ADS B receivers

Looking at updating my gear and now thinking Radarscape, SBS3 etc ranges and still feed FA, MLAT’s, any recommendations???

Radarcape if you can afford it. :slight_smile:

Thanks Flightfinder. $$$$ not an issue. Reasons for that recommendation?? I have been trying to do some research, SBS 3 is reasonably WWW’d Radarcape not so. What I need to know is the measurements of these units in regards to mounting on my mast. It appears SBS 3 can be connected ran like this, finding it hard to get any decent info on the Radarcape

As you know it’s a standalone unit with GPS, with FPGA decoder so works pretty well for MLAT. You can of course feed many different networks i.e FA, FR24, PF etc with a single click, just like in Planeplotter. And of course you can use beast raw or decoded data that it provides on different ports if require that.

I believe they (Jetvision.de) would be happy to answer your questions if you have any. :slight_smile:

Even though you have mentioned that money is no issue, I still think its over priced. Others here may or may not agree :wink:

Is the SBS3 still being produced? I couldn’t find a lot of recent info on it, a few years ago.

I run my radarcape in my attic. It is powered over POE. It needs only 1amp at 5Vs (I think).
You could run it on a mast/tower using outdoor cat5/6 cable.
My attic gets hot, but outside would be hotter. It would need some decent shading and weather protection.

I also use it with the DPD antenna on my chimney and a cavity filter(I am surrounded by cellphone towers).

This is my site. Note that my antenna is only 50ft AMSL so I have a lot of obstructions.

This is the site from a guy in Australia. He has a mountain range to his east
https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/vk2krr

Hi Jon,

Thanks. I just clarified with Guenter re the power issue, it states they want 15 watts at 5v DC but actually it peaks at 800 m amps, well within the 2 amps. Yes I am not sure if they have upgraded the SBS models but I can get one from Australia. It looks like Kinetic are pushing their new PI hat tremble or something similar. I do have my outside enclosure insulated, havent seen the temp specs yet, if you have that info handy. I think the radarcape will be the better option.

Jeff

From what I have seen locally to purchase a SBS 3, the Radarcape is cheaper from Europe LOL

You are correct, I was off by a bit.

The more advanced models probably require a bit more power than this.
I would go for a quality POE setup for reliability.
Mine has been running for two years without any issues.

The SBS3 does have two SDR receivers for ATC, AIS or ACARS etc.

yes my POE injector is auto detect voltage up to 48v DC. :slight_smile:

So… I note in the Radarcape manual that they have a setup for Flightaware feed and a few others. Does that mean my old 1090 mutability set up re feeding these sites will not be used or is that still an option with Radcape (pardon my ignorance re such things, just that Joe’s scripts etc is all I am aware of and used)

It can feed directly or use beast-splitter (or adsb-deco ) to feed dump1090.

Link to a procedure to do this?? I think I found this info… :wink:

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HI Jon,
You say your unit is in the attic and connected via POE, by what method do you connect to the Radarcape web interface with such an set up?? I am familiar with accessing Linux via SSH with my PI3’s so no issue there with connecting to the Radarcape.

@jlb56,
Not sure I understand the question.
It can be access via http and ssh. The location would not change this.

Here is their demo unit
https://radarcape-demo.jetvision.de/gmap.html

Ok… to access my current setup, to adjust something via SSH and you go into your command window and use the appropriate script, the only way I access my current systems. In reading the manual for the Radarcape, “all changes of the Radarcape configuration can be done via the Web interface”, something I don’t do now. However as you are aware, to access features of 1090 mutability, one uses the web portal as installed to have a graphically access. So I imagine with Radarcape, you use the network ip assigned by your DHCP to access the http features, which include, as shown in their demo, software maintenance, their version of the “portal”, yea??

I have also been pondering a radarscape

I currently have a pi 3b with an airspy/Nevis amp filter setup. Would a Radarscape improve performance (aircraft, messages/sec) given the same antenna, amp etc? Would be fun to free the airspy for other Sdr uses.

Thanks

I run both an airspy and a radarcape.
The airspy overwhelms the CPU and USB bus of my RPI. I had to upgrade to an Odroid.

It is a great standalone device, just not cheap. It has a wide dynamic range so can handle a hab/nevis amp too. It won’t more it over bias-t but will do over USB(ie have the amp located close to the radarcape). Not sure how much noise you have(cell tower wise) but I had to add a cavity filter to both the airspy and radarcape setup. I even use them for my two UAT receivers.

I wouldn’t expect more than a 5% improvement over an airspy or well setup rtl-sdr. Your results may vary.
I regularly receive 1600 packets per second (non- Mode AC).

The radarcape defaults to DHCP but can be hardcoded to a static IP address.
It runs a beaglebone black(Mine does, not sure about the later models).
Doubles as a great GPS NTP time source, although I have others.

Yes, it needs a filter. Nevis ceramic plus an FA filter on the front. Where did get your cavity filter? I like the idea of a two antenna diversity with the radarscape. It would be very interesting to swing a Yagi around and see if I can get a few more oceanic messages.

I use these cavity filters but have also custom ordered some for much less.

I think the custom order single pole cavity filters are $US30 each when I ordered 6.