Very new at this so bear with me please! Basic Pi3B+ PiAware, Blue dongle, 60cm external antenna (currently in loft). Is there a quick way, graph or something perhaps, where I can see the effects of trying to improve my setup. Plan on getting the antenna outside, plug dongle into Pi directly (currently using a shirt extension cable as dongle blocks USB ports) etc but would love to be able to immediately see the results, if any, of my efforts. Currently just using the basic stats screen
https://www.flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/
Depending wether you are using the Piaware image or the package on top of the Raspberry OS you could install this one:
Shows some nice graphs how the device is performing. Discussions about the results you will find in this forum as well.
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Yes, using PiAware image, saying -
Feeder Type: PiAware (SD Card) 8.2
Not sure if the graphs1090 scripts are working on Piaware image 
Yes sir. I am running that exact PiAware SD card 8.2 setup and the 1090 graphs work straight away.
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Cool, good to know. Thanks for confirmation.
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Thanks for the info and update. I’ll get on it tomorrow when I get another dongle delivered and can leave one system running and play with another on a Zero2 W. Need to get up a ladder too to fix antenna to roof but for now it’ll have to make do in the loft!
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I would suggest, from my experience, that you get the 1090 graphs up and running on your system before you plug the dongle directly in to the Pi so that you can see first-hand the effects of that move. I was initially plugged directly into the Pi and found that there was a heat advantage to the Pi processor with having the dongle Not directly connected and transfering heat into the Pi by having the short USB connection supporting the dongle. The short USB also removes the physical stresses on the USB connection at the Pi. The relaxed fit contributes to better reliability of the USB physical connectivity, in my opinion.
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You will need a good USB extension cable. Bad/Cheap cables decrease performance by 30% or more. I’ve seen this by myself using a cheaper extension cable.
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That was the plan, to sort the graphs before the changes. I only used the short (and right angled) extension so I could plug a keyboard in. The blue dongle seemed to block all the other USB ports on the Pi. Eventual plan is to use a Zero 2 W with a short cables USB hub thing (supplied with the Pi)
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If you have a lot of aircraft traffic that you will be receiving, the Zero2W will struggle to keep up. I had to change mine out and opted in for a Pi 4. The 4 is a nice upgrade just in ease of connectivity and would have started with that if I knew the difference starting out.
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What constitutes a lot of aircraft? If I’m reading the stats page correctly then I’m seeing circa 1100 per day. That’s the total ‘Aircraft Reported’ on the coloured table.
A lot of aircraft would be around the double number that you are receiving at the moment.
I have setups with 2800 aircraft a day and 600.000 positions of those aircraft.
It all depends on where you’re located and if you are near major airports this number can even be higher
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I’m in a high-volume location in Central Florida and I’m seeing an approximate average of 4500 aircraft a day with Positions average of near to 1,750,000 a day. The Zero 2 W wasn’t up to the task.
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Seems I might be OK then with around 85,000 positions reported. I’ll bear those higher figures in mind once I get this set up better. I’ve got a spare Pi 4 lying around somewhere ‘just in case’
Compare it with other stations around you. Then you can see if you’re going to improve
Further to my questions - what I thought was a Pi Zero 2W was just a Zero, so that’s going back to Amazon. Now trying with a Pi 4. Question: if I’m using a second SDR dongle (green, AirNav RadarBox this one) do I need to claim and set up another site? Guessing I can’t have two receivers on the same ID?
Can I have them both under my name and email?
You can have as many receivers as you like. Both are counted seperately in your account.
If you want to use it on the same Raspberry, make sure that you serialize them.
Beside them it doesn’t make much sense to run a similar feeder twice.
There are a few cases where this might be ok (e.g. a wall between the two antennas which prevents you from a round view), but in most cases you won’t get any better result.
Yeah, just playing at the moment. Will use the second one to experiment with the suggested graphing add-on. Might even take it when we next go away somewhere.
I appreciate all the friendly advice