Intro
Currently performing antenna testing using two generic USB SDR dongles, effectively trying to maintain a control instead of relying on air traffic to remain the same day-to-day (which it never is here). This post will be updated during the testing, and I’ll eventually make a new post with a summary of the results.
Sites
Site 1: First dongle will remain connected to the supplied whip antenna, and is uploading data to Test01.
Site 2: Second dongle will connect to a variety of antennae, and is uploading to Test02.
Obviously impossible to site the antennae in the exact same location, but they’re very close. Some images will appear below. The only change being made to Site 1 whip antenna: height will change so that the tops of the two antennae are at the same height.
Currently testing:
Since 2023-10-29 (first full day)
Site 1: Whip antenna
Site 2: ‘NooElec’ telescopic antenna on metal lid
My first USB RTL-SDR dongle was from NooElec, and came supplied with a telescopic antenna. NooElec recommended keeping the antenna fully collapsed for ADSB use.
Previous testing:
Summary
All values relative to Site 1 with the whip antenna.
Antenna | Aircraft | Positions | Range |
---|---|---|---|
Whip | +0.4% | -2% | +29.2% |
Whip on can | +1.7% | +6.7% | +8.8% |
Whip on lid | +10% | +18.3% | +0% |
Telescopic (min) | +3.5% | +6.2% | +11.8% |
Whip only - 2023-10-02 to 2023-10-05
Site 1: Whip antenna
Site 2: Whip antenna
This is a control test, to make sure that we’re working with a level playing field. Aim is to prove that the two USB SDR dongles, and the two antenna sites perform the same.
Quick results:
- Aircraft: Site 2 logged 0.4% more aircraft
- Positions: Site 2 logged 2% fewer positions
- Range: Site 2 logged 29.2% greater peak range
Whip on can - 2023-10-07 to 2023-10-09
Site 1: Whip antenna
Site 2: Whip antenna on upturned can
Quick results:
- Aircraft: Site 2 logged 1.7% more aircraft
- Positions: Site 2 logged 6.7% more positions
- Range: Site 2 logged 8.8% greater peak range
Whip on metal lid - 2023-10-11 to 2023-10-13
Site 1: Whip antenna
Site 2: Whip antenna on metal lid
Quick results:
- Aircraft: Site 2 logged 10% more aircraft
- Positions: Site 2 logged 18.3% more positions
- Range:
- Site 1 & Site 2 had identical peak range
- Site 2 logged 10.7% greater average max. range
Nooelec telescopic antenna - 2023-10-15 to 2023-10-26
Site 1: Whip antenna
Site 2: ‘NooElec’ telescopic antenna
My first USB RTL-SDR dongle was from NooElec, and came supplied with a telescopic antenna. NooElec recommended keeping the antenna fully collapsed for ADSB use.
Quick results:
- Aircraft: Site 2 logged 3.5% more aircraft
- Positions: Site 2 logged 6.2% more positions
- Range:
- Site 2 logged 11.8% greater peak range
- Site 2 logged 2.1% greater average max. range