adsb receiver shopping list

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wiedehopf edited this page Aug 7, 2022 · 23 revisions

What is required:

antenna
coax
SDR / receiver
power supply
micro sd-card and a Raspberry Pi

See also the budget options which include antenna / coax / SDR in one package.

Antenna choices:

do it yourself antennas:

Very good but not as easy to get right: https://www.mictronics.de/posts/G7RGQ-Antenna-1090MHz
Best first DIY antenna: https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/quick-spider-no-soldering-no-connector/19181
Improving the common whip antenna: https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/how-to-improve-performance-of-whip-antenna-of-dvb-t/17325/25?u=wiedehopf

Coax cable:

https://amzn.to/31xFkDM (US Amazon)
LMR400 for runs longer than 5m/15ft
LMR240 for runs for shorter runs (or up to 8m / 25ft if LMR400 is too pricey / too bulky)
H155 for runs shorter than 5m / 15ft, LMR240 is superior but H155 is also ok
MPD coax: https://usacoax.com/
https://vinnant.sk/store?productlist-search=&productlist-sort=created-desc&productlist-categories=cables&productlist-itemcount=20
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07S8V44VK

USB rtl-sdr compatible receiver choices:

Blue FA pro stick from here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M7REJJW
consider adding the FA filter to the FA pro stick (solves interference issues): https://www.amazon.com/ADS-B-Dual-1090-Band-Pass-Filter/dp/B010GBQXK8
Green AirNav stick from here: https://www.radarbox24.com/store
RTL-SDR Blog V3 from here: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/ or here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2

combo of antenna / coax / SDR, not bad

https://www.amazon.com/AirNav-Outdoor-Connector-RadarBox-FlightStick/dp/B07TZG3KMQ

high performance SDR + LNA combo:

RTL-SDR Blog V3 from here: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/
or here https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0129EBDS2
triple filtered LNA from here: https://www.amazon.com/Performance-Triple-Amplifier-RTL-SDR-Blog/dp/B078TBG4H8
or here: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/product/rtl-sdr-blog-ads-b-triple-filtered-lna-bias-tee-powered/
OR filtered LNA from uputronics: https://store.uputronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=50
OR filtered LNA from uputronics, US shop: https://v3.airspy.us/product/upu-fp1090s/
requires enabling the biastee (https://github.com/wiedehopf/adsb-wiki/wiki/RTL-Bias-Tee)

LNA for 978 and 1090, good for use with the adsbexchange dual band antenna

https://gpio.com/collections/filtered-low-noise-amplifier/products/ads-b-dual-band-filtered-lna-978-mhz-1090-mhz

combined and placed before the Y splitter ... into two rtl-sdr v3 or nesdr SDRs should provide good dual band reception.

budget option: antenna + SDR (lower range)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01GNGZAIG
https://shop.jetvision.de/epages/64807909.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/64807909/Products/53200
DIY start: SDR with dipole antenna kit: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/ (ADS-B: dipole antenna with small inserts, end to end 13.8 cm / 5.43 in, one end to the sky, one end towards the ground, if possible connect without included 2m coax due to losses)

Micro sd-card (others will do, just an example):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XX29S9Q

or the RPi4, for that get these items:

https://www.adafruit.com/product/4295
https://www.adafruit.com/product/4298
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WG4DW52 (or a different make of metal case that thermally connects to the board)

RPi3 (probably overpriced, RPi4 might be cheaper)

CanaKit Raspberry Pi kit: https://www.amazon.com/CanaKit-Raspberry-Premium-Supply-Listed/dp/B01C6EQNNK

software setup, see this page:

https://github.com/wiedehopf/adsb-wiki/wiki/Raspbian-Lite:-ADS-B-receiver