Here you can see a map of the regions with coverage up to 60,000 feet and above. For example, looking at the following image of the Fort Worth and Dallas areas, we can tell that there is already a large number of such systems there. The default is set to look at "Feeder Sites" such as the Pi-based receiver we are building in this guide. Once you click on that link, you'll be taken to a map of FlightAware's coverage, which should be fairly representative of other ADS-B aggregation services. We're going to start off by looking at the coverage. Coverage ReconnaissanceĪ little reconnaissance can go a long way and save us trouble down the road. Then, we'll only need to find a nice spot outside and plug in the power. Our setup will have the Pi, SDR, and antenna directly connected without any analog cables between to minimize wires and maximize the efficiency of our system.
If you're interested in what PiAware is doing under the hood, this helpful block diagram shows what's going on. FlightAware made its own version called PiAware, which is what we'll be using primarily today, although details for using Flightradar24's Pi image will be included if you prefer their service. Most of the hard work has already been done for us by programs like dump1090 on GitHub, and branches like this one can even make a heat map of the aircraft locations.
#Planeplotter with piaware how to
Previously: How to Track ADS-B Equipped Aircraft on Your Smartphone If you think you're MacGyver, then you can try to build your own out of scrap parts. We're going to put them to yet another use as a host computer for our very own 1090 MHz receiver. The Raspberry Pi is a surprisingly versatile credit-card sized Linux computer, and just like the ubiquitous Lego blocks, people are constantly finding new uses for them including wardriving, running Kali Linux, and even setting up a rogue access point and shooting down planes. What's that, FlightAware? I can't track this plane? Right.