Hi,
Go easy on me with tthe technical terms. I’m new to all this 
Interested in getting kit to track planes using flightaware/flightradar and any other interesting software there is.
I was looking at buying the Flightaware ProStick Plus in a kit (includes a raspberry Pi, Antenna etc)
from Pi Hut in the UK. Seems to be the only real supplier. Unfortunately the receiver is out of stock.
They do have the none Plus stick and a separate filter at a slightly higher cost - but trying to keep it cheap as this is just a first time test. I believe I should get the Plus version or the additional filter to use alongside the non-plus version, as in an urban area.
I then came across the AirNav Radar Flightstick on Amazon ( see
AirNav Radar FlightStick - ADS-B USB Receiver with Integrated Filter, Amplifier and ESD Protection : Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo)
Are these like-for-like? Can I just swap one for the other? Do they produce the same format of output so that any description of how to setup one would work for the other?
Any help in getting me started appreciated
Pete
Wondering if you are in the USA or Europe for shipping considerations. Are you living an apartment with no access to any roof structure for an antenna? What is the air traffic volume where you live? It can make a difference in choosing the version of the RPi computer that is suitable. Starting out, one has a tendency to shop cheap to start with and then get in to upgrading just about everything in the system. In the end, it can be cheaper and more rewarding with the resulting performance of the system if you acquire the quality pieces right from the start.
The Airnav dongle generates the same output as the FA Prostick. I have them both but in comparison the FA Prostick is better performance wise.
So both can be used in a setup, the software installed is the same. The only difference is in the reporting software of the different aggregators.
But for example I have a Airnav stick and it reports to flightaware and not Airnav. You could do the same with a FA Prostick.
Both are based on the same chip, so the difference is on the used components and their placement. One does the filtering prior the the builtin LNA and the other does it after the LNA.
Buy a decent Pi4, even a Pi3 would do, Pi5 is overkill at the moment.
Get a decent antenna preferably outdoor and then start recieving.
The Airnav antenna comes with a fixed 30 feet cable and that cable can’t changed.
Other brands sell antenna and cable seperatly, giving you more flexibility. A quality cable will generate less loss on your system so that’s worth the investment.
Once you get the items and the site up and running, see if you still like the performance after a few weeks. If not you can consider an upgrade or decide to be happy with it.
Hi Pete and welcome!
All the dongles you list are interchangable - so that’s easy.
The “best” combination (internal / external) filter and / or amp depends a lot on your location and interest.
By that, I mean your interest in local low flying GA, high flying commercial, max range, max position count - you may not have an answer to that until you have a receiver running.
Thanks for the info you have passed on. Answering some of the questions…
I guess I just want to try it out and see what information can be extracted. I’m 10 miles from Edinburgh airport and not far off the flight path. Also plenty of medical helicopters dotting around. Be nice to be able to link it to FR24 or FA and get their complimentary subscription.
@CraigWoodThomas As mentioned I’m in UK (so Europe). Hence the lack of suppliers as far as I can see. There isn’t a massive amount of traffic here. So don’t need anything too powerful. My plan was to get a Ali 4B with 4GB of RAM. I do have a roof space. But I think my first instinct was an antenna by window or attached to outdoor window sill for first attempt.
Thanks Pete for sharing your details. I believe the members in Europe will be your best fit for recommendations since they are experienced with that environment. I know there is a good variety of great antennas being made in Slovakia under the name of Vinnant.
I use one of their antennas here in flat land Florida and I have been very pleased with its performance. I run it up on a mast that pushes up from an antenna tower apex set at the eve of my roof and it gives me 360 degrees of coverage out to more than 200 NM. Tomvdhorst also uses their antennas but uses them for the window viewing perspective and can provide you plenty of well tested recommendations there, I am sure.
Well, let’s see if we can answer the other questions as well.
The normal pro stick doesn’t have an filter built in so then you would need the additional filter living that close to a flightpath.
I live pretty close to one of the EHAM approaches and with out the filter I’d be overpowered by strong signals and interference from the local urban environment (Cellphone towers, operation close to the 1090 Mhz band) and aircraft within 1 NM from some of my antennas.
I have a range of Vinnant antennas, from the COL1090/5-P(5.5 dB) up to the COL1090/9-PEL (11 dB).
They also sell the needed cables in a number of lengths so you can use that as a one stop shop.
Shipment is done very nicely against a fair price and the delivery can be done via express (withing 3 business days) or regular options (10-20 business days depending on the distance).
When you are going to exceed 10 meters of cable length then you might want to switch to LMR400 variants of cable since they have a less loss over larger distances.
The placement of the antenna is be something to think about when you set it up in a window sill, even 10 centimeters can be of importance for your range and performance.
Starting set:
- Pi 4
- FA Prostick Plus
- Antenna cable with SMA and N connector ( don’t use SMA-RP) in the needed lentgh.
- Antenna of your choice
Start from there, determine after a week or 2 if this is what you expect of it and if not you can start expanding with an additional filter or LNA/Filter combo.
Thanks for the reply Tom… will need to spend time understanding the tech jargon. The initial problem I have is the FA Prostick Plus is unavailable at the moment. So as I see it need to get either FA Protick + their external filter (which is a little more expensive) or the Airnav stick. I think I can do either (or wait for FA prostick plus to become available - I assume it will but don’t know)
In that case I’d opt for the Airnav stick at the moment.
It has a buitlin filter as well so it will do the same as the Prostick. Performance wise the Prostick Plus does better in my setups but that’s a matter of taste and the environment it operates in.
Once the Prostick plus is availble again you can always use the Airnav stick as a backup or resell it on a digital market place.
Airnav will be availble via Amazon as well so that should be a valid option in the UK.
The Prostick will be available again, sometimes it’s a hassle to get one in the EU but it is projected to be available again in July (in The Netherlands).
I have a US friend that regularly visits The Netherlands (he’s a flightattendant with Delta) so if I really need something then I can have it deliverd to his place in the US and then he brings it to my place when he’s in town again.
Failure rate seems to be higher for the airnav green sticks compared to other SDRs.
That’s anecdotal from reading from people with issues.
It helps a bit to remove the plastic casing so it doesn’t run quite as hot, it has a very small PCB and can’t dissipate the heat well.
This is another options that’s similar to the FA Pro stick: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005005466363998.html
Unless your loft is extremely hard to access, i’d try moving the setup there once you have it running and receiving.
There is really no reason not to try as it’s almost guaranteed to provide a more well rounded reception in all directions compared to a window.
Doing FA + FR24 is probably easiest using https://adsb.im/
Other options will require using the command line. (not that that’s a bad thing but it is quite a few extra steps)
I’m not sure there is really much popular software for the pi4 that would require 4 GB of memory, 2 GB should be fine. But that’s a small price diff.