K5MPH
Member
Using a DPD Antenna with a Beast.......(KBRO-1) do a little ACARS with ST-2 antenna........
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What does everyone use for ADS-B and antenna?
- Thread starter N1XDS
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Aircraft L-Band on sheet metal, Short Coax, RTL DVB-T2, long usb extender to PC.
ki5gf
Member
5/8 wave groundplane
I forgot to add why I chose a 5/8 wave design (?) over 1/4 wave.
I've built and used my own antennas since 1954 when I got my first Ham ticket
while in high school. Some worked and some didn't work so well. Prune and tune,
prune and tune, prune and tune. After three tries at pruning and tuning, if it didn't
work, trash it and start over. One thing I learned the hard way is, if you are forced to
use a vertical because of space limitations or other reasons, a 1/4 wave vertical antenna
for any band is a "compromise" antenna and only slightly better than no antenna at all.
The only advantage of using a 1/4 wave is that it radiates/receives equally poorly in all
directions including straight up. According to my own experience and some of the stuff I've read,
a 5/8 wave vertical design tends to reduce the "straight up" portion of the radiation pattern
and slightly expands the horizontal part of the pattern. This generally means more range for
the antenna. So that's why I used the 5/8 wave design. So far, its working pretty well.
I forgot to add why I chose a 5/8 wave design (?) over 1/4 wave.
I've built and used my own antennas since 1954 when I got my first Ham ticket
while in high school. Some worked and some didn't work so well. Prune and tune,
prune and tune, prune and tune. After three tries at pruning and tuning, if it didn't
work, trash it and start over. One thing I learned the hard way is, if you are forced to
use a vertical because of space limitations or other reasons, a 1/4 wave vertical antenna
for any band is a "compromise" antenna and only slightly better than no antenna at all.
The only advantage of using a 1/4 wave is that it radiates/receives equally poorly in all
directions including straight up. According to my own experience and some of the stuff I've read,
a 5/8 wave vertical design tends to reduce the "straight up" portion of the radiation pattern
and slightly expands the horizontal part of the pattern. This generally means more range for
the antenna. So that's why I used the 5/8 wave design. So far, its working pretty well.
toastycookies
Member
www.amazon.com/dp/B00WZL6WPO
Need to build a new computer before I can see how well it works.
ADSBSharp + VRS does not run optimally on my current setup.
But I do see planes up there
I had some time today so I put together a 16 element 1/2 wave colinear coaxial antenna for my SDR dongle. I am running RTL1090 on Win 8.1 thru Parallels on my Mac. The increase in coverage is much better than I thought it would be. I have it in my upstairs attic right now but will be mast mounting it when I get some more mast. Very pleased so far!
ki5gf
Member
The first ADS.B antenna I built and tried was a 12 element half wave coaxial vertical. It never did work very well and the best range I ever saw on it was 100nm or so. Since so many people get much better results than that, I decided it must have been my poor workmanship that caused the failure. When you're building something for 1.090ghz, small 1/32 inch mistakes can make a big difference. And, if you string 12 of those small mistakes together you can make a big problem at that freq range. I assume that's what happened in my case. I would probably have had better results if I'd stuck to a 4 element design (fewer mistakes). Anyway, that's what caused me to go back to a 5/8 wave groundplane design. I've always had good luck on many bands from 40m and up with that simple 5/8 wave antenna. So far, Its worked very well for ADS-B. I still have a couple of weak spots (mostly to the south) but I get good, consistent 300m coverage every day. And -- when the weather cools off a bit, I plan to move that can up to about 40ft on my tower. That means about another 100ft of coax run so who knows what the result will be.
I have the parts for a ground plane so I might get to it in a few weeks. I installed Dump1090 on my Raspberry Pi today and it worked very well. I would like to mount the RPi up close to the antenna and run a network cable to it. I would have to put it in a boc and run power to it somehow.
What software do you use? I have Windows, Linux (RPi) and Mac OS available and am wanting to check out as much as possible. I might break out my very rusty coding hat and try to add some to Dump1090. I would like more specifics from the data packets and expand the existing output some.
To many wishes and too little time!
What software do you use? I have Windows, Linux (RPi) and Mac OS available and am wanting to check out as much as possible. I might break out my very rusty coding hat and try to add some to Dump1090. I would like more specifics from the data packets and expand the existing output some.
To many wishes and too little time!
ki5gf
Member
Everything I have runs Windows. Windows 7 on this machine, 8.1 on the ADS-B machine and one machine downstairs that is on 10. I'm not smart enough to run Linux. I have enough trouble running
Windows.
Remote power for your RPi. At one point, when I was into bird watching, I ran overhead 2 inch PVC conduit out to my tower so I could power some tiny digital cameras (5v DC). Pulled a 100 foot extension cord thru the conduit (which I'd hung from a 5/16 cable stretched between my house and the tower) and up the tower to a waterproof box. Licensed electricians would have had a cow if they'd seen it but it was safe enough and worked fine. Had it set up so anytime the weather looked bad (thunderstorms) all I had to do was pull the plug on the house end. Used it that way for 3 years without any problems.
Windows.
Remote power for your RPi. At one point, when I was into bird watching, I ran overhead 2 inch PVC conduit out to my tower so I could power some tiny digital cameras (5v DC). Pulled a 100 foot extension cord thru the conduit (which I'd hung from a 5/16 cable stretched between my house and the tower) and up the tower to a waterproof box. Licensed electricians would have had a cow if they'd seen it but it was safe enough and worked fine. Had it set up so anytime the weather looked bad (thunderstorms) all I had to do was pull the plug on the house end. Used it that way for 3 years without any problems.
I don't have a tower. I may run a chord like you are talking about then some good size stranded wire to run the 5VDC to the RPi. I can get a small water proof box to mount it on and hook it directly to the SDR on the RPi in the box.
I am not good at Linux either. I just followed directions which were very good!
What software are you running on your Windows box for ADS-B?
I am not good at Linux either. I just followed directions which were very good!
What software are you running on your Windows box for ADS-B?
ki5gf
Member
Everything I have runs in Windows 8.1.
I use RTL1090 to decode. I downloaded it from here:
http://rtl1090.web99.de/homepage/index.php?USER=rtl1090&XURL=web99.de&goto=1
I used their download that contains an installer that downloads and installs all the files you need to run RTL1090. I'm still running their latest BETA version. It has been running continuously since 7 Aug when I downloaded it. VERY stable and has NEVER crashed or stopped unless I've stopped it to make antenna changes etc.
Next, I bought, downloaded and installed PlanePlotter. Easy install also. BIG program with lots of options. It downloads and will run fine with all default settings. So far, I've only made minor changes for maps, ranges, sharing etc. I'll make more changes as I learn more but plan to leave it pretty much alone until I get my antenna moved to its final location.
After config of PP, I downloaded FlightAware for free. It runs on most of your PP settings. I like it because of the stats it provides. Minute by minute, day by day, month by month stats let you see how you're doing as compared to all other users. The stats also let you see how any config changes you make to your equipment affects your coverage.
So that's about it. So far, Windows likes it but I don't plan to upgrade my ADS-B machine to Windows 10 anytime soon.
I use RTL1090 to decode. I downloaded it from here:
http://rtl1090.web99.de/homepage/index.php?USER=rtl1090&XURL=web99.de&goto=1
I used their download that contains an installer that downloads and installs all the files you need to run RTL1090. I'm still running their latest BETA version. It has been running continuously since 7 Aug when I downloaded it. VERY stable and has NEVER crashed or stopped unless I've stopped it to make antenna changes etc.
Next, I bought, downloaded and installed PlanePlotter. Easy install also. BIG program with lots of options. It downloads and will run fine with all default settings. So far, I've only made minor changes for maps, ranges, sharing etc. I'll make more changes as I learn more but plan to leave it pretty much alone until I get my antenna moved to its final location.
After config of PP, I downloaded FlightAware for free. It runs on most of your PP settings. I like it because of the stats it provides. Minute by minute, day by day, month by month stats let you see how you're doing as compared to all other users. The stats also let you see how any config changes you make to your equipment affects your coverage.
So that's about it. So far, Windows likes it but I don't plan to upgrade my ADS-B machine to Windows 10 anytime soon.
ki5gf
Member
This is what I used to house the tower end of my extension cord:
Medium Black Weatherproof Indoor Outdoor Electrical Cord Connection Enclosure Box Sockit Box - Outdoor Extension Cord Protector - Amazon.com
I secured it to a horizontal arm on my tower. There was plenty of room inside to accommodate the big 3 plug end of the 100ft heavy duty extension cord, a small 4 slot power strip and 4 wall-wart a/c adaptors to power my cameras with room to spare. Good water tight seal all around and seals for each separate input and output wire.
Medium Black Weatherproof Indoor Outdoor Electrical Cord Connection Enclosure Box Sockit Box - Outdoor Extension Cord Protector - Amazon.com
I secured it to a horizontal arm on my tower. There was plenty of room inside to accommodate the big 3 plug end of the 100ft heavy duty extension cord, a small 4 slot power strip and 4 wall-wart a/c adaptors to power my cameras with room to spare. Good water tight seal all around and seals for each separate input and output wire.
Steve do you read much on the Flightaware ADS_B forum? There are some members doing some pretty cool stuff with the dump1090 plane map. Some are running stock dump1090 and some are running Dump1090-mutability 1.15 (dev version)
I also run piaware on a debian build. I run the developers version of dump1090 for the decoder. I use a home made groundplane with an inline amp and way too much coax
. The inline amp doubled my messages and gave me 50-70% increase in aircraft. It is much easier to invest about $15 in the inline amp setup then to move the Pi outdoors closer to the antenna and creating the inconvenience of the Pi on the roof. IMO. Just an idea.
ADS-B Flight Tracking
Thanks folks. I have an inline amp that I can try. The RPi is churning them out with Dump1090 running. I will check out FlightAware.
I bought PlanePlotter but the map doesn't work right for me and I am getting a bit burned out.
Have to go to RSW to work tomorrow and will be back Friday. Then on to Austin.. I need some R&R. LOL
I bought PlanePlotter but the map doesn't work right for me and I am getting a bit burned out.
Have to go to RSW to work tomorrow and will be back Friday. Then on to Austin.. I need some R&R. LOL
eorange
♦RF Enabled Member♦
dump1090-mutability logging?
Is anyone using the logging feature of dump1090-mutability on a RaspPi? I'd like to have dump1090 log the decodes to a file that I can review later.
I have dump1090-mutability running in interactive mode, and configured to produce logs, but nothing is showing up in /var/log. Does it need to be running as a daemon for logging to work?
I've been referencing this thread: dump1090 logs? : ADS-B Flight Tracking
Is anyone using the logging feature of dump1090-mutability on a RaspPi? I'd like to have dump1090 log the decodes to a file that I can review later.
I have dump1090-mutability running in interactive mode, and configured to produce logs, but nothing is showing up in /var/log. Does it need to be running as a daemon for logging to work?
I've been referencing this thread: dump1090 logs? : ADS-B Flight Tracking
eorange
♦RF Enabled Member♦
Got it...purged and reloaded the package, did the question-driven config, running as daemon, logging away now.
Does the log show the complete data packets on each aircraft? That would be cool to see. I may have to look into having mine log as well. Interesting.
eorange
♦RF Enabled Member♦
/var/log/dump1090-mutability.log:
I only have statistics logging every 15 minutes going to this log. I did turn on full logging, which logged every data packet received and a bunch of low-level attributes for each packet. That was way too much data; it was over 50MB of text in a very short time, so I turned that piece off.
/run/dump1090-mutability/*.json
This one I'm trying to figure out. There is an 'aircraft.json', which seems to show the current state, as if you were looking at it interactively. Then there are history_<num>.json, where <num> starts at 0; I'm up to 119. This seems to be a history of aircraft seen at intervals of time.
What I'd like: a unique list of aircraft seen after a day of unattended logging, self-contained on the RaspPi in a file. I think all the data I'd need is in the 100+ .json files, but it would take work to aggregate and normalize it. I believe dump1090-mutability sends that json data to a TCP port; if I can manage the time, I might write C software that listens on the port and does just that. I am just getting to know dump1090 (always used RTL1090 and ADSB# on Windows), so I'm hoping there's an option for that.
Edit: forget C, this looks like the way to go: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/36h0k2/using_dump1090_data_in_a_program_on_raspberry_pi/
I only have statistics logging every 15 minutes going to this log. I did turn on full logging, which logged every data packet received and a bunch of low-level attributes for each packet. That was way too much data; it was over 50MB of text in a very short time, so I turned that piece off.
/run/dump1090-mutability/*.json
This one I'm trying to figure out. There is an 'aircraft.json', which seems to show the current state, as if you were looking at it interactively. Then there are history_<num>.json, where <num> starts at 0; I'm up to 119. This seems to be a history of aircraft seen at intervals of time.
What I'd like: a unique list of aircraft seen after a day of unattended logging, self-contained on the RaspPi in a file. I think all the data I'd need is in the 100+ .json files, but it would take work to aggregate and normalize it. I believe dump1090-mutability sends that json data to a TCP port; if I can manage the time, I might write C software that listens on the port and does just that. I am just getting to know dump1090 (always used RTL1090 and ADSB# on Windows), so I'm hoping there's an option for that.
Edit: forget C, this looks like the way to go: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/36h0k2/using_dump1090_data_in_a_program_on_raspberry_pi/
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Looks very interesting! I have a couple of weeks of high importance items to finish for work then I will start digging into it. Thanks for the link!
Have PiAware up and running with MLat active feeding FlightAware. I received my 1090 filter but don't have the adapters for it. Ordered some SMA to F adapters but will not be here till next week sometime. Getting pretty good data so far but will be moving the antenna outside when I get more mast. Pretty happy so far!
Second RPi delivered today. Will be making a 978 Mhz antenna and getting it up and running next weekend. I will move the 1090 antenna outside and higher when I add the new antenna. Getting some good tracking now and feeding it to FlightAware. Fun stuff
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