Airnav RadarBox paired with DPD Productions ADS-B Antenna

[mancow]

How far up do you have that antenna Lindsay?

 

[blantonl]

it's on top of my roof - probably about 30-40 ft or so.

 

[mancow]

Great, I have one of those antennas and will be feeding it with some LMR400. It will be at a similar height. I'm hoping to get results somewhere close to what you experience once the receiver arrives.

 

[blantonl]

Note that my RadarBox is installed in the attic and is connected to the antenna via a 4 foot patch cable that exists a vent to the roof. So I have absolutely minimal coax between the RadarBox and the antenna.

I then run about 50 ft of Ethernet cable from the attic to the computer and use a USB/Ethernet extender setup to send the USB over that.

 

[mancow]

Great idea. I could do that too with my setup since the tower pole runs near the attic/roof peak vent. I could place the box up there.

 

[blantonl]

Here is what my antenna installation looks like. I live up on a hill, with the hillside continuing up to the north from my location and us looking "out" to the south, thus my great range out into Mexico and the gulf and east and a little more limited to the north.

 

[blantonl]

Also, if you are serious about your setup - I strongly encourage you to get a good quality LNA. I'm using this:

Mini-Circuits

It probably added 50-75nm of range to my setup.

 

[NE1C4NSC4N]

Hi Lindsay,

Thanks for posting the pic, and info for your setup, I've been thinking about buying the DPD ADS-B antenna, and also been playing around with my setup to increase my range.

Did you have the box at your desktop originally? Was there much difference when you switched to your attic?

Also, about how tall is the DPD Antenna?

Thanks.

 

[CYUL]

For my setup - I recently added a Mini-circuits ZRL-2400LN+ LNA (1000-2000 MHz) between the DPD productions antenna and the AirNav Radarbox. T..

Is the amp closer to the antenna or the RB? I'm running my DPD off almost 125ft of cable, so I am concerned about noise.

 

[abqscan]

I tried a filter from minicircuits and it helps out in my location a TON!!!! My Beast is almost deaf without a filter attached

http://www.minicircuits.com/pdfs/VBFZ-1065+.pdf

 

[02blackss]

I guess I have the same question. Where was this filter installed? Was it put in right at the radarbox connection itself?

regards,

Since this is not a preamp, I would think it would not matter where you put it????

 

[abqscan]

I have the filter connected directly to the Beast, and the antenna connected to the filter.

 

[CYUL]

I have the filter connected directly to the Beast, and the antenna connected to the filter.

Hey, what is the "beast"? The antenna or the Radarbox ?

Also, what is the most common for of interference that the RB can experience? I live in a metro area and there are a fair amount of microwave & other UHF towers around.

Thanks

 

[02blackss]

Hey, what is the "beast"? The antenna or the Radarbox ?

Also, what is the most common for of interference that the RB can experience? I live in a metro area and there are a fair amount of microwave & other UHF towers around.

Thanks

I just ordered the filter as we speak. Shipping to canada is of course...outrageous. Twice the price of the part itself...but I believe it also includes duties in the price.

I already have amazing range, but lets see if I can tweak it a bit with this filter...

 

[abqscan]

Hey, what is the "beast"? The antenna or the Radarbox ?

Also, what is the most common for of interference that the RB can experience? I live in a metro area and there are a fair amount of microwave & other UHF towers around.

Thanks

The Beast is a high performance Mode-S and Mode-A/C receiver and decoder.

MODE-S BEAST - Your Airspace Observer - Product


I don't have a clue what is killing my reception at my location, however, without a filter, my messages per second decrease to only 10-15/sec, vs +500 with a filter.

 

[blantonl]

I'm intrigued - looks like I'll need to purchase this bandpass filter to see how I can even better increase range.

Mini-circuits really is a paradise for helpful hardware for our hobbies

 

[E-Man]

Thats amazing range. So you are using the Mini-Circuits ZRL-2400LN:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...P024gjskEnmEmHAbetPReTQ&bvm=bv.41934586,d.b2I

Thats awesome, and good to know the Radarbox can handle all that Gain.

 

[E-Man]

duplicate

 

[Markb]

I have actually been looking for a filter! In PlanePlotter, my Mode-S pulse rate window has a lot if artifact in it. I'm wondering how that effects my reception. My Mode-S message rate is around 350, which seems a little light for the Los Angeles area. The amp seems interesting too. I'll have to add one to my wish list

 

[mikewazowski]

Also, if you are serious about your setup - I strongly encourage you to get a good quality LNA. I'm using this:

Mini-Circuits

It probably added 50-75nm of range to my setup.

Lindsay, what is the part or model # of the LNA? The link to Mini-Circuits comes back with a complaint that the search criteria didn't return any results.

Thanks!