Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Replace DVBT stick with Flightaware Pro

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Replace DVBT stick with Flightaware Pro

    As in the title, I'm feeding in to Flightradar 24 using a Raspberry Pi3 and an unbranded DVB-T stick, its in my garage with the aerial in the roof section, at the moment I dont want to go down the route of an outside aerial.

    So looking to improve the range I have bought a Flightaware Pro stick (I'm only going to feed Flightradar), this has a built in amplifier, I was looking to simply replace my existing stick with this one, however when it was delivered today it says I will need a filter. Has anyone tried one without a filter, or know what I could expect if I did?
    T-EGNJ48 Raspberry Pi3, Flightaware yellow stick/filter and Radar-Rama antenna
    Based in North Lincolnshire England

  • #2
    Originally posted by Lincolnshire Poacher View Post
    however when it was delivered today it says I will need a filter.

    That is not true, it MAY need a filter, that depends fully on your local RF environment, how close you are to other transmitters etc. But it is very hard to know without having a filter to test with, to see if it is better or worse.

    /M
    F-ESDF1, F-ESGG1, F-ESGP1, F-ESNK1, F-ESNV2, F-ESNV3 F-ESSL4, F-ESNZ7, F-LFMN3
    T-ESNL1, T-ESNL2, T-ESGR15
    P-ESIA, P-ESIB, P-ESGF, P-ESSN, P-EFMA
    mrmac (a) fastest.cc

    Comment


    • #3
      From where did you buy the Pro Stick and how were you advised to use a filter?
      Mike


      www.radarspotting.com

      Radarspotting since 2005

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Anmer View Post
        From where did you buy the Pro Stick and how were you advised to use a filter?

        I bought it from a UK ebay seller, it came with a Flightaware info card and a small information sheet that says

        Attention

        This receiver has a high performance amp that requires a 1090MHz filter or custom gain settings to work correctly.

        Please go to

        and then a web address for Flightaware.com setup.
        T-EGNJ48 Raspberry Pi3, Flightaware yellow stick/filter and Radar-Rama antenna
        Based in North Lincolnshire England

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks.

          As MrMac says, the amp isn't always necessary. I took mine off and there was no change in performance.
          Mike


          www.radarspotting.com

          Radarspotting since 2005

          Comment


          • #6
            Hi Lincolnshire Poacher,
            Just checking out your current stats (Saturday 11 Feb '17) & can see the following:

            Rank Radar Username Country GBR Overall score Uptime Max range Avg range
            501 T-EGNJ48 LincsPoacher United Kingdom 8,939 698 100 32


            I think the main problem with the range you are getting is the aerial location. As you've said above, "its in my garage with the aerial in the roof section, at the moment I dont want to go down the route of an outside aerial."
            I can't see the range improving without moving the antenna to the highest, unobstructed point possible on your roof.


            Cheers,
            Steve


            T-YBUD2 Win7, DVB-T, Homemade Co-linear Antenna.

            Comment


            • #7
              That will have to be my next move, putting the aerial outside.
              T-EGNJ48 Raspberry Pi3, Flightaware yellow stick/filter and Radar-Rama antenna
              Based in North Lincolnshire England

              Comment


              • #8
                Was it the Orange or Blue ProStick? The blue one has the filter built in. If it's the Orange one and you want the filter you can get them from Amazon for 17 quid.
                T-EGPH93 | My Live Feed | ADSB Receiver: Raspberry Pi3+, RTL-SDR v3, RTL-SDR LNA, FA Antenna | Airband Receiver: RPi3 & Diamond D777

                Comment


                • #9
                  1) Flightaware Antenna+Filter+Pro Stick+Pi
                  2) Cantenna+DVB-T+Pi
                  Located near a large window in an apartment, 60 ft above ground.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hookup of Flightaware Antenna, Filter, and ProStick

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      First I would like to say thank you to all who gave advice. I now have had the Flightaware stick and filter installed, I've seen the maximum range go up from 100 to 150 miles, as a result I am also now picking up a lot more aircraft.

                      I'm now considering mounting the antenna externally, my set up is in the garage so I am undecided as to go for mounting on the garage or as high as I can get on the house roof. The house roof will mean a much longer cable run as the garage is detached.

                      LP
                      T-EGNJ48 Raspberry Pi3, Flightaware yellow stick/filter and Radar-Rama antenna
                      Based in North Lincolnshire England

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Steve N View Post
                        Hi Lincolnshire Poacher,
                        Just checking out your current stats (Saturday 11 Feb '17) & can see the following:

                        Rank Radar Username Country GBR Overall score Uptime Max range Avg range
                        501 T-EGNJ48 LincsPoacher United Kingdom 8,939 698 100 32


                        I think the main problem with the range you are getting is the aerial location. As you've said above, "its in my garage with the aerial in the roof section, at the moment I dont want to go down the route of an outside aerial."
                        I can't see the range improving without moving the antenna to the highest, unobstructed point possible on your roof.


                        Cheers,
                        Steve


                        T-YBUD2 Win7, DVB-T, Homemade Co-linear Antenna.
                        I now have the Flightaware stick (yellow) and filter connected to a Radar-Rama antenna, its still in my garage although I have re positioned the antenna. The net result is a good gain, range has gone up by about 70/80nm, average range gone up by 20nm and both still rising. So the Flightaware stick and filter were well worth it.

                        Looking at the range plot I have gaps where I am blocked by buildings, my next stage will be to go for a roof mount for the antenna, I'm unsure as to stay with the Radar-Rama antenna or go with the flight aware, also advice on the best cable to use would be appreciated.

                        I suspect that with a roof mounted antenna I will no longer have a reduced range in some directions because of buildings and I hope to see my max range go to 220/230nm. From my location it that would cover from the other side of the channel to Glasgow and over to Ireland Belfast/Dublin and beyond.
                        T-EGNJ48 Raspberry Pi3, Flightaware yellow stick/filter and Radar-Rama antenna
                        Based in North Lincolnshire England

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I've just come back with brand new 1090 antenna, and Blue FlightAware Prostick plus with built in 1090 filter and amp and I cannot get any signals. My old stick is seeing planes albeit a limited range. Have I got a duff stick or is there a different config needed?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Not any plane?

                            I've realized that the stick can "see" planes even if no antenna is attached.
                            Are you using an SD card image or did you set it up manually?

                            Maybe it's the best to get an image, write to an SD card and test it with that to avoid any misconfiguration

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Did you test the old stick with the new cabling+antenna?

                              You can test the ProStick+ by sticking a 6.5 cm wire into the SMA connector.
                              Like that it should already receive something when pointed upwards.

                              Apart from a cabling problem, it could also be that interference is overloading the LNA which comes before the filter.
                              If that is the case and you don't receive basically anything, then an additional FA filter may help but won't give you really good performance.
                              Thus i'd recommend this combo of an external LNA and a stick to power it: https://github.com/wiedehopf/adsb-wi...of-lna--dongle

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X