FlightAware

Scripts to install prerequisites for flight-aware: https://charlesreid1.com:3000/charlesreid1/flight-aware

Hardware

Software

Install software needed

Start by installing stuff that you need:

apt-get install -y \
	libboost-all-dev \
	libusb-1.0 \
	libusb-dev \
	libusb-1.0-0-dev \
	devscripts \
	cmake \
	portaudio19-dev \
	iproute \
	python-virtualenv

apt-get install -y \
	tcl8.5-dev \
	tclx8.4-dev \
	itcl3-dev \
	tcl-tls \
	tcllib \
	tcl-tclreadline \

Install RTL-SDR

Next, install rtl-sdr package from osmocom. We will also need to disable the DVB driver, not using this for TV.

git clone git://git.osmocom.org/rtl-sdr.git /root/codes/rtl-sdr
cd /root/codes/rtl-sdr
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../
make
make install
cd /root
cp /root/codes/rtl-sdr/rtl-sdr.rules /etc/udev/rules.d/.
ldconfig

# Now disable the DVB driver, since we are not watching TV
mkdir -p /etc/modprobe.d/
cd /etc/modprobe.d/
echo "blacklist dvb_usb_rtl28xxu" >> /etc/modprobe.d/ban-rtl.conf

Before moving on to the next step, need to restart.

After restarting, plug the FlightAware device in.

Install dump1090-fa

Next install software specifically for dump1090-fa. At the conclusion of this step, you should be able to see your first flight information from the receiver.

DUMP1090_PATH="/root/codes/dump1090"
git clone https://www.github.com/flightaware/dump1090 ${DUMP1090_PATH}
cd ${DUMP1090_PATH}

# Don't build manually - that causes dump1090 to not live on your path, and not have a startup service.
# Piaware needs there to be a dump1090 startup service.
./prepare-wheezy-tree.sh
cd package-wheezy/
dpkg-buildpackage -b

# This may print out warnings about not being able to sign the package with a GPG key, but that's okay, we're just building for ourselves.
cd ../

# Install the two packages created, in this order
dpkg -i dump1090-fa_3.5.1~bpo9+1_amd64.deb
dpkg -i dump1090_3.5.1~bpo9+1_all.deb

This installs a binary called dump1090-fa, as well as installing a startup service called dump1090-fa.

Test dump1090-fa

Now we can test the dump1090-fa binary. First, make sure your FlightAware RTL-SDR dongle is plugged in.

echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ OK BRO HERE GOES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ HOPE U SEE SOME PLANE STUFF RN ~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
./dump1090 --interactive

WARNING: DUBIOUS, MAY CAUSE PROBLEMS

Finally, install the tcllauncher for flightaware:

#!/bin/sh
# 
# pastebin.com/eKbm118F
# 
# tinyurl.com/y7lghzs4
#
# The FlightAware should now be working.
# This script will install PiAware
# so you have a fancy-pants dashboard.

echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ INSTALL FLIGHTAWARE TCLLAUNCHER ~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

export FA_DIR="/root/codes/tcllauncher"
git clone https://github.com/flightaware/tcllauncher.git ${FA_DIR}
cd ${FA_DIR}
autoconf
./configure --with-tcl=/usr/lib/tcl8.5
make
make install

echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ INSTALL PIAWARE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ (IF N.E.1 AXES, UR RUNNIN WHEEZY) ~~~~~"
echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

export PIAWARE_DIR="/root/codes/piaware_builder"
git clone https://github.com/flightaware/piaware_builder.git ${PIAWARE_DIR}
cd ${PIAWARE_DIR}
./sensible-build.sh wheezy

make
make install
sudo update-rc.d piaware defaults

echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ NOW SET UR FLIGHTAWARE CREDS ~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ service piaware start ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"
echo "~~~ piaware-config -user USERNAME -password"
echo "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"

Troubleshooting

Checking Status: Method 1

To check on the status of piaware, and assuming it was installed using the piaware_builder repository (i.e., that you built a debian package and installed it using dpkg), which also creates a startup service, you can use systemctl to check on the status of the startup service:

# systemctl status piaware

● piaware.service - FlightAware ADS-B uploader
   Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/piaware.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: active (running) since Fri 2017-08-18 04:22:31 PDT; 10h ago
     Docs: https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/
 Main PID: 2831 (piaware)
    Tasks: 2 (limit: 4915)
   CGroup: /system.slice/piaware.service
           └─2831 /usr/bin/piaware -p /run/piaware/piaware.pid -plainlog -statusfile /run/piaware/status.json

Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP sudo[3810]:  piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --
Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP sudo[3810]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP sudo[3810]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP piaware[2831]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 370 seconds, trying to start it...
Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP piaware[2831]: attempting to start dump1090..
Aug 18 15:12:34 WindowsXP piaware[2831]: can't start dump1090, no services that look like dump1090 found
Aug 18 15:12:44 WindowsXP sudo[3813]:  piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --
Aug 18 15:12:44 WindowsXP sudo[3813]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Aug 18 15:12:44 WindowsXP sudo[3813]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Aug 18 15:12:44 WindowsXP piaware[2831]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 10 seconds, next check in 60s

Checking Status: Method 2

To check the status of piaware, you can also use the status.json file:

# cat /run/piaware/status.json 
{
    "piaware"  : {
        "status"  : "green",
        "message" : "PiAware 3.5.1 is running"
    },
    "expiry"   : 1503094220448,
    "interval" : 5000,
    "mlat"     : {
        "status"  : "red",
        "message" : "Multilateration is not enabled"
    },
    "adept"    : {
        "status"  : "green",
        "message" : "Connected to FlightAware and logged in"
    },
    "radio"    : {
        "status"  : "red",
        "message" : "Not connected to receiver"
    },
    "time"     : 1503094209448
}

Links

Multilateration (MLAT) overview: https://flightaware.com/adsb/mlat/

PiAware if you already have dump1090: http://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/install

PiAware building base station: http://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/build

PiAware repo: https://github.com/flightaware/piaware

PiAware builder repo: https://github.com/flightaware/piaware_builder

PiAware repo wiki - release notes: https://github.com/flightaware/piaware/wiki/PiAware-Release-Notes

• "Piaware will now attempt to start dump1090 if no ADS-B producer program is seen listening for connections on port 30005 (the "Beast" binary data port) for more than six minutes."

Dump1090 repo: https://github.com/flightaware/dump1090

FlightAware stats: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/charlesreid1