ADS-B receiver recommendation for Android

[Joe]

Based on actual, firsthand experience, can anyone recommend an ADS-B receiver that will work with my Nexus 7 tablet and Avare? I'm mostly interested in NEXRAD and METARs; traffic is not a consideration.

Thanks,
Joe

[tommylewis]

I have a flight data systems pathfinder remote adsb receiver and last weekend I bought a nexus 7 while visiting our kid in NH. I installed avare and flew back to TX on Monday and Tuesday and was able to view the adsb radar okay. Since I am new to avare I did not figure out how to view metars until after I got home so need another flight to check on merars.

[tommylewis]

If you checkout the link below to our Spot tracking map you will notice that we
did not take a direct path home because of all the stormy weather across our route.
So we had alot of weather on the adsb radar to view on the Nexus 7. I was impressed with the Nexus 7 for use in the RV7a.

[rocketbob]

Joe, I say hold off on buying an ADS-B receiver for use with Avare. I have been in the very early stages of testing the use of a RTL2832 software defined radio for use with Avare. This USB device is $10. So far its working well and soon Avare will have support for connecting to this device to receive traffic. Eventually weather will be a part of this.

But if you have to have one now, the Dual is what works with Avare.

[Low Pass]

Originally Posted by rocketbob

Joe, I say hold off on buying an ADS-B receiver for use with Avare. I have been in the very early stages of testing the use of a RTL2832 software defined radio for use with Avare. This USB device is $10. So far its working well and soon Avare will have support for connecting to this device to receive traffic. Eventually weather will be a part of this.

But if you have to have one now, the Dual is what works with Avare.

Very interesting! When I come out from under my rock, I sometimes learn good things. Like this other ADS-B receiver, Dual. Thanks, Bob!

[Joe]

Originally Posted by tommylewis

... flight data systems pathfinder remote adsb receiver ...

I had not heard of that ADS-B receiver, did not know it worked with Avare/Android, and appreciate the pointer. Thanks for sharing your experience with it, Tom. I'd be interested to hear more when you've used its METARS (and TFRs too for that matter). And yes, I did notice your "curvelinear" track.

The company's web site leaves plenty of unanswered questions so I'll really be interested in your further reports.

Thanks,
Joe

[Joe]

Originally Posted by rocketbob

... in the very early stages of testing the use of a RTL2832 software defined radio for use with Avare ...

That would be wonderful, Bob. $10 is a good price <g>.

But I'm a bit of a skeptic: I used a similar DVB-T SDR to do ADS-B tracking on an old XP PC and it brought the processor "to its knees" with the CPU-intensive software. (IIRC the PC needed to do DSP on the output of the DVB-T.) My Nexus 7 processor seems even less capable.

But I hope it flies and can't think of a better innovation for EAB avionics. I'd appreciate hearing more about it, Bob -- maybe even participating in the test.

Thanks,
Joe

[rocketbob]

Originally Posted by Joe

T
But I'm a bit of a skeptic: I used a similar DVB-T SDR to do ADS-B tracking on an old XP PC and it brought the processor "to its knees" with the CPU-intensive software. (IIRC the PC needed to do DSP on the output of the DVB-T.) My Nexus 7 processor seems even less capable.

The SDR Touch app I use on Android runs just fine for doing SDR, no lag whatsoever even when doing waterfall. I was just showing it to a guy in my office playing around tuning FM stations. There are no processor issues of any kind running the experimental RTL/ADSB code for Avare. This is on a 2013 32GB Nexus 7.

[chuckwn]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents here.

The $10 USB SDR units work great, however, they are not capable of receiving any ADS-B weather (text or graphic) since they only work at 1090MHz. All they will receive is an incomplete traffic picture of a few aircraft equipped with 1090 Mode ES transponders (mostly big iron and a small but increasing number of GA panes).

All ADS-B weather products are transmitted on the UAT frequency of 978MHz which will not work with the inexpensive SDRs.

@Joe Dubner, Please call or email us any time if you have questions about the Pathfinder ADS-B receiver.

Chuck Newman
Flight Data Systems
VAF Advertiser
831-325-3131

[Joe]

Originally Posted by chuckwn

The $10 USB SDR units work great, however, they are not capable of receiving any ADS-B weather (text or graphic) since they only work at 1090MHz.

Please help me to understand this. The SDRs using that RTL2832 DVB-T tuner boast a range of 24 to at least 1700 MHz which nominally covers the 978 MHz UAT frequency. Of course, software is required (no small task) and there may be other issues.

Originally Posted by chuckwn

@Joe Dubner, Please call or email us any time if you have questions about the Pathfinder ADS-B receiver.

Thanks for piping up, Chuck. I may phone next week (my '8A is going to the paint shop on Monday) and ask those questions. Some of them are no longer necessary since I discovered the link to the manual but the FAQ's "Supported Devices" does not list Avare for Android (or the Pathfinder Remote for that matter). Neither does the manual for that matter.

--
Joe