Setup review - working as expected or not?

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hi all,

my setup is as followed:

Dipole Antenna src > RG6 coax 75 ohm > F-type F to F connector (Lws) > F-type to SMA convertor (Amz)> SMA to MCX (Amz) → RTL DVB dongle (Ebay) > RPI

I am located in the East bay of San Francisco. This means my line-of-sight is blocked in various directions due to mountains and hills.

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With this setup I am getting about 20 to 100 messages / second with a max range of about 100mi. Comparing to others nearby I have similar results
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what I would like to know is, how this setup can be improved more (besides going up)?

I would like to know how to contact Dennis Ullich, see what kind of setup he has that results in much better reception in the same valley.

2

@PiTrblz
What is the length of RG6 coax between Antenna and DVB-T dongle?
An amplifier will improve reception if cable is long.

I used a Satellite Amplifier (RCA D903) when I made a dipole in 2013 and RG6 coax was 15 meters long.

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3

The distance between antenna and dongle is less than 1 meter (3ft)

4

Then most likely there is something wrong with your connectors or the pigtail.

Another possibility is low gain setting of dump1090-mutability.

Another likely candidate is your dipole antenna. Try a Spider or Cantenna.