Hi,
First-time post. I am soon to set up a flight tracking antenna on my rooftop with an existing mast which has my ship tracking antenna attached to it. Is this advisable or will there be interference on both antennas?
Cheers,
John
Johnmw1,
There will be no interference between the antennas, as they both are receiver antennas. If you attach the ADSB antenna below the existing ground plane antenna on the vertical mast, the only problem will be a “shadow” because of the vertical antenna. If you mount the ADSB on the vertical mast with a short “standoff” bracket you will eliminate the shadow.
The shadow comes from the small degree of a 360 circulation that is blocked by the point that the two antennas visually intersect. Think, " I can’t see that airplane, because that tall tree blocks my vision." Given that the short wavelength of a 1090 Mhz signal is, a short few inches of horizonal separation will eliminate the shadow. You could mount a flat crossbar between 2 of the legs to give you a horizontal mounting surface to mount the ADSB antenna on.
I’m assuming the you are going to use an commercial built antenna for the ADSB receiver, but any antenna could be mounted on that pictured mount, and you will have very minimal problems.
Good luck, KB4ERT
KB4ERT,
Many thanks for your answer, and it’s a relief to know there will be no interference issues.
Yes, I had been thinking about mounting something additional to the mast to give the antenna a clear line of sight to the sky. I just have not got around to resourcing exactly what clamps etc that I will need to do the job, or where to purchase them from as yet.
I have applied for a FlightAware FlightFeeder which is being reviewed at the moment. If I’m unsuccessful I’m still keen to follow the other route and go with PiAware which then will present the question of which antenna to purchase as I guess there are a few to choose from.
Cheers,
John
Hi John,
If you get the FlightFeeder, my understanding is it will be a relatively seamless install. I didn’t qualify for one of those, but I did buy all the components and built my own. That hooked me! It’s somewhat of a learning curve to set one up, but I loved the challenge.
This forum has been been a god send of information and I have learned so much about Linux, Raspberry Pi’s, ADSB and everything else related to this hobby. (Don’t take it too serious as some do, it’s just a hobby!) Ask questions, that’s the way to learn without so much trial and error. The little magnifying glass emblem at the top of this page will open for a typed in subject search for a topic that you may be interested in, without asking a redundant question that has been covered before. If you don’t find an answer during a search, feel free to start a new question thread.
We all had to go through a learning curve, that’s what make this hobby so much fun!
Another tip. if you want to chat with a member “off forum”, you can click on a member’s name in the forum and send a one-on-one message to that member only. It’s best to stick to the open forums as all can see and maybe someone will respond with an answer that others can learn from. I learned 99% of what I know of this hobby by reading the forum.
Have fun, it’s just a hobby! (All my hobbies cost lots of $$, so be prepared…) KB4ERT-Bert
Hi Bert,
Again many thanks for your suggestions, tips, and warm welcome. Yes, lots and lots of learning that’s for sure, my head is already swimming. I did go through a similar experience when I set up my marine tracking at,
https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/stations/4365/_:8e628a30aaa2dcdcbcc90b848dfb9cf8
Have always had a fascination about what’s out there and what’s up there and consider it a privilege to be able to help the community by supplying these data feeds. I do obsess on how to obtain a wider and stronger coverage in my area and get overly hung up on the best antenna to use, haha.
Cheers,
John
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