Just curious, has anyone ever tried to setup a motion detector at number one pylon to signal the pilot ? I think it would be neat to have something. My walkie talkies work great, but they need an extra body at the field which is hard to find sometimes. I tried the cheapo motion detectors at Lowes. They definitely will not work. Thanks in advance. I'll check out the motion detector web sites, but I didn't want to re-invent the wheel if someone has been down this road before. If anyone is interested in what I find out , let me know, I'll post the results.

An interesting subject as I have just had some new lights commisioned and the discussion of a model mounted transponder activating the appropriate light did get discussed.............we ended up not using the idea but I believe someone could take the idea and develop it further. regards trevor h

We toyed around with some ideas a while back as well.

The biggest problem we couldn't solve was the "detection" part of the equation. What is the range of the sensors? Do you use motion? Invisible beam? Transponders? How much of a gap do we set between the sensors and the pylon/plane? Are there other things that might set off the sensors? If we fly 3 or 4 man up how do we differentiate?

A good idea but lots of bugs to be worked out.

It looks like Micro Impulse Radar may be a solution for detecting the plane. Let go one step at a time. One plane, one pilot, approximately 40 to 50 feet of range with the possibility of a sensitave covering. This already looks expensive, probably too much for the average hobbiest, but they come down in time. Keep you posted.

we reverted to pushbutton system, with no cable...........simply radio operated lights operated in a similar way to garage doors, trevor h