Author Topic: Dongle location benefit  (Read 15432 times)

Offline ScannrbaseHRL

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Dongle location benefit
« on: April 29, 2017, 11:48:15 AM »


 Im working on an Antenna setup for the scanner I want to use for the Valley approach and Harlingen Tower feed in South Texas
I have a 25 ft mast with a VHF 1/4 Wave antenna on top, I don't know much about how much of what the antenna is receiving gets lost
per feet of coax length or how much noise and interference is gained in a long coax but I imagine that the shorter the coax the better
so I thought what happens if I put the dongle inside an enclosure box directly under the antenna and run an active powered USB extension
all the way down to the PC or a Raspberry PI, the dongle enclosure box would be sealed with silicon to avoid any water or moisture to enter has anybody tried this before? are there ant drawbacks to this any input will be appreciated.



Offline dave

  • Site Founder
  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4597
    • LiveATC.net
Re: Dongle location benefit
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2017, 06:49:20 AM »
The issue might end up being USB stability and noise pickup. I have not tried it on a USB repeater cable - how long a USB cable do you need to put the dongle outside? USB 2.0 is limited to 10-15 feet before needing a repeater (active extension). I have not done a test on a long USB cable yet and not aware of anyone who has....so we'd be interested in your findings.


Offline ScannrbaseHRL

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 5
Re: Dongle location benefit
« Reply #2 on: May 07, 2017, 01:36:44 AM »
Sorry it took me so long to reply, OK this is what I found, Using the active USB extension and having the dongle in the roof with the antenna does work but is not any better than using a coax with a signal amplifier
and FM Trap that for sure, In the same mast where I have the Scanner antenna Im installing also a  Flightaware ADS-B antenna hopefully both feeds will be ready soon.