Plane Spotters / Flight Radar Thread

[neodude]

Just reading back through the thread and had a shufti at your receiver - Looks like you had to rebuild it a couple of weeks ago. Problems?

Only just seen this. Nah, moved from a Raspberry Pi to a Jetway 313. Was looking to start logging all tracked flights to an SQL database and wanted something with an SSD over an SD card. Not got round to it yet though

 

[NLPD1S]

Great thread, I learned a lot reading this (and the links).

I highly recommend searching for COL1090/5-H on eBay for a really good aerial. We use one of those at the radio club site and it's cheap.

Is that the antenna used in this post? (on top of the East Essex Aviation Museum)
I guess it is the same one that is used by Luke...

With my current setup, antenna (Discone), 12 meters of Highflexx 7 and a NooElec SDR dongle (Windows PC), on average I receive about 30-50 plains in a range about 100NM, 350mess/s. No filters or LNA (yet).
I have a few dongles laying around.

My intention is to place a (few) new aerial(s) on my roof, one for ADS-B. On the lower end of the mast I want to mount a junction box (approx 2-3m below the antenna) for the filters, LNA, USB dongle etc.
I want to connect the dongle with an USB cable (approx 4-5m) on the RPI which will be on the attic.

Local regulations dictate that one may mount an antenna (without permit) with a maximum height of 5m above the roof it is mounted on.

 

[divebod]

So I have a Pi gen 1 currently just running Pihole and I want to set up ADS-B using a Flightaware Pro Stick Plus and feed external sites such as FR24 and others. I've seen tutorials on this and so don't think this will be a problem. I'd like to capture the data 'locally' to keep a history and maybe interrogate the info later and have looked at Virtual Radar Server and also dump1090 etc. Is this the right approach? Should I get a second Pi to deal with taking the feed from the first one or can my single Pi deal with everything.

Sorry if it seems mixed up

Thanks

 

[Feek]

Depending on how much traffic you're likely to see, a first gen Pi might struggle a bit with the load. Personally, I'd grab a second one to run dump1090 etc on.

 

[divebod]

So a second pi to take the feed from the one with the Pro Stick on it? Would a Pi Zero work?

 

[Feek]

Ahh, I think we're talking at cross purposes here. Were you planning on setting up the receiver on the Pi1 and then analysing it somewhere else? Or setting up a different Pi with the receiver and analysing it on the Pi1?

I know VRS will work under Linux but I don't know how well it performs on a Pi. My VRS instance is here and it's running on a PC taking about 20% CPU. The PC is a dual core (with hyper threading) i5-5200 @ 2.2GHz with 8Gb RAM. I think it would struggle on a Pi.

 

[Feek]

Great thread, I learned a lot reading this (and the links).
Is that the antenna used in this post? (on top of the East Essex Aviation Museum)
I guess it is the same one that is used by Luke...

Sorry, I missed this post. Yes, that's the same aerial.

With my current setup, antenna (Discone), 12 meters of Highflexx 7 and a NooElec SDR dongle (Windows PC), on average I receive about 30-50 plains in a range about 100NM, 350mess/s. No filters or LNA (yet).
I have a few dongles laying around.

My intention is to place a (few) new aerial(s) on my roof, one for ADS-B. On the lower end of the mast I want to mount a junction box (approx 2-3m below the antenna) for the filters, LNA, USB dongle etc.
I want to connect the dongle with an USB cable (approx 4-5m) on the RPI which will be on the attic.

Local regulations dictate that one may mount an antenna (without permit) with a maximum height of 5m above the roof it is mounted on.

A discone isn't a good choice of aerial so replacing it with the one linked will make quite a difference. A proper 1090MHz aerial, raised 5m above the roofline will be significantly better.

If you're mounting filter, LNA and receiver in a box below the aerial, why not consider installing the Pi there as well? I'd rather run a power cable than a long USB cable.

 

[divebod]

Ahh, I think we're talking at cross purposes here. Were you planning on setting up the receiver on the Pi1 and then analysing it somewhere else? Or setting up a different Pi with the receiver and analysing it on the Pi1?

I know VRS will work under Linux but I don't know how well it performs on a Pi. My VRS instance is here and it's running on a PC taking about 20% CPU. The PC is a dual core (with hyper threading) i5-5200 @ 2.2GHz with 8Gb RAM. I think it would struggle on a Pi.

Thanks Feek - I need to think some more about it as I don't want a PC running 24/7. I want at least to record the data somewhere locally - perhaps I need to understand more what the online sites (FR24 etc.) record against my account (history wise).

 

[Feek]

perhaps I need to understand more what the online sites (FR24 etc.) record against my account (history wise).

OpenSky might be worth a look. I've just started feeding to them and it was very straightforward to set up. I'm sure I read somewhere that they keep historical data and I believe it's freely available back to you.

 

[NLPD1S]

I tried PiAware and FR24 on the Pi. I'd prefer VRS, but I have to figure out whether the Pi (3b) will be able to run it properly.

Sorry, I missed this post. Yes, that's the same aerial.

A discone isn't a good choice of aerial so replacing it with the one linked will make quite a difference. A proper 1090MHz aerial, raised 5m above the roofline will be significantly better.

If you're mounting filter, LNA and receiver in a box below the aerial, why not consider installing the Pi there as well? I'd rather run a power cable than a long USB cable.

Thanks Feek,

Yes, I'm aware the discone is fine for average general reception/scanning, but isn't perfect.

The Pi will eventually end up in the junction box (with a power line or POE), but right now, I'm still in an experimental phase, so I want to have physical access to the Pi.

For me, it's a lot easier me to get on the attic than to get on the roof.
The top of the roof of my house is 8m (7m above sea level), 35m behind my house there is an apartment building which is 12m (above sea level).
There is a very detailed height map available for the Netherlands, so it's rather easy for me to find obstacles that might obstruct the line of sight.
Fortunately, the building will be demolished in 2021 and replaced by single-family dwelling(s). I could move to something like this, but I'd have to get 3 more full time jobs to pay the mortage

Yesterday, the aerial arrived . I have a dongle with 1090MHz filter (RadarBox Flightstick) that fits perfectly in the aluminium tube of the aerial mount.
I exchanged the tube (71x25x2mm) for a longer one (210x25x2mm) so the dongle and USB connector will be protected against weather influences.

I think I'll be able to put in on the roof next week, though I still have to figure out a way to get the aerial as high as permitted.

 

[Feek]

There's a nice discussion thread on the FA forums here about that dongle which you may or may not have seen yet. Good luck with getting it all set up and I'll be interested to hear how well it works for you.

 

[Feek]

Thanks Feek - I need to think some more about it as I don't want a PC running 24/7.

By coincidence, I saw this a few minutes ago. Step 11 onwards is how to install and configure VRS on a Pi so it might be worth a shufti.

 

[Feek]

@divebod
I thought I'd give it a try on a spare Pi.

I installed VRS on a Pi3 using those instructions and configured some feeds. Two of these are local on my LAN, the third is from a friend who lives nearby. I set up a single merged feed with them all and used the same configuration for the web server as I use on my VRS server.

This is how it looks.



It works. It's useable. The web output isn't particularly fast to navigate but it does the job.

The Pi CPU is sitting at around 56°C and it's not thrashing the Pi as much as I expected it would.

Hopefully this is useful for you.

 

[divebod]

Thanks Feek - lots to read. Got the FA Pro Stick Plus and an antenna on order to be delivered in the next few days, so I'll see what I can do. Step by step for sure.

 

[NLPD1S]

@divebod
I thought I'd give it a try on a spare Pi.
I installed VRS on a Pi3 using those instructions and configured some feeds.
....
It works. It's useable. The web output isn't particularly fast to navigate but it does the job.
The Pi CPU is sitting at around 56°C and it's not thrashing the Pi as much as I expected it would.
Hopefully this is useful for you.

Thanks Feek, this is definitely useful and inspiring!

 

[NLPD1S]

Little update:
I've mounted the COL1090/5-H antenna on the roof, RadarBox ADS-B Flightstick in the base of the antenna, 10m (active) USB cable and (for now) a laptop running VRS.
Range is North 125nm, East 200nm, South 200nm and West 175nm.

Edit:
After a day range plotting, average 140 plains (of 220) visible.
Ranges North 150+nm (Cuxhaven, Germany- North Sea about 50nm North of Norwich), East 200 (Bremen-Darmstadt) , South 200nm (Paris-Nancy), West 175nm (Norwich-Hastings).
Some spikes >300nm; Thorée-Les-Pins near La Flèches (France), Berlin and Gelthain (Germany)

The increase in range is about 50nm compared to the Discone (2m lower) and even more than 100nm increase in the North-West direction.

Next step will be junction box for LNA's (Wideband LNA+FM filter for Discone, LNA+1090 Filter on the COL1090/5-H Vinnant, VHF GP aerial for AIS+Marine/Ship frequencies.

 

[VaderDSL]

Quick question, I have a Nooelec NESDR https://www.nooelec.com/store/sdr/sdr-receivers/nesdr-smartee-sdr.html

In my PC USB port, runs perfect for long periods. However when I plug it into my Raspberry Pi 1st gen it detects, and works for a few minutes then drops out. I assume this is power related? I do have a 2.5A power supply, is it a limit with the first gen? If I bought a pi 3 B+ reckon it will support the USB power draw? I ended up relgating the 1st gen pi to pihole duty. But don't really want to fork out for the 3rd gen if it needs a powered USB hub.

My location is very poor as well, surrounded by tall houses and hills to the west, south east and north east.

Yellow is 10,000 feet, blue is 30,000. In testing, I can only pickup planes a bit before the yellow outline with the antenna indoors.

I'd love to mount outside but currently can't. I wonder if simlpy putting the antenna in the attic would give better results. If I do it's either, PoE to a pi. Coax back down to the room below. Or have a socket installed in the attic (would double up as light source when needed using an LED lamp). Then connect via Wifi which would avoid drilling through ceiling.

 

[Feek]

However when I plug it into my Raspberry Pi 1st gen it detects, and works for a few minutes then drops out. I assume this is power related? I do have a 2.5A power supply, is it a limit with the first gen?

What PSU are you using? The does sound like it could be power.

When it stops working, run this command:

sudo dmesg --ctime | grep voltage

That will show any low voltage warnings (it's cleared at reboot).

/edit - regarding the aerial, height is the key. Obviously outdoors in the clear is always best but in the loft will be better than lower down.

 

[VaderDSL]

Cheers Feek. I should have checked that command when I was having issues. It's with the official Raspberry pi 2.5A 5V adapter. It works fine standalone running pihole, just kept dropping out when plugged into that pi and when plugged into a usb extender. I thought it might have been loose but obviously wasn't that.

 

[Feek]

Cheers Feek. I should have checked that command when I was having issues. It's with the official Raspberry pi 2.5A 5V adapter. It works fine standalone running pihole, just kept dropping out when plugged into that pi and when plugged into a usb extender. I thought it might have been loose but obviously wasn't that.

That PSU should be perfectly good. If I remember correctly, the original Pi had a limit of 500mA to the USB ports and there was a way to try and increase that by adding max_usb_current=1 to /boot/config.txt but I don't know how effective that was. It's worth a try though and if it doesn't work then yes, it's time to upgrade the Pi.

I've written a detailed blog post describing various options on building an ADS-B receiver from the cheapest possible up to very expensive with lots of links to different items. I think it's worth a read.