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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In addition, Mode-S aircraft that are being interrogated by Secondary Surveillance Radar
(SSR) will also be shown on the screen with the normal limitations of multilateration (MLAT).
These are
(i) The target Mode-S aircraft must be interrogated by Primary RADAR. This may not happen
below 600ft.
(ii) There will be a delay of between 1 and 10 seconds for the MLAT trace to be refreshed.
Configuring Virtual RADAR Server
At the top left corner of the VRS screen, there is a menu which when activated allows
configuration of the screen. The menu has several options.
It is not intended to go through each menu here as they are self-explanatory. However, at
the high level they are:
General
This allows the user to configure the centre of the map on your current or other
location and chose the units for the heights speeds etc.
Map
Allows the user to apply distance rings choose colours etc
Aircraft
This allows a multitude of parameters to be set for the target aircraft detected.
List
This allows the aircraft list to be configured
Filters
The filters page allows the user to generate a range of filters for customising the
display. Full operating instructions are available at
http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk
Please remember as good as the ATOM GRID VRS is this must not be used for air traffic
management, control or guidance.
Before MLAT traffic will appear on the VRS Screen this facility has to be unlocked by
360RADAR. To get this unlocked please request this in an email to
Summary
The correctly installed PilotAware ATOM GRID network will rebroadcast all locally captured
Flarm equipped gliders to PilotAware equipped aircraft. When there are sufficient ATOM
stations installed and connected to the GRID then each station will rebroadcast positions to
other nearby stations via the internet increasing the reach. This includes ADSB, FLARM,
PilotAware and MLAT traffic.