Hi Maikha,
I have just setup my system, however there are other Board Members with far greater experience than me with ADS-B.
Below are some I the things I considered and noticed while doing the setup :-
- There are several base units available, I went with the RadarBox simply because there was a free one on offer (others may comment on the differences between units. Kinetic SBS is another option). AirNav radarBox base unit costs $612.
- The small portable antenna that came with the unit was basically useless at my location.
- Your location, and location of the antenna is very important. The transmissions are bacically line of sight, so any obstacle (mountain, house etc) is going to affect the reception. My antenna is mounted on a 3 metre mast and looks directly out to sea, so on the eastern side of the compass reception has reached 485nm (Christchurch-Brisbane flights). On the western side it is more like 150nm, although I can pickup the Melbourne-Brisbane flights.
- The selection of antenna is also very important, and you can find several options on the internet. After reading a number of antenna sites, I decided to go with a DPD Productions antenna. There are built in California, and Dave had to do a special for me because of the US Mail size requirements. This is a 7 element rather than 10 element, however the performance is amazing. Cost including short N/SMA fly lead and postage from the USA was roughly $189.
- Coax cable is the final area to look at, and Noel posted a link in this thread to a site that has a performance calculator for various cable types and lengths. Initially I used RG58 to try different antenna locations, and finally went with the more expensive LMR-400 recommended by Noel, when I knew the exact length required. This cable connects directly to the antenna, and the base end has a short more flexible fly lead to convert the N Connector to the smaller SMA connector on the base unit. This short fly lead also allows for a little more flexibility with the base unit location, as the LMR-400 cable is very thick and not so flexible. My cable run is under 15 metres and cost approx $129 including N connectors and postage. Kurt also supplied links to a couple of cable sites.
Happy to help with any other questions, and I am sure Kurt and Noel will chip in also.
Base Unit
AirNav Systems RadarBox or
Kinetic
Antenna
DPD Productions ADS-B (SBS / RadarBox) Vertical Outdoor Model Antenna
Coax Cable
https://www.eyou.com.au/search/ Times Microwave LMR-400