Yet another antenna question.

hello everyone,i have not bought anything yet,but i intend to soon.my question is,can i use my radio scanner antenna ,with a “T” BNC,to split the wires…one for scanner and one for the ADS-B set up? this is the antenna …

amazon.com/Antennacraft-ST4- … er+antenna

i also spotted a “kit” on amazon with what seems to be everything on the list here on FlightAware,to build the thing.

amazon.com/dp/B00LVAFC7Y/ref … X42KE3M1TX

also…for a complete idiot (me :unamused: ) does this thing then connect to my computer?..or to my monitor?..or do i need a separate monitor?

Thanks Dave

That kit looks well priced

You need the Raspberry Pi, SD card, power supply

  • the wifi dongle is nice if you cant install a wired network connectio, but can be a pig to configure
  • heatsinks, I don’y have them and don’t have problems
  • case - just proyection

You also need a tuner like this one amazon.com/DVB-T-RTL2832U-TV … ords=r820t

The tuner has a MCX socket - so you need a converter to take whatever your downlead is to that (look on ebay often they come with the tuner)

I wouldn’t use a plain ‘T’ so split the signals - strange things happen at high frequencies with signals bouncing from ends of coax depending on coax length, signal wavelenth and ‘cable velocity factor’ - better to install a separate ADS-B antenna. Make a really simple dipole in the first case, then get one for a few dollars of ebay

Once you get the raspberry pi, you will also need a keyboard, mouse, and a monitor/tv with HDMI. Then follow these instructions: flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/build.
Once everything is set up, you can enable ssh and then use something like “putty” to log in to the raspberry pi box remotely. If you do that, you will no longer need the keyboard, mouse, and monitor/tv. Also, you could move the raspberry pi to another location if you wish.

The instructions and image provided by FlightAware do not actually require a keyboard, mouse, or monitor/TV. You can setup the Pi without any of that and still ssh in.

To get people started I simply cut the little Magnetic antenna that comes with the receiver dongle dow to 68mm overall height and put the set-up near a window. That usually sees enough to know it works. (just be sure to move the plastic end cap of the cut off bit and onto the shortened antenna - its real sharp when its cut.)

I currently am feeding from Raspberry Pi and Piaware with that antenna on the roof gutter of my house - and adapting the cable with a high quality coax to bring it indoors… If you look at my stats you will see that gets me up to 200NM in the directions that I am not shielded by hills.

HTH

David

You can get really good results from a simple antenna - 200nm isn’t difficult if the antenna is high and outside.

You can get 50nm more with a great antenna but to reliably get more then that - you need to upgrade from the dongle based receiver to something better.

I’d also recommend using the magnetic antenna base that comes with most tuners and then to solder your own antenna stick onto that one as shown in the following snapshot:


so you don’t have to fiddle with the tiny MCX connector. Or else use an extension as suggested above.

My antenna looks like this

http://kikuyumoja.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/jke-antenna-julia-1024x1024.jpg.

Stats with this setup are sufficient for the moment (close to EDDF).

(full story here kikuyumoja.com/2014/10/10/how-i- … a-piaware/)