Stratux Mount

[Raptor05121]

4 hours ago, smlynarczyk said:

Wow... I too built my own stratux for bidirectional and yes it cost a little more than $75. Seems like mine is a little more finicky about reception  (my antenna choice?).  If this really does have the reception that mine seems to lack, I just wasted my time. Thanks for posting. I need to visit their booth at OSH this week.

what SDRs and antennae do you have? post a pic

[HRM]

4 hours ago, smlynarczyk said:

If this really does have the reception that mine seems to lack...

I bit the anti-CB bullet and bought a Stratus 2S on the Osh promotion. Sitting in my study and playing with it (iPad FF) I was surprised to see it locked with GPS from a window. This thing is robust.

[markejackson02]

On 7/22/2017 at 7:15 PM, peevee said:

I have a pingefb on our stratux and the reception is much better than the low power sdrs. I didn't think it would be worth the extra money but it was.

Agreed, the difference in reception is night and day.

[smlynarczyk]

On 7/22/2017 at 10:12 PM, Raptor05121 said:

what SDRs and antennae do you have? post a pic

I used the nano 2 which came with an antenna (it is about 3" tall and quite thin). I seldom pick up a tower even though I am at 3-5 K and have the unit on the dash.

[Raptor05121]

Something isnt right. I'd check the cables running from the SDRs to the antenna jacks. The pins might be pushed back

[peevee]

5 hours ago, smlynarczyk said:

I used the nano 2 which came with an antenna (it is about 3" tall and quite thin). I seldom pick up a tower even though I am at 3-5 K and have the unit on the dash.

what else do you have? GPS? Which kind?

[EricJ]

I have a pingefb on our stratux and the reception is much better than the low power sdrs. I didn't think it would be worth the extra money but it was.

The low-power tuners are optimized for power consumption at the expense of increased noise (the switching DC-DC converters are efficient, but noisy).   So using a different tuner would be expected to increase sensitivity and therefore range.    I have the low-power tuners and the range still seems fine to me, but I've not tried it with more sensitive tuners.

Depending on which case one gets, even with the low-power tuners it's better to have the little fan plugged in.   I tried using mine with passive cooling for a while and sometimes it got pretty hot.   That said, some of the cases, like the one I have, are poorly designed when it comes to passive ventilation, so it seems like the fan kinda needs to be on regardless.

On 7/22/2017 at 8:14 PM, HRM said:

I bit the anti-CB bullet and bought a Stratus 2S on the Osh promotion. Sitting in my study and playing with it (iPad FF) I was surprised to see it locked with GPS from a window. This thing is robust.

Most modern GPS receivers have a lot better sensitivity than older stuff, so it may be just because it's newer.   I have a $35 WAAS-GPS plugged into a USB port on the Stratux and it works inside my house, doesn't even need to be close to a window.   I've noticed that to be true with newer GPS devices in general.

[peevee]

3 minutes ago, EricJ said:

Depending on which case one gets, even with the low-power tuners it's better to have the little fan plugged in.   I tried using mine with passive cooling for a while and sometimes it got pretty hot.   That said, some of the cases, like the one I have, are poorly designed when it comes to passive ventilation, so it seems like the fan kinda needs to be on regardless.

 

the ADSB/fan controller doesn't turn the fan on until 50c, mine hardly ran at all.

 

The pi can happily run to 80C, in fact I have one in my attic running piaware that is currently at 78C because it's so hot up there. No problems. After 80 it'll throttle but still run.

[EricJ]

1 minute ago, peevee said:

the ADSB/fan controller doesn't turn the fan on until 50c, mine hardly ran at all.

 

The pi can happily run to 80C, in fact I have one in my attic running piaware that is currently at 78C because it's so hot up there. No problems. After 80 it'll throttle but still run.

On mine the fan is just plugged onto the power pins, so it's on when power is on.   I didn't spring for the controller, because CB.

And, yeah, I've run RPis to failure on both ends of the temperature extremes, so I'm just trying to give this one the best chance of not failing at some inopportune time.  The main downside to having the fan on is the added current draw on the USB power distribution device, which is often not really an issue, anyway.

[jamesm]

Here is were I mounted my Stratux Receiver

Edited August 1, 2017 by jamesm