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  • #16
    Originally posted by abcd567 View Post
    I don't see anything in this photo which points to poor performance, or may be my eyesight not so good. What I missed?
    It's nothing like the photo of the genuine article that you posted and I have since googled and found it to be some sort of fake.

    The £4.99 Chinese dongle that I have been using blows this away, whatever it is.

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    • #17
      rtl-sdr dot com have their own ebay shop, you should only buy the v3 there or via their website (which also uses ebay i believe).

      Sorry to hear you got a fake.

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      • #18
        Yes, pretty disappointed. Seller looked good; thousands of reviews, so didn't look like a fly-by-night merchant. Lesson learned and ordered from rtl-sdr dot com now.

        Sorry to waste the forum's time.

        Help was much appreciated though.

        Cheers

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        • #19
          The more significant improvement is also getting their LNA:

          We're happy to announce the release of our new high performance low noise amplifier (LNA) for improving 1090 MHz ADS-B reception. The LNA uses a low noise figure high linearity two stage MGA-13116 amplifier chip and three stages of filtering to ensure that strong signals or interference will not overload either the amplifier or SDR dongle. The LNA is currently only available from our Chinese warehouse, and costs US$24.95 including shipping. Please note that the price may increase slightly in the future, and that Amazon USA may not be stocked until March. Click here to visit our store An LNA


          Without the LNA the dongles with integrated LNA are probably better.

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          • #20
            wiedehopf,

            you suggested this LNA to me as well. Did you see an improvement yourself while using this one?

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            • #21
              Yes, reception improved quite a bit for me compared to the FA ProStick+ even, which already has some filtering and an LNA.

              But you'll still be limited by buildings.
              The one row of trees across the river will be less of a problem though with the LNA.

              As standalone i wouldn't really recommend the v3 stick anyway, without an external LNA the blue FA Prostick+ or the green Radarbox flightstick are often better.
              Last edited by wiedehopf; 2019-08-10, 13:31.

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              • #22
                thank you, I use the RTL dongle and the antenna you suggested. (perhaps you remember). Guess will have to buy a LNA as well. the reception improved using the antenna outside compared to the Jetvision antenna and dongle.. About 20% more planes seen and messages even about 25%.
                Distance is still difficult because of the position of the antenna

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                • #23
                  Please don't call that whip antenna a jetvision antenna, there is an actual jetvision A3 antenna which is something different altogether

                  Maybe you can install your pi and antenna on a balcony higher up, if you know the other residents ... or maybe not, just thinking out aloud!

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                  • #24
                    Originally posted by wiedehopf View Post
                    The more significant improvement is also getting their LNA:

                    We're happy to announce the release of our new high performance low noise amplifier (LNA) for improving 1090 MHz ADS-B reception. The LNA uses a low noise figure high linearity two stage MGA-13116 amplifier chip and three stages of filtering to ensure that strong signals or interference will not overload either the amplifier or SDR dongle. The LNA is currently only available from our Chinese warehouse, and costs US$24.95 including shipping. Please note that the price may increase slightly in the future, and that Amazon USA may not be stocked until March. Click here to visit our store An LNA


                    Without the LNA the dongles with integrated LNA are probably better.
                    Ok, I've ordered the genuine replacement and their LNA, as recommended, thank you.

                    The seller of the fake dongle has refunded me and told me not to bother returning it. While I wait for the pukka device to arrive, I thought I'd see what the fake is capable of.

                    Firstly you should know that I have pretty much zero experience of radio. I got here because I had a spare Pi and a cheap dongle which I use with my phone to pickup the referee conversation when I go to watch rugby. I liked the idea of feeding FR24 so after using these items to set up a proof-of-concept system am now preparing to install this spare Pi and the soon-to-arrive RTL-SDR V3 as a more permanent fixture.

                    So with a total lack of experience this is what I have done:

                    To interrogate it a little I downloaded rtl_test.exe I have Windows 10 and loaded the drivers with Zadig. Whenever I try to run rtl_test I get "failed to open rtlsdr device #0" Tried loads of online solutions and nothing seems to get me passed this error. When I discovered that my "working" (for FR24) dongle exhibits the same behaviour, I gave up on this approach.

                    I then downloaded and installed SDR#; plugged the fake dongle into the front of my PC; stuck a 10cm wire tie wrap in the aerial hole and happily set about listening to commercial FM radio stations. SDR# reports the tuner as an R820T. Comparing the graphs of this dongle to that of the one I have been feeding FR24, both set with 28db gain, they both look very similar, in fact to be honest the fake stick seems to have slightly better SNR.

                    Winding through the spectrum with this rudimental aerial shows what seems to be 'signals' everywhere, on both dongles.

                    I then downloaded dump1090 for Windows just in case the problem is some configuration or mismatch with the Pi. My original dongle immediately lists aircraft traffic, but the fake dongle refuses to acknowledge anything.

                    As I say, this is just academic play on my part along with a little self-education, but is there anything interesting that can be deduced from any of this, or any other 'experiments' that I can undertake to learn more about the capabilities/differences between these devices?

                    Cheers

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                    • #25
                      Maybe it's one of the fitipower tuners (for those 1090 MHz is right at the edge of where they can tune, reception is very poor).

                      rtl_test shows the tuner at the start normally.

                      Apart from that, if you are curious about aircraft, you can listen to airband.
                      You'll need to use amplitude modulation (AM) and check for signals in the 120 MHz to 135 MHz range.

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                      • #26
                        Originally posted by wiedehopf View Post
                        Maybe it's one of the fitipower tuners (for those 1090 MHz is right at the edge of where they can tune, reception is very poor).

                        rtl_test shows the tuner at the start normally.

                        Apart from that, if you are curious about aircraft, you can listen to airband.
                        You'll need to use amplitude modulation (AM) and check for signals in the 120 MHz to 135 MHz range.
                        This is all I get from rtl_test:

                        Found 1 device(s):
                        0: ezcap USB 2.0 DVB-T/DAB/FM dongle

                        Using device 0: ezcap USB 2.0 DVB-T/DAB/FM dongle
                        Failed to open rtlsdr device #0.


                        I'll be giving your airband suggestion a go and seeing what that produces.

                        Cheers

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                        • #27
                          Well on Windows i don't know what it takes to make it work.
                          (selecting the correct device for installing the drivers is important i think)

                          In linux you need to stop whatever is using the donge before starting rtl_test.

                          Anyway it's not that important, fact is the reception at 1090 MHz is awful for that device.

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