Start of my RPi journey

[POR911]

You are living at the end of the world so everything will take some time to arrive You better wait and order Pro stick plus otherwise you will end up with $53 plus $24 and still not sure if Chinese will work for you.

I've got this:
Link - not sure if link will work for you

Yes maty, your link worked ok, that was the dongle I found. May or may not do the job. Big difference in price for the probably Chinese built Flightaware version.

[matysldn]

OK, I answered my own question. I looked at the Aliexpress site a bit better and worked out the two items I would need. The blue DVB T-FM-DAB 820T2 dongle, and 1090MHz line filter would cost approx. AUD$29.00 delivered and would not arrive for another 30-40 days. The FlightAware Pro Stick Plus Blue Receiver will cost me AUD$53.20 delivered and arrive about the same time. The cost increase is AUD$24.00. Looking at the big picture, the FR24 feed price per annum credit will more than recoup the costs of the better receiver.

You are living at the end of the world so everything will take some time to arrive You better wait and order Pro stick plus otherwise you will end up with $53 plus $24 and still not sure if Chinese will work for you.

I've got this:
Link - not sure if link will work for you

[POR911]

OK, I answered my own question. I looked at the Aliexpress site a bit better and worked out the two items I would need. The blue DVB T-FM-DAB 820T2 dongle, and 1090MHz line filter would cost approx. AUD$29.00 delivered and would not arrive for another 30-40 days. The FlightAware Pro Stick Plus Blue Receiver will cost me AUD$53.20 delivered and arrive about the same time. The cost increase is AUD$24.00. Looking at the big picture, the FR24 feed price per annum credit will more than recoup the costs of the better receiver.

[POR911]

I've got Chinese from aliexpres for let than 6 dollars, reasonably good, especially for that price. Look at my stats above. Obviously you can't compare this to Pro Stick Plus, but for beginning why not ?? I just don't know if that(buy Chinese) way will be quicker for you?

Matysldn, I looked at their site....many choices. Which one did you get. And agree Magum, the cheap Chinese sticks may or may not work. For the time being, I am just trying to get onto the FR feed system. I can then improve. I will soon have my RPi, and will be itching to get setup.

Looks like I need a fair bit of homework studying abcd567 and others like wiedehopf posts to get my antenna built and working and feed scripts set up. At this stage, I will stay initially with FR feed, and may expand as experience picks up. For an old sod, quite exciting....

[magnum]

I wonder if those cheap Chinese dongles work in a reasonable fashion?

They work, or they wont. But these are nothing special. Some manufactures are just "creative" in boxing and naming their devices.
Be aware that they normally do not have any filter of amplifier built in, so significant lower performance compared to the blue FA stick.

If using such a "generic" device, you might also need an LNA and a Filter which will increase your cost again.

[matysldn]

I've got Chinese from aliexpres for let than 6 dollars, reasonably good, especially for that price. Look at my stats above. Obviously you can't compare this to Pro Stick Plus, but for beginning why not ?? I just don't know if that(buy Chinese) way will be quicker for you?

[POR911]

The temps you seem to be getting are not that 'high', and lower than I would have thought. I suppose the CPU is not working that hard. The info you both provide indicate my little Raspberrry may survive ok. I went ahead with the fan shim product. So, if it does get too hot, at least the processor will get cooled down.

Just advised by the only seller of the FlightAware Pro Stick Plus Blue Receiver, will not be shipped until second week of October because they have gone on holiday for the month. With money conversions and freight, not worth buying overseas, as their delivery dates are also in October some time. I wonder if those cheap Chinese dongles work in a reasonable fashion?

I saw the link for the fan controller last week, which is what started my journey for fan controllers. Gives me time I guess for building an antenna.

[magnum]

I have two Pis. On one I have dump1090-mutability ver 1.15, on the other I have dump1090-fa. I dont find any difference in performance due to this. The difference in performance comes with antenna location, antenna, amplifier, coax, filter etc.

The main difference between v1.15 & fa is appearance. The dump-mutab v1.15 looks like a house wife, dump-fa looks like a fashion model

And to make it more unique, you could also use dump-fa with the customized interfaces (tar and retro) from wiedehopf. Especially the last one turns the fashion model back into the house wife style. :-)

[magnum]

I'm using RasPi 2 B v1.1 which is older than yours, you're on RasPi 3 right?
I got gain set to -10 (auto gain) with homemade antenna and cheap dongle from China, I'm thinking of upgrading my dump1090 v1.15 to dump1090-fa apparently no big difference but people on dump1090-fa seems to get more messages. I didn't invest in my kit much money. RasPi and dongle cost me aprox. 12 euro in total. I've made an antenna myself and used old charger from my phone(5V 2A)

Yes, i am on a 3 B. Could be a reason.

-10 is AGC mode which let the device of the dongle run on full speed. You might need to check if this is the best setting for your environment.

[abcd567]

I have two Pis. On one I have dump1090-mutability ver 1.15, on the other I have dump1090-fa. I dont find any difference in performance due to this. The difference in performance comes with antenna location, antenna, amplifier, coax, filter etc.

The main difference between v1.15 & fa is appearance. The dump-mutab v1.15 looks like a house wife, dump-fa looks like a fashion model

[matysldn]

I am wondering why you have a much higher CPU utlization with less messages. Which Pi are you using and did you adjust gain level?

I'm using RasPi 2 B v1.1 which is older than yours, you're on RasPi 3 right?
I got gain set to -10 (auto gain) with homemade antenna and cheap dongle from China, I'm thinking of upgrading my dump1090 v1.15 to dump1090-fa apparently no big difference but people on dump1090-fa seems to get more messages. I didn't invest in my kit much money. RasPi and dongle cost me aprox. 12 euro in total. I've made an antenna myself and used old charger from my phone(5V 2A)

[magnum]

At the end the CPU itself is still in low frequency mode. These are my charts. I am living in the middle of germany with a certain amount of traffic over the day.

These are my graphs over the last days, the small spikes are coming from reboots or upgrades.

Messages and Aircraft:
Messages-14days.jpg

and the utilization of ADS-B, overall and temperature. The Raspi is located on 2nd floor under the roof in my home office.
utilization-14days.jpg

I am wondering why you have a much higher CPU utlization with less messages. Which Pi are you using and did you adjust gain level?

[matysldn]

I am feeding four sites and have a traffic of up to 150 aircraft at the same time. CPU load was always below 20%

That's a really good point. It depends on how much traffic you expect to have. More traffic, more messages then more CPU usage and higher temperatures.

dump1090-localhost-cpu-24h.png

CPU usage and messages related to each other.

dump1090-localhost-local_trailing_rate-24h.png

I'm going to show CPU temps but my RasPi is next to the window with direct sunlight from 12 pm to 4 pm, therefore, CPU temps not really related to the traffic.

system-localhost-temperature-24h.png

Readings from RasPi 2 B v1.1

[magnum]

As far as i have read recently, the fan can be kept running 24/7 on a lower speed. It depends how it's connected to the board.

Here's a guy thought already about fan speed on CPU temperature:

https://www.instructables.com/id/PWM-Regulated-Fan-Based-on-CPU-Temperature-for-Ras/

I am using a RPi 3B without fan, only passive heat sinks.
During summer the temperature beneath the roof went up to 30°, but the CPU temperature never went over 58°
I am feeding four sites and have a traffic of up to 150 aircraft at the same time. CPU load was always below 20%

[POR911]

It would seem, the cost for the RPi 4 and the RPi3+ are similar pricing. That said, I am going to get a RPi 3B+ local here in Aussie (AUD$61) as I do not need the power of the Rpi4, and they do run hotter than the 3+. In Australia, heat is a problem. I will also get the genuine power supply and heat sinks.

A case will be needed to keep the local lizards away. They kill many air con boards here unless I secure the board inside some containment. Here in Brisbane summer, we always in the high 30's to mid 40's, and in my garage, more so. As the device will be running 24/7 a fan will be needed otherwise the little thing will be roasted. I see plenty of cases with fans, but I do not want to run the fan 24/7...only when needed. Maybe the link (https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/fan-shim) from wiedehopf is the answer?