I did some flight tests on Thanksgiving day to check the range performance of our newly installed OGN ground station at Merkel Field Sylacauga KSCD in Alabama, home of the Central Alabama Soaring Association (CASA). I carried two T-Beam trackers and one
T-Echo in my Mustang II. I flew a star pattern from KSCD out towards each of our prospective remote OGN ground station sites, and noted when the ground station lost reception (I had an OGN viewer running on my cell phone in flight). The T-Echo range
performance was clearly inferior, the OGN ground station at KSCD lost the T-Echo signal at significantly shorter ranges than the T-Beams. This was not unexpected, the T-Echo units have significantly lower transmit power. (Note that I replaced the tiny
antenna that comes with the T-Echo with a slightly larger antenna from a T-Beam).
This poorer range performance as well as difficult readability of the tiny radar screen on the T-Echo, has led CASA to commit to T-Beam trackers, and to mate them with SkyView units, to give “radar screen” type traffic displays. The SkyView units (
when hooked up to an external speaker) also provide voice alerts for traffic and collision warnings, which is a feature not available on the T-Echo units. The T-Beam and Skyview units also lend themselves better to permanent installations, which is what
CASA is planning for our fleet.
Cheers,
Jim J6
On Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 12:47:47 PM UTC-6, Charlie Finn wrote:
Has anyone tried the LilyGO T-echo tracker advertised on Amazon for $65?
https://www.amazon.com/LILYGO-SoftRF-NRF52840-Wireless-Arduino/dp/B099W86PB8?th=1
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