Any support or news for sdrplay on piaware as it performs better than an rtl-sdr stick
when i tried sdrplay on it’s dump1090 for windows 7 and viewed it on virtual radar server v 2.40
my range went up by 20 miles compared to using my rtlsdr usb stick probably because sdrplay has a built in lna & is also a 12bit sdr
where as the dongles are 8bit
A quick check of their website reveals. Both FA Dongles are significantly better than the RTL-SDR on its own.
sdrplay.com/rpi_adsb.html
Many thanks
Wanted to share my experience with the SDRPlay vs RTL-SDR.
I have monitored for FA for a couple of years now with RTL-SDR and Raspberry Pi using piaware. Also have a separate setup to feed FR24.
Recently acquired an SDRPlay (older model) which I am using to decode ATCS signals from the Union Pacific Railroad for hobbyists in the ATCS Yahoo Group. I am at least 25 miles from the nearest track of the Union Pacific Sunset Line and monitor 4 different frequencies covering about 90 miles of rail line. so it is a challenge.
I have compared a few different RTL-SDRs (a couple which have TCXO and R820T2) and none are quite as sensitive as the SDRPlay. There are certain MCPs (devices along the track that transmit encoded info about track occupancy and switches) that none of my RTL-SDRs can receive well enough to decode, but the SDRPlay can. The frequencies I am referring to are in the 160 MHz range, so don’t want to necessarily conclude that at 1090 MHz the situation will be the same.
Any questions, feel free to ask.
Richard
Reason I asked was I ran an sdrplay 1 & an rtl-sdr 820T2 dongle side by side on identical antennas at same height same location and the sdrplay was giving me 15 to 25 miles more coverage I put this down to the fact that the sdrplay is 12bit has filtering & also has an lna built into it
I would try one of the FA dongles and a filter. They should be comparable and about 1/10th the cost (1/5th if you use an external filter).
I found that the airspy could overload the USB bus on an RPI3 (So went to and Odroid XU4).
I expect that you should get more position hits, however, you may not get more total daily aircraft.
Ensure that you disable Mode A/C as FA doesn’t currently use the information. I could get 6,000 Mode A/C per second(yes second) in NYC on the Radarcape or Mode S Beast. It can overwhelm the USB bus and CPU.
If it is similar to the airspy, Mode S beast or Radarcape then an external help may help considerably (it did for me). I use an amp and Cavity filter as my neighbourhood is very noisy.
It is also important to tune the gain on the FA Dongles. It can make a significant improvement over full gain.