Hello everyone, complete newbie here. I read about ADS-B recently and had a Pi4B 4GB that I didn’t use very often, so I ordered a dongle (RadarBox Flightstick) and an indoor antenna. Used the piaware image and was up and running with a 50-100 mile range and about 1000 flights per day. I’m in a rural area, so I was very pleasantly surprised by the success. After running a week, reading more about ADS-B requirements, and coming up with another use for the 4B, I ordered a Zero2W, loaded it with the same piaware image and linked my key. Nothing else is different, same antenna, dongle, software. Now I’m getting 500 flights per day and less than 50 miles with short dotted tracks. What gives? Literally nothing has changed except the RPi.
Yes, same location and position. The only difference is the Pi and power supply. I’m using a USB on the go for the flightstick, and it’s 6 inches long. I’ve tried it fully extended and looped around zip-tied to the Zero’s case. No difference. That’s the only cable I have, so I’ll have to order a longer one. It’s even the same SD card. Both were loaded and started on a Saturday, one week apart. I just hoped someone else had seen this and solved it already lol.
I moved it last night to a different window in the house, same side of the house, facing same direction, but further from the other computers. No difference, exactly the same results in the new spot.
Also, I thought about using the 4B’s power supply, but the connectors are different. I have a second Zero power supply. I think I’ll swap it and see what happens.
No, the Pi4B has a standard USB port, while the Zero2W does not an requires an adapter. The USB on the go adapter is part of the Zero install. I can’t use it on the 4B and I can’t go without it on the Zero.
I didn’t reverse back to the 4B, I’m not savvy enough with Raspian to make the necessary config changes, which is why I reloaded the piaware image and linked my key when moving to the Zero. I’ll give the Graphs1090 a shot if I can figure it out when I have some time to devote to it.
If you need an extra “two cents” I will advise you not to extend a lot of effort on the Zero2W. I started out with the same and ended up having to convert to my current Pi4 8gig because the cpu couldn’t keep up. I kept getting CPU overload warnings with it running in the high 90% bracket. As you know the connectivity available on the Pi4 is so much more user friendly. Note: Nothing to figure out on the 1090 graphs install. One and done with the script provided. Sit back and enjoy an iced tea!
I’m beginning to realize that. Teamviewer won’t run on the Zero2W (arm6), and I can’t get VNC to work because it appears to need the GUI and piaware runs in CL. On the 4B, I could see all 3 windows (Alt-F1, F2, F10) when running Teamviewer. So it’s ssh for the Zero. I get 100% CPU warnings occasionally, so I know it’s pretty high. The 4B ran at 20%. If I added GUI to the Zero, It would probably melt even with the heatsink I’ve added.
Performance wise i’d opt for a wired pi instead of a wireless pi.
That being said, the pi3 and Pi4 will outperform the Pi zero 2W cpu wise and are more flexible in using them for flightaware due to the additional ports available.
I understand you’d would like to try a Pi Zero W variant due to size, price and other considerations but in my book they are not serious options when it comes to flightfeeding.
Notwithstanding the others’ advice about the suitability of the device in the first place, coupled with your own observations, if you decide to continue with the W there’s at least a few avenues to explore where the setup is different than before.
Yes, there are a couple of places where the setup is different, but they apply specifically to the Zero, and had to be different because of the Zero. These are not things that I can change back to make it closer to the original setup. When I said to start that the setup was exactly the same as before except for the Zero, that included the things that had to be different because of the Zero. I’m not interested in a comparative analysis of the 4B vs the Zero2W. My next step is to revert back to the 4B. If performance returns to my original experience, I’ll be looking for alternate uses of the Zero.
The point that’s being made is that there are at least a couple more variables over and above the rPi only, and it could be any of these that are causing the issue, or a combination, or all of them together. Of course you need them to use the W, but they are differences that could be explored.
I’d still be interested if moving the stick further from the W (and other sources of noise) works. I had to put a 1m USB extender between my PI (a 3B+) and another radio stick to get it away from interference.
Probably a good idea. I’m using a W as a Wireguard VPN gateway and Pihole DNS server, and it’s been rock solid for years in the attic!
To close this one out, I’m back on the 4B and my original performance has returned. I dropped the Zero2W, the Zero2W power supply, and the USB on the go adapter in exchange for the 4B, the 4B power supply, and a direct USB connection of the flightstick.
I appreciate everyone’s comments and thoughts. This was a beneficial exercise, but for me the Zero2W isn’t suited for this application.
