I was tracking hundreds of planes at once with hundreds of km range and now…almost nothing. Barely a plane if any. Has anyone ever had their antenna fail?
I have the FlightAware antenna and have since April 2019. Been rock-solid since. Suddenly nothing going on. I’ve replaced the LNA, I’ve swapped SDR dongles, now I’m thinking it’s the antenna itself. I don’t know if extreme wind sheer could have snapped something or what, but it’s been a very windy fall in Iowa, and it’s on a 10’ high pole ontop of a 28’ house so…possible?
I’m likely going to buy a new one and try it but I’m annoyed and wondering if anyone else had the darned thing fail. I miss my planes!
Update: So I finally pulled down the antenna itself and found that the gas discharge lightning arrestor was chuck full of water along with the connectors. Removed that from the line entirely and the planes are back! Kindof. They’re back on the screen but the range is REALLY low, like <100nm, so there’s still something wrong with the entire setup. I don’t know if that means more water infiltration or what but I need to poke at it more.
If you had water in the antenna connectors, it’s likely wicked into the coax. That will alter the electrical characteristics of the cable and could serious attenuate the signal. It’s also possible that it’s corroded the cable from within. You will likely have to replace it - I’ve seen cables in a marine environment corrode over a 10m or more length because of water ingress. Cut a short length off the exposed end and have a look at the copper inside. It tends to go black with water exposure.
To prevent it you need to use waterproof connectors or weather proof them some other way. I have my LNA inside a waterproof box that also protects the cable connections there. You could also pack them with silicon grease and wrap them with self-amalgamating tape.
caius Damn, I wondered. I have some Coax sealant tape on the connections but it likely wasn’t enough (obviously). Thankfully the cable from the lightning arrestor to the LNA is a 10’ cable and not the 75’ run that heads down to the basement so replacing that one is a lot easier. I’ll get some silcone grease as well and pack things in as well as putting on better coax sealant tape.
geckoVN The order goes like this: FA antenna (N) to Lightning Arrestor (N) to 10’ cable to (SMA) RTL-SDR LNA in a waterproof box with drip loops to (SMA-to-N) 75’ LMR-400 to the basement to (N-to-SMA pigtail) to Nooelec SmarTee. As I said above, I had some tape on them, but likely not enough, especially for the week worth of downpours we got that probably soaked everything.
I’m quite a fan of the glue lined heat-shrink, but it doesn’t bond very well to a PVC jacket.
You are better off using sealed connectors to start with. (and making doubly sure with SA tape)
UPDATE 2: The antenna is hosed. I got a new lead wire from the LNA → Antenna and no improvement; took up one of my other antennas (the crappy magnetic “default” FA antenna) and instantly got 10x the planes. So took down the upper antenna support and the antenna and brought it down, left the magnetic up there to track while I order a new FA antenna from Amazon. Going to let this thing warm up/dry out/etc. and see if it has water inside, got damaged, or what.
I bought a Jetvision Antenna half a year ago together with one of the cables they offered. It’s outdoor working without issues. The antenna is well maintained and sent with the FA kit here in Germany if your application about a dedicated flightfeeder is accepted.
I miss my planes!
. Device works perfect.