Category: Applications

GR-Air-Modes GNU Radio ADS-B Decoder for the RTL-SDR Updated

Reddit user bistromat has recently updated the GNU Radio based Mode S ADS-B decoder gr-air-modes. He has added Google maps view, a legend and zoom support to the azimuth map view, and has restructured the underlying code. The new gr-air-modes requires the latest GNU Radio 3.7 version.

Check out the original post here (with cute puppy included), and clone the latest version via github from the following link.

https://github.com/bistromath/gr-air-modes

gr-air-modes google maps screenshot

 

Combining Multiple RTL-SDRs for Improved ADS-B Reception

Over on Gough’s Tech Zone blog, Lui has posted a writeup about his experiences with combining multiple remote RTL-SDR ADS-B receivers to privately obtain ADS-B aircraft data from multiple antenna’s at multiple locations. His setup is shown in a diagram below. He has one remote antenna connected to a Raspberry Pi, one to a remote PC and one to his main PC.

Combining Multiple ADSB Receivers

In order to do this he used the Linux based dump1090 ADSB-B decoder and hub software on his main PC. Lui was even able to compile and run the ADS-B hub portion of dump1090 on his Windows PC using Cygwin, but was unable to get the decoder part to work. It doesn’t matter though because the dump1090 hub can receive data from any ADSB decoder, such as ADSB#. His results look very promising as can be seen by the timelapse of plane traces in the image below.

nearairport

Lui also has some other interesting ADS-B + RTL-SDR posts that you should check out where he tests ADS-B reception with a Mini R820T dongle.

rtl_acars.c Compilation Install Video

Yesterday we posted about the command line rtl_acars ACARS decoder. Today on YouTube, Pawel Janowski has posted a video showing how to download, compile and run the rtl_acars.c code on Linux.

Pawel has also posted the compilation instructions on his blog (in Polish but the console commands are easy to discern from the text).

ACARS from DVB-T (RTLSDR)

RTL_ACARS Console Acars Decoder for RTL-SDR

On the Osmocom mailing list, Andreas has posted his work on a console based ACARS decoder for the RTL-SDR. Check out the mailing list thread here, and original post here. The second post on the thread shows how to compile it under Linux. Andreas writes

I have combined “rtl_fm” with Thierry Leconte’s (GPL’ed) acarsdec library code and created “rtl_acars” which can directly decode ACARS flight info messages to the console. Confirmed to compile on OSX 10.6 (not possible for me to check if it also compiles under Windows and *nix). Feel free to add it as another proof of concept to your distro unless you consider it too much of a quick&dirty hack.

Only the source code is available, and you will need to compile it yourself. The code can be found here.

 

Receiving a 10GHz Beacon with RTL-SDR and an Avenger LNBF

In this video YouTube user feri67000 shows reception of a 10 GHz amateur beacon over 26km using the RTL-SDR, and an ‘Avenger LNBF‘, which we believe is this one which only costs $11. The LNB within the Avenger antenna converts the 10 GHz signal into a frequency that is receivable by the R820T RTL-SDR.

F0EQE reception F5ZWZ/b 10GHZ beacon rtl sdr R820T + SAT LNB PLL Avenger

Also, in this video by YouTube user EA5KGD reception of a voice signal is shown using the RTL-SDR and Avenger LNBF.

SDR RTL 2832U E4000 RX EB5EA on 10GHz beside Avenger LNB PLL (part 1)

HackRF Decoding PICO High Altitude Balloons (HAB)

Blogger g0hww shows us how he used his HackRF to decode Pico high altitude balloon (HAB) transmissions using gqrx and dl-fldigi. Pico balloons are small party sized high altitude balloons, typically launched by hobbyists. They have enough lift to carry a small sized ~60g payload. Since they are so small, they are usually exempt from requiring permission from the authorities, unlike full sized weather balloons.

The cheaper RTL-SDR could also be used to track these balloons.

PICO High Altitude Ballo0n Recevied with HackRF

RTL-SDR as a Cheap Panadapter

For people already with expensive ham radios, the RTL-SDR can be used as a cheap panadapter. A panadapter is device that allows you to visually see the RF spectrum and waterfall being received by the ham radio. There are multiple (expensive) commercial panadapters available, but combined with a PC or laptop, the RTL-SDR will work just as well.

In this video YouTube user akdude47 shows a tutorial on setting up the RTL-SDR as a panadapter for a Yaesu FT-857. The setup involves connecting the IF output of the radio to the RTL-SDR, and putting in some settings into HDSDR.

How to setup a RTL SDR with HDSDR and a FT-857 for a panadapter and second receiver.