There are a few programs that allow you to track commercial airlines Worldwide with something as simple as a smart phone. Now what I'm interested in is actually detecting planes in my location and contributing to the overall system by sending this data into my chosen platform via the internet. This video mainly talks about FlightRadar24 but there are others such as FlightAware. To be able to receive and capture the data automatically sent from the planes overhead I am using a Raspberry Pi single board computer, SDR and an antenna. Thats about all you need part from power and an internet connection.
This is part 1 of a 2 part video and explains exactly what I have done and some of the results I'm getting. I have a 24/7 rig running at the moment with a second experimental one. This experimental rig will allow me to try out different antennas, SDR USB dongles, antenna cable lengths and locations, active USB cables etc while keeping the main rig on-line. In part 2 I'll release the improvements or not, I've made by swapping in and out various components.
The main part of the system, apart from the Pi is the SDR dongle, which stands for Software Defined Radio. Put basically, its a device that is able to pick up electrical transmissions on a very wide range of frequencies from the humble pop music station to the Space Station! Literally!! With the right software the possibilities are endless. Some SDR's are better at, for instance picking up 1090Mhz, the band I'm looking for. Thats where the experimenting is coming in, using different dongles and LNA's (low noise amps and filters).
I've linked in important sites below where you can get all the information you need on SDR's and what I'm trying to do, ADS-B AIRCRAFT detection as well as many of the components I've used.
Part 2 of this video series here:
https://youtu.be/rPGss0iyn_APart 3 of this video series here:
https://youtu.be/wKVPwBaApaoFlightRadar24:
https://www.flightradar24.com/FlightAware:
https://flightaware.comSDR Blog site:
https://www.rtl-sdr.comSDR Blog page about ADS-B:
https://www.rtl-sdr.com/adsb-aircraft-radar-with-rtl-sdr/Components used:
SDR Blog V3 R860 RTL2832U dongle
https://amzn.to/47jvCYaSDR Blog USB dongle
https://amzn.to/3Qw3CayFlightAware Plus USB dongle
https://thepihut.com/products/flightaware-pro-stick-plus-usb-sdr-ads-b-receiverSDR Blog LNA
https://amzn.to/3BRVI7BElectrical water proof box (black)
https://amzn.to/3JGta2GElectrical water proof box (orange)
https://amzn.to/3A8puDESaxon saw blade 100tooth
https://amzn.to/3QqLgbHRaspberry Pi 3b+
https://thepihut.com/collections/raspberry-pi/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b-plusRaspberry Pi 4b 2gb
https://amzn.to/3rqj6WzRaspberry Pi 4b 4gb
https://amzn.to/3JVu1h8Raspberry Pi 4b 8gb
https://amzn.to/44j95sLRaspberry Pi Zero W
https://thepihut.com/products/raspberry-pi-zero-wh-with-pre-soldered-headerRaspberry Pi PSU for Pi 4
https://amzn.to/3PasdRdRaspberry Pi PSU for Pi 3
https://amzn.to/3d4HTrR60cm 5.5db antenna
https://thepihut.com/products/60cm-1090mhz-antenna-for-ads-b120cm 8.5db antenna
https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/ads-b-1090-mhz-antenna-1-2m-8-5dbi?variant=310587783250751m N type male to sma antenna cable
https://thepihut.com/products/sma-male-to-n-type-male-antenna-cable-5m?variant=375466575792035m N type male to sma antenna cable
https://thepihut.com/products/sma-male-to-n-type-male-antenna-cable-5m?variant=3754638557203510m N type male to sma antenna cable
https://thepihut.com/products/sma-male-to-n-type-male-antenna-cable-5m?variant=37546385604803MK metal double socket
https://amzn.to/3SDwwrmHDMI 5” touch screen display
https://amzn.to/3zHb0cC3mm plastic pillars
https://amzn.to/3djxCs932gig Micro SD card
https://amzn.to/3SOolsrAerial mast (look around for cheaper)
https://amzn.to/3A9LmicRight angle short USB cables
https://amzn.to/3JDHU2hActive USB 2 10m cable
https://amzn.to/3JGsYAuActive USB 2 20m cable
https://amzn.to/3A8oQ9mSelf-amalgamating tape
https://amzn.to/3P9VxrbFerrite Ring RFI EMI Noise Suppressors
https://amzn.to/3JGnupt*Full disclosure. Some of the links above may earn a few pennies for the channel at absolutely no cost to yourself. Thanks for watching. *