Feeder temps

Just started this May 28 so new to all.

My upstairs isn’t AC’ed and we have been getting in the lower 90’s the last few days, it gets 85º up there.

I stumbled upon the feeder status page and found my ORANGE unit was @ 66.1C (150.98F) YIKES !

I know they normally feel a little warm anyway, but thought that a tad excessive so I rigged up an old PC tower fan to a wall adaptor, set the feeder on edge, and am blowing that into the holes…now running around 39-40 C.

I found a site where a guy drilled extra holes in his orange box even.

So, any of you folks concerned about feeder temps ? What would you say redline is ??

So far I see cpu only running at about 10% in the day time. I read were if it gets too hot it will throttle down some?

I would think they can stand quite a bit as folks put them in attics.

Nothing worse than a retired guy like me with too much time to worry about things, and want to tinker :wink:

For things Pi, usually below 80C is the rule for CPU temps. Cooler is better, so the fan was a good move to prevent throttling say from a serious heat wave.

I switched to Pi4 and got way to high temps with the included plastic box, so I bought Flirc-cases that works really well, CPU-temp is now around 50 C when it is really hot in the room. The good thing is that also the adsb-stick is cooler too, I guess the heat spreads through the USB-connector to the case. Any cooling-case on Amazon/ebay should do the trick.

Talking about an “orange” Box, i would assume you mean a FA FlightFeeder and not a Raspberry, correct?
For this you might need an external fan for air flow.

For a Raspberry you have different options. I am using an Armor case with two small fans on it. The case itself is te whole heat sink.

Operating the device outside with an Airspy requiring some extra CPU usage.
With a 30°C outside temp, the SoC Temp never went over 55°C

Yes, correct the FlightAware supplied one.

Really something, even with the fan on it still at 103 deg. Little buggers must really be working in there.

Right now I have 48 total aircraft. - 10% CPU.

Thanks for the replys so far folks !

The worst thing that will happen is that one will shorten the life of the hardware. But that might mean taking something that would run for 10 to 15 years to maybe 8. Or maybe 2. Hard to say for sure.

Real issue is that the CPU will clock down because it is too warm and you might start losing messages and the like.

It is why if you do anything with desktop CPUs and overclocking you hear about people trying to get keep the temps down which is why the basic idea is trying to get it under 60 C or so

Now that being said, one of my best towers because of how high it is, is in a closed plastic box on the top of a 190ft tower. With temps in the 90’F outside it has gotten to a max of 74 C on the CPU. We will see how long that one lasts the summers and if heat or lighting get it first. :sweat_smile:

Best suggestion is to contact Flightaware support - as they maintain the Flighfeeder hardware & software - and have them assess the situation.

adsbsupport@flightaware.com

I have been running a Pi 4b outside in a plastic box. With the current heatwave, I have been hitting 73-80F just about every day without any observed issues. I may be shortening the life of the hardware, but only time will answer that question.

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60C / 140F is starting to be hot, not 40C / 104F!
I have one of mine at 77C / 171F… no worries.

My Pi temps stay right at 60°C. They are located indoors with a constant 24°C ambient temperature. They are not in a case, but in a custom 3d printed rack.

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I am in the process of setting up a new pi to go in at my inlaw’s place… Pi4 2g… have had it running in the loft with NO heatsinks or fans and dongle attached directly… Today received the Armor case with NO fans. Also added a small USB lead between dongle and Pi. Results as per graph below.

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As the lower part is also designed as a heatsink, you can lift it a bit and that helps even more. I put it on two small wooden sticks to have a sort of airflow below as well

Thank you for this update. Will make my decision easier.

Active Armor Case, Raspberry outdoor at around 30°C, powering an Airspy plus Uputronics LNA/Filter

Good data/info folks!

Mine seems to be doing good with the Tivo fan. Things cooled down around here and upstairs is @ 74 deg., FlightFeeder @ 34.9C as of now. I did have it hanging around 38-39C last week when it was about 85+ up there so all good. Maybe sometime I’ll get something set up differently (a case?) but I’m more than content with this deal. And it cost me ZERO $$ :sunglasses:
Happy trackin’

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