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 21 of 25
ATOM GRID RADAR.
The PilotAware ATOM Unit also provides a ground based RADAR system that can be used
for Situational Awareness if allowed by your National Aviation Authority. It is currently an
unapproved system in the UK and cannot be used for Air Traffic Control or Management.
The ATOM Unit provides the input to software such as the open source software VRS.
Virtual RADAR Server. This is not PilotAware software and is used by graceful permission.
To access the Virtual RADAR Server screen, use a browser equipped computer logged onto
the same LAN (wired or WIFI) and type in the allocated IP address. This will be something
like 192.168.0.14.
If your browser supports it you can just type in the hostname.local. If you have not changed
the hostname this will be ognpaw.local. Multiple computers can access the ATOM Unit
simultaneously thus providing a café monitor if required.
Select RADAR from the top menu and after about 30 seconds you will see something like the
following.
ATOM GRID Radar, will give you real time data (negligible delay) of all PilotAware, FLARM
and ADSB equipped aircraft in your region. This will be typically 30-60Km for PilotAware and
FLARM equipped aircraft and 100Km for transponders transmitting ADSB depending on the
height of the target aircraft. CAP1391 transmitter will be typically 30KM like Flarm and
PilotAware depending on airframe obscuration.
