New NooElect Dongle with R820T2 Receiver

I replaced my R820T dongle with the new R820T2 dongle. The improvement was very significant. I would say distance received increased by 30% and number of successful packets went up as much. I attribute this to the improved SNR ratio and weak signal performance of the R820T2. A lot of gain for little $$.

That’s a great improvement. I only saw a 5-10% increase when i made the switch.

And that’s on a Saturday when the numbers are usually down – I’d say you’re going to see another 10% increase middle of next week.

My suspicion is that the T2 units are more sensitive and have a lower noise figure, but the protection diode causes problems in strong signal situations (acting as a mixer).

best 73 and happy hunting, starting to get gear together for Field Day

bob k6rtm

Anyone tried these?

rtl-sdr.com/thumbnet-special … or-r820t2/

I just ordered one. Will see how it works. Like the F-connector

I have ordered one also. Will compare to my Noo R820T and R820T2.

Cheers!
LitterBug

really nice it uses the f-connector and not mcx. i think i spent 2 weeks trying to find the f-female/mcx connector when building out my antenna.

I like the STRESS RELIEF that a MCX>F Female PIGTAIL adapter CABLE offers.
I’ve already had to RE-SOLDER the MCX conn, that was used with
a STUBBY (all metal) MCX>F adapter, going to a RG6/U cable.

I’ll be interested to see everyone’s thoughts. RG6 Quad is awfully stiff and pretty heavy to be supported by the dongle as well as the USB ports. I like the strain/stress relief the short RG316 (I think) provides. It lets everything move a little bit without breaking.

I like the idea of F so the MCX doesn’t accidentally get unplugged. Now if only there was a threaded USB connector… :wink:

Cheers!
LitterBug

Will watch with interest to the results people have with the two new dongles. I think my RTL2832U USB dongle is starting to degrade (drop in range and messages), though could be the MCX causing drama. :smiling_imp:

Example of the RTL2832U range, love to improve it (ignoring the need to improving the antenna). Using the results people have, I would love to try the R820T2 with the best results but using the same set-up to see if there is any improvement.

http://crowingstudios.com/images/adsb/Range%20of%20F-YSWG1%20and%20YSWG%20(6482)%20tn.png
Lighter opacity is the FR24 box range and the darker opacity is the Raspberry Pi (using the RTL2832U)

Got mine today. Let the comparisons begin…

:smiley:

Cheers!
LitterBug

Got mine today. Behaves identical to my Noo R820T2. Which in my current ant/filter/amp config is reporting about 10% less than my Noo R820T. PPM comes out to 0 when running RTL_TEST. Will be doing some additional testing with different ants, filters and amps to see if I can get the R820T2 to do better than my R820T setup.

Cheers!
LitterBug

Weird that the older tuner works better for you when I see others saying the newer works better.

I would be interested to know the config people are using and getting better results with the R820T2. Specs and everything I read says it should perform better. I have a pretty well tuned setup with an 8 segment COCO, filtering, and amp. My feeder stats are currently the top in my area. Was hoping to get a boost by switching to the R820T2. After trying two different makes/models and getting the same result, I am baffled. Would also like to know if anyone else has had the same results as me and what type of config they were using.

Cheers!
LitterBug

Litterbug
I’m using roughly the same setup like yours and couldn’t see any improvements when switching to the T2. However, when running without amplifier or filter this dongle performed better than the 820T barefoot. More sensitive and better handling the nearby cell tower interference.
/paul

just replaced my 820T with a 820T2 - figures seem to be 20% down, maybe I need to tweak settings.

NEW doesn’t always mean GOOD… I learned that repairing big ATE circuit boards.
Do you have ‘multiple PI’s/antennas’? I like testing using a PI 2; since it reboots so
quickly.
3 B+s
2 PI 2 Model B
2 R820t
4 R820T2 (three in NooElec cases)
3 9element Collinear antennas
1 Double Bi-Quad antenna

Welcome to the club! :open_mouth:
What type of antenna are you using? Any filters or amplification?

Cheers!
LitterBug

Rebooting quickly is more a function of the SD card than the Pi. My B+ and Pi2 reboot in roughly 20-30 seconds.

LitterBug