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Author Topic: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder  (Read 8188 times)

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Allocator

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Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« on: March 21, 2018, 11:30:10 AM »
At last the weather has warmed up a bit, so it's time to play outdoors!

Thank to the help and advice I've got here on the forum, I now have 3 Rpi's setup to feed 4 tracking providers (yes, that's 4 per Rpi).  Two of these Rpi's are 3B's with on-board wifi, so I though I'd have a go operating one on wifi.  The other 2 are wired ethernet connections.

Setting up the wifi using raspi-config was simple and unplugging the ethernet cable and rebooting had it feeding without any issues.  So, I've now got a 'portable' ADS-B receiver I can position anywhere within my wifi coverage.  However, I wanted to get the antenna more out in the open and clear of any structures, so this is where my portable 3G 'mifi' unit came in handy.  The simple solution would have been to just change the Rpi wifi setting to connect to the mifi broadcast, but I was already using an amateur radio solution which employs a travel router as a 'bridge' receiving the wifi but having an ethernet cable output.

In the picture, you can see the Rpi being powered by a small portable power bank.  The travel router is also powereb the same way and connected to the Rpi by a short ethernet cable.  The 3G mifi is on the left, running off it's internal battery which gives it 8 hours or so of use.  I've no ides how much data the feeders will use, but it's a 12 month 12Gb 3G data sim that expires at midnight tonight, so I might as well use it up.  The 'tuna-tin' antenna finishes off the setup.

As for the performance, comparing the total from dump1090 running at the same time:

- This setup with the tuna-tin antenna: 77 aircraft being tracked
- Indoor SBS-1 antenna (my 'best performing' setup): 61 aircraft
- Indoor but on a window-ledge with a 30cm 'springy' mag-mount: 44 aircraft tracked

Range coverage is still building up, but I'm getting a average of 100 miles but out to 180 miles in some directions.

I have a 1090MHz filter arriving today, so it will be interesting to see what difference this makes.

neroon79

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2018, 06:34:25 PM »
I'm feeding FR24, RB24, FA, PF and PP with AirSpy Mini Receiver connected to a RPi 3B.
My avarage upload is about 1,1GB +/- 250MB per day  and the download is about 250 +/-100MB per day.
Avarage range: approximately 165nm
Max range about: 210nm by 230nm depending on traffic and weather.

Info: I read reports that MLAT is not working well if RPi is connected via WiFi.

Ingo
Greetings from northern Germany, Ingo
11.75nm ESE of EDDV

SW: ANRB v5.00.072/6.01.001 on WIN10 64Bit Pro&Home
HW:
Ant.: DPD Productions ADS-B Vertical Outdoor Base Antenna
AMP: Kuhne electr. KU LNA 1090 A TM
Cable: 25m of ECOFLEX 15+
NB: Asus P53E 24/7 op.
PC: 28"4K + 24" Monitor
AirSpy mini @RPi3

Allocator

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2018, 09:38:13 PM »
FlightAware shows the WiFi Rpi MLAT as synchronised as it does for the 2 Ethernet connected units.

abcd567

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2018, 11:54:30 PM »
Neat built!
How many hours the battery lasted?

Allocator

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #4 on: March 22, 2018, 08:58:20 AM »
I ran the setup for about 6 hours starting at 75% and the battery was at 32% when I switched back to mains power.  The mifi was down to about 20%.

Allocator

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2018, 10:38:38 AM »
The experiments continue with the 'remote' feeder.

A closing down sale at my local electronics retailer provided a 40% discount on a 30m Cat 6 ethernet cable, so not running without the 3G mifi dongle this time.    I tried a couple of other small wire dipoles, but the tuna-tin antenna still gives me the best results for this setup.

neroon79

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Re: Raspberry Pi 'Portable' Feeder
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2018, 12:41:43 PM »
If you add

- a "bird box"
- some PV cells
- battery pack of decent capacity combined with a charger and switch over relay
- a water proof cable installation tube

it might be possible to evolve that installation to a permanently running ( 24/7, 365d/year) remote set-up in your garden.

Ingo
Greetings from northern Germany, Ingo
11.75nm ESE of EDDV

SW: ANRB v5.00.072/6.01.001 on WIN10 64Bit Pro&Home
HW:
Ant.: DPD Productions ADS-B Vertical Outdoor Base Antenna
AMP: Kuhne electr. KU LNA 1090 A TM
Cable: 25m of ECOFLEX 15+
NB: Asus P53E 24/7 op.
PC: 28"4K + 24" Monitor
AirSpy mini @RPi3