April Fools. … Sorry.
2 Likes
Groan and twenty other characters.
1 Like
If one looks at FA’s Github page development of the next iteration of their SDR has been going on in plain sight for about a year. There are two repos (libpg2sdr and pg2sdr-firmware) for something they call Pro Stick Gen 2 (aka pg2sdr). From the basic documentation it involves the LPC4370 and R860T which are also used by Airspy and HydraSDR, for example. Will be interesting to see what eventually is produced in terms of form factor, capability and price relative to other available SDRs.
3 Likes
This may have already been suggested, but why not just use the Airspy device and modify dump1090-fa to use 12-bit samples?
1 Like
The AirSpy is too costly, and that is the main reason I have not yet purchased even one AirSpy.
I will wait for release of new version of ProStick, and if it is substantially cheaper than AirSpy, I may go for it.
I dont want to waste too much money on this hobby.
well, that didn’t take long!
dump1090 is actually fine with 12-bit samples (e.g. via the soapysdr driver). The problem with the existing airspy (mini, at least) firmware / host library / soapysdr driver is that it won’t do arbitrary sampling rates, and so dump1090 can’t get the 2.4MSPS it wants.
(actually, the pg2sdr hardware is similar enough to an airspy mini that with some modifications the pg2sdr firmware/host library will work with an airspy mini, which solves the sampling rate issue, but polishing that isn’t my focus right now)
This seems unlikely at the moment, they’re quite similar hardware and we don’t have a magic wand to make components or assembly substantially cheaper. The differences are mostly around making different design decisions.
1 Like
1 Like
It’s not so much the “waste of money” but the fact that the “law of diminishing returns” kicks in. It still won’t decode planes that are not there. 
The blue AliExpress dongle is likely the best replacement at the moment.
As for the new FA dongle, when I saw mention of the LPC4370 I suspected the price is not going to be very low. Price for price I would stay with the AirSpy Mini, since it can be put to many other uses. In the latter case I’m assuming the new FA dongle will have a built-in filter, making it a “one trick pony”.
You wont believe it, but out of 7 dongles I have currently in service for 1090/978/aiscatcher/rtl-airband, 5 are generic black ones, one is FA, and one RB. Out of these 5 generic black ones, 2 are the very first dongles I purchased in 2012.
1 Like
I’m in the same “boat” more or less. I have 3 or 4 generic black ones, one FA, and the new AliExpress blue dongle. I purchased the AliExpress blue for future reference/use.
Edit: Oh, and 3 or 4 RTL-SDR Blog dongles as well.
I think the antenna, filter and LNA should be the focus, more so than the dongle itself.
I use an FA antenna and an FA dark blue filter. Together with the generic AliExpress/Amazon/eBay “orange” LNA, I have the best setup in 10 years of ADS-B “practice”. I won’t spend any more money on ADS-B.
I’m “big” on Meshcore now, with a couple of companions and a repeater installed. Getting involved with TinyGS satellite tracking as well.
1 Like
Yeah, the antenna is the most important factor in determining what performance you can get. Or maybe I should say the antenna situation is there most important – i.e where the antenna is. Unfortunately that’s usually the hardest thing to improve.
2 Likes
Indeed! My antenna is indoors, in the garage, and I’m not near a busy airport. “Luckily” I can receive a good chunk of the transatlantic bound traffic. I receive 1000+ planes every day.
2 Likes
Being near a busy airport is great if you only care about numbers, but probably doesn’t show anything else interesting.
1 Like
Each to their own.
I’m about 30km from Melbourne (YMML) airport which is only moderately busy.
When the weather turns bad it is very interesting watching 20 or 30 planes all start to circle and then ATC sorting out new landing slots like this
or this gaggle of little planes watching the New Years Eve fireworks
2 Likes
LNA on the frontend but no filter, so it should work okay for other stuff (my standard “did I break anything?” test is seeing if I can listen to broadcast FM), but we’re obviously aiming mostly at the ~1GHz band. Airspy mini + a separate LNA is indeed more general purpose.
4 Likes
I was wondering what happened to the mythical Pro Stick X
Seems like that may have morphed into the Pro Stick Gen 2 then?
I’ve just been up in the loft to unplug the green RB dongle and plug in the Airspy R2 as unlike abcd567 I always seem to waste money on my hobbies!
Just to clarify the Airspy is fully compatible with dump1090?
Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-
It starts as a game. Then it seems to turn into something serious.
Congratulations on the upgrade!
You are right. I always look for low cost stuff.
I just now found and ordered a C$10 filter on Aliexpress. Almost all of 1090Mhz filter on Aliexpress are SAW type, but this one is LC type, like Flightaware blue barrel filter (but much cheaper). Since LC filters have generally higher Q, hence narrower bandwidth, I ordered one to try it.
SPECS
BPF Band Pass Filter 433Mhz 868Mhz 915Mhz 1090Mhz 1.2Ghz 1.5Ghz 2.4Ghz 5.8Ghz Bandpass Filter LC Filtering FOR RFID SDR GPS WIFI Drone
size : 3x3.5mm
1090M bandpass filter
Center frequency: 1090 MHz
1dB bandwidth: 10 MHz
With insertion loss:<3.0dB
Out of band inhibition:> 65dB@915MHz
＞ 42dB@1.5GHz
Impedance: 50 Ohms.
LISTING ON ALIEXPRESS
MY ORDER
You get what you pay for. A 3-dB insertion loss is a bummer if that filter is at the input side of the LNA. That increases the Noise Figure of the LNA by 3-dB.
1 Like
(1) It’s spec does not say insertion loss=3 dB. It says less than 3 dB (loss<3dB)
(2) How much is insertion loss of the SAW filter in ProStick Plus and Radarbox24’s green FlightStick? If I recall correctly SAW filter has an insertion loss of around 2.5 dB, but I am not sure. Do you know it? Also do you know the insertion loss of FA Blue filter?
Anyway when it arrives, on one of my RPis, I will replace the current FA light blue filter by this one and see the result. I do not need a filter, but purchased it to see how good or bad it is, as it is the only low cost LC filter currently available.