ADS-B

There are several professional ads-b ' boxes ' available - airnav radarbox and kinetic sbs1 mode s receivers are perhaps  the better known one's.

The other way to go is to use one of the cheap rtl2832 tv dongles which are available for a few euros.

you can then run a program called dump1090 which will run on a pc or on a raspberry pi.. the output from 1090 can be displayed on screen.  it's also  possible to feed the excelent planeplotter program and virtual radar server  with the data received from  dump1090

virtual radar server will run both on a pc and a raspberry pi

Dump1090

Installing  dump for windows using a rtl2832 dongle will require a special driver which can be downloaded from the site  zadig again read the information on david taylors site if you have any problems installing dump for windows. but you must use the zadig driver otherwise the dongle won't work.once working you will see a screen similar to this ( this is from a raspberry screen dump but its all the same really )

dump1090 for windows  (  a zip file within the raspberry pi dump folder ) ) which can be download from here.

there are a few different versions but this version will give you all you need to have to get you going in the first instance

you can feed planeplotter / virtual radar server from your dongle amongst other sources

The above is very dated now - but it still installs on a Raspberryp pi3 b+ running buster, having said that in April 2022 ‘git’ would not install on Buster

A good run command is below

./dump1090 --device-index 1 --interactive --net --gain -10 --mlat --modeac --aggressive --no-fix --metric

There are  a lot of packages out there to display ads-s , without spending a lot of money. Planeplotter is not freeware but its a modest price to pay for the backup service that’s available and very regular upgrades.virtual radar server is free and also extremely good .radar box again is good but you need to buy their complete package which originally was a lot of money - but you can now use most rtl1090 type dongle which work ok

view raw data on  on port 30003

nc 192.168.1.53 30003 

( use your i.p address that is running dump )

Dump1090   is now  out dated so you will be better trying installing flight aware/skyaware , you do not have to upload to their site if you do not wish to, just don't claim the installation and it won't upload - follow my link here or check the flight aware site out for details 

You can use 2 dongles connected to the same raspberry pi - one for ads-b reception the other for acars reception

first make sure rtl-sdr is installed as the rtl-eprom program is part of it

sudo apt-get install rtl-sdr 

at the command line type < rtl_eeprom -s 00000007 >

the above will change the seriel number of the dongle to 00000007

look at the final line of output where it will basically ask confirmation to go ahead (y) and enter

do this for all dongles giving them a different seriel number - i have run 5 programs with 5 dongles and all worked ok - but you will need a good power supply and good hub power supply

if you are running several dongles on one raspberry pi a good program to view all outputs on one sceeen at the same time is ' terminator '

install terminator from the command line

sudo apt-get install terminator

Below is a screen shot from planeplotter which is being fed from virtual radar server which in turn is getting its information from dump1090

You can also feed data from virtual radar server to ads b exchange

this  link  shows how to do it

 

You can share your ads-b information with planeplotter ( there are a lot of other sites that encourage you to do this ) - I share / upload  my information to planeplotter from a raspberry pi , which saves you having to run your  pc  all the time - you even get a e-mail if you so  wish telling you that your system has gone of line.

one site that I do like and  upload information to is the below ( planefinder.net ) there  are a few annoying adverts, but if you upload your information to this site you can get rid of them. The other good thing is that you can see oceanic flights on your screen, a real plus

 You can upload information to them when you run planeplotter, or use  a raspberry pi to upload information. if you go for this option you will  need to download and install a utility which is easy to do.this has the advantage that you can benifit from a lot of stats regarding your uploads. see the link below .click here  planefinder.net and it will take you to the site and give you all the information you need if you want to participate.

Virtual radar server

below is a screen shot from the virtual radar server screen the screens look the same on a pc or on a raspberry pi

setting up virtual radar server  to feed plane plotter

 Installing VRS on a Raspberry pi

To install virtual radar server on a raspberry pi ( also the plugins and the picture folder and flag folder ) has now become very easy - open a terminal and type in the below command

bash -c "$(wget -o - https://github.com/mypiaware/virtual-radar-server-installation/raw/master/virtual_radar_server_install.sh)"

RTL1090 HZ

Another very simple program that you can try ( which will also feed planeplotter/virtual radar )  is the one from jet vision downloaded from here don't forget about the zadig driver for the dongle

Here are some screen shots from the program - during the installation process it may ask for additional  dll's which you can download from here

This is very dated now and i leave the information here just for general interest

  Flightaware  / Pi aware

 ( installs on raspberry pi - including a pi zero )

Above is a screen shot from the pi aware program - it works very well - install it from the official site , or from the below

wget https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/files/packages/pool/piaware/p/piaware-support/piaware-repository_7.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i piaware-repository_7.1_all.deb
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install piaware
sudo piaware-config allow-auto-updates yes
sudo piaware-config allow-manual-updates yes
sudo apt-get install dump1090-fa
sudo reboot

I would urge you to download flightaware's sd card image ( free ) and install the software that way - it's very easy but you do need to modify a config file to put your router details in i.e password and ssid ( that is assuming you want to enable wi-fi ) also you will need to add a blank file called ssh if you want to access the pi over your net work. you can use a 'ordinary' rtl dongle but a flight aware pro stick plus will work better as it has a built in pre-amp and filter. They can be purchased from various sites including the pi hut uk which makes it convenient if you need another raspberry pi at the same time.

for full information - plus setup procedure visit - https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/install - you should  read the information on this site to understand things fully

Check for the latest version  which is now 7.1 for bullseye and 6.1 on buster with bullseye now being recommended as the os

Don't forget to register ( simple procedure ) it's also important to set your qth

The output can also be fed into virtual radar server

If the power to your rpi is interuppted and/or you lose the internet connection briefly, when its restored the program  will start uploading your data again with no intervention from you - so it's very good for un attended operation if you have a problem with the sd card becoming corrupt and you re image it don't forget to change the feeder id to the original number

If you don't do this  pi aware will think its a completely new installation so  doing this is really important

sudo piaware-config feeder-id  ( i.e 27xxxxxx-xxxx-4ff5-xxxx-123axxyxxxxx )

( using your unique number, you might have to stop piaware running to gain access to the file )

Piaware commands

Set your qth and range rings

sudo nano /etc/default/dump1090-fa

modify the decoder options line

decoder_options="--lat 56.19 --lon -09.72 --max-range 360 --fix"

ctrl-o and enter to save, ctrl-x to exit

use your lat/long not mine

sudo reboot

Alternative interface

sudo bash -c "$(wget -q -o - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiedehopf/tar1090/master/install.sh)"

look at the web site for further information

https://github.com/wiedehopf/tar1090

Airnav radarbox ( Windows )

The data received can also be passed onto plane plotter. the data can also  be fed to virtual radar server ( just set the radarbox up as a sdr receiver 'other' )

acars messages can be displayed in the radar box program  but you must have the airnav acars program.  

you can use the airnav dongle instead of the radarbox ( originally very expensive ) but i have found that an ordinary rtl1090 dongle will also work fine

install the software into somewhere like c:/airnav systems - don' install it in the program files area c:/.program files/airnav system

you can update the database in one hit by going to database explorer/update database/update all records 

 

Airnav radarbox 24 on the raspberry pi  

if you have a raspberry pi running  dump1090 already, then you can also  upload your data to the airnav radarbox server  check the below site to see how to do it

https://www.radarbox.com/raspberry-pi/guide

 then basic install commands are shown   < check the original site above also >

sudo bash -c "$(wget -o - http://apt.rb24.com/inst_rbfeeder.sh)"

sudo rbfeeder --set-network-mode off --no-start

sudo apt-get install mlat-client -y

 when the install is completed  reboot your raspberry

don't forget to 'claim' your new installation by going to the below link

https://www.radarbox24.com/raspberry-pi/claim

if you have a sharing key already it can be set by doing the below

sudo rbfeeder --setkey ‹your sharing key›

Airnav radar24 commands

sudo systemctl stop rbfeeder

sudo systemctl restart rbfeeder

sudo apt-get remove rbfeeder

sudo rbfeeder --status

sudo rbfeeder --showkey

The above screen shot shows the interface

The above screen shows where you can configure your options

With a business account ( free if you upload data ) you can track up to 10 planes free, so if you have a small fleet of planes its ideal to keep tabs on them  - if you need more than 10 you need to pay for this service

Checking arrivals - in this case at Brest/lfrb

You can view radarbox24 on your raspberry pi / pc on the following link   https://www.radarbox24.com/

If you have problems with it not  displaying correctly in  Google chrome  try Firefox

There is now also available an app for your smart phone -  there is a monthly fee

If you are uploading data to their server  you will have a free business account already  -  the benifits of uploading are huge so find that old raspberry pi thats collecting dust in a drawer somewhere buy a tv donlge   for less than 10 euros ( comes with an antenna ) follow the setup  instructions on this page or preferable from the official site below airnav radarbox

 

ADS B reception using Multipsk & sdr  dongle

 

Above is a screen shot of multipsk decoding ads-b signals - a funcube dongle cannot be used as its bandwidth is to narrow. 

 Planefinder

Software links

Raspberry pi ADS-B

Before you attempt to download and install dump1090 or acarsdeco2 you must install the rtl2832  dongle  correctly.  so have a good read through david taylors web site pages on the subject. otherwise you will have errors saying the drivers been claimed by another device ( the dongle is really designed for tv  reception ) so you might well see something like the below. which will make the device maybe un-usuable or  at best you will have to un-plug it from the raspberry everytime you re-boot the rpi which is a pain.

 It will be better to install flight aware dump1090-fa rather that the now somewhat dated dump1090

Kernel driver is active, or device is claimed by second instance of librtlsdr.

In the first case, please either detach or blacklist the kernel module

(dvb_usb_rtl28xxu), or enable automatic detaching at compile time.

usb_claim_interface error -6

Failed to open rtlsdr device #0

* so please read the instructions on david taylors web site  and all will work as it should do * 

 

Having installed the software for the dongle correctly and got the correct return for the final test rtl test -t  then proceed  and download the dump1090 software from this site   and compile it

to run the program from the command line type something like this

./dump1090 --interactive --net --gain -10 --mlat --modeac

There is also a basic browser see the below screen shot - put the i.p address into the browser in  my case it's  https://192.168.1.200:8080 - type in your own i.p address not this one

8080 is the default - you can  change it to something else ( say 8866 )  by using the command

./dump1090 --interactive --net --gain -10 --mlat --modeac --net-http-port 8866

./dump1090 --interactive --net --gain -10 --mlat --modeac --net-http-port 8866 --ppm 60 ( --ppm adds the dongle offset correction ) taylor the command for your own needs

You can feed the output from dump1090 into the planeplotter program and also the virtual radar program

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