Hobbies & Projects

Last Updated 2.19.19

Live Radio Scanner

Scanner and radio technology have always been of significant interest to me. My current setup consists of a Uniden BCD436HP trunked radio scanner, programmed for local town fire and police, State Police Troops K and E, and most major airports within a 250-mile radius. The extended range comes from a roof-mounted spider antenna joined by 50 feet of BNC cabling.

The BCD436HP connects via serial USB and 3.5mm audio cables to a hobby computer that runs a computer-aided scanning program called ProScan. ProScan records audio transmissions, channel information, and has a built-in web server that streams audio and a virtual scanner screen in near real-time.

Live Aircraft Tracking

An ADS-B receiver in Salem, Connecticut, tracks civilian and military aircraft in real-time by decoding aircrafts’ ADS-B radio transmissions. My ADS- B setup consists of a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ computer running PiAware v3.8.1, and a FlightAware Pro Stick Plus ADS-B USB receiver. The Pro Stick Plus connects by 10 feet of SMA cabling to a roof-mounted antenna, tuned to the 1090 MHz frequency, and also sold by FlightAware, which stands approximately 30 feet above ground or 330 feet above sea level.

The site tracks an average of 2,500 unique aircraft per day and covers a 250+ mile radius, including all of CT, RI, MA, and parts of VT, NH, NY, NJ, PA, and DE. FlightAware ranks it as one of the top-performing sites in the Northeast by unique aircraft monitored daily. A 5 minute video shows a 24 hour timelaps of the site between 2/19/20 and 2/20/20.

Virtual Town Meeting

The Virtual Town Meeting (VTM) project sought to increase participation in town meetings by giving Salem, Connecticut residents the ability to participate remotely as if attending in-person. The project was headed by Dr. Peter Sielman who used the project as the basis for his Doctoral thesis in Political Science.

In 2007, at the age of 13, I joined the VTM project’s team of three and led the technology hardware planning and setup. I created the VBA rules for sorting emails, built the VTM website, and set up the live online video stream.

In October 2008, the VTM went live for the first time during Salem’s annual town meeting. The combined number of in-person and remote participants increased total attendance by 7% to the highest level the town of Salem had seen in more than ten years.

When the project went live in October 2008 during Salem’s yearly town meeting, it was the first time some residents ever participated in the town’s democratic process. In the VTM’s first live meeting, the combined number of in-person and remote participants increased total attendance by 7% to the highest level the town of Salem had seen in more than ten years.