Low Cost ADS-B Receiver
Very low cost USB DVB-T dongles meant for receiving digital TV have new-found popularity since it was discovered they can be used as very inexpensive software defined radios. With the right software it can decode ATC, ADS-B transponder and other signals. You can pick them up at eBay around MYR35~50. Supposedly the best ones are based on RTL2832U+R820T chipset, more sensitive for receiving the ADS-B signal. Two or more dongles can be work simultaneously, one for listening to the ATC conversations and the other for decoding ADS-B. There are tons of information are available online.
Basically, you need to install the Software Define Radio software, SDR#, then replaced the Windows default DVB-T driver with the RTL driver with zadig program. Download either ADSB# (perform better) or RTL1090 and extract the file into the SDR# directory. Use either adsbscope, planeplotter, virtual radar server or other software to display. All these software can set to feed data to the FR24.
Software download/instructions links:
SDR# http://rtlsdr.org/softwarewindows
SDR# auto installer http://sdrsharp.com/downloads/sdr-install.zip
ADSB# http://sdrsharp.com/index.php/a-simple-and-cheap-ads-b-receiver-using-rtl-sdr
RTL1090 http://www.jetvision.de/download/rtl1090-latest-build.zip
Performance wise, it is almost as good as the Microadsb (6x more expensive) in term of sensitivity and it don’t seem to suffer from the so called doughnut effect. ATC listening is like a cheap scanner. The stock antenna is worthless, definitely need a better antenna. Again look out for it online.
Since most of the job is done by software, multi-core processor PC work best.
Have fun!
