FlightAware Pro Stick Plus FA-PROSTICKPLUS-1 ADS-B USB Receiver with Built-in Filter

As an aviation enthusiast and ADS-B data collector, the FlightAware Pro Stick Plus FA-PROSTICKPLUS-1 USB Receiver has become an essential tool in elevating my flight tracking capabilities to new heights. The first thing that impresses me is the built-in filter of this ADS-B receiver. It effectively blocks out unwanted signals and interference, ensuring that I receive clear and accurate data from aircraft in my vicinity. The Pro Stick Plus is designed for ADS-B data reception, making it a top-notch choice for capturing and decoding signals from nearby aircraft, enhancing my real-time flight tracking experience. One standout feature of this USB receiver is its compatibility with various software and applications. It seamlessly works with popular ADS-B tracking software, allowing me to easily integrate it into my existing setup. The FlightAware brand is renowned for its commitment to quality and reliability, and the Pro Stick Plus lives up to that reputation. I trust that I am getting precise and reliable ADS-B data with this receiver. In conclusion, the FlightAware Pro Stick Plus FA-PROSTICKPLUS-1 USB Receiver is more than just an ADS-B receiver; it's a valuable tool for flight tracking enthusiasts and aviation data collectors. With its built-in filter, ADS-B data reception, software compatibility, and trust in the FlightAware brand, this USB receiver has become an essential part of my aviation hobby. For individuals seeking to enhance their ADS-B reception and real-time flight tracking capabilities, the FlightAware Pro Stick Plus FA-PROSTICKPLUS-1 USB Receiver is a top-notch choice. Elevate your flight tracking experience with confidence, thanks to the FlightAware Pro Stick Plus ADS-B USB Receiver!

Excellent improvement! I just installed it on a Raspberry Pi 2 running Piaware 3.1, and it works out-of-the-box, getting me signals probably another 50 miles out. Very impressed with the performance so far (which has only been, say, 20 minutes by now.) Couldn't be simpler, and the price is tough to beat for the capability provided. I am running it with a simple mag-mount antenna originally provided with a quality Nooelec dongle, and it's working much better than expected. No fancy outside antenna or anything... just one sitting in the window of an upstairs bedroom. Antenna is on SE side of house, and it's now picking up many more hits in that direction, but is surprisingly catching traffic to the NW another 50 miles out, I'd estimate. The previous dongle I was using was the high-quality Nooelec NESDR mini 2+ .5ppm TXCO unit... the nice light blue one... and the highly rated RTL-SDR dongle. I'm guessing the added filter in this new unit is making the largest difference, as I did not use a filter before. I'm in South Aurora, CO (essentially Denver), and I'm picking up flights South to the New Mexico state line and up to Casper Wyoming... all with the crappy little ~7-inch long antenna (a cheap telescoping model extended to be approx correct length for 1090 Mhz). Great upgrade for anyone doing ADS-B reporting with Piaware.

**TLDR** My Blue FA stick outperforming the RTL-SDR V3 stick and doesn't get hot! About 3 weeks ago I setup a PiAware feeder using a RTL-SDR V3 as a receiver and a home made antenna in my attic. It was fun and interesting and the V3 worked very well but I wanted to improve my range and reception. I chose the FlightAware Pro Plus (the Blue Stick) because it has a built-in amp and 1090MHz filter. After 3 weeks with the V3 I was seeing around 80-120 NM out which I thought was pretty decent for a attic mounted homemade antenna. Today after 5 hours with the blue FA stick and the same antenna I've seen several planes just beyond the 150 NM ring for the first time and have picked up as many signals from 200-250 mile range than the previous 3 weeks total! I realize there are lots of variables and with only 5 hours of data it's awful early to be conculsive but I'm very impressed with the improvement and very pleased with this little receiver. If you are looking to get into flight tracking using a SDR - specifically 1090MHz - then this is a nice little all-in-one package that combines the SDR with a built-in amp and 1090MHz filter for $20. If you want to receive 978MHz you're going to want the Orange FA stick instead for about a dollar less, or maybe the V3. Don't get me wrong I like my RTL-SDR V3. It is more versatile but it was not purpose built specifically for 1090MHz ADSB like the Blue Stick is.

They're not kidding - this is the easiest way to get into ADS-B aircraft tracking with FlightAware.Combined with a Raspberry Pi (I'm using a Pi 3 Model B), it was pretty effortless to set up and start using it to feed FlightAware along with local display of aircraft near you. If you really want to get into this, you'll also need a good antenna - the FlightAware site has a complete list of goodies to make a very functional setup. Whether you want this Plus version or the regular version depends on how noisy (radio-wise) your environment is. Since I also have ham radio around, I chose this for the additional filtering it provides. Performance is superb - this is the radio portion of things and with my altitude here, I can receive as far as about 250 nautical miles, and 200 miles is the norm. So clearly the receiver is great, along with the filtering. Very happy with it. Worth your consideration is the FlightAware outside antenna - it's an excellent performer and part of the setup that allows for the great performance, along with LMR400 cable.

It's a little bulky but I am very impressed with its performance, in the middle of a living room. First floor in a 2 story house. Still picking up planes about 100 miles away. Local planes down to about 600 ft so far. Can't wait to get it in my vehicle, antenna will be at 9 ft above ground on the roof. Should be a great setup! With this stick, I was up and running on the Raspberry Pi in about 20 minutes. They make it super simple, just copy and paste the commands in the tutorials.

The FlightAware ProStick Plus is THE ADS-B dongle to choose if you're interested in ADS-B. FlightAware has an orange one, but I really don't know why anyone would want that one - because this one comes with some important features. Foremost, a 1090 mhz filter is inside the case. This filter is very, very important because you ONLY want to pick up a 1090 mhz signal, and there's just so much stray RF floating around out there, it can cause reception issues. Also, the Pro Stick Plus includes a LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) in the circuity. It's my understanding that this amplifier isn't as powerful as an actual add on outboard LNA, but it does give the device a nice little range boost that the orange Pro Stick might not have. Something to keep in mind is that your antenna system is going to be the biggest factor in what you're able to receive. I've tried a couple different antennas. A simple "rubber duck" type that looks like a wifi router antenna, and made a DIY "spider" antenna that you'll likely see if you search for ADS-B antennas online. The spider antenna obviously worked best, but the little rubber duck antenna wasn't "bad". It wasn't "good" either. I've made the choice to go with an outdoor antenna after taking my setup outside and effectively TRIPLING the number of aircraft I was able to receive. That was all I needed to know to go ahead and buy a FlightAware outdoor antenna and some LMR-400 coax. That's something else you want to keep in mind, coax cable is vitally important because at 1090 mhz, regular coax can get very lossy. You want the signal the antenna picks up to get to the receiver! So spend the money and buy the absolute BEST and LOWEST LOSS coax you can afford. Trust me on this. The last thing I recommend is visiting ADSBExchange.com and joining their forum. FlightAware is cool and all, but here's a little secret that you may not know.. FlightAware will take the data you feed them and FILTER IT. That means you will NOT see all of the aircraft your device is picking up on the FlightAware radar view! The guys over at ADSBExchange have developed their own software that you load on your Raspberry Pi that DOES NOT filter data. What you see is what you get!

This is quite a good receiver, with built-in SAW filters that give increased performance over standard RTL-SDR tuners. Given these cost very little more than other RTL-SDRs of similar quality, they're absolutely worth the spend for any 1090mhz installation. Unfortunately the RTL chipset is probably not the most durable item, and it failed after a year. I've yet to diagnose the exact mode of failure, but given it's non-responsive to lsusb, the terminal fault is probably common to any RTL-SDR.

I put this on an old computer. Then I executed the two lines of script (from FlightAware) for Raspberry Pi (PIAware) on this old tower, running Ubuntu 20.04. Plugged in dongle, rebooted and everything was working perfectly, in background. I looked at it with my web browser and there were 15 airplanes visible. So light weightI can't see that it consumes resources. I could not get the software from FA to run on Fedora Linux. I bought this as a "COVID challenge" and it failed at that - it works so well its boring!

Very happy with this after using for over a year. Despite less than optimal setup (long 40' coax run) I get very good performance overall. Considering the price I'm very happy.

This receiver performs very well indeed. Very good value for money. It is fed via 10m of LMR400 cable from a FlightAware-1090-MHz-ADS-B-Antenna. I consistently get get omnidirectional 205nm (380km) range with the occasional connection up to 225nm (407km) in clear conditions. Performance is significantly improved with the addition of the FlightAware ADS-B Dual 978 MHz + 1090 MHz Band-Pass SMA Filter.

Wer schon immer davon geträumt hat sein eigenes "Radar" im Stile von Flightradar24.com aufzubauen, ist hier genau richtig. Der Stick ist die konsequente Weiterentwicklung des Vorgängers (ohne Plus im Namen und ohne eigebauten Filter). Dieser Stick ist preislich sehr günstig und kann an jedem PC, Raspberry Pi oder, mit Adapter, an einem Handy oder Tablet betrieben werden. Damit ist es dann möglich an jedem beliebigen Ort die sogenannten ADS-B Signale von Verkehrsflugzeugen in einer Entfernung bis 250 nautischen Meilen zu Empfangen und mit einer passenden Software zu decodieren. Natürlich können diese Daten dann auch an eine der bekannten Seiten für Flugverfolgung weitergeleitet werden. Diese werden dann für die Live Ansicht auf der jeweiligen Homepage genutzt. Um den Stick nutzen zu können benötigt man noch folgende Komponenten: - Antenne für den Empfang von ADS-B Signalen (1090MHz): Mystique SDR Antenne 1090MHz - ideal für den Empfang von Mode-S / ADS-B - Ein passendes Kabel zur Verbindung von Antenne und Stick Beispiel: sourcingmap® N Typ Stecker auf SMA Stecker 2 Meter Antenne Koax RG58 Kabel Steckverbinder de - eine Software um die Signale zu dekodieren - Endgerät, z.B. Raspberry Pi 3: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Der Stick ist nicht nur für den günstigen Einstieg zu gebrauchen, er ist sogar ein sehr hochwertiger Stick, welcher die gleiche Güte an Signalen Empfängt wie ein mehrere hundert Euro teures Radarcape (Ich betreibe beides parallel). Klare Kaufempfehlung!

This device works flawlessly. High quality build and performance.

Excellent product. Performs as expected. Combines three (3) items in one, i.e. DVB-T RTL receiver, 1090 Mhz Filter, and an RF pre-amplifier. Great value for the very competetive price.