Flight aware orange stick, larson 154 vertical on a base ground plane adapter and a Raspberry Pi4

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KMG54

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Ok, need advice. What I want to do is have a dedicated VHF low set up for my county. These are things I have already. 99% of Pickens county SC is VHF low. None of my scanners pick it up very well as I am on the Greenville border and in a literal jungle. I would like to use the Pi and software that has a scan function for public safety. I am not very familiar with Linux or ARM distros, so am seeking advice. It will be used for non trunking analog only. Any advice? I already have DSD+ Fastlane working fine on a windows computer for Greenville county, would just like to hear more Pickens county.
 

Forts

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You might find the Orange FlightAware stick isn't the best choice for a VHF application as it's optimized for much higher frequencies. 7/800mhz works great, UHF is still pretty good but VHF may not be the greatest.
 

KMG54

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I have a rtl V3 also, but wanted to try the orange do to the built in LNA. Background noise is not a problem, terrain is. But I can use any of them. But what would be the best setup for a Pi4?
And by the way, the orange one just has a lna, the purple one has the filter.
 

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And by the way, the orange one just has a lna, the purple one has the filter.

Yep, I'm aware of that, I'm using on orange one as we speak. Was just mentioning that other than fairly local signals my experience with VHF (140/150 range) isn't stellar. Your mileage my vary!

No idea about the Pi, I just use FMP24 with a scanlist.
 

KMG54

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That is what I would like to do. I am familiar with dsd, but not sure about the anolog part if it will work, then put on a Pi with a arm operating system.
 

KMG54

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I have a Pi4 4gig that is looking for a job.
Again, let me reiterate. I just want to use a Pi and the amplified orange flightaware for my own county. I have a BCT 125 that has a hard time along with a whistler 1080 that struggles.. The main goal of the Pi concepts, is much better user adjustments than a scanner. My RTL V3 is decoding everything with DSD+ Fstlane for greenville county. Guess I am just asking what is best for a Pi and analog signals. And week ones at that. Antenna is 50 feet of the ground on the chimney, but the terrain and trees are tough here, similar to the Amazon forest, but will go away for six months soon.
 

KMG54

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I am beginning to think building a cheap ITX windows machine would be my best option.
 

jets1961

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I looked at the RR data base for you area. Are you saying VHF low like in 30-50 MHz or VHF 136 to 174 MHz?
 

KMG54

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Sorry guys, have no idea why I put VHF low. 154 range is what I want, Happy hour might of started too soon that day of the post.
 

KMG54

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Happy hour was some pills after having some minor surgury, I hate those things.
 

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New post to correct the first.. My county is on VHF Hi. And some UHF for Sheriff. Anyway I am on the fringe of the county. So to repose my original, the orange flight aware has a amp and I have a 160 vertical on a ground plane, that by the way picks up very little in my location. So my question is really, would the amp in the orange flight aware stick help me? I do have FM traps to use.
 

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No, it won't. Been there, tried that. You don't start seeing the benefits of the amp until you are at least up into the UHF range.
 
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