the Ethernet port of the Raspberry Pi, with the other

end connected to a free port on the local router

6. The Raspberry Pi power supply is connected to the mains supply.

7. DO NOT AT THIS POINT TURN THE POWER ON.

8. Make sure that the complete set up is located firmly and that there is no bending

moments causing pressure on any of the components.

9. Cable cleats and other fixtures should be used to affect a neat installation or the

equipment installed in a suitable enclosure.

10. The hardware is now set up.

The Diagram below is representative of one installation only and can be implemented in

many ways when you do it at your site.

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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†Note the above picture uses low power RTLSDR dongles as these fit the available space.

If the RTL-SDR’s are larger they can be configured to be inserted in other USB sots in the

configuration program described later. If necessary external aluminium enclosures provided

with the dongles should be removed. Many high quality installations are installed in a

bespoke enclosure. A proper job.

Locating and Naming your Site

Before downloading and configuring the ATOM-GRID software, specific information is

required about your site. These are:

1. The Location

2. The Name

Location Information

You will need to have the unique location information for your station to hand.

This information can be obtained by going to

htthttps://pilotaware.com/product/rosetta/p://schellenberg.nl/ogn/index-latlon.html on

your computer.

When the program opens, (usually at a location in Europe) drag the red marker to the

position of your installation and you will be given the latitude, longitude and the height

AMSL in metres and Geoidsepar. Only use the 6 digits following the decimal point for the

latitude and longitude and remember that the longitude will be –ve. West of Greenwich.

Make a note of these values for use in configuring the software for your specific location. A

matrix is provided for this on the next page. The Geoid Sphere will be automatically

calculated in the latest software so you don’t need to input this.

RadioBridge

RaspberryPi

Case

DC5.2V2.1A

Power

Coaxial

Cableto

PAW869.5

Antenna

NoteTheFLARMantennaMUST

beconnectedtotheRTL-SDR

connectedtotheTOPLEFT

HANDUSBSOCKETandiffitted

the1090MHzantennaMUSTbe

connectedtotheBOTTOMLEFT

HANDUSBSOCKETwiththe

Ethernetcabletotheleft

Ethernetcableto

Router

Coaxial

Cableto

FLARM

Antenna

Coaxial

Cableto

1090MHz

Antenna

RTL-SDR

TopFLARM

Bottom

1090MHz

Building and installing a PilotAware ATOM Station to detect and re-transmit glider and

Mode-S MLAT locations and provide Virtual RADAR SERVER December 2020.

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The receiver location app will look something like this. (although since google maps went

commercial it will be darker). You will also have to use your smartphone to get the height

above sea level in metres.

Station Name

The Open Glider Network to which we supply information, maintains a naming convention

for all sites. Please see the rules provided at this link on the OGN website.

http://wiki.glidernet.org/receiver-naming-convention

In essence please keep your station name to a maximum of 7 characters. If it is an airfield it

is conventional to give its ICAO code such as EGBW for the example of Wellesbourne. When

you have configured your software, this name will then be automatically prefixed with PW

ie PWEGBW. (YOU DO NOT NEED TO START YOUR SITE NAME WITH PW)

You can record your unique configuration here.

Item Required

Description

Record Here

Host Name

Don’t change this unless you are competent

OGNPAW

Station Name

See naming Rules above

New Password

A new station password can be input to replace

the generic one. Note if you forget the password

it CANNOT be retrieved.

Latitude

6 digits following the decimal point.

Longitude

6 digits following the decimal point.

Altitude

Metres AMSL

Geoidsepar

Metres using EMG 64

This is now calculated

automatically.

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