best antenna

[SpaxmoidJAm]

yeah that is the trouble with being near a busy airport, all the close by traffic drowns out the distant traffic.

[volkerjacob]

GREAT! CONGRATULATIONS

now i think about a amplifier, but i don`t know, if its worth ......

[abcd567]

OK - DIY 8+1/4 λ CoCo is now fitted into a Fiberglass tube and connected to a 8$ DVB-T stick with FA1090 filter
..................

GREAT! CONGRATULATIONS

[volkerjacob]

OK - DIY 8+1/4 λ CoCo is now fitted into a Fiberglass tube and connected to a 8$ DVB-T stick with FA1090 filter

DSC_0021.jpg
before - my CoCo still at PVC tube ....

DSC_0022.jpg
after tube change ....

8035348da8824b91965d293f20292f37.png
at roof

02b05c9dd4184caba9078aa3b5f50dbb.jpg
dump1090 result

cca30c4061a0468e9ab1f90a02a5ae99.jpg
adsbscope result

[DavidH]

Hi abcd yes I have a 1/2 wave dipole, to be honest is hard to improve on it, my antenna is not in an ideal position, far from it, I'm trying to find a good antenna to put up on the roof, before I climb up there, I must admit that at the moment both the jpole and the bicone are just winning, but they both have points on the plus and minus side.

Dave

[abcd567]

I never gave it thought, I have built 3 and I can confirm its not the way to go, planes went down from 80+ to 40, messages went down from 600+ to 500, but all these bits of bent wire have there own personality, I lose aircraft landing at Gatwick around 2500 ft but with the quad I can see them down to 1200 ft. One steep forward two steps back, the only problem is the steps back are bigger then the steps forward, I did try one with the twist taken out so the elements were vertical but that wasn't any good either.

Well not one to be beaten I'm trying a bicone at the moment and early indications are it just has the edge over the jpole.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8067[/ATTACH]


Dave

Have you tried a 1/4 wavelength Ground Plane like Spider or Cantenna? These are easy & sure antennas, and serve as good refrence /benchmark for evaluating various antennas you make. Have a look here:

3 EASY ANTENNAS FOR BEGINNERS

.
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[DavidH]

Dave, it should be possible to build one accurately enough, in the past I have successfully made quadrifilar antennae for GPS reception, however ADSB signals are not circularly polarised so I don't know how successful this would be, please give it a try and post your results.

I never gave it thought, I have built 3 and I can confirm its not the way to go, planes went down from 80+ to 40, messages went down from 600+ to 500, but all these bits of bent wire have there own personality, I lose aircraft landing at Gatwick around 2500 ft but with the quad I can see them down to 1200 ft. One steep forward two steps back, the only problem is the steps back are bigger then the steps forward, I did try one with the twist taken out so the elements were vertical but that wasn't any good either.

Well not one to be beaten I'm trying a bicone at the moment and early indications are it just has the edge over the jpole.

B5B45D59-595C-4D9F-87FE-12350A9FA717_zpsjuwgdmvt.jpg


Dave

[Oblivian]

GFK /sorry german) = GFRP Glas Fiber Reinforced Plastic - at the moment i use a PCV tube ....

at same location with a G-7RGQ i got only around 15000 frames with 100 nm max range. Location is in my garden 1m under roof - new location would be at roof....

If you were wondering (since I see you also deleted another message saying you don't like forums due to moderation)

It's because you were quoting someone within 5 posts with @s. Naminly abcd567 trying to get your attention like you would on twitter (or a spam post with contact details for UNLOCKED IPHONE7 etc

Unfortunately the side effect of the auto moderator is it does not notify us of it, and we have to look out for the mention on the post itself. Don't read the thread often = goes unnoticed.

[F-EGLF1]

Hi to all who have posted on this thread, I bumped into flight tracking by accident looking for something completely different.
I have taken the time to read every post in this thread, and had to register to see the pictures, there's a lot of dedication from the posters and a wealth of information.
I've had my setup on test for a couple of weeks and am using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a mini iPad, like most I started with the standard antenna that came with the dongle, when I looked it had a m3 stub so I used a brass circuit board post and a m3 cap screw to make a 1/4 wave antenna, that showed an improvement. I was set on building a coco but as I progressed further down the thread I went of the idea due to the inconsistency reported, in the end I settled for a jpole, that has given me a further improvement. At the moment I'm working on one of these.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8062[/ATTACH]
I used one for APT a number of years ago and it was definitely the best for that job, but I think at 1090 MHz accuracy will be the big hurdle.

Dave

Dave, it should be possible to build one accurately enough, in the past I have successfully made quadrifilar antennae for GPS reception, however ADSB signals are not circularly polarised so I don't know how successful this would be, please give it a try and post your results.

[DavidH]

Hi to all who have posted on this thread, I bumped into flight tracking by accident looking for something completely different.
I have taken the time to read every post in this thread, and had to register to see the pictures, there's a lot of dedication from the posters and a wealth of information.
I've had my setup on test for a couple of weeks and am using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a mini iPad, like most I started with the standard antenna that came with the dongle, when I looked it had a m3 stub so I used a brass circuit board post and a m3 cap screw to make a 1/4 wave antenna, that showed an improvement. I was set on building a coco but as I progressed further down the thread I went of the idea due to the inconsistency reported, in the end I settled for a jpole, that has given me a further improvement. At the moment I'm working on one of these.

0866680A-7B59-445B-9F17-61525EAD2554_zpsuguoq0o6.jpg
I used one for APT a number of years ago and it was definitely the best for that job, but I think at 1090 MHz accuracy will be the big hurdle.

Dave

[volkerjacob]

@volkerjacob:

1) You need to compare your 8+1/4 λ CoCo with a reference antenna at same location and heigt to asses how good/bad your CoCo is.

A 1/4 λ Ground plane antenna is a 'sure and easy to make' antenna, and serves as a good reference/benchmark antenna.

2) What is GFK? Can you please give it's full name?

3) Increasing antenna height improves range/plane count/messages.

GFK /sorry german) = GFRP Glas Fiber Reinforced Plastic - at the moment i use a PCV tube ....

at same location with a G-7RGQ i got only around 15000 frames with 100 nm max range. Location is in my garden 1m under roof - new location would be at roof....

[abcd567]

@volkerjacob:

1) You need to compare your 8+1/4 λ CoCo with a reference antenna at same location and heigt to asses how good/bad your CoCo is.

A 1/4 λ Ground plane antenna is a 'sure and easy to make' antenna, and serves as a good reference/benchmark antenna.

2) What is GFK? Can you please give it's full name?

3) Increasing antenna height improves range/plane count/messages.

[Ronny Jonckers]

@ccz
The lower parts of the stats:
Plot and Histogram.JPG
When I move the mouse over the histogram, I see
46 trackings above 150nm With a maximum of 321nm
1x160nm
1x166nm
1x172nm
1x173nm
1x174nm
1X177nm
1x178nm
3x179nm
1x180nm
1X184nm
1x186nm
5x197nm
1x200nm
1x202nm
3x206nm
1x212nm
2x213nm
2x214nm
1x220nm
1x226nm
1x233nm
1x241nm
1x251nm
1x258nm
1x260nm
1x264nm
1x273nm
1x275nm
1x283nm
1x292nm
1x301nm
1x302nm
1x309nm
1x312nm
1x315nm
1x321nm

[ccz]

The result: from 105nm to 321nm
[ATTACH=CONFIG]8048[/ATTACH]

Nice, good work!
Would you mind posting also the lower part of the stats? Just pick a full day on this antenna.
I am interested in the histogram mostly.

Here is my spider:
charts.png

Great!
Some noise sources heat up too much. I purchased one which became so hot I used to fry eggs on it . Few days after purchase, it burned itself to death
Someone has installed on his similar noise source, a recycled cooling fan from a discarded video card, and it is still surviving.

Thanks for the advice, will look out of excessive heat.
I ordered 2 different models, both were around 15$. I could make a mini review of them after trying them out.

[abcd567]

My "Super" PCB, now with wideband amplifier and 1090 MHz filter.
.....image snipped.......
Same configuration as by the coco, but with 50 Ohm H155 coax, top height 6 meter (top chimney) + 50 cm (pvc tube + PCB Antenna)
.....image snipped.......
.....image snipped.......
The result: from 105nm to 321nm
.....image snipped.......

Wow, great, congratulations.