Change the data source to “AVR or Beast Raw Feed”.

number to 47806 if using ADSB#, or 31001 if using RTL1090. (Or set the port to a custom value in ADSB#). The following picture shows the settings you should be using with port 31001 used.

7. Click on Receivers and set the “Web site receiver”, “Closest aircraft receiver” and “Flight Simulator X receiver” to the RTL-SDR receiver you’ve created. Press OK.

8. Now click on the link to http://127.0.0.1:1025/VirtualRadar in the middle of the VRS main window to be taken to a web browser with Google maps and VRS.

9. You should now be seeing a map. Zoom out and scroll to your location, you should see planes appear on the map if you are getting ADS-B frame decodes from your ADS-B decoder program. Now if you want to be able to see the aircraft registration number, operator, manufacturer, model, flag and silhouette information you will need to install a pre-made lookup database called basestation.sqb. To do this follow these instructions.

1. Go to http://www.sbs-resources.com/download/index.html and download and install the setup file. This will install the required files to a folder in C:\SBS-resources by default. (An alternative basestation.sqb can be found here http://pp-sqb.mantma.co.uk/)

2. Now in Virtual Radar Server go to Tools->Options and click on the Data Sources tab. 3. Set the Database file name to C:\SBS-resources\Files\Registration\BaseStation.sqb. 4. Set the Flags Folder to C:\SBS-resources\Files\OperatorLogos.

6. Click OK. The database is now set up.

Virtual Radar Server also has various plugins available on the website.

PLANEPLOTTER

PlanePlotter is sophisticated commercial software that has a free 21 day trial period. After the trial period a licence can be purchased for 25 Euros. PlanePlotter is also able to combine ACARS and ADS- B information together if you have two RTL-SDR sticks and can also be used to share data with the popular online ADS-B aggregator flightradar24.com. PlanePlotter can be downloaded from

http://www.coaa.co.uk/planeplotter.htm.

either by regularly contributing ADS-B data to their servers, or by paying 12 euros a year. Multilateration is a method which is used to estimate positions of planes that are broadcasting ADS-B signals without position data. It works by using data contributed from multiple locations and users to essentially triangulate plane positions.

PlanePlotter is easy to set up with the RTL-SDR. 1. Open PlanePlotter

2. Go to Options->Mode-S receiver -> AVR Receiver -> TCP/IP Client . Set the address and port to 127.0.0.1:31001.

3. Go to Options-> I/O Settings and click the checkbox next to MODE-S/ADS-B and then select AVR receiver TCP in the box.

4. Set the port number in ADSB# to 31001, or use RTL1090 which has the default TCP/IP port set at 31001. Turn on ADSB# or RTL1090.

5. Click the green start button .

6. You can now switch to the Aircraft view to see a list of detected aircraft.

7. Switch to Chart View , and use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Scroll to where some aircraft are showing and then click on the Download Map Button to download a Google Maps map. Every time you move or zoom click this button again to re-download a new map. You can also click the satellite button to download a satellite view.

Using PlanePlotter it is also possible to view aircraft in three dimensions using Google Earth. To view the aircraft in Google Earth, you will need to enable the Google Earth Server and have Google Earth Installed.

1. Go to Options->I/O Settings and click the Enable checkbox under the Google Earth Server, and press OK. Note to access I/O settings you’ll need to stop PlanePlotter decoding first by pressing the stop button if it is running.

2. Restart ADS-B reception by pressing the green start button once again.

3. Now navigate using Windows Explorer to the folder that you installed PlanePlotter to. The default installation path is C:\Program Files (x86)\COAA\PlanePlotter. In this folder locate the google_aircraft.kml, and double click it. This file should open automatically with Google Earth and display a top down view of aircraft. You can also open google_cockpit.kml for simulated cockpit views of the aircraft.

To install the basestation.sqb database like with Virtual Radar Server follow the instructions outlined at http://planeplotter.pbworks.com/w/page/17117301/Databases.

ADSBSCOPE

adsbSCOPE is a free ADS-B radar program. adsbSCOPE can be downloaded from

http://www.sprut.de/electronic/pic/projekte/adsb/adsb_en.html#downloads under the link that says “ZIP-File with all relevant data (13 MB)”. Some people might prefer adsbSCOPE over the other options as it is free and not web browser based. The latest version of adsbSCOPE also has easy setup options for both ADSB# and RTL1090. To install and use adsbSCOPE following the instructions below.

1. Download and unzip adsbSCOPE to a folder. Then navigate to the pc_software/adsbscope/26 folder. Run adsbscope26_16384.exe to open the program.

2. Go to other->Network->Network setup.

3. The following screen will be shown. Under presets click either on ADSB# or RTL1090 depending on which decoder you have chosen to use. Click on the local button as well, unless you are using a shared server, in which case enter the URL of the server. If you have altered the ports on either decoder set the Portnumber in the RAW-data-client boxed area to be the same.

4. Now turn on RTL1090 or ADSB#.

5. In adsbSCOPE click the start RAW-data CLIENT button . After pressing it the button will become coloured. ADS-B data should now be shown in adsbSCOPE.

6. You can use the mouse to pan around the map, and the zoom buttons to zoom in and out. You can also click the map button to download a map of the area currently shown in the screen.

7. Use the mouse and zoom tools to centre the cross hairs on the location of your receiver. 8. Go to Navigation->set Receiver Location.

ADSBScope can also create a max range plot which can over a period of time show how well your antenna is working. This will draw a line to each of the furthest aircraft seen over time. To turn it on simply follow these steps.

1. Go to Config->Maximum Range and enable ‘show all altitudes’. 2. Ensure that View->Maximum Range is checked.

GLOBE-S

A lightweight radar viewer intended to be used with RTL1090. A version of Globe S is built into the beta 3 version of RTL1090. It can be downloaded from http://rtl1090.web99.de/homepage/index.php? way=1&site=READOUT&DERNAME=Globe-

BASESTATION

BaseStation is one of the original ADS-B display software packages. It was around when there were only dedicated ADS-B hardware receivers available. It has a professional radar-like display.

To get basestation to work with RTL1090 or ADSB#, follow these instructions. To get it to work with Modesdeco you can skip to step 4 where Basestation is opened.

1. Download and install the com-port emulator com0com

http://sourceforge.net/projects/com0com/. During installation you may have some problems with unsigned driver issues. To get around this you will need to disable signed driver checks for your particular OS after installing com0com and then restart your PC. After launching com0com for the first time take note of the numbers of the COM ports under Virtual Port Pair 1. They will be different depending on your PC setup. Here we have COM6 and COM7.

2. Download com2tcp from http://mode-s.66ghz.com/ and extract the exe file into a folder. In that folder create a batch file (To create a batch file simply create a .txt file, copy the command into the text file, then in Windows explorer rename the batch_file.txt to batch_file.bat). One batch file should contain the command in the following line and another containing the command in the second line. These commands are for RTL1090. If you want to use ADSB# instead of RTL1090 change the port 31001 to the ADSB# default port of 47806, and change the --sbsbin flag to --sbs.

com2tcp --baud 3000000 --parity o \\.\COM6 127.0.0.1 31001 com2tcp --baud 3000000 --ignore-dsr --sbsbin \\.\COM7 10001

3. Now, run both batch files and then open RTL1090. RTL1090 should detect the TCP connection and the TCP light will turn green.

4. Open BaseStation.

5. An initial popup wizard will show. Follow the wizard and set your location and then your network address to 127.0.0.1 port 10001. When you get to the “Confirm the Device Type” screen first ensure you have RTL1090/ADSB# with com2tcp or Modesdeco running on port 10001 with ADS-B frames being received. Then choose SDR Puck and then next.

6. The Wizard will check to see if it can receive ADS-B packets so ensure your decoder is up and running and is seeing ADS-B data. If it is successful Basestation will open.

Now Basestation should be set up and received aircraft should be showing on the screen.

FEEDING DATA TO FLIGHTRADAR24.COM

flightradar24.com is a service which collects ADS-B flight information from numerous sources around the world and shares the aggregated data on their website. You can use your RTL-SDR ADS-B radar set up to contribute to this service by either using PlanePlotter, or downloading the

software from their website. If you are a contributor, you will be rewarded with access to flightradar24's premium features.