current state of the rtl-sdr (plug and chug) art...

[Martin]

Highly recommended:

http://www.rtl-sdr.com/rtl-sdr-tutorial-measuring-filter-characteristics-and-antenna-vswr-with-an-rtl-sdr-and-noise-source/

On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 9:23 PM, Martin <dcmk1mr2 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Wrapping the dongle in aluminum or copper tape for shielding is popular.
> There are newer RTL-SDRs that are packaged in a metal box with a TXCO for
> another $20-30.
>
> For the noisy urban environment:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/B1602-SAW-filters-Epcos-1090MHz-ADS-B-AirNav-SBS-/110619017914?hash=item19c16842ba
>
> http://ava.upuaut.net/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=85
>
> My rig was a collinear antenna in the attic with the preamp and saw filter
> at the antenna and really long usb extender to the shack.
>
> http://www.amrad.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/wideareamap.png
>
> On Thu, Oct 1, 2015 at 8:42 PM, Robert Seastrom <rs at seastrom.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Readers of this list are almost certainly well-acquainted with the "$20
>> USB SDR" (RTL2832U and R820T[2]) sticks that were originally intended for
>> DVB-T reception.  Plenty of bad things to say about them (wide open front
>> end, low resolution ADC, uncertain build quality when acquired via eBay
>> etc), but hey for $20 what do you want?  Complaining would be like griping
>> about your Baofeng or Wouxun HT not being up to the quality you've come to
>> expect from Icom.
>>
>> GNU Radio supports these on Linux and there's a cast of various other
>> programs for Windows and Mac that work too.
>>
>> These little radios-on-a-stick have attracted the attention of the
>> Flightaware folks and their community of ADS-B receiver-and-feeder folks
>> (same thing as AIS for ships and APRS for hams, but on 1090 MHz rather than
>> VHF high band).  For a while now they've had a setup known as PiAware which
>> turns a Raspberry Pi (use a B+ or a 2; the original B was weak in the USB
>> power department) into an ADS-B receiver that can feed to FlightAware (you
>> get an "Enterprise" level account for free as a thank-you for feeding them
>> data).   There are two ways to put it together:  download and write a
>> ready-to-go canned distribution (easy) and download NOOBS or Raspbian and
>> do package installs and driver blacklisting by hand (hard).  Naturally I
>> chose the hard way, which explains why it took me 20 minutes to get it up
>> and running instead of 5.
>>
>> Of course it's a good idea to put a better antenna on it than the crummy
>> telescoping mag-mount that comes with it.  The popular antenna for this
>> application seems to be a coax stacked collinear of 8 or 10 elements - more
>> is way into the land of diminishing returns.  There are youtube videos out
>> there on how to make these.
>>
>> Some people use amplifiers, often the inline amplifiers intended for use
>> with satellite tv receivers (available for a few bucks on Amazon), powered
>> with a bias tee.  I'll confess I don't know where to get the latter on the
>> cheap, which Mini-Circuits sure isn't.  Not sure it's necessary anyway if
>> you have a short cable run and a good antenna.
>>
>> I don't have a good antenna yet.  My setup is sitting on a window sill at
>> my office on the 7th floor overlooking Dulles Airport.
>> http://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/res3066
>>
>> To see what can be done when you throw a few bucks at it and don't have
>> the facilities guys getting in your way, check out my friend's setup:
>> http://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/jaredmauch
>>
>> Anyway, pretty spiffy and pain-free to put together and get on the air.
>> More at http://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/
>>
>> (the RTL stick I got was http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00P2UOU72/ )
>>
>> -r
>>
>>
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>
>
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