Make Your Own Aircraft Tracking Antenna With RTL SDR

[@jamesrkelly76]

I made a temporary one execacly like yours, two years later, still working flawlessly in all weather!

[@mandamiddle0278]

is the range way better compared to just using v shape with dipole ?

[@hooks4638]

A new Tech Minds video = a great day

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Thank you :-) That comment made my day! thanks!

[@HamRadio200]

I actually homebrewed one of these antennas many years ago and paired it with my SDR receiver to pick up ADS-B. I graduated to a co-linear home brew which picks up aircraft 250+ miles out easily. Antenna HAAT is 20 feet.

[@SPLTDP]

Care to share where you got the instructions for the antenna you built?

[@HamRadio200]

@@SPLTDP I honestly can not remember. Google ads-b coax co-linear. I’m sure it’ll put you on the right track. Mine is still working flawlessly.

[@ramv1564]

please share details to build

[@coriscotupi]

I experimented with quarter-wave ground plane vertical antennas for 1090 MHz and had success, but in the end had better results with the "can" antenna, where the radials are replaced by a round metal can, 10-cm diameter X 10-cm high, opening facing down. The connector is bolted to the center on the top, with the driven vertical element sitting on top of the can, and the coax coming out the can from below. It's mechanically very sound and ended having better range than the traditional ground plane antenna. Has been working for some 5 years now. It's very simple to build and plenty of details are given in the Flight Radar 24 forum. Might be worth experimenting and making a video, too.

[@JohnBaxendale]

Best I've ever found too, how did you waterproof/weatherprotect it to last 5 years? I think mine went rusty after about 2 :)

[@coriscotupi]

@@JohnBaxendale I just spray painted it. On closer inspection, the can does show signs of rusting on the outside, but the connector inside is pristine still, as is the soldered vertical whip.

[@JohnBaxendale]

@@coriscotupi Thank you! That’s helpful, I used a little plastic to cover the tip but didn’t want to spray the can in case it killed the reception - I’ll give it another go :)

[@coriscotupi]

@@JohnBaxendale Avoid paints with any potentially metallic contents in them, such as silver or aluminum colored ones. Other than that, pretty much any spray paint will do, enamel, nitrocellulose (automotive), etc.

[@acestudioscouk-Ace-G0ACE]

Thanks for the info, I might well try this!

[@limpmixes3098]

Great video, I'd love a series on different DIY antenna builds, it's half of the fun for many of us.

[@timhopkins9659]

I have made using the same websites designs a 1090 Slimjim! Unfortunately I dont have your test equipment to fine tune :( However, the results are oustanding!! Construction is simple; I used a cut down fibreglass tent pole, with two holes drilled to get the correct top and bottom spacing The element is single strand copper wire threded through the holes and secured to the pole using heat shrink sleeving All then encased in a plastic tube (white conduit), sealed at the top to weather proof it. Keep up the great videos

[@ME10920]

Have you done a video about building an antenna for listening to airband ? That would be pretty cool

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I did a review of an Airband receive antenna a little while ago, but I have not made a video about making one. Maybe I will look into this too. Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for watching! :-)

[@haydenbrown5725]

I have just purchased a UBC125XLT scanner and the reception with the supplied antenna is absolutely awful. I have owned a variety of air-band radios over the years from analogue dial tuning to Yupi scanners but this 125XLT really disappoints me. I also are in a mind to return it and to look for something else but I really bought it to be portable rather than attached to a coax cable antenna. I might just have to use your advice and knowledge and build a discone or similar. Thanks for the video.

[@grumpy_ken]

that sawbird is really impressive

[@gbmillergb]

You can use the wire in Romex wiring too instead of buying copper wire.

[@x_CrossHair_x]

Try building a 16 segment (Colinear) using RG-6 coax.. housed inside an appropriate length of PVC Pipe. I did.. It rocks with a 200 Mile / 320 Kilometer receive radius.. (NO ADS-B LNA used) I also use the 75 Ohm RG--6 (Because of its low loss properties) into my radio room direct to the SDR.. just convert the F Connector to SMA with an adaptor. It would be interesting to try it with an LNA.. Not sure how much, or if any gain.. (Aircraft may be Below the Horizon at that distance).. so no point.

[@mandamiddle0278]

is the difference big between setting up the dipole in v shape and this ?=

[@bens4446]

The aircraft transmit the 109.0MHz "data burst packets" ONLY if their transponder is turned on, correct?

[@hoggif]

Antenna height should not matter much, after all airplanes are themselves high. I had good results with a simple random lenght mag mount with my cheapo sdr too. Something like 100km is well within the range but buildings nearby were limiting factor with antenna about 1m from ground in residential area.

[@stevehageman6785]

These little antennas work great. If you don't have an ant analyzer, don't fret. Your antenna will work the same untrimmed if you built it to the proper dimensions. SWR really isn't that important for a RX antenna. With my RSPdx reciever I don't need a preamp even with 20 feet of decent coax. The RSPdx has a lot of RF gain over the other little dongle SDR's.

[@bens4446]

What gauge wire? Looks like 18 AWG maybe?

[@mailtopps1]

Great video as always , thanks

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Thanks for watching!

[@LB0FI]

Great video! I made a similar video a while ago, but you go into more detail than I did.

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Cool, thanks!

[@TPRPMM]

best results i've had is with a wire made franklin antenna, piece of 15mm white water pipe slot cut to take the horizontal stubs and give the support/mounting

[@SteveF60]

Maybe a silly question but does the gauge (thickness) of the antenna wires matter? Is there an ideal gauge or pros/cons of different thicknesses?

[@jaymzx0]

Not terribly, at least for receiving purposes. Generally, the thicker the antenna element the wider frequency range it will resonate at (to an extent, and generally). For transmitting, it very important that your antenna is resonant on the frequency you're transmitting at. For receiving, you're not going to see much difference - at least on a 1/4 wave ground plane antenna like in the video. They tend to have a wide resonant bandwidth, anyway. So use what you have available. The #10 American Wire Gauge (6mm^2) or #12 AWG (4mm^2) bare copper wire from the electrical department of the hardware store is usually perfect for these knock-together projects. It's easy to solder, easy to straighten, and it's really cheap. You can get a foot (~30cm) of the wire for under a dollar where I am in the States. I keep about 10 feet of it around for when I get the urge to make something. If you get the insulated wire, it will work fine, but the length of the elements will change slightly (+/- 10%), so experiment until you find what works for you.

[@AndrewMurphy8383]

What gauge magnetic wire is that

[@ecole6300]

will a pilot small whip last against the uk /wind , winter , #

[@HaskellMoore]

Great video; well done! Haskell Moore, W5HLM New Braunfels, TX, USA

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Thanks for watching!

[@eliotmansfield]

looks like you got decent range. There’s an online calculator that can work out the maximum theoretical distance accounting for the curvature of the earth and the fact a plane is 33k feet up in the air and it was about 250 miles

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Cheers!

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

With all the various antennae you have , and I’m sure you’ve a HackRF, have you tried the Operacake for HackRf. ? If so, what are your thoughts? Also, can the OperaCake be used with other SDR hardware or a Portapack? I’ve been meaning to ask for a while because you have access to a bunch of great antennae that span a huge frequency . As always, thanks for all informative videos

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I don't currently have one, but I'll get one and see how good it is. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@TheElectronicDilettante]

@@TechMindsOfficial awesome!!! Michael Ossman touches on cli control of the OperaCake in his series on the HackRf. Also, in that series he mentions that the HackRF is capable of frequencies above 7ghz( Rx only, I think). If you can verify that a lot of us would greatly appreciate it. Lastly, can you give an opinion on feasibility of using / modifying OperaCake design to use with other Transceivers like the Adam-Pluto or similar. Thanks for all the information you convey to your viewers. It’s greatly appreciated. Oh, whatever came of your 2.4ghz Power amp.? I’ll look again for a wrap up video but last time I looked , I didn’t come across one. Thanks again

[@owenbarbose]

Is it suitable for airband voice reception?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Nope, it's the wrong frequency range. You need to calculate for around 125 MHz.

[@JohnBaxendale]

The best reception I've ever had with ADS-B was a home-made antenna from an old beer tin, worked amazing. My question is around how to waterproof these little DIY antennas... can I just spray them with spray paint? Are there any particular paints to avoid or prefer? Can I coat them with plastic or PVC tube? Which ones will affect the reception or tune, if at all? HELP ME OBI WAN TECHMIND! :)

[@humanbeing-001]

Why even waterproof it? That would be pointless.

[@JohnBaxendale]

@@humanbeing-001Waterproofing it means it can live outside where it has a clear view of the sky and much better performance…

[@stevehageman6785]

Waterproofing is important because the coax can let water seep in and ruin it, also the metal parts will corrode outside. You can use non-metalic spray paint with no issues, that's what I do.

[@ruidelgado5294]

Which is best? A dedicated Flight Aware dongle (with LNA and filter on board) or a normal RTL-SDR with bias tee and the SAW filter with LNA included?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Depends if you want to use the SDR for other things. A dedicated SDR with inbuilt LNA and Filter for ADSB is great if that's all you want to use it for. Having a Nooelec SDR, or an RTL-SDR V3/4 means you can use it for most things, and then just add on filters, lna etc when needed.

[@humanbeing-001]

RTL-SDR is better

[@stevehageman6785]

If you want to receive other things also the RTL-SDR is a better choice, if all you want is ADS-B the purpose built SDR is probably easier. If you find that you need a preamp you can add a Noolec or similar pre-amp to the RTL-SDR later.

[@garrynutter860]

Great video. Thanks

[@TechMindsOfficial]

You're welcome :-)

[@josedelgado7338]

I enjoyed the videos you have done for sometime but on this one you have a nice ruler/guide which maybe us all like to get it... Can you advise? Thanks! 73s de Jose NP4NQ

[@TechMindsOfficial]

Sure! Here's the link: www.sv1afn.com/en/pcb-art/

[@drakeblackk]

Looks easy and nice, i will make it, Thanks for the tutorial, and all your videos, i watched a couple of them since i got the SDR. I have DUMP1090 and Virtual Radar, but every time i start DUMP, it has a problem with finding py.exe, but after pressing OK, it works, so i dont really care about that yet. It even works with my mobile uhf-vhf in my window (i cant install it anywhere else, only in the window, 4th floor) i find 1-2 planes sometimes, i cant wait to try this antenna ;)

[@N9YSQ]

While this antenna will work it will only receive well at lower angles to the horizon. You should look up the following three antennas for better coverage. Also I would urge anyone to look up the ARRL satellite handbook and get a copy. Any year since 2000. The antennas are: the turnstile antenna (you can substitute 75 ohm tv cable as the phasing line), the egg beater antenna, and the quadfiliar antenna.

[@jaymzx0]

1/4 wave ground plane antennas typically have a low angle of radiation and reception, which makes them great for satellites and aircraft as they will be much farther away at the horizon at the gain lobes than when they are directly above in one of the antenna's nulls. The relative distance when overhead more than compensates for the reception null. They're also broadbanded enough for doppler correction. Where dedicated turnstile and eggbeaters shine is when you're dealing with circular polarization. A linearly polarized antenna (like a ground plane or dipole) will have a 3db loss when receiving a circularly polarized signal, but you don't have to worry about right-hand or left-hand polarization mismatch, which can be 20db or more. I use a ground plane for FM satellite work. I used to go wave an Arrow Yagi antenna around in the parking lot like a weirdo, and honestly, the ground plane works just as well and my arms aren't as tired. In this use case, ADS-B signals are vertically polarized unless there is some weird propagation mode, such as reflection/refraction from mountain peaks or other aircraft and such.

[@cooperlonely]

I does similar simple gp for 1260MHz, and have local datv dvb-s2 now for my local friends with RX to standart satellite receivers 🙈✊

[@anonymous_friend]

What is datv dvb-s2?

[@cooperlonely]

@@anonymous_friend same, what we are using for QO100 DATV (DVB-S2)

[@TechMindsOfficial]

@anonymous_friend datv stands for Digital Amatuer Television. Check out the QO100 videos on my channel for more information. Thanks

[@KingOsama420]

sweet video

[@petewright2283]

VRS is not the best solution. TAR1090 is better and better still would have been to use a Pi with a light OS and READASB for the decoder and tar1090.

[@gbmillergb]

Same frequency as IFF reply 1090MHZ

[@paulsengupta971]

Yes, ADS-B uses the Mode S transponder with Extended Squitter. This is on the same frequency as any other Secondary Surveillance Radar return.

[@paullacatus8975]

Why you don’t try a collinear coax cable antenna ?

[@TechMindsOfficial]

I think a lot of the commercial made ADSB antennas are like 5/8th wave co-linears. I havn't tried one but in this video I wanted to show how easy it would be to make a GP antenna using a calculator. Maybe I will make one and then do a live comparison between a GP and Co-Linear. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@BlitzK]

Just as easy to make a colinear antenna and would work much better for ADSB. 1/4w ground plane looks "up" too much and doesnt have the distance most people are looking for in adsb.

[@cooperlonely]

And LOL, i used it’s site with calculator several days ago🤣

[@frequencywatchers]

My Antenna Wich Is NOT Such Acuratly Made For 1090MHz Gets Around 300Km Around My House, Its Above My House Around 7 Meters, So Its Basicly At 4 Or 5th level Of High If You Think Flat/Appartment Heights. It Gets Good FM And All That Stuff, HF Not So Much, But For That I Have My Long Wire Antenna That Runs Throuought My House Lenght And Goes Out From House To The Fencing belove, That Antenna At Nightt Gets Me Half Of The Globe, Sometiems Even More.. :)

[@saxpert]

Don't waste your Resources for fr24. Support planefinder, flight aware, radarbox, adsb exchange, open sky. N socket works much better. No soldering needed, radials holds via screws.

[@anonymous_friend]

Can you point me towards an N socket? I searched but didnt come up with anything.

[@humanbeing-001]

adsb exchange is the best, love the instant military plane and "other" craft info.

[@bondubasher]

Bob on!

[@martinsalt1839]

Doesn't Flightradar24 do the same thing but covers the world ?

[@JohnBaxendale]

This is where FlightRadar24 gets it's data from.

[@martinsalt1839]

@@JohnBaxendale so why bother making an antenna when you can see it online worldwide ?

[@JohnBaxendale]

@@martinsalt1839 Some people enjoy the challenge and take pleasure in getting to learn the intricacies of radio, being able to beam data across the world invisibly and using simple home built components has held a fascination for people for decades. It's perfectly fine if you don't get it, each to their own. We all get our enjoyment in different ways and learn to live and let live.

[@humanbeing-001]

@@martinsalt1839 If everyone thought like you then no one would see any aircraft on radar.

[@stevehageman6785]

@@martinsalt1839 - Because it is fun to DIY. :-)

[@frequencywatchers]

I Have Made Hundreds Of Antennas And I Always Wonder Why people Drp Hundreds ANd Even Thousands For COmercially made ANtennas When I Can Just Heatt The Steel Cable AAnd Make It Stiff And Bouncy That Will Not Bend That Easy, Make Few Coils In It Before To make It Multiband And Go. Its Crazy, Maybe I Need To Start Make ANtetnnas For Sale ;D

[@lee99bay]

👍

[@TechMindsOfficial]

🖖

[@personalunderstanding7055]

All I get when trying to run the app after adding rtlsdr.dll is 'This application was unable to start correctly (0x000007b), Click OK to close the application. Would you take us through the download of all the extra files needed for this which is shown in the read-me instructions as just trying to install libusb and how to is a brain ache for the uninitiated.

[@moonfestmadness]

i made a 12 element collinear out of 75ohm coax it works like nothing i have seen .. its a bit of a fiddle but well worth it .. de m6pnp

[@stevehageman6785]

Wow, a 'real man' :-)