If like me you have built yourself a PilotAware you will have noticed just how hot the SDR (ADS-B 1090Mhz) dongle gets and if you are thinking of building this into a case and then permanently wiring it in to your aircraft you may well be concerned!
I have also had one SDR (a Nooelec one) stop working which could be down to the heat or some other failure. Anyway searching for a low heat generating version lead me to:
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/tag/low-power/
It arrived quickly and i eagerly plugged it into the PilotAware to see if it would be detected and work and it did!
I have run this on the ground for around 3 hours and although it does get hot, I’m still able to keep my finger on it (not a scientific measurement!) whereas the previous one I could not. It also has the benefit of drawing less power too. The cost of the item was $16.95 including delivery to the UK and the customer service via email from Carl was great.
So for the fly test Sunday I flew with the new SDR and had no issues picking up other traffic all of which were duly plotted on my SkyDemon.
I would recommend the use of these for those building an all in one enclosure PilotAware using the Stratux or other case.
If the PilotAware team could have this made with a case I feel it would make good sense for them to supply this version of the SDR dongle as part of their starter kit.
Hi there – I was having issues with my ADSB, so I bought one of these and it worked for a bit, but seems to be not working now. Did you have to do anything other than plugging it in, and firing up PilotAware? I may have done something to my Pi as the old one is not working either, in any of the USB ports. Cheers for any info you may have…
Hi, no just plugged it in and it worked ok!
If it is not working then you could test in a USB port of a Windows pc using my ads-b test application, downloadable form this site under projects. At least that way you will know if it’s you Pi or the dongle!
Thanks Adrian – that’s very helpful. I have got the win usb driver installed and the dongle is detected. When I run your test application, what should I be looking for given that I’m just sitting at my desk with the dongle inserted into the USB of my laptop? Both dongles are detected, but when I click on test nothing happens that I can see. The red square you refer to remains red for both – but I don’t know what I’m looking for to be honest, or how soon I should see any change or data on the test? Cheers for all your help. I’ve been lurking on your blogs for ages and have benefitted hugely from your posts.
Cheers!