AirNav Systems Forum
AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com => AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com Discussion => Topic started by: Steven on September 04, 2019, 02:52:16 AM
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Hello,
My name is Steven, I am 52 years old, and live in Scotland, this is my first post here.
I recently purchased a Micro Radar Box from eBay, the one that looks like a black Version 1 TV type dongle, with the 120 mm long magnetic antenna, it cost approx £10.
I have a RSP SDR, and have been trying to set it up to decode ADS-B, but so far to no avail.
I saw the Micro Radar Box, and thought for the cost, it must be worth a try. My thought being that if it didn't work, I could use the TV type dongle for something else.
It was indeed plug and play. It easily installed it on my windows 10 laptop, by following the link.
I plugged the dongle in, and it started working strait out the box, I'm delighted.
I have been using online type flight trackers for a while, but am now delighted to have my own, definitely the best tenner I have spent for a while !
The only minor issue I have is, when I have it connected to the internet, the program slows down a fair bit, and says at the the top "Program Not Responding."
When I click on anything on the program, the cursor for the mouse has a small rotating circle next to it, and the program slows right down for a few seconds while the "Real-Time Network " indicator updates, then everything is back to normal, until I start clicking things again on the program.
When I disconnect the internet, the program works fine and does not slow down. Its not a big issue, as I have mostly been tracking "My Flights" but it would be nice to be able to have it running properly online.
I find the "Maximum Range Polar Diagram" function interesting, and seeing it overlayed on the map is great. How is this data/info acquired ?
I have been impressed with the results from the stock aerial on a window sill and from connecting it to a loft space aerial I have for the 2 meter amateur band.
I understand that ADS-B is a lot higher frequency, and will make a spider type 1/4 wave ground plane from an "N" type chassis mount for 1090 MHz for it, and endeavor to get it outside and high up.
I am just reading some of the FAQ,s and other posts etc.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Regards.
Steven.
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Glad your enjoying it.
Regarding the slowdown, this is because of the realtime network connection. If you go to the network tab and untick get network flights this will not download the network flights. This puts a lot of pressure on the machine as it downloads 10k flights every 20-30 seconds.
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Hi Steven
Good to have you here. I am also from Scotland, Motherwell. Any queries just ask
Alan
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Hi,
Thanks for the reply's, I am slowly getting to grips with things.
I have lots of questions, but usually find the answers by browsing round this forum.
Im still intrigued by the "Maximum Range Polar Diagram" and I think it must be getting the info from my lat/long, but im not too sure ?
I made a little 1/4 wave GP type spider antenna cut to 1090 mhz, so will try that out over the weekend.
I already have 7 meters of LMR 400 coax running to a 2 meter band antenna in my loft, so over the weekend I will disconnect the 2 meter antenna and try the 1090 mhz antenna.
I read that it is still favorable to have the antenna outside, and I plan to get round to that soonest, but this weekend I will progress by moving my antenna from the window sill, to the loft.
I will take a screen shot of my polar diagram before and after changing antennas, and see if anything changes, but as I said, im sure its just using my lat and long, and not actually measuring anything on my RX ?
It is still a huge novelty for me to be able to decode ADS-B, and I am relay at the moment only interested in "my flights" or stuff that I am receiving.
I often uncheck the network and look at what I am picking up.
My question is, can I start and run the program without having an internet connection ?
I have tried to start it all up with my laptop NOT being connected to the internet, and I seem unable to get the programme to start, but as soon as I connect my PC to the internet, it all connects fine as normal.
I can then disconnect from the internet if I wish, and it still runs fine receiving "my flights."
Is it possible to start and run "my flights" without an internet connections ?
Thanks,
Steven.
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Hi Steven
Yes it gets your location info from your lat/lon and is showing a diagram of your coverage area using it as the centre. Even within that area you may not see some aircraft depending on their altitude and what shields it from your antenna like buildings, trees, hills etc as ADSB work via line of sight. The polar diagram takes some time to build up depending on the traffic.
My antenna is in the loft, outside give a lot coverage but as I have the network I am not missing anything anyway and I don't have problems caused by the weather. The little antenna that comes with the stick gives great coverage when mobile, couple of hundred miles is possible. Just make sure that it has a ground plane like a tin can or a 100mm disk, I use the car roof.
You only need to have the network connected for the first connection and after that you don't need the internet connected. That way you can go mobile for example to an airport/airshow etc and will be able to see what you are picking up with your antenna, you will not get network flights without the internet connected
Alan
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Hi Alan,
Ok, thanks for the info.
Its own antenna does indeed perform well, even without cutting it, I was tracking aircraft at approx 150 miles away the other night, and the antenna is only sitting on the window sill indoors, I understand that it is due to the height of the aircraft.
The small magnetic antenna whip is screwed onto the mag mount with an M3 screw thread.
I made a little adapter, tapped to M3, to accept some stainless steel welding rod approx 68.5mm long and screwed that onto the mag mount, the list in "my flights" does increase when I screw on the whip of the correct length, as does sitting the mag mount on an empty tin can.
What is inside my Micro Radar Box Dongle ? is it just a standard run of the mill V1 RTL type dongle ? or is there anything different inside it to make it a Radar Box ?
Im just wondering if I run it as an RTL dongle on something like SDRSharp will that work too ? or is it purely for ADS-B reception ?
Thanks again,
Steven.
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Due to some factors the optimal whip length is quite a bit shorter.
Try 5.5 cm
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The dongle is designed for ADSB but I presume that like any stick you can get it to do other things with some fiddling
Alan
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OK, thanks for the info Alan, and thanks wiedehopf, I will try 5.5 cm.
I will report my findings from the loft space antenna over the weekend.
Steven.
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I think that measurement includes the screwed in part as well
Alan
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Not really, if you measure from the shield my best results in testing were 58 or 59 mm for cantennas.
So i subtracted 3-4 mm for the part of the base that isn't shielded.
So you can try going even shorter :)
The green stick from AirNav is much better as it has an integrated filter and LNA.
Pretty sure the black one is just a more or less generic DVB-T that is of good quality.
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OK got it now wiedhopf, didn't realise. I tend to use purchased antennas
Alan
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Trial Run Results for Three Types of Whip Antennas (https://forum.planefinder.net/threads/trial-run-results-for-three-types-of-whip-antennas.891/)
Trial Run Results for Four Sizes of Ground Planes (https://forum.planefinder.net/threads/trial-run-results-for-four-sizes-of-ground-planes.894/)
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Mag mount with whip replaced by 52 mm long steel tie wire.
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I made good results with the last one posted by abcd567 after i received the bundle with the small antenna with magnetic socket.
I replaced the tip with a piece of copper and placed it on a cookie can (it does not matter if full or empty and also the brand does not matter :) )
Then i built my own spider giving me approx 20% improvement, finally i ended up with a tailored version for outdoor usage and i am now close to the maximum range i can get even if i still use it indoor.
So i do not expect a large improvement on aircrafts seen, but on messages received once i mount it outdoor
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Then i built my own spider giving me approx 20% improvement
EASY ANTENNA #3 - HANDY SPIDER (https://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=9131.msg134171#msg134171)
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Hi,
Thanks to all for the info.
I made my 1/4 wave spider GP antenna and made the element lengths 67 mm, I used 4 legs, I read some use 6 or 8 legs, does that make much of a difference ?
I disconnected my 2 meter band antenna and connected my ADS-B spider antenna to the end of the 7 meter run of LMR 400 coax to my loft.
I left it running over night, and checked it the next day.
I was quite impressed with the loft antenna, as opposed to it just sitting on the window sill.
Checking the Polar diagram, I am receiving a lot farther out, as expected, and fairly uniform in all directions, at least out to about 100 plus miles before it starts breaking up in places.
Im not quite reaching all of the propagation rings, but am reaching them in a few areas.
I can see a little null to the South, which I think is my chimney pot ?
It is interesting sitting watching the distance and seeing how far I am receiving aircraft from, the best I have had is 192 miles, but the aircraft was at approx 39,000 feet or so.
I did get a Ryan Air showing that it was 5624 miles away, over the Indian Ocean, and it even plotted its position over the Indian Ocean on the map.
The Ryan Air was an Edinburgh to Spain flight, so I guessed it was just a glitch ? but in a week of using the Radarbox, that was the first "funny" that I have seen.
Im happy with it in the loft, but am now intrigued as to what reception will be like with an outdoors antenna.
I found my self hanging out the attic window tonight, before it got dark, measuring up for a little bracket, so that will be my next move.
Steven.
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All it needs is a wee glitch in the positional data received to send it away out of position
Alan