For a few months I have been running a bot on Telegram that generates warnings of tropo conditions in the Atlantic, all based on automatic beacon systems that we can receive.
The channel is as follows:
https://t.me/Atlantic_tropo
The maps can also be consulted in the right banner of this website, thus being interactive.
In the telegram channel the maps are the following:
Currently the software collects the following beacons in a database:
- AIS
- ADS-B
- LORA
- APRS (144,800 and 144,390)
- 10Ghz
AIS
It is the main source of information, since the software is capable of differentiating ships and coastal stations. We can deduce what type of tropospheric duct is present (Marine or elevated) as I explained in a previous post https://ea8cxn.es/?p=561
APRS
APRS is another good source of automatic information that is vitally important for our purpose. The problem with APRS is the amount of Igates and traffic originating from the internet. Through the use of APRX I was able to filter the traffic so that only the digipeaters or the stations that have only made 1 hop (repeat) are reflected.
Furthermore, another problem in APRS is the lack of a global consensus to use a frequency, which varies depending on the geographical area. For this reason, receptions have been unified in the database in 144,800 (Europe) as 144,390 (Caribbean and NA)
ADS-B
Theoretically it is not a relevant data source for our case, but because it was relatively easy to include this data, it is represented as a curiosity
LORA
LORA as a developing technology, especially in 70cm used for APRS, can become a really useful data source, as long as its use spreads in the ham community.
10 GHZ
After the permanent installation of the 10Ghz beacon CT1BYM/B in IM57 that works in CW and OPERA, with a horn antenna towards the SW and its reception for days in EA8, work is being done to include these receptions in the database and notices, as well as in the openwebrx that can be found at http://sdr.ea8cxn.es , currently under development and improvement (improving its connectivity and stability)