It shows US$16 for me.
Still affordable, that said, I think it’s worth paying double that for the pre-amp and filter built-in (the other stick). I don’t see the filter being a problem, as for the pre-amp, just lower the gain if it’s overloading. While not a biggie for ADS-B reception, it also includes a TCXO.
Buying the pre-amp and filter afterwards will cost much more.
Coincidence or not, the link to the other stick, the one with pre-amp and filter, does not work anymore but still available from other vendors. I did not check if prices went up as well.
Edit: Link is working again.
It may well be the case in the particular scenario you describe. YMMV still very much applies. I have an FA Blue stick and an RTL-SDR Blog Triple filtered pre-amp, and the performance still improves in my garage installation (antenna also in the garage).
Of course adding amplification randomly is not the way to go. SNR is still king, and the “all knobs fully clockwise” syndrome will not always give you “more bang for the buck”. 
I’m impressed you are getting anything with that setup to honest.
I have the same tripple filtered amp feeding a V3 (next to each other - not mast head) and to get the best performance I’ve added an 8dB attenuator between them.
I’m sure if you could, you would have, but clearly your antenna leaves room for improvement.
That’s surprising. Is there some interaction between the triple filtered LNA and the v3 dongle that you are trying to eliminate? That’s usually the reason for an attenuator between RF stages. Or are you simply trying to lower the signal level into the v3 dongle?
It’s the FA antenna, but in the garage, and the houses around are all two stories high. I’m sure the numbers would go way up if installed on the roof - but this is a no-no for me - and in this case the RTL-SDR Blog pre-amp/filter would likely become a liability.
With my SDRs on HF, I seem to get better results with an external attenuator rather than lowering the SDR gain and/or activating the SDR built-in attenuator. 10 dB seems to be the best value in my particular setup.
This. I don’t have the test gear to know exactly what the interaction is, but the R820’s internal NF (~3.5dB), so redusing the external gain allows the internal amp to run at a higher level - possibly resulting in a improved overall S/N.
The triple F/A has quite a high gain (27dB) as it was designed to be mounted at the masthead. It’s stated the design assumes a 3(+)dB cable loss between the F/A and dongle.
I swapped various attenuators into the feed (3 to 15dB) and found that 8dB seemed to give this setup the best performance.
Understood - that was my assumption.
Ok, I have the triple filtered LNA directly connected to the dongle. Maybe some attenuation between the two might help. Problem will be determining when the results are better or worse.
Umm, just thought of something – I use the bias-t in the dongle to power the LNA. I can’t put an attenuator in that setup. Will need to get an external bias-t to power the LNA.
I also connected tripple filtered lna directly to dongle, but my setup was non-conventional, i.e. everything, including antenna (stock whip), were indoor, and the cable between antenna & tripple filtered lna was 1 meter long RG174
I use the same configuration.
The attenuator I use will pass DC. As you are aware, not all do.
Yeah, I see that the cheap attenuators on Amazon attenuate the DC. A DC bias attenuator (or DC passing attenuator) costs more because there’s more to it. Probably need to go to Mini-Circuits or something like that.
Mini-Circuits make good gear.
Mine are Macom and spec’d DC-18GHz. A bit over the top, but it’s what was available.
The SDR receiver arrived all neatly packaged complete with a mag based antenna.
Installed and working correctly.
So, on the day, the Cheapest possible SDR receiver for ADS-B was AU$8.45 or CAD$7.62 or US$5.57 plus any taxes as applicable.
Unfortunately, it is about 3 times that price today.
The prices bounce around all over the place so you need to just keep looking until you find what you want for a price you are willing to pay.
S
The prices are a bit fake, when I checked that one on Ali it was cheap, then I logged in and it was 3x the price. I’m currently looking at some of the DVB-T ones like people mentioned, but I’m having a hard time discerning which (of the cheap ones) have the correct chips.
First time customer deals (if it doesn’t have you logged in)
I had a power supply today seem that it was only $5.55 local currency Via web. But on logged in mobile 7.50. large bait/hook discounts not uncommon.
Yup. Actually though, now that you mention it I’m remembering that if you leave it in your cart or place an order but do a fake credit card, they’ll send you a coupon (you can check your messages). Plus you can message them and ask them for a discount.
I just bought another one on ALI for AU$6.49 inc free shipping plus tax.
I was searching with out being logged in and got the cheap price. When I tried to buy it I needed to log in and found the price jumped to over AU$20.
My simple solution was to spin up a VM (VMWare Virtual Machine) running Win and found the same AU$6.49 for new customers.
I registered a new customer and bought it at that price. It is on its way for delivery next week.
ALI make enough out of me and I am somewhat displeased with their dodgy advertising.
Please let me know if anyoneone else manages to get this deal.
YMMV
I have some of the SDR that wiedehopf suggested on order, should be here this week. I had one FA Prostick dying last week, it’s temporarly replaced with a RTL-SDR v3 until the shipment arrives. I’m curious to the performance, will post some comparisons later this week.
Good choice.
How much were they?
S.
