Switch from Generic SDR dongle to Pro Stick Plus

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hi all,

I just received my order containing a Pro Stick Plus and the Flightaware Antenna.

I am currently running OK with a generic SDR dongle and small mcx antenna.

My question is :

What should I do to install the Pro Stick Plus on the Pi ? Is it just plug and play replacement or do I need to re-install all the software ?

Thanks for your support and help.

Regards

2

change the usb-dongle - reboot the pi → anything should work

3

I will try this :wink: Thanks.

Is there no specifics settings to be made to take advantage of the Pro Stick Plus VS generic SDR ?

Is it all done " under the hood " ?

Thx

4

the only setting where change maybe is need for is the gain setting. you could try differnt settings e.g. -10 50 45 40 35 30 etc. and see what gives you most aircrafts/messages. search forum for ‘gain’.

in most cases the default setting -10 is the best …

the pro stick plus is the same sdr as the generic but with amp/filter

5

Very good,

Thank you very much :slight_smile:

6

hi JBBJ

I did the upgrade a while ago, if you are not using a Pi2 or Pi3 you may find the need to upgrade as I did, mentioned here The new dongle worked very well, no other changes to antenna or cables, other than the SMA connector at the dongle end. I then found I had MLAT timing issues which changing the Pi2 for a Pi3 resolved. Not investigated the cause, more important things in life!

Roger

7

was a problem with raspbian kernel MLAT Anomalies - #61 by obj

8

Thanks TomMuc, I did not retry the Pi2 as I just swapped a 2 with a 3 and the problem went away.

Roger

9

… just to let you both know that there is nothing wrong with your pi2 and was just software problem :smiley:

tom

1 Like
10

I confirm Tom’s statement.
I am running Pi2 since March 2015 without any problems.

11

Hi guys,

All it took was a clean shutdown of the Pi and switch the dongles , then reconnect the power and voila, it works with great improvements ( X4 the number of airplanes ) in performance, but I guess the Antenna upgrate takes most of the credit for the improvements.