Extension cable for ADS-B USB Dongle (R820T)

[tsutton]

Hi all,

Using the ADS-B USB Dongle (R820T) with the aerial that came supplied with it without any problems.

However due to moving house, and having this in a different location (currently indoor now ) I need to extend the cable for the aerial, so it can be placed outside. The problem is... I can't find one that will fit this! I am in the UK, does anyone know where I can find one? I think 5M should be enough.

Cheers!

[G8VXY]

Are you looking for a 5m USB cable?

USB is not good over distance, 5m is the maximum for USB2 and then you would require a very good quality cable.

one way to extend your distance is to use a hub as a repeater.

The following may be of interest http://www.yourcablestore.com/USB-Ca...html#usb2limit

If you are thinking of greater distance there are devices that convert USB to CAT5 and back to USB, have not tried with the dongle but used with the Radar Box successfully.

Anyway plenty of 5m USB cables on Ebay for less than 3 quid, though I would not vouch for their quality.

[tsutton]

Hi, thanks for the reply, but no, it's not for the USB to be extended. I did say I'm looking to extend the cable for the aerial that came with it.

Cheers.

[G8VXY]

depends on the connector for your Antenna and the connector for your dongle?
then what quality cable you want to use, thicker cables like RG213 10mm outside diameter better quality but difficult for small connectors, smaller cable like RG58 will have more signal loss, also your dongle will probably require a MCX or SMA connectors that are so small they need a micro cable like RG.

But to start with what are the connectors you want to extend?

[tsutton]

Due to my setup, I will be staying with what I currently have so it will need to be MCX.

[Oblivian]

Extending the cable will end in a likely severe impact on range/signal quality. Especially with the non tuned factory antenna. Always a better idea to replace with low loss cable and a tuned antenna, or move to a Pi setup with it in the same position and control remotely

[tsutton]

Hi Oblivian,

I do already use PiZero as my setup for this and it's currently up inside the garage roof with the aerial indoor. I prefer to have the aerial to be placed outdoor for better coverage.

But if you're saying it's going to cause more issue than it is currently set up as, then I guess I will have to leave it as it is with the current setup. This is my current stats as of now.

Note: Thursday night is where I moved it to a new location (garage roof space). Before Thursday, it was next to a window downstairs, so I would see better stats by the end of today, hopefully.

Current stats so far:

FR24stats.PNG


Before the move to the new location, this is my previous stats.

FR24statsThurs.PNG