Hi All,
Recently I got an RTL-SDR Kit (software defined radio radio receiver kit) for aviation. Basically what it is is an antenna with some mounts, an extension cord and a special USB stick that connects to my laptop to allow me to use certain programs to listen to radio frequencies. The first thing I tried was using my UHF radios and receiving my broadcasts from the UHFs on my laptop. It worked. Now it’s taken me 2 weeks to get this working, but I now have a setup that allows me to track ADSB aircraft and know of the existence of Mode S aircraft. Here’s how it works.
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The antenna is set up outside my bedroom window on a suction cup mount. It receives the data from 1090MHz (the ADSB and Mode S frequency) and a program called RTL1090 decodes it.
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It then broadcasts the data over a my network, called a TCP connection. Coincidentally, TCP is also used by the Infinite Flight Connect API. RTL1090 also displays this neat little table.
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Another program, namely Virtual Radar Server, receives the broadcasts sent by RTL1090 then displays the information in a map/table layout, similar to that of FlightRadar24.
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So that’s my little thing. If you’re wondering where to get all of this here are the links:
RTL-SDR Kit: You can buy on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2nIKFcT however I recommend looking at the list of local resellers on this page if you’re not in the US so you don’t have to pay as much for shipping.
Computer: I’m not gonna link every single computer but a laptop or PC or even Raspberry Pi will suffice. As long as it has >2GB RAM and a USB port you’re fine.
RTL1090: https://rtl1090.com
Virtual Radar Server: http://www.virtualradarserver.co.uk
Enjoy!