Buying an ADS-B receiver instead of building one: ready-made units, kits and costs

Your own ADS-B receiver is a great project, but not everyone feels like flashing memory cards, installing packages and reading log files. The good news: You don’t have to tinker. There are ready-made ADS-B receivers, complete kits you plug together and, for selected locations, even free hardware. In this guide, you see which routes exist, roughly what they cost, where the differences lie and which route is worth it for whom.

The short answer: buying works, but costs more

An ADS-B receiver always consists of the same building blocks: antenna, a receiving section for 1090 MHz, a computer with decoder software and usually feeder software that sends the data to flight tracking networks. How that works technically is explained in the basics guide Flight tracking with ADS-B for spotters.

With DIY, you buy these parts individually and set up the software yourself. FlightAware puts the parts cost for that at around 100 US dollars, or 80 euros, and estimates about two hours of build time. When you buy, you pay for convenience: The software is preinstalled, the parts fit together, and ideally you only plug in cables. Depending on the solution, the price is then double or well above.

We checked all prices in this article in October 2026 on the manufacturers’ and retailers’ pages. They can change at any time, and individual products were marked as sold out at the time of checking.

All routes at a glance

Route	What you get	Effort	Cost (benchmark)
DIY from individual parts	Raspberry Pi, SDR stick, antenna, software set up by yourself	Medium, about two hours	around €80 according to FlightAware
Complete kit	All parts from one source, assembly and setup by you	Medium	depends on the retailer
Preconfigured unit	Fully assembled, memory card preinstalled	Low: connect, register	from $199.99 (FlightFeeder Pro)
Standalone receiver	Dedicated device without a Raspberry Pi, feeder built in	Low	Prices in the Jetvision web shop
Host program	Device, antenna and cable provided	Low, but an application is needed	free, only if selected

Route 1: DIY – the reference for comparison

So you can put the prices of the ready-made units in context, a short look at DIY is worthwhile. You need a Raspberry Pi with power supply and memory card, an SDR stick for 1090 MHz and an antenna. You get the software as a ready-made image, such as PiAware from FlightAware. If you already own a Raspberry Pi, according to FlightAware you can even install PiAware afterward in less than five minutes.

You will find the complete guide with parts list, antenna tips and step-by-step setup in Building an ADS-B receiver yourself. If you want to start without a Raspberry Pi, for example with an old laptop or mini PC, you will find alternatives in the article ADS-B reception without a Raspberry Pi.

Route 2: off-the-shelf individual parts – the middle path

Between DIY and a ready-made unit lies a pragmatic middle path: You buy the critical parts as matched brand products and so spare yourself the research on which stick works with which antenna. For this, FlightAware sells matching accessories in its own US shop and through retailers such as The Pi Hut.

Product	What it is	Price FlightAware shop (USD)	Price The Pi Hut (GBP)
Pro Stick	USB SDR with 19 dB amplifier, no filter	$36.99	£45.30
Pro Stick Plus	like the Pro Stick, plus 1090 MHz bandpass filter	$45.99	£52.50
1090 MHz antenna	Outdoor antenna from FlightAware	$49.99	–
60 cm antenna for 1090 MHz	Outdoor antenna in The Pi Hut range	–	£24.90
1090 MHz bandpass filter	Filter with SMA connectors	–	£25.90
Dual-band filter 978/1090 MHz	Filter for both ADS-B frequencies	$29.25	£35.90

As of October 2026, prices excluding shipping. For operation in Europe, a filter for 1090 MHz is enough, because 978 MHz (UAT) only plays a role in the US.

Pro Stick or Pro Stick Plus?

Both sticks are based on the widespread R820T2 tuner and have a built-in amplifier with 19 dB and a 0.4 dB noise figure. For the Pro Stick, FlightAware cites a range increase of 20 to 100 percent over conventional RTL-SDR sticks. The Pro Stick Plus additionally filters out everything outside 1075 to 1105 MHz. That helps in the city and near cell towers, but costs some signal in the countryside – FlightAware tends to advise against it there. You can read a detailed comparison of further sticks under SDR sticks for ADS-B compared, and background on amplifiers and filters under Boosting ADS-B range.

Route 3: preconfigured units – unpack, connect, done

FlightAware FlightFeeder Pro

The best-known ready-made unit for beginners comes from FlightAware itself. The manufacturer’s shop lists the FlightFeeder Pro for 1090 MHz at 199.99 US dollars, and a variant for 978 MHz (UAT) at 219.99 US dollars – but that one is of no interest for Europe.

According to FlightAware, the box contains:

• a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ as the computer in its own FlightFeeder case
• a 3.5-inch display from Waveshare (touchscreen)
• a pre-written microSD card
• a Pro Stick Plus as the receiver
• a power supply with Micro-USB
• a USB extension cable so the stick sits outside the case
• an indoor antenna with a permanently attached cable of around nine feet, so just under three meters

Optionally, FlightAware offers an indoor/outdoor antenna with various cable lengths that replaces the included indoor antenna. The device has Wi-Fi and Ethernet. For setup, you connect the cables, switch on and link the receiver to your account – building and flashing are no longer needed. FlightAware makes clear that the device belongs to you and you can use it however you like. The manufacturer gives the range as up to 250 nautical miles, which corresponds to around 460 kilometers – but that only applies with a correspondingly good antenna location.

There is also the FlightFeeder Basic as a kit based on a Raspberry Pi Zero W, with Wi-Fi only and no display. Here you flash the card yourself and set everything up, and FlightAware explicitly points out that some know-how is needed for that. We did not find a price for it on the shop page.

Jetvision Air!Squitter

Jetvision, a brand of Günter Köllner Embedded Development GmbH, takes a different approach. The Air!Squitter is intended as a replacement for SDR stick solutions – for anyone who finds tinkered setups too complicated or too unstable. It works without a separate computer and is designed for unattended continuous operation.

What the manufacturer describes:

• OLED display, Wi-Fi, LAN, USB and its own Wi-Fi access point
• built-in web server with map, aircraft list, filters and status pages, usable from several devices
• built-in feeders for Flightradar24, FlightAware, Planeplotter and the OpenSky Network, each with your existing account
• MLAT by default via the Jetvision network, so that aircraft without an ADS-B position show up too
• an M.2 interface for extensions, such as a cellular modem

There are two versions: Air!Squitter Basic without and Air!Squitter FLARM with FLARM reception via the Open Glider Network. The FLARM variant is interesting if many gliders and light aircraft are around you – background in the article FLARM and the Open Glider Network. The product page doesn’t give prices; they are in the manufacturer’s web shop.

Jetvision Radarcape

The Radarcape plays a class above. Jetvision positions it for professional and commercial applications. It receives Mode A/C, Mode S and ADS-B raw data with a sensitivity down to −93 dBm and has a GPS-synchronized clock that delivers timestamps accurate to 50 nanoseconds. Depending on the variant, there is a second antenna input, an input for an external time reference, or a version with a high dynamic range for very strong signals near airports.

Jetvision gives the range as up to around 450 kilometers with a line of sight and a well-placed antenna. The data is available in the browser and can be output in many formats. Feeders for FlightAware, Flightradar24 and OpenSky are built in. For most hobby spotters, the device is oversized – but if you are planning a station at a club house or for an airfield, you should know it.

Route 4: free hardware through host programs

The flight tracking services live off coverage. That is why some of them provide the hardware themselves in places where they lack data. Best documented is FlightAware’s FlightFeeder program: The service supplies receiver, antenna and antenna cable for free and takes care of shipping.

The conditions in brief:

• You submit a request with your location, and FlightAware reviews it based on location, among other things. Not every request is accepted.
• Currently, airports and FBOs are preferred. According to FlightAware, anyone who isn’t selected stays on file for later.
• You need an outdoor antenna spot with a clear view of the sky, as well as power and internet for the device in the house.
• As a host, you get a free Enterprise account, a local map (SkyAware) and statistics on your station.
• Unlike the purchased FlightFeeder Pro, a supplied FlightFeeder remains FlightAware’s property.

Realistically: In densely covered regions such as the Rhine-Main area around Frankfurt Airport, the chances are slim. The program is more interesting for remote areas, islands or small airfields. Other networks have also made comparable offers; details and availability change, though, so it’s worth looking directly at the services’ pages.

What you get with every purchase – and what you don’t

Whether ready-made unit or kit: The networks’ rewards depend on feeding, not on the hardware you bought. FlightAware gives data contributors a free Enterprise account with, among other things, eight months of flight history, unlimited alerts and registrations for airline flights. AirNav Radar advertises a Business account for feeders. Which service offers what exactly is compared in the article What feeders get in return.

A ready-made unit does not take two things off your hands, though:

1. The antenna location. An indoor antenna in a window delivers first results, but the big range only comes with a clear view all around on the roof or on a mast. Tips on this are in the guide Finding the best antenna location. If you do want some hands-on fun, you can also build the antenna yourself – see Building a 1090 MHz antenna yourself.
2. The choice of networks. Preconfigured units are often tailored to one service. If you want to supply several networks at the same time, you usually end up with your own software setup after all, for example with Docker and Ultrafeeder. The Jetvision devices are the exception here because they have several feeders built in.

Which route suits you?

What to look out for when buying

• Frequency: In Europe, only 1090 MHz counts. You don’t need devices or filters for 978 MHz (UAT) here.
• Filter or not: In the city or near transmitter masts, a receiver with a filter makes sense; in the countryside, often not.
• Antenna connector and cable: Make sure connectors and cable match your planned antenna, and keep the cable as short as possible. For outdoor use, the article Running an ADS-B receiver outdoors is worthwhile.
• Computer in the device: Check which Pi model is built in and whether it will handle later software updates well.
• Total cost: Include shipping, import duties, an outdoor antenna and accessories such as surge protection.
• Legal matters: A receiver doesn’t transmit anything, it only listens. What to keep in mind when receiving and sharing the data is covered under Receiving ADS-B data: the legal situation.

After buying: getting more out of your station

Once the receiver is running, enter position and antenna height with the service so your station takes part in multilateration. Whether range is right, you see with analyses like those in Measuring reception performance with graphs1090. The feeder programs of the various networks are compared in the article ADS-B feeder programs compared, and there are concrete guides for FlightAware, the Flightradar24 feeder and AirNav RadarBox.

For everyday spotting, your own station brings you one thing above all: You see early what is approaching your home airport – whether at the visitors’ hill in Munich or at the Zeppelinheim viewing platform. Why the runway direction in use matters so much here is explained in Understanding runway direction in use at airports.

Conclusion

Buying an ADS-B receiver instead of building one is an honest option if your time and nerves matter more than the last euro saved. DIY remains the cheapest and most flexible solution at around 80 euros in parts. Matched individual parts such as the Pro Stick and a brand-name antenna take the research off your hands, and preconfigured units such as the FlightFeeder Pro save flashing and setup. Standalone receivers from Jetvision run entirely without a computer and supply several networks directly – you will find the current prices in the manufacturer’s web shop. And if you live somewhere with poor coverage, you should apply for a host program first.