AirNav Systems Forum

AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com => AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com Discussion => Topic started by: Allocator on March 15, 2018, 05:13:39 PM

Title: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 15, 2018, 05:13:39 PM
Hi guys, I'm back :)

I've just 'rediscovered' RadarBox24.com and I'm now feeding data using a Raspberry Pi and it's all working very nicely.

However, in the years that have passed since I originally registered, I've changed email addresses.  Having gone through all the account options in the RadarBox24.com interface, I can't find any way of changing the address.

I tried creating a new free account and associating the Raspberry Pi with the new account, but of course it says that the sharing code is already in use.  I can't see any way of disassociating the Rpi feed from the old account (nor can I delete the RadarBox that I used to feed with).

I suppose I could delete the sharing key on the Rpi and let it generate a new key, but that seems a bit of a drastic solution and I would loose my sharing statistics.

I did send a help request via the form on the RadarBox24 site, but the answer probably went to my old email.  Have now emailed support directly and have received an auto acknowledgement so maybe I'll get the answer that way.

I'm also feeding FlightAware and FlightRadar24 - three Rpi's, three antennas and ethernet cable everywhere.  Hope that doesn't make be a bad person :)

It's very interesting to see what each of the services actually shows on the screen.  FlightAware and FlightRadar24 are missing most of the traffic I'm interested in, so it's RadarBox24 that's permanently on display.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Runway 31 on March 15, 2018, 06:43:16 PM
Hi Allocator

Welcome back

I would imagine that you will need to wait on support to answer your query and hopefully come up with a solution
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: tommyg on March 15, 2018, 08:45:52 PM
Welcome back. Wondered where you had got to! :)
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: RodBearden on March 16, 2018, 12:39:57 AM
Hi Allocator - welcome back from me too!

Your contributions were always significant and positive, so it will be great to have you on board again.

Hope to hear more from you on the forum.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 16, 2018, 09:04:50 AM
Finally retired in 2012 after 35 years of military air traffic control service ending up at the Military Air Accident Investigation Branch at Farnborough.  Not quite sure where the time has gone since I retired, but I haven't had time to get bored!
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Runway 31 on March 16, 2018, 09:49:46 AM
I know what you mean Allocator, I retired in 2010, sometimes I wonder how I found time to work!

Alan
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 16, 2018, 10:02:52 AM
OK, it looks like support has sorted me out and updated my email address and associated my Rpi feeder with that account so all is good :)
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 16, 2018, 10:16:34 AM
I even managed to get my 15 minutes of fame researching and appearing in all 6 episodes of WW2 Air Crash Detectives.  I think they described me as the 'Aviation Safety Expert'

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfnvSnvjBIXIHHU78quEsDA
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Runway 31 on March 16, 2018, 10:31:22 AM
Just as well I am not into the celebrity culture!!

Alan
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 17, 2018, 06:53:41 AM
Quote from: Allocator on March 15, 2018, 05:13:39 PM
Hi guys, I'm back :)

WELCOME BACK

Quote
I'm also feeding FlightAware and FlightRadar24 - three Rpi's, three antennas and ethernet cable everywhere.

Just out of curiosity, you said you have 3 RPi's and feed 3 sites (RadarBox24, FlightAware & FlightRadar24).
Do you mean each of your Pi feeds only one site (one Pi one site)?

I also have 3 Pi's, 3 Antennas, 3 DVB-T dongles, and from each Pi I feed 4 sites (RB24, FR24, FA, and Planefinder).

PI # | RadarBox24 Stn | FlightAware Stn | FlightRadar24 Stn | PlaneFinder Stn |
1 EXTRPI000008 (https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI000008) 5252 (https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/abcd567#stats-5252) T-CYYZ9 87806
2 EXTRPI000035 (https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI000035)6396 (https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/abcd567#stats-6396)T-CYYZ2187809
3 EXTRPI000043 (https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI000043)76000 (https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/abcd567#stats-76000)T-CYYZ3091995
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 17, 2018, 03:12:30 PM
Yes, each pi feeds just one site.  I did setup an image that fed both FlightAware and FlightRadar24 but the range for both decreased significantly even though it was a pi 3 I was using.

I’ve still got the image on an SD card so I will experiment again, but I’m happy with one feed per pi.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 17, 2018, 05:17:26 PM
Quote from: Allocator on March 17, 2018, 03:12:30 PM
Yes, each pi feeds just one site.  I did setup an image that fed both FlightAware and FlightRadar24 but the range for both decreased significantly even though it was a pi 3 I was using.

I’ve still got the image on an SD card so I will experiment again, but I’m happy with one feed per pi.

(1) Decoder Software and Gain Settings
Which decoder software you use? Dump1090-mutability v1.14 (provided by Flightradar24) or dump1090-fa (provided by Flightaware).
You can confirm this from output of following commands to Pi:
Code: [Select]
apt-cache policy dump1090-fa

apt-cache policy dump1090-mutability

In the FR24 supplied dump1090-mutability v1.14, by default the gain is set to "max" which is 49.6 dB.
In the FA supplied dump1090-fa, by default the gain is set to "-10" which translate to AGC.

Try different  gain values like 50, 45, 40, 35, 30. It can make a difference if you are using an RF amplifier or a dongle with built-in RF amp like Flightaware Pro Stick.


(2) Interfering RF Signals
In areas with strong Mobile/Cell Phone signals in the vacinity of 1090 MHz, adding a filter between antenna and the DVB-T Dongle improves receptions . In my area I have two Mobile/Cell Phone bands. GSM850 band (centered on 850 Mhz) and E-GSM900 (centered on 900 MHz). These signals overloaded the dongle and made it nearly deaf to weaker 1090 MHz signal. After I added a 1090MHz filter, performance improved greatly. Here is the RF Scan at my location showing these interfering signals. This scan was done using method described in OPTION-2 of this thread:

Do I Need A Filter? (https://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=10691.0)


(https://s20.postimg.org/jcmcf2s19/RF_Scan_GSM850_EGSM900.png)
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 17, 2018, 05:23:43 PM
Thanks for the info, I’ll take another look at this when I get time.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 18, 2018, 12:50:15 PM
Very interesting.  Just a short scan at the moment using a tiny antenna indoors, but it definitely looks like I've got a strong cell phone signal showing.  I had assumed that living out in the country I wouldn't need a filter.  I've got a selection of USB receivers, 2 generic RTL type and a standard Flightaware Stick.

I think that maybe I'll order the Flightaware Pro Plus with the built in filter to play with.  The maximum range I'm getting with all my receivers at the moment is about 140 miles with the occasional ping from further.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 18, 2018, 08:35:46 PM
Quote from: Allocator on March 18, 2018, 12:50:15 PM
.... I had assumed that living out in the country I wouldn't need a filter.....

Any place a mobile/cell phone works, there is a good mobile signal present. :)

.
Quote from: Allocator
I've got a selection of USB receivers, 2 generic RTL type and a standard Flightaware Stick.

I think that maybe I'll order the Flightaware Pro Plus with the built in filter to play with.  The maximum range I'm getting with all my receivers at the moment is about 140 miles with the occasional ping from further.

Pro Stick Plus has a built-in filter, and in many cases it solves the problem. However there are large number of cases reported where it did not solve the problem and adding an external filter solved the problem (I am one of those cases). Please see the Message Rate graph below which I plotted in 2016. Please note the sharp drop in message rate when external filter was removed from Pro Stick Plus (blue).

(https://s20.postimg.org/cbuob9w65/Pro_Stick_Plus_Needs_External_Filter.jpg)

Yes, Plus has got a built-in filter, but it is located between built-in front-end RF Amp chip and the Tuner chip. The unfiltered signal from antenna is fed to the RF Amplifier, and if the cell/mobile signal is strong, it causes overload of RF Amp, and consequent deafening of the dongle to comparatively weaker 1090Mhz signal. Adding an external filter between antenna and Pro Stick input blocks mobile/cell phone signal from reaching the front-end RF Amplifier.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 18, 2018, 10:14:45 PM
Many thanks indeed for all your advice here.  I've followed your excellent instructions on the other forum and I now have FlightAware, FlightRadar24 and Planefinder being fed from one Rpi.  I had a minor glitch trying to use Raspian Lite, but installing Raspian Stretch, and I followed your 'fixes' and it's all up and running - brilliant :)

All I need to do now is to figure out how to feed RadarBox24 too.  I'm sure you have instructions for that and I'll have a look around tomorrow.

Noted regarding the filter.  Fortunately the FlightAware Pro Plus is out of stock at the moment, so that prevented me from ordering anyway.  I wonder which filter you use.  I've seen the FlightAware filter and one from the Far East on eBay, but I need to do a bit more research.

Anyhow, thanks again for all your help.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 19, 2018, 04:02:16 AM
Quote from: Allocator on March 18, 2018, 10:14:45 PM
All I need to do now is to figure out how to feed RadarBox24 too.  I'm sure you have instructions for that and I'll have a look around tomorrow.

Go to this thread:
Bake A Pi (https://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=10201.0)
In any of the options (OPTION-1, OPTION-2, or OPTION-3), scroll down to:
(8) Install Radarbox24 data feeder

Quote from: Allocator
I wonder which filter you use.  I've seen the FlightAware filter and one from the Far East on eBay, but I need to do a bit more research.
I use Flightaware Filter  (US$14.95) (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010GBQXK8), mainly because it is cheaper compared to other filters available, and it solved my problem.
I have not tried any other filter, but others have reported using other costlier filters and getting better results.

(https://s20.postimg.org/41wajnq7x/Pi-1_and_Pi-2.jpg)
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 19, 2018, 09:20:43 AM
Thanks again, RadarBox24 Feeder setup using your guide and the one Rpi now feeding all 4 services and connected to my main antenna and the performance is excellent.

FlightAware filter on order so I'll look forward to seeing what effect this might have on reception.  Yes, we do have a cell phone mast about half a mile away and in line of sight and I get pager transmissions form that too, so hopefully the filter will help.

Without your instructions I would have struggled with this setup so I'm really pleased that you jumped in here and showed me just what was possible.

Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 19, 2018, 01:33:21 PM
Glad to know your Pi's are up and running with 4 feeders.

Hopefully filter will help, but this varies from location to location and setup to setup. You will only know after trying it.

Meanwhile another thing to play with is dongle's gain which can be set to values between 0 and 49.6. Two more settings used are "max" which sets gain value to 49.6, and -10 which switches dongle to AGC (automatic gain control) mode.


(1) The signal from Mobile/Pager is strong, reducing gain some times help to overcome their deafning effect.

(2) The signal from nearby planes is strong. For example if you live close to an airport, you will notice planes disappear from your map when these are very close to airport. When these are close, the signal is stronger than the upper threshold of the dongle, and rejected as garbage. Reducing gain in this case often helps.

(3)  Reducing gain to see nearby planes is not without a cost. The signals from far away planes near the maximum limit (say 200nm to 350 nm) are very weak, and reducing gain too much can result in these going below the lower threshold of dongle, and not detected/processed. You will loose these far away planes from map, and your maximum range will reduce.

Overall it is a compromise situation. You can try different gain values such as 50, 45, 40, 35, 30, 25 and at each setting leave the system running for a while and compare max range & plane count to decide which gain value suits you best.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 26, 2018, 10:47:48 AM
FlightAware ADS-B filer installed on my main Rpi receiver and performance has definitely improved.

There wasn't any 'wow' factor when I plugged it in, but watching the overall performance over a period of time, reception is more stable and range has increased particularly to the West, filling in my coverage chart nicely so I'm showing better all-round coverage.

Now to have a play with the gain settings.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 26, 2018, 11:01:25 AM
A question regarding the gain please.

I assumed that setting the gain in the dump-mutability configuration file would affect all 4 feeds as they were getting the data from dump1090, but a Google search suggests that each feeder has to be set individually?
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: neroon79 on March 26, 2018, 12:34:20 PM
All feeders have the functionality to access the dongle SDR directly. In that case the gain has to be set up inside the feeder.
In your case and mine too, the feeders are configured to network listening mode and are listening to the dump1090 raw data output port. Setting up again in the feeders would make no sense, as the feeders are already getting decoded data received via dump1090, which has unique access to the dongle. In dump1090 the gain needs to be set to a value were you get the best result for long and short distance reception. The reason was already mentioned by abcd567.

Ingo
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 26, 2018, 12:59:25 PM
Thanks Ingo, that all makes sense.

However, reading the guidance on the FlightAware site and using the FlightAware Pro stick, does this suggest that it's setting up the gain for the Pro stick itself, or is this just a PiAware configuration?

https://flightaware.com/adsb/prostick/setup/
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 28, 2018, 03:02:40 AM
@Allocator

Irrespective of software interface used, it is the Tuner Chip of Dongle (DVB-T or Pro Stick) where gain is finally set.

If you are using Piaware SD card image:
piaware-config >> dump1090-fa >> sets gain of dongle's Tuner chip (R820T or R820T2)


If you are using Raspbian Jessie/Stretch image with Piaware add-on package:
dump1090 (fa or mutability) config file >> sets gain of dongle's Tuner chip (R820T or R820T2)

Quote
pi@raspberrypi:~ $ sudo nano /etc/default/dump1090-mutability


# dump1090-mutability configuration file
# This is a POSIX shell fragment.
# You can edit this file directly, or use
# "dpkg-reconfigure dump1090-mutability"

# Set to "yes" to start dump1090 on boot.
START_DUMP1090="yes"

# User to run dump1090 as.
DUMP1090_USER="dump1090"

# Logfile to log to
LOGFILE="/var/log/dump1090-mutability.log"

#
# Receiver options
#

# RTLSDR device index or serial number to use
# If set to "none", dump1090 will be started in --net-only mode
DEVICE=""

# RTLSDR gain in dB.
# If set to "max" (the default) the maximum supported gain is used.
# If set to "agc", the tuner AGC is used to set the gain.
GAIN= 35


# RTLSDR frequency correction in PPM
PPM="0"

#
# Decoding options
#

# If yes, fixes messages with correctable CRC errors.
FIX_CRC="yes"


# If set, supplies a reference location for local position decoding.
LAT="43.xxxx"
LON="-79.xxxx"


# If set, provides the absolute maximum receiver range used to
# filter bad position reports, and to determine when local position
# decoding is safe to use. Specify this in nautical miles (NM).
MAX_RANGE="300"

#
# Networking options
#

# Port to listen on for raw (AVR-format) input connections. 0 disables.
RAW_INPUT_PORT="30001"

# Port to listen on for raw (AVR-format) output connections. 0 disables.
RAW_OUTPUT_PORT="30002"

# Port to listen on for SBS-format output connections. 0 disables.
SBS_OUTPUT_PORT="30003"

# Port to listen on for Beast-format input connections. 0 disables.
BEAST_INPUT_PORT="30004,30104"

# Port to listen on for Beast-format output connections. 0 disables.
BEAST_OUTPUT_PORT="30005"

# TCP heartbeat interval in seconds. 0 disables.
NET_HEARTBEAT="60"

# Minimum output buffer size per write, in bytes.
NET_OUTPUT_SIZE="500"

# Maximum buffering time before writing, in seconds.
NET_OUTPUT_INTERVAL="1"

# TCP buffer size, in bytes
NET_BUFFER="262144"

# Bind ports on a particular address. If unset, binds to all interfaces.
# This defaults to binding to localhost. If you need to allow remote
# connections, change this.
#NET_BIND_ADDRESS="127.0.0.1"

#
# Misc options
#

# Interval (in seconds) between logging stats to the logfile. 0 disables.
STATS_INTERVAL="3600"

# Path to write json state to (for use with an external webserver). Blank disables.
JSON_DIR="/run/dump1090-mutability"

# Interval between writing json state (in seconds). 0 disables.
JSON_INTERVAL="1"

# Accuracy of receiver location to write to json state, one of "exact" / "approximate" / "none"
JSON_LOCATION_ACCURACY="approximate"

# Set to yes to log all decoded messages
# This can get large fast!
LOG_DECODED_MESSAGES="no"

# Additional options that are passed to the Daemon.
EXTRA_ARGS=""


Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 28, 2018, 07:44:20 AM
Using Raspbian Stretch so it's the dump-mutability config file in my case.

Still experimenting, but interesting how the 3 different USB receivers respond to differing amounts of gain.
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 28, 2018, 02:22:41 PM
@Allocator

I am pretty sure you already know this, but in unlikely case you dont, and also for anyone else reading this thread, I would like to tell following:

After changing the gain in file /etc/default/dump1090-mutability, and saving the file, the new value of gain will be implemented only when the dump1090 is restarted, either by rebooting the Pi, or by following command:

Code: [Select]
sudo systemctl restart dump1090-mutability

Note: If some one is using a Piaware SD card image (instead of Raspbian Jessie/Stretch image), and has adjusted gain by editing "/boot/piaware-config.txt" file or by issueing "sudo piaware-config rtlsdr-gain xx" command, the new gain value will take effect after either the Pi is rebooted, or following commands are issued
Code: [Select]
sudo systemctl restart piaware
sudo systemctl restart dump1090-fa
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 29, 2018, 11:11:09 AM
Thanks for that.  I've been using slightly different restart instructions and I do see a change after the restart.

Code: [Select]
sudo nano /etc/default/dump1090-mutability
#after making changes, save file (Ctrl+o) and exit (Ctrl+x)

#restart dump1090-mutability
sudo /etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability restart

#alternative command to restart dump1090-mutability
sudo service dump1090-mutability restart
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 29, 2018, 09:56:40 PM
Quote from: Allocator on March 29, 2018, 11:11:09 AM
Thanks for that.  I've been using slightly different restart instructions and I do see a change after the restart.

Code: [Select]
sudo nano /etc/default/dump1090-mutability
#after making changes, save file (Ctrl+o) and exit (Ctrl+x)

#restart dump1090-mutability
sudo /etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability restart

#alternative command to restart dump1090-mutability
sudo service dump1090-mutability restart

Yes, these are the commands continuing from the time of Raspbian Wheezy.

In Wheezy, the command systemctrl did not exist, and it was introduced in Jessie. Now all these 3 commands (init.d, service, and systemctl) are available in Jessie and Stretch.

When I created the following thread in Flightradar24 forum, Wheezy was the version still in common use. The command systemctl fails on Wheezy. That is why I have mentioned there only init.d and  service commands.


How to Install dump1090-mutability_1.15~dev on RPi (https://forum.flightradar24.com/threads/10232-How-to-Install-dump1090-mutability_1-15-dev-on-RPi)

STEP (7): DUMP1090-MUTABILITY POST INSTALLATION CONFIGURATION



Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: neroon79 on March 30, 2018, 01:58:01 PM
Hi abcd567,

unfortunately the link in your last post is broken.

Thanks!

Ingo
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: Allocator on March 30, 2018, 04:50:36 PM
Try this one:

https://forum.flightradar24.com/threads/10232-How-to-Install-dump1090-mutability_1-15-dev-on-RPi (https://forum.flightradar24.com/threads/10232-How-to-Install-dump1090-mutability_1-15-dev-on-RPi)
Title: Re: RadarBox24.com Change Account Email
Post by: abcd567 on March 30, 2018, 07:35:58 PM
@neroon79: Thanks for pointing out the broken link. I have now fixed it.
@Allocator: Thanks for posting the valid link.