Now that the outside air temps have dropped below 90°F I was able to enter my attic to relocate a fan cooled RPi 4 from my comm closet to the attic. I eliminated 20’ of high quality USB3 cable by connecting the FA blue dongle directly to the RPi. So far the CPU temp hovers around 65°C.
CS2 Stats
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USB extension is the worse idea. Seconded only by putting the electronics in attic.
I don’t get why people are scared of plain old coaxial cable extension… especially when you can buy it with connectors installed.
I’m in a condo where no outside antennas are allowed. Otherwise I’d put everything on a chimney mounted mast.
BTW my attic has many electronic devices - ozone generator, air filter, air handler, smoke detector and security system sensors.
Not necessarily, it depends on the quality
I am using a 2 Meter USB extension and it gives me exactly the performance as i would plug in the stick directly into the raspberry port.
But i also have an extension which decreases performance of the receiver by 30%
I didn’t say to put it outside. I was wondering why you choose initially to use 20’ of USB cable instead of 20’ of coax.
That’s all.
He is talking about 7 meters…
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People choose USB extensions for a few reasons:
- Heat control - less heat transfer to/from the radio
- Eliminate signal loss / So long as the cable isn’t dropping packets, using a USB extension will outperform lossy Coax/LMR IE, zero signal attenuation since it’s already been processed
- Maintains ability to perch antenna in a higher area and keep the SBC accessible and/or out of the weather.
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None of those are true (for the above case), but whatever…
You’re talking about USB extension in general:
USB extension is the worse idea
In some cases a USB extension makes more sense than a coax if it comes to the point where to put it. Through some windows a USB cable can be put through easier than a coax cable.
I would always test any cable compared to a shorter one before i mount it somewhere.
A buddy of mine has the same issue.
He put up a nice “flag pole”, as flags are allowed where he lives.
Its a DPD antenna with an American flag hanging on it mounted on an eve with a flag pole mount
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I thought about that, but there was no way to run a cable shorter than 50’.
If a cable was spotted during an inspection, I’d have to remove it.
Do they inspect it every week? 
Yes, exterior inspection is every week. I know, I’m an officer on the board.
Take everyone in the board out for a pint of beer then…
New meaning to the phrase “beer goggles”.
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USB isn’t THAT bad…
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Dang, that stinks. Stuff like that around here is just inspected at installation and never checked again.
That can become quite expensive immediately 
Yeah, but we all have to suffer for this hobby! 
Right now I am looking at a cart on Uptronics that says 86.24 UK pounds and I wonder if I should hit the buy button…
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And? Decision made after eight hours thinking about it?
Noo, I had slept over it and it’s still in the cart
However, I did a scan this morning to see if I really need it or just want it. Still not sure…
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I just decided that I need a Sysmocom cavity filter.
Next month I’m sure I need something else 
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