RTL-SDR Based Passive Aircraft Radar

Over on YouTube we’ve discovered a video from earlier in the year showing the RTL-SDR being used as a passive aircraft radar. This is different to ADS-B which is a type of active radar. A passive radar works by using a very strong radio signal from a readily available source such as a TV or FM radio transmitter and detecting the reflections from aircraft.

A RTL-SDR based passive radar system can be built by connecting two RTL-SDR dongles to a single clock source and by using two directional antennas.

We’ve also posted about RTL-SDR based passive radar being used to track aircraft here and here in the past. Another post about coherent multichannel RTL-SDR receivers can be found here.

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Johnny Mnemonic

Radar. I don’t think the word means what you think it means.

Tehrasha

It appears to mean exactly what it says…. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_radar

Danimal

Here’s a link with a description of doing doppler shift radar using the rtl-power program:
http://kmkeen.com/rtl-power/index.html

George

Where the software? One year of talking about it, but there is no description of how to do it

no

i am pissed. why does nobody say how everyone can make something like that?!
Its nice to glue some dongle together and than? I found no Software, Howto or something else to do that.

pOOP ON A STICK

Way to cool, I found a way to make GOLD with a Raspi but the riots in Ferguson ruined it all

wizardpc

I dont follow