Category: Hardware

ADS-B Range Testing – Part 2

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I ordered the Flightaware bundle from WiFi Expert (antenna, USB pro stick dongle, cable and filter) via there eBay store The idea was to compare it my homemade antenna and NooElec dongle setup. While I know this is not the ideal setup with the LNA inside the dongle it is a worth testing to see what the results can be with a simple off the self setup.

I initially set it up in the backyard, to verify that it was indeed in operating order – it was. Always better to find out before you install it on the roof 🙂 Two days running it there indicated that the performance was no worse than my current setup. This was promising as my backyard isn’t ideally suited for line of sight to anything and to pretty much get the same response as the antenna on my roof indicated the results should be good.

Update 2016-06-04 & 06-25

Roof installation happened today. Quite painful with the high pitched roof and plenty of bird shit under the TV antenna. I removed the old home made antenna and replaced it with the Flightaware one. It’s nice to use proper pole clamps and fixings rather than my hacked up pipe clamps and cable ties – the result felt much more solid.

The old antenna also showed signs of rusting at the F connector – I wonder how long it would have survived in working order? Maybe I should tape up the connectors using self amalgamating tape? Something to look into I guess.

So one day later here are the results.

Range: Generally much better, the long range detection stretching out towards 500 km. I still have issues with detection towards the east sue to the hills which is expected. Range isn’t everything of course.

Message Count: The other major difference I can see is many more messages per second.

I have been able to detect planes landing and tacking off Adelaide airport while they are still located within the airport grounds. Previously I wouldn’t detect them until they were much further out/higher in altitude. A similar result can be seen at Parafield airport. The updated ModesDeco2 map really shows the extended range.

adsb-range-2016-06-25 adsb-adelaide-takeoff adsb-range-modesdeco2-2

Conclusion – is it worth it?

If I was just starting and wanted something simple that just works then yes I’d probably pay for the bundle and it would be job done. The range and performance is very good.

However if you prefer to make your own then you can get almost the same results with a $10 dongle, some coax cable and a bit of handy work.

If you add an LNA and ADS-B filter to your home brew setup I think you would get the same if not better results than the Flightaware bundle – and this might be my next test.

Touch Switch Hack Part 1

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A (long) while ago I did a post on some touch light switches I acquired. The single button one is still running in the office with no problems. I figured I’d have a go at trying to get the 4 button one to work without mains.

The switch has

  • a glass front plate
  • a top PCB with the PIC, LEDs and touch pads
  • a base PCB with the relays and mains terminals

Livolo Assembly

I took it apart to get the top PCB. It has a clear silkscreen with vias labeled with 3V and 12V. The 3V via went to the VDD pin of the PC, so seems like it runs off 3V provided by the base PCB. Knowing the PIC pin out gives us a GND point on what looks like a programming header.

I traced/buzzed out 4 of the other header pins that control the relays.

switchpower

(1) is the 3V point, (2) is tht 12V point, (3) is GND, The red dots are the control lines for the 4 relays.

First Test

First test is just to apply 3V and GND to the top PCB only – if it works I can just supply power and take the control lines for the relays to my input modules.

So it powered up, but immediately went into a sequence of alternately red/blue LED every 2 seconds. Oh well not much use, but worth a try,

Second Test

Maybe it needs the 12V for something? This time I applied 12V and GND, connected the top and bottom boards together and powered up.

Again it powers up, the 3V rail is generated and the PIC once again works. However the same 2 second sequence occurs, this time with the relays also changing state in time with the LEDs.

Other Tests

Maybe it needs the glass plate installed to calibrate the touch sensors? nope – powered up with it assembled and still the same sequence.

So what to do next. I will reassemble everything and plug it into the mains just to be sure it actually works as expected – maybe its a dud?

If it works with the mains then at least I know its still a function unit and more hacking/testing is needed to run it on my 12V bus.