1090 MHz antenna at Amazon

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
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I have been trying an decent antenna since late Feb 2024. Length is 45 inches long vs the FlightAware standard at 26 inches. Bit higher gain and this seems to have added about 10% to 15% improvement in range and message counts. Mounted in the attic just under the top ridge and it has been performing well. Just wanted to let others know about this item. I am not associated with the seller, just a satisfied user.

Note, the cable is 10 meters of RG58, and not particularly good at ADS-B frequencies. I do not use this cable, though keeping it around as a spare just in case.

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Thanks for the reference on the antenna. Always good to hear about the different equipment options and there performance.

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I think the secret is not the antenna gain, but its elevation. As for the cable, I have used an RG6 cable and I consider it to be better than the RG58. I currently use the DLC213 Pemium coaxial cable, which is practically identical to the LMR400. In fact, the best thing would be to not use a cable, just connecting the SRD to the antenna using a PigTail.

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I’m planning to use one of these antennas and place them higher in my roof using a pole. What would be the max recommended cable length using either RG58 or RG6?

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If you stay under 30 feet/10 meters that would be ok, otherwise you would need an LNA or a better cable.
It depends on the brand and the specifications of the maker to give a better judgement on the cable length.

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Just a note from an old ham, not all RG58 or RG6 are identical. At 1090 and 978 MHz, cable quality makes a big difference. There are really cheap lossy cables out there and there are some good ones. The cheap ones use copper plated aluminum core wire and poor multi-strand shielding. Good cable has solid copper core wire and max coverage shielding. Price is not always the indicator for good/bad Coax. Rant over.

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I use 50 feet of KMR400 that is very reasonably priced on Amazon. Recommend it for value and performance. Cutting corners and pinching pennies on coax quality always turns out to be a mistake. Even if you don’t know you have made a mistake. Get it right the first time around.

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Thanks for your advice, not that pricey either.

I see it comes with PL-259 connectors, are they compatible with the antenna and usb-dongle or will I need some adapter?

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I actually bought a version with the proper connections installed at both ends.

N-male to SMA-male

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Sorry, that’s the wrong link somehow. This is the actual listing.

XRDS -RF KMR400 SMA to N Cable 50ft, N-Male to SMA-Male Connector Low Loss Extension Cable 50 Ohm SMA Cable for 3G/4G/5G/LTE/ADS-B/Ham/GPS/WiFi/RF Radio to Antenna Use

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Both the description and photo show SMA connector not PL-259

S

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