Tagged: mode s

September 18, 2014

Monitoring Military Aircraft with an RTL-SDR Part 2

Last month we posted about monitoring and logging military ADS-B data on milaircomms.com. It turns out that there is another service at www.live-military-mode-s.eu that also does military ADS-B logging. One user of live-military-mode-s.eu has recently uploaded a tutorial showing how to use a RTL-SDR to contribute to their logs. By contributing to their service you get a username and password to access members only sections of their site.

Contribution involves running an ADS-B decoder like RTL1090, sending the decoded data to Virtual Radar Server (VRS) and then using VRS to rebroadcast the data to their Mode-S Logger software.

August 28, 2014

Monitoring Military Aircraft with an RTL-SDR

The military air communications monitoring enthusiasts over at milaircomms.com have been using a system involving RTL-SDRs to monitor military air traffic through ADS-B. While military aircraft generally do not transmit GPS position information like commercial aircraft do, they are still able to record live information such as the aircraft’s hex code, registration number, aircraft type, the base station location and a graph of recorded altitudes. They also log all this data showing where military aircraft have been spotted over time.

To receive this information they so far have a network of about 30 volunteers running RTL-SDR based ground stations that use their custom MilAirComms1090 software. If you want to contribute, the software is available for Windows and for Linux/Raspberry Pi.

Example of a US Coast Guard C-130 Aircraft doing Touch/Goes and Sighting History — Example Logs of a US Coast Guard C-130 Aircraft doing Touch/Goes and its Sighting History

April 29, 2014

Modesdeco: Now Supports Simultaneous Reception of Mode S and Mode A/C

Modesdeco is a Windows/Linux/OSX/RPi compatible command line ADS-B Mode S decoder built for the RTL-SDR. It natively supports the BaseStation format and so can be used with the BaseStation software without the need for com port converters.

Modesdeco has recently been updated to allow for the simultaneous reception of Mode S and Mode A/C. Mode S provides location data for ADS-B while Mode A provides an identification code and Mode C provides the aircraft’s pressure altitude.

April 13, 2013

RTL-SDR Tutorial: Cheap ADS-B Aircraft RADAR

The RTL-SDR can be used as a super cheap real time air radar. Modern planes use something called an ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) Mode-S transponder, which periodically broadcasts location and altitude information to air traffic controllers. The RTL-SDR can be used to listen to these ADS-B signals, which can then be used to create your very own home aircraft radar system. Compared to dedicated commercial ADS-B receivers which can go for between $200 - $1000, the $20 RTL-SDR is very attractive for the hobbyist in terms of price. However, note that the RTL-SDR probably shouldn't be used for ADS-B navigation in a real aircraft for safety reasons.

ADS-B broadcasts at a frequency of 1090 MHz. It has been discovered by the RTL-SDR community, that the RTL-SDR with R820T tuner has the best sensitivity at this frequency. The E4000 and other tuners perform poorly in comparison. So it is recommended that you obtain an R820T tuner if you want to set up ADS-B decoding with the RTL-SDR. Recently there has also been talk about the R820T2 tuner, which seems to have slightly better performance too. See the Buy RTL-SDR dongles page for more information on where to purchase.

We also now note that recently new higher end SDR's like the $199 Airspy have developed very good ADS-B receivers that are several times more sensitive that the RTL-SDR.