GNS 5890 Performance

[MB]

As there is not much here as to how good this receiver is I thought I would make some comments that might be helpful to anyone wondering if it is good value for money or not. I have had a PGR for around about a year now and have experimented with it quite a lot so am very familiar with what it is capable of. Because one has to keep playing with the gain of the PGR to get what you want which I found a little frustrating, I thought I would look around for something else in the low end price bracket. It was a bit of a gamble therefore opting for the 5980 but I certainly have no regrets now that I have thorougly tested it. It has about the same maximum range as the PGR (like around 180 NM in a clear direction) but it is really excellent for close range as well, unlike the PGR. (The PGR will do close range of course but not too well at full gain). I am using it with a 13 segment home made colinear antenna and PlanePlotter. It can be a bit finicky with com port recognition but I have fewer problems now than when I first got it going. In short, I am very pleased with it.

[GregHudson]

G'Day MB.
I too am impressed with the GNS 5890.
The maximum framerate (I have seen) was just under 7000 frames per minute.
The maximum range I am getting (in one direction with clear line of sight) is approx 420 Km / 225 NM
From my location (Melbourne Vic) I detect aircraft flying from Sydney to Perth at Flight Level of 40,000ft.

Regards, Greg.

[MB]

Hi Greg,
Good to find another GNS 5890 user not that far away. I am located in Auckland, around 4 NM from the Intl Airport but down near sea level so my range is limited by varying degrees of high ground surrounding me. Luckily I do get out quite a way in the directions that count and probably a more sensitive receiver would not improve things that much. The close range decoding ability of this receiver seems to be faultless which is just great as my main interest in radar spotting is as an aid to general aircraft recognition in my vicinity.
Regards,
Maurice

[GregHudson]

Hi Greg,
Good to find another GNS 5890 user not that far away. I am located in Auckland, around 4 NM from the Intl Airport but down near sea level so my range is limited by varying degrees of high ground surrounding me. Luckily I do get out quite a way in the directions that count and probably a more sensitive receiver would not improve things that much. The close range decoding ability of this receiver seems to be faultless which is just great as my main interest in radar spotting is as an aid to general aircraft recognition in my vicinity.
Regards,
Maurice

G'Day Maurice, and welcome to the forum. I'm sure you will find lots of useful info on this site, and a wealth of info coming from other RadarSpotters.
I'm only a newbie myself - if you really what to know something, ask ANMER (Mike) I believe he runs this site.
Also hunt for Oblivian (on the FR24 forum) - he's in NZ somewhere (maybe Wellington?).
I have also just started a new GNS Range Reports topic here:
http://radarspotting.com/forum/index.php/board,36.0.html

Regards, Greg.