I’ve just recently got into ADS-B receiving. My currently hardware is a Pi 5 wth the AirNav ADS-B FlightStick and (for the moment) one of the Bingfu dual-band (no, I didn’t check the specs of the FlightStick) indoor antennas. It does receive aircraft indoors - but generally not many (right now its 4).
So yesterday, I put the setup outside (in a weatherproof box). It got a lot more aircraft (peaked at 34), but unfortunately it overheated in the middle of the day. I may have gone overboard with the Pi 5.
I read that it is possible to run this on a Pi Zero 2W, and looking at top, the used RAM is only around 320MB, so I will be looking at changing to one of these in the next few days.
So, if I do this, has anyone tried running the Pi 2W on a PiSugar battery, trickle charged by a solar panel, and if so, which solar panel?
I intend to use a similar setup in the future for a remote station. It would be a 12V LiFePO4 battery (50Ah or 100Ah) + 10/20A MPPT charge controller + 150W solar panel + 12V to 5V/10A DC-DC converter + Elsys Amplimax 2G/3G/4G modem. I believe this could run 24/7 uninterrupted.
However, in your case, we need more information about your installation: Is your enclosure containing the equipment in an easily accessible location? What is the ambient temperature where it is installed? What material is your enclosure made of? Does it have air inlets and outlets (at the bottom/top)?
Regarding Pisugar, I believe it only works for a few hours after nightfall (even more so using a Pi 5). In that case, you would have to adapt it to install a robust multi-cell 18650 battery pack to comfortably power the devices, and the solar panel would also need to generate surplus energy for nighttime and cloudy/snowy/foggy days.
If you are G7, heat really isn’t your main problem. It’s true a Pi5 can generate some heat, but only when running under heavy load - ADS-B alone is a pretty light load on a Pi5
My Pi5 (also solar powered) is running under 30C most of the time
Presumably you have no cooling on the Pi5?
I like the cast Al case that puts a lot of metal in contact with ‘hot parts’, but others like the compact fan/heatsink direct on the CPU - you choice.
A PiZero2W has just enough resources to run ABS-B, but with limitations (no RJ45, no USB-A, light on memory etc.)
That’s an interesting point: the average temperature of the Rpi 3s I test here is around 45-50°C/133-122°F. Even with the current temperature here being 32°C. -2.9, -40.1 (I’m practically on the Equator).
The Pi5 has the standard fan on it, but the amount of air it has to circulate is not very much.
So, at the moment the system is running indoors, with the advantage of air conditioning. Work is going to take all my time for the next two months or so, although I am hoping to set up another system at work to play with.
But I will definitely look into the solar powered system again in September.
I built a remote pump hut, so naturally I added a radio mast, WX etc.
The PV is a pair of 270W panels charging a 24V 100Ah battery.
Back haul wifi is run on an 11el yagi over 850m
Rather than using micro fans, airflow is managed by ventilating the whole hut using a pair of 24V Pappst fans rated 320cfm each - thermostat kicks in when ambient temp reaches 35C (they put in some long hours over summer).
Agreed on the Pi2w. It’s too under powered and lacks connectivity that makes it a regrettable choice typically. There are exceptions if you care to experiment.
