AirNav aggregates real-time flight data from its extensive global network of ADS-B receivers. These receivers are sent to volunteers (right from aviation enthusiasts to pilots) around the world who wish to share the flight data of commercial aircraft flying in their geographic region. So “hosting a receiver” simply refers to someone who has been sent a receiver, has set it up and is sharing flight data via the internet with AirNav.

A feeder/sharer/volunteer (they all mean the same thing) is anyone who shares real-time flight data with AirNav, either by using the receiver that AirNav has sent them or by using their own setup (Raspberry Pi, Plane Plotter). Anyone can become a feeder. Well, almost anyone. We usually send out receivers to enthusiasts, ham-radio operators, aviation professionals and folks who have basic technical skills (know how to use a computer, use a screw driver or drill, connect wires etc.). Many of our feeders use a Raspberry Pi to track flights and feed data to AirNav. If you live in part of the world where flight tracking coverage is limited and you wish to host a AirNav receiver to improve coverage, please apply for a receiver on the AirNav website.

By sharing data with AirNav you help …

• Increase local & global flight tracking coverage.
• Contribute to make skies around the world safer.
• Help millions of people track family & friends when they fly.

Before we send you a receiver, you’ll need to make sure that you can fulfil the following requirements.

• Feeders should have satisfactory reception conditions with a 360-degree view of the sky.
• Feeders must be able to start feeding / sharing within 1 week from the date of delivery.
• Feeders must be able to keep the receiver online 24/7.
• If the feeder can no longer host our equipment, AirNav Radar will arrange to ship the receiver back to the company.

An internet connection with modem or router and a place like a roof or a pole to mount (fix) the antenna.

If you’re totally new to ADS-B flight tracking, we’d recommend that you read about it first before applying for a receiver. Use these links to learn more.

• airnavradar.com/sharing-data
• airnavradar.com/about
• airnavradar.com/ads-b
• airnavradar.com/blog

Once you’ve done that, visit this link to apply for a free receiver: airnavradar.com/addcoverage

ADS-B is based on the line of sight principle, so coverage area primarily depends on the antenna – how it is placed, where it is placed, and obstructions like buildings, mountains etc. around the antenna. The average range of a typical AirNav feeder’s antenna is 100-200 km.

You absolutely can! Check out the links below to view our detailed guides.

• airnavradar.com/raspberry-pi
• airnavradar.com/sharing-data
• airnavradar.com/tracking-with-your-flightstick

To purchase a AirNav Flight-Stick, 1090 MHz antenna or our flagship X-Range 2 receiver, visit our online store - airnavradar.com/store . We sell on Amazon too, check out our storefront here - www.amazon.com/radarbox

AirNav Systems has coverage only in areas where a feeder volunteer has installed one of our ADS-B receivers or shares data with a Raspberry Pi or Plane Plotter. However, with new feeders added every day, our network is growing fast. To view our coverage map click the link below - airnavradar.com/coverage-map The legend indicates the various data sources that AirNav aggregates flight data from. They are briefly explained below.

• ADS-B: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast data contains real-time position information for all of the flights that are being detected by all of the AirNav units that are currently online.
• ASD-I: Aircraft Situation Display to Industry data comes from the FAA radar systems and contains information on virtually all of the flights in the USA (including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Bermuda and Guam) and Canada.
• Oceanic: Oceanic position reports for major trans-oceanic routes. Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are included. Other regions are also be displayed.
• MLAT: This data results from a technique called multilateration. MLAT is a surveillance technique based on the measurement of the difference in distance to three stations at known locations by broadcast signals at known times.
• SatCom ACARS: These position reports come from ACARS messages that are relayed by satellites and captured by our satellite dishes installed in several spots around the world.
• HFDL: These position reports come from HFDL (High-Frequency Data Link), a method by which air traffic controllers can communicate with pilots over a datalink system.
• ESTI: This data consists of accurately estimated flight positions based on several criteria. Estimated positions are calculated when the coverage of a specific aircraft is lost. The criteria are extremely strict and are based on the last known flight parameters and on historical flight data.
• Merged: Contains data from all our available feeds organized and prioritized by relevance and accuracy.

Visit the link below to apply for a free receiver. airnavradar.com/addcoverage

If your location doesn’t have coverage, we’ll make sure we ship a receiver as soon as we receive & approve your application – usually within 2-3 weeks.

Feeders are automatically upgraded to a business account within 24 hours of the reception of their data. If however, you are not upgraded within 24 hours, please write to support on [email protected]

If you are unable to commit to keeping your X-Range receiver online 24/7 or are unable to meet the criteria to obtain a free receiver, the AirNav Flight-Stick might be the best option for you. It retails at roughly $10 and requires almost no set up. The flight stick can be used with a PC or Raspberry Pi. The major disadvantage of using the flight-stick is its antenna’s range. If you use the little 10 cm antenna that comes packaged with the flight stick, your range will be limited to 30-40 nautical miles (~80 km). However, if you connect the flight-stick to a bigger 1090 MHz outdoor antenna with an SMA connector, you’ll get much better range (up to 200 nautical miles). We ship our X-Range receivers to feeders who commit to meet certain requirements such as keeping the receiver powered on 24x7 etc. The X-Range ships with a 1090 MHz outdoor antenna (excellent 200 nm range) and all the other components required for set up. Setting up the X-Range involves fixing the antenna onto your roof or a pole with a 360-degree view of the sky and connecting a few wires to your router- basically a small set up process.

Feeding to AirNav is purely voluntary. In return, feeders are given a business subscription ($399 annual) on the site & other benefits.

The receiver only uploads data, almost no data is downloaded. The volume of data uploaded depends on your location. Electricity consumption is also very minimal.

The steps to set up your X-Range Receiver can be found here - airnavradar.com/presenting-the-radarbox-xrange-receiver The steps to set up your Raspberry Pi can be found here –

• airnavradar.com/raspberry-pi
• airnavradar.com/sharing-data
• airnavradar.com/tracking-with-your-flightstick

Should you require further assistance with setting up, please email – [email protected]

There is no legislation in any country that prohibits the tracking of commercial flights using an ADS-B. AirNav takes the privacy and security of VIP’s, military aircraft, and other private jet operators very seriously. To protect the operational security of military operations, as well as the privacy of certain private jet operators, AirNav either blocks & censors their tracking, and in some cases has their tracking information removed from the AirNav flight tracking database entirely. Removal of private aircraft is done on a per request basis.

To view statistics & rankings, go to the COVERAGE tab on the website, then select STATISTICS and choose the receiver type whose rankings you wish to see.

Please contact customer support for any RAW data queries.

AirNav Systems has a special page for feeders to monitor the flights that their X-Range receiver or Raspberry Pi is tracking. This page is called the “MyStation” page and is automatically generated the first time your receiver sends data to the AirNav Radar servers. The “MyStation” page can be accessed at: www.airnavradar.com/stations/PGANRBXXXXXX (replace the XXXXXX with your unit’s serial number found on the sticker at the bottom of the unit). On the MyStation page, you will be able to monitor the following:

• Flights currently tracked by your receiver.
• The average & maximum range of your receiver.
• Uptime stats, country ranking and much more.

Login to your AirNav Account. Then click on the ACCOUNT button (top right side of the screen). Next click PROFILE under PERSONAL SETTINGS (left side of the screen). Under CURRENT PLAN, you’ll be able to see the subscription plan that you’re currently on.

Go to airnavradar.com/subscribe to view the different subscription plans currently offered.

Yes. As a thank-you gift to our sharers for feeding data to AirNav, we give all feeders a business account as soon as they start feeding. The business account is valid for as long as the feeder feeds data to AirNav.

Visit the subscription page - airnavradar.com/subscribe to upgrade or downgrade your account. If you encounter any issues while upgrading or downgrading, please contact support.

We accept all credit and debit cards as well as payments made through PayPal.

Your credit card information is required for security purposes. However, your card will not be charged until the 7 day trial period is over. Trial mode is only available for new subscriptions. You may cancel anytime within the 7 day trial period. Once you sign up for a paid subscription plan, you’ll have 7 days to use the site and apps with access to all the features of the plan you chose.

We do allow your login email to be changed, but please note that the change can be made only once. Contact support with your request.

The discounted subscription is valid only for one billing cycle and will not renew at the same discounted price after expiration.

Yes, you’ll find our apps on both the App Store (iOS) & Google Play Store (Android). Just search for “AirNav” and you should see our app listed. You can use the app on Android tablets and the iPad as well.

First, download the AirNav app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store. Next, Create or sign in to your account. Once you’ve signed in, tap on the MENU option (3 vertical dots) on the top right side of your screen (next to the magnifying glass) and tap on SUBSCRIPTION PLAN. Choose your plan and follow the instructions to pay.

We have a detailed guide on the website that explains all the features of the app and how to use it. You can find it here - airnavradar.com/radarbox-app-best-friends-for-spotters

Our developers love receiving user feedback. If you have a feature request, please email [email protected] with the subject line – APP FEATURE REQUEST.

The app requires iOS 9.3 and above to run. Older iPhones such as the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S do not support iOS 9.3, and therefore are not compatible with the app. Android users need to be running Android version 4.1 and above on their devices for the app to be compatible with their smartphone.

Please email support at - [email protected] , briefly describing the issue you are facing.

The AirNav website has 2 entire web pages dedicated to explaining what ADS-B & MLAT are, and how they work. Check them out in the links below.

• airnavradar.com/ads-b
• airnavradar.com/mlat
• airnavradar.com/about

AirNav takes the privacy and security of VIP’s, military aircraft, and other private jet operators very seriously. To protect the operational security of military operations, as well as the privacy of certain private jet operators, AirNav either blocks & censors their tracking and in some cases has their tracking information removed from the AirNav flight tracking database entirely. Removal of private aircraft is done on a per request basis.

Please email support at - [email protected] , to get your aircraft or fleet blocked.

To see historical flight data & playback past flights, click on the HISTORY tab on the AirNav website.

Take a look at our timeline & plans here - airnavradar.com/satellite-based-ads-b

Space ADS-B is currently undergoing testing and will be available to users by late – 2019. The Space-based ADS-B data feature is integrated with your AirNav business account but is not included with your business subscription. Which means that you will have to activate it on your fleet tracker page. Pricing for satellite data starts at $79.95 per tail number per month.

We plan on rolling out Space ADS-B by late 2019. Our timeline can be found here - airnavradar.com/satellite-based-ads-b

AirNav has an extensive database that holds aircraft data such as registration, aircraft type, age etc. Due to the large volume of data being continuously added & processed, users may occasionally find flight data that is incorrect or missing. Another possible reason is that the flight data received from an aircraft is sometimes delayed or distorted. This may occur due to an issue with position calibration or other technical / operational problems.

Tracking flights over the ocean is a challenging task as receivers cannot be placed in the ocean. Fortunately, many of AirNav’s feeders live in coastal regions and on islands such as the Azores, Iceland, Fiji etc. This helps us track flights at least 100-200 nm off a coast. Our new satellite tracking solution, scheduled to be released in 2019, will solve this problem.

To find out more about our API pricing, services and documentation, please visit - airnavradar.com/api/services . For more specific queries, please email – [email protected]

The AirNav Fleet Tracker is an all in one flight tracking solution that is designed for fleet managers & owners to manage their fleet of aircraft efficiently. If you have a fleet of aircraft that you wish to track, anytime, anywhere, quickly and economically then the AirNav Fleet Tracker is your all in one solution. AirNav Airport View primarily displays incoming and outgoing flight traffic of a single airport. Airport view comes FREE along with your business account subscription.

To register for this feature, you must first sign up for a business account. Sign up for a business subscription here - www.airnavradar.com/subscribe . Once your business subscription is confirmed, the "Fleet Tracker & Airport View" option will be activated. The “Fleet Tracker & Airport View” dashboards can be found under the BUSINESS tab on the AirNav site.

The FAA 2020 mandate requires the installation of ADS-B Out equipment by the year 2020. This means that all aircraft flying in Class A, B & C (Class E - special cases) airspace are mandatorily required to be fitted or equipped with a transponder with ADS-B out capability. Check out our detailed blog post about the FAA 2020 Mandate here - airnavradar.com/faa-adsb-2020-mandate .

The ICAO mandate that came into effect on Nov 8, 2018, requires aircraft over MTOW 45,500 kg & with more than 19 seats to report their position every 15 minutes, for the portions of the flight where air traffic services obtain aircraft position information at greater than 15-minute intervals. Read more about it here - airnavradar.com/icaos-global-tracking-initiative .

We have a specialized service for this called Selective Blocking & Unblocking. To activate this feature, you must first sign up for a business account. Sign up for a business subscription here - www.airnavradar.com/subscribe . Once your business subscription is confirmed, click on the Fleet Tracker option under the “BUSINESS” tab on the AirNav website, where you’ll be able to view your fleet tracker dashboard. To block specific aircraft from showing up on the AirNav map, click on the ADD AIRCRAFT option and then type in the aircraft’s registration number. Next turn on the SELECTIVE BLOCKING toggle, and pay the amount ($149.50/aircraft reg.) that appears at the billing page. After payment, your aircraft will be shown as “BLOCKED” on the AirNav map, and no flight data will be visible to AirNav users or the public.

Journalists and news agencies are welcome to use content from the AirNav Systems site (www.airnavsystems.com) and AirNav site (www.airnavradar.com) for articles and news reports, provided that all content used is credited accordingly:

• The AirNav logo (for visual media)
• Courtesy of AirNavRadar.com ( for print media)