Radarbox Positioning Help

[bigal993]

Hello,
I am considering purchasing a Radarbox but I have a few questions about how I go about getting the signal.

Now then I can put the antenna onto my TV aerial and bring the cable into the attic.
Heres where the problem lies. The room where my computer currently lies is over the other side of the house.
So as I understand it I have 2 options
1) Buy good quality cable and bring the antenna cable over and into the room
2) Connect the box in the attic and use a usb extender to get the signal here.

Questions:
Does a USB extender have any disadvantages?
By doing this do I compromise anything that the RB would give me if I used option 1?
Thanks

[AirNav Support]

By having a long antenna cable, there will be loss before it reaches the RadarBox. The only way round that would be getting a mast amp.

The USB would have no loss but having a very long usb cable with extenders might suffer from disconnections sometimes. What length are we talking about?

[bigal993]

By having a long antenna cable, there will be loss before it reaches the RadarBox. The only way round that would be getting a mast amp.

The USB would have no loss but having a very long usb cable with extenders might suffer from disconnections sometimes. What length are we talking about?

I have a JIM pre-amp spare would this help?
The length would be about 35-40 metres.

Or would a Ubox be a better option into the router at around 15-20m?

[bigal993]

I have a JIM pre-amp spare would this help?
The length would be about 35-40 metres.

Or would a Ubox be a better option into the router at around 15-20m?

Could anyone answer this please, I am looking to purchase this month.
Thank you

[EINN-07]

The frequency used by RB is 1090Mhz. The problem with the Jim type pre amp is that they tend to be wideband pre amps with the reuslt that that not just the required signal gets amplified but also the adjacent 'noise'.
There are dedicated 1090 amps available from people like Kuhne in Germany. In conjunction with this you will need to use ultra low loss coax such as Westflex 102 which looses 13dB per 100m length at 1000 Mhz. The pre amp is mast mounted with the power supply injected through the co-ax. This is the optimum solution for you.

The maximum run of USB to guarantee no drop outs is 5m. Above this length you will need to use CAT 5 cable to extend the distance between the RB and your PC. This soution would be based upon using the as supplied antenna. Appearances are deceptive as the as supplied antenna is very good, the only disadvantage being that the cable is moulded to the antenna and means the RB must be within 3m of the antenna.

Hope this helps.
 

[Allocator]

I have a JIM pre-amp spare would this help?
The length would be about 35-40 metres.

Or would a Ubox be a better option into the router at around 15-20m?

Could anyone answer this please, I am looking to purchase this month.
Thank you

My choice would always be a USB extender that uses network cat 5 cable.  I got mine from Maplins, but I don't think they sell it any more.  A quick Google shows the type of extender you need, in this example XTENDEX® USB-C5-LC:

http://www.nti1.co.uk/usbc5.html

You can use a maximum of 46 meters of standard networking cable and you will get no signal loss between the receiver and your PC.

Unless you spend a great deal on low-loss antenna cable, and remember that the good stuff will be thick and difficult to bend, you will get significant losses in a long cable run.

My advice to you is to get the RadarBox first, run it connected to your PC using the supplied antenna and also run it from a laptop to test reception in different parts of your house.  Only after this should you consider if you need an external antenna and a long cable run.

[AirNav Support]

Using that premap on that length of cable will not help.

As EINN-07 says a mast amp such as the Kuhne would be the best if you want to go down the cable route. Otherwise using a USB extender or Ubox would be best.

[bigal993]

Thanks guys, I will have a look at all of the options.
Looking forward to getting one now.

[bigal993]

Before purchasing, I have one more question, with regards to the USB extender does it need to be USB 2.0? Or is 1.1 OK?
Thanks

[AirNav Support]

USB 2.0

[bigal993]

Thank you

[Allocator]

See the FAQ here regarding USB extenders:

http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=635.0