Just started submitting ADS-B data to FlightAware. Really impressed with the site, service and support so far - very happy to continue contributing.
I currently use a cheap Chinese no brand DVB-T tuner for my ADS-B purposes. It works, it’s okay - but probably not the best. I have a better antenna in the post and will be building a cantenna over Christmas, but I have the feeling I can probably do better than my current DVB-T tuner so I’m looking to upgrade it. It isn’t purpose built and is probably a bit rubbish anyway (I read that capacitors and internals in general are a bit wonky), so happy to look for better devices.
I am running Debian 8 x64, so I built piaware and dump1090-mutability for my setup, so the requirement for it to be as plug and play as the current DVB-T tuner isn’t required but would be appreciated (I’m not using the SD card images for the Raspberry Pi, as I’m not using a Pi!).
I don’t mind spending a bit of money ($40 would be the area I’m aiming for), so if the FlightAware branded USB dongles are a good step up from the cheap DVB-T dongles (with the associated filter) then happy days. But if there are better ones in the same price range or otherwise, I would be really interested to hear from any of you guys that have gone this route and upgraded from a cheap DVB-T tuner and what I should look to go for (antenna aside).
These two dongles are FlightAware branded and were my first choice, but again I don’t know how these compare to the other RTL dongles out there at the moment.
The only exception I would note is if you need to a long run of coax. Then I would recommend the V3 RTL-SDR (Software enabled bias-t) and a hab/Nevis amp/filter(or another masthead amplifier).
If you want to run 24/7 then consider an RPI, Odroid, or some other low power SOC setup. They only cost a few dollars a month to run, compared to a few dollars per day for some desktops.
Antenna height (AMSL) is generally the most improvement you can make(after the antenna and dongle).
That’s really interesting - I wouldn’t have thought the filter would reduce the number of aircraft received. I was close to pushing the button on a Pro Plus stick today but as I live in a rural area with not many cell masts nearby, the Pro might suffice for me. I will definitely be trying the cantenna, but my ultimate goal is to put one of those exact antennas in my loft/attic for optimum performance.
That’s grand - thanks! I won’t be running a lot of coax - a metre or two at most.
As for my setup, I have a few home servers running that do various tasks which are on 24/7. Having a virtual machine on one of them that runs piaware and passing through whichever dongle I use to it is no hassle and contributes very little to the electricity bill when the machines are doing other things as well If I do end up with a long run of coax, I might put a Raspberry Pi near it and just run power/ethernet to it instead of having the long coax run.
If you’re getting the Pro Stick, you may need a filter if you’re running a good antenna. The reason is that noise picked up by even one source may overload the amplifier. Some have found the Pro Stick Plus gets best results with the external FA filter added.
I’m using the Pro Stick with the FA filter and the FA antenna, with the components directly attached with no cable (needed an adapter to connect the antenna to the filter, and I’m using a 15 ft USB cable to the Pi). I am considering getting the Pro Stick Plus to see how it compares.
But as to whether the FA hardware is good or not, it’s excellent and is great value for money.
Legend:
Red = Components with RF noise present, hence RF noise may cause overload of the Chips in this region.
Green = Components without RF noise, hence RF noise cannot cause overload of Chips in this region.
I fully agree, and recommend Flightaware 26" Antenna from Amazon.
However since making and trying Cantenna is fun, very easy, and at negligible cost, there is no harm trying it as a starter.
try a 4 element element coco too, cheap to make, hard to get right - but worth reading up on and understanding. Abcd has done good write up’s here when you’re ready in a few weeks time.
If I do end up with a long run of coax, I might put a Raspberry Pi near it and just run power/ethernet to it instead of having the long coax run.