My homelab ADB-S receiver
I was wondering about what to do with my homelab, and I stumbled upon the FlightRadar feeder community.
In December 2022, I embarked on a journey to build an ADS-B receiver as part of my homelab. I found an affordable used DVB receiver (RTL2832U USB) that I connected to a Raspberry Pi located on the ground floor of my home. With this setup, I’m able to track airplanes up to 60 nautical miles away, a fascinating capability for any enthusiast of air traffic monitoring.
But why doing that ?
First of all that's cool, and since I'm studying RF transmission I thought this would be interesting.
It also gives as a benefit a free FlightRadar business subscription.
Hardware and Initial Setup
I started with a simple configuration, using the RTL2832U USB receiver paired with a Raspberry Pi. It was a cost-effective way to dive into ADS-B signal reception. Running dump1090 and fr24feed, my setup reliably captures signals from aircrafts within a significant range, allowing me to stay updated on nearby air traffic.
https://www.flightradar24.com/share-your-data
I then moved the software to dockerised containers to uniformize with my current homelab setup.
Upgrading with Ultrafeeder
To improve and analyze my reception performance, I recently added the ultrafeeder Docker image to my setup. This tool provides sector-based reception statistics, helping me understand the effectiveness of my antenna placement and consider potential improvements.
Future Plans
Looking forward, I plan to relocate the setup to the attic, which should increase my range and reception quality, as we can see that the north-east sector is amost fully blocked.
Additionally, I'm interested in expanding my homelab with an AIS receiver to track maritime traffic. This addition will broaden my capabilities, allowing me to monitor both air and sea traffic from a single setup.
Conclusion
Building and refining my ADS-B receiver has been an insightful journey, combining both hardware and software. I’m excited to continue optimizing my homelab and exploring new areas of RF signal monitoring.
Follow my live tracking here: adsb.fi