New FA Antenna - Review part 2

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

I’ve had the antenna up for a little over 24 hours. Essentially, it’s no better than my home-brew collinear.
That’s not a complaint - just the statistics.

But, if you need an antenna this is a good one and the price is good.

I’ve lost some tracking distance to the North and East. The FA antenna is 2-feet in length and my old stick was 5. The difference in height probably accounts for it. On the other hand I’ve picked up a small increase in position reports so the overall numbers have not changed significantly. I have some leeway in the mounting system and I probably can raise the mast about 3 feet more but will wait for the SAW filter to be installed first.

2

I got the new antenna on Friday and immediately installed it in the same location as I had my 8 legged spider. Everything else in the chain stayed the same (amp, coax, connectors, RTL settings, etc.). After two days it appears I’m getting equivalent or slightly better range with the FA antenna as I had with the spider for everything but the southwest quadrant. The southwest is blocked by my house, so I’m suspecting the radiation pattern of the spider was better impacted by the aluminum siding than was the Coco.

One thing I know for sure is I never saw any planes over 300 mi away until I got the FA Coco. I’m only seeing a couple a day now, but it’s a data point. My view is mostly limited by fact I’m in relative low area surrounded by trees.

Construction of the antenna is excellent and the mount is well built. Overall, for the price, you couldn’t ask for more.

3

My position count has upticked a bit a bit after 3 days. You’re right, it’s a killer for the price.

4

My number of hits more than doubled with the new FA CoCo antenna.
I also get contacts at 450+ kilometers. Before max. reach was 250 km.

5

Awesome, thanks for the feedback. If you have a moment, review the antenna on Amazon to add some credibility to the listing.

We’ll continue stocking it there and are working on internaitnoal distributors as well.

6

dbaker,

as I wrote in another thread - I am not seeing any difference between “home brewed” 4 leg spider and FA antennas. Is there an easy way to check if the antenna works as designed?

Alex

7

What performance/range are you seeing? What adapters/cables did you use?

8

The maximum range I am getting is 120-180mi (same as with spider, but positions count increased from 20 to 200 over the last 36 hours), the overall position count decreased slightly and number of planes is about same. Here are the stats: flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/ … stats-4382

The antenna connected directly to NooElec R820T2 dongle via N to MCX pigtail.

9

That is half the range it should be. Is it mounted outside?

10

The antenna currently sitting in the attic in the same place where the spider was. I bought the antenna in preparation to move my setup outside of the house which I am looking to complete this weekend.

11

Sadly the FA antenna via Amazon cant be shipped to Australia…