Article: Why I Have a Flight Tracker in My Home

[AFF Editor]

Canonical URL

https://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/flight-tracker-at-home/

Why I Have a Flight Tracker in My Home is an article written by Arun, part of the AFF editorial team:

Why I Have a Flight Tracker in My Home

Arun shares how to setup your own flight tracker at home and the perks that come with it - beyond the flight information you get!

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[Desperado2]

Similar to Marine Traffic, where perhaps more private trackers pride information. However Marine traffic receivers usually have less range, because they must receive from sea level.

 

[sudoer]

I'm also a contributor to FR24 and FlightAware

Nothing too special, just a RaspPi + RTL2832U-based USB receiver + AirNav outdoor antenna mounted on the 2nd floor balcony of an apartment block.

Antenna has a ~140 deg view (with some trees in the way) and picks up aircraft about as far south-west as Canberra (from inner west Sydney.)



Will be interesting to see how much the hourly movements change with WSI opening in the near future.

Very fun project for data nerds and tech enthusiasts, uses bugger all power & bandwidth, and the free FR24 membership is very useful.

 

[dmgale]

This sounds very interesting. On to it!

 

[aaa99]

I'm also a contributor to FR24 and FlightAware

Nothing too special, just a RaspPi + RTL2832U-based USB receiver + AirNav outdoor antenna mounted on the 2nd floor balcony of an apartment block.

Antenna has a ~140 deg view (with some trees in the way) and picks up aircraft about as far south-west as Canberra (from inner west Sydney.)

View attachment 500210 View attachment 500213

Will be interesting to see how much the hourly movements change with WSI opening in the near future.

Very fun project for data nerds and tech enthusiasts, uses bugger all power & bandwidth, and the free FR24 membership is very useful.

Nice, that's an impressive range too.

This makes me contemplate moving my antenna or adding another receiver upstairs to get more range than what I have now.

 

[RooFlyer]

@sudoer & @aaa99 That's obviously much less than the 360 deg view that you 'sign up for'. I guess if you paid for it, they don't care much?

I've just applied for a freebie for SE Tas.

 

[sudoer]

I guess if you paid for it, they don't care much?

Yep, no requirements if you're paying for the gear. The more crowdsourced data they have, the more resiliency and accuracy ... Essentially any data is better than none.

 

[aaa99]

The walls significantly attenuate the received signal. I chose a particular window at home which faces towards MEL.

The more crowdsourced data they have, the more resiliency and accuracy ... Essentially any data is better than none.

Additionally, having data points helps them with MLAT calculations, which improves accuracy (if you choose to participate by providing your coordinates).

How We Track Flights with MLAT | Flightradar24 Blog

For these aircraft we've developed our receivers and software to take advantage of Multilateration (MLAT) to help us track their flights.

www.flightradar24.com

 

[prozac]

Data transmitted to FR24 via internet dongle? What are the ongoing data costs?

 

[sudoer]

Data transmitted to FR24 via internet dongle? What are the ongoing data costs?

The software runs on a Raspberry Pi which connects to your home network (via ethernet or wifi) for internet. You can segment it on a guest/IoT VLAN if you have security concerns, it just needs outbound internet access.

Mine has generated 600MB of traffic in the last month, but it will largely depend on how busy the skies are near you, and how good your receiver/antenna is.

 

[group-of-5]

I've had a look at doing this in the past. It is just an interesting thing to do and I have a spot/method to put up an external antenna without major structural changes.!

Where I have always come unstuck however is what RTL2832U-based USB receiver to get. Once again, don't want to spend much on what is essentially a vanity project. There seem to be a big range of prices around with some reasonably priced ones on places like Aliexpress. Looking on the various forums there seems to be varying success rates depending on the device chosen, without a lot of identifying information on the devices involved.

Any advice from the community on which ones work and at what price points? Thanks in advance!

 

[prozac]

The software runs on a Raspberry Pi which connects to your home network (via ethernet or wifi) for internet. You can segment it on a guest/IoT VLAN if you have security concerns, it just needs outbound internet access.

Mine has generated 600MB of traffic in the last month, but it will largely depend on how busy the skies are near you, and how good your receiver/antenna is.

View attachment 500281

So WiFi back to the always on NBN router?
Aerial needs to be inside a window or external?

 

[jbman]

I've had a look at doing this in the past. It is just an interesting thing to do and I have a spot/method to put up an external antenna without major structural changes.!

Where I have always come unstuck however is what RTL2832U-based USB receiver to get. Once again, don't want to spend much on what is essentially a vanity project. There seem to be a big range of prices around with some reasonably priced ones on places like Aliexpress. Looking on the various forums there seems to be varying success rates depending on the device chosen, without a lot of identifying information on the devices involved.

Any advice from the community on which ones work and at what price points? Thanks in advance!

I use this one with my Pi3. Been working for years no issues at all

Mini Portable Digital Receiver USB 2.0 Software Radio DVB-T RTL2832U+FC0012 SDR | eBay Australia

1 X USB DVB-T TV Tuner Recorder. Pip (picture in picture), Digital TV recording and playback as DVD quality, Support for Microsoft DAB drivers. Receiving frequency: FM radio: 87.5~108 MHZ. DAB radio: L-Band-1452960-1490624 KHZ.

ebay.us

 

[sudoer]

I have a one of these USB receivers, but if I was starting again I'd probably get one of these - it has an inbuilt filter, better amplification, and a sturdier antenna plug (with a more common termination for external antennas, no pigtails = better signal)

Antennas can be either internal near a window or external - obviously external is better, but you can still pick up plenty from inside a window.

So WiFi back to the always on NBN router?

Yes

 

[aaa99]

Any advice from the community on which ones work and at what price points? Thanks in advance!

For reference, this is the one I use: NESDR Mini USB RTL-SDR & ADS-B Receiver Set, RTL2832U & R820T Tuner, MCX Input. Low-Cost Software Defined Radio Compatible with Many SDR Software Packages. R820T Tuner & ESD-Safe Antenna Input : Amazon.com.au: Electronics
Includes the receiver and the antenna.
Bought it for around AUD 35 on Amazon. It is more expensive right now (probably not on sale)

So WiFi back to the always on NBN router?
Aerial needs to be inside a window or external?

Yep, WIFI or wired should work.
Aerial is best placed outside, but inside and near window should still pick up enough for the free membership

I use this one with my Pi3. Been working for years no issues at all

Mini Portable Digital Receiver USB 2.0 Software Radio DVB-T RTL2832U+FC0012 SDR | eBay Australia

1 X USB DVB-T TV Tuner Recorder. Pip (picture in picture), Digital TV recording and playback as DVD quality, Support for Microsoft DAB drivers. Receiving frequency: FM radio: 87.5~108 MHZ. DAB radio: L-Band-1452960-1490624 KHZ.

ebay.us

Interesting, comes with a CD and a remote too

 

[prozac]

For reference, this is the one I use: NESDR Mini USB RTL-SDR & ADS-B Receiver Set, RTL2832U & R820T Tuner, MCX Input. Low-Cost Software Defined Radio Compatible with Many SDR Software Packages. R820T Tuner & ESD-Safe Antenna Input : Amazon.com.au: Electronics
Includes the receiver and the antenna.
Bought it for around AUD 35 on Amazon. It is more expensive right now (probably not on sale)


Yep, WIFI or wired should work.
Aerial is best placed outside, but inside and near window should still pick up enough for the free membership

Interesting, comes with a CD and a remote too

Thanks. Just concerned about the set-up after the physical install. Physically I can attach it to the ridge of the roof (2 storey). House is on top of the geographic ridge with no obstructions. Every other ridge within cooee is at same height. Situated on turn to base as they make their final run over Sydney northern suburbs.

 

[sudoer]

Just concerned about the set-up after the physical install.

I'd highly recommend using the PiAware image with your Raspberry Pi, it's fairly simple and well documented:

PiAware - dump1090 ADS-B integration with FlightAware - FlightAware

Setup PiAware to directly feed live ADS-B data to FlightAware via a Raspberry Pi running dump1090. Step-by-step instructions along with a link to your statistics and how to register for a free FlightAware Enterprise account.

www.flightaware.com

Once you have it feeding into FlightAware, you can add FR24 feed using these instructions:

How to share data from PiAware?

Note: SSH password for piaware image is "flightaware" without the quotes. To share data from your PiAware with Flightradar24 simply follow the instructions below: 1. Login/ssh into your Pi and run the following script on it. This will d...

support.fr24.com