ADSBexchange.com dongle

[Cognomen]

Has anyone tried the ADSBexchange.com blue dongle? Thinking of getting one for ADS-B, as it has an R820T2, LNA, 1090MHz filter, .5ppm TCXO, and aluminum housing.

Also considering their orange dongle for AIS and general reception. Same specs but no 1090MHz filter.

This will be my first experience with SDR dongles. I welcome the opinions of anyone who has used either of them.

 

[belvdr]

Frankly, unless you want something specific, I suggest an AirSpy Mini R2. Great little device that just works and doesn’t get overly hot.

 

[GTR8000]

I have a few of the orange Pro Sticks, which I use mostly for decoding trunked systems with Unitrunker or SDRTrunk, however I do have one of them connected to a super cheap $10 ADS-B antenna out in the garage, and it works great considering I put almost no effort into it.

If you only plan on using the dongle for ADS-B, and live in a high RF area (including nearby cell sites), then it's probably worth the few extra bucks for the Pro Stick Plus with the integrated bandpass filter.

 

[Cognomen]

Thanks for your responses.

Belvdr, I looked up the specs of the Airspy Mini; very informative. ADSBexchange.com does not appear to have similarly-detailed published specs for their dongles. I didn't see an Airspy Mini R2, just a the larger Airspy R2.

GTR8000, I believe you are referring to the FlightAware dongles (Pro Stick and Pro Stick Plus). Same colour scheme as the ADSBechange dongles, but plastic housings. I like the idea of an aluminum housing for heat dissipation and RF shielding.

I do live in a high-RF area. My own radios (lol) plus a nearby cell site.

I was initially planning to get two dongles, one with a 1090MHz filter for better ADS-B performance. I thought about getting just one dongle and an external filter which could be installed/removed as necessary. This would also place the LNA after the filter. But less-friendly for portable use with a tablet.

I did plan on using a short USB extension cable to reduce stress on the tablet's USB connector (with OTG adapter).

Another consideration is the RTL-SDR Blog V3, which also has detailed published specs. I need to do more research. Lots of info to absorb.

 

[belvdr]

Sorry I meant the AirSpy R2. I have no idea why I put Mini in there. I have one and it works great and barely gets warm.

Unlike the RTL dongles, there’s not messing with zadig to get the correct drivers installed. I had one of those and it was okay to start with but I quickly upgraded to an SDRplay. I still have an RSPdx but prefer the AirSpy, as it is plug and play.

 

[jeepsandradios]

I use a cheap RTL from amazon and it works well. Im not in a high RF area. Pretty cheap way to start out.

 

[belvdr]

I use a cheap RTL from amazon and it works well. Im not in a high RF area. Pretty cheap way to start out.

Agreed. Worst thing that can happen is you spent $30 to find out it didn't work out.