MLAT and dump978

[hockeyref2]

Well...   I have an MLAT question...   I know, I know, there are lots.

I have an RPI 3b, buster, stock raspbian then installed several feeders. Running dump1090-fa and dump978-fa.   MLAT works on FA...  I can see MLAT aircraft in dump1090.

MLAT used to work for RB24, but not for awhile. I had SD card fail and it has not worked since....   See the messages below.
Also, how do I feed UAT data to RB24?   It works for FA...

When I run systemctl status rbfeeder


May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]: Traceback (most recent call last):
May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]:   File "/usr/bin/mlat-client", line 25, in <module>
May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]:     from mlat.client.receiver import ReceiverConnection
May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]:   File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/mlat/client/receiver.py", line 26, in <module>
May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]:     import _modes
May 25 05:17:19 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]: ImportError: No module named '_modes'

then for dump978 I get

May 25 05:17:22 adamADSB rbfeeder[16970]: [2020-05-25 05:17:22]  Can't connect to 978 source (127.0.0.1:28380). Waiting 5 second...

Thanks for your help!

[Runway 31]

While waiting on someone who has Pi knowledge to assist, have a read at this thread https://forum.radarbox24.com/index.php?topic=101771.0

Also the later replies on this thread https://forum.radarbox24.com/index.php?topic=103111.0

Alan

[hockeyref2]

Thanks... Unfortunately I already read thru those..
I did get MLAT working by commenting out the mlat_cmd=/usr/bin/python3.5 /usr/bin/mlat-client line in rbfeeder.ini.   

Not sure what to do for UAT/dump978.

[Runway 31]

Great one part fixed then.  See this thread regarding dump978 and how abcd567 fixed the issue he had https://forum.radarbox24.com/index.php?

topic=102861.msg432051#msg432051

Alan

[peatrick]

I think you need a separate radio to receive (and dump) 978MHz as well as the more typical 1090MHz, correct?  Don't take my word for it, I'm only a ~week into my initial foray with an RTL-SDR.com V3 Dongle: https://www.rtl-sdr.com/buy-rtl-sdr-dvb-t-dongles/

but I've been pretty much doing the same/similar setup, using RPi3B (non-plus) with the aforementioned SDR to feed various sites.  I started with and built out my setup using the official PiAware 3.8.1 image and added FR24, pfclient, ADSBexchange and RB24 along with some great performance graphs that @abcd567 suggested, as well.  He's 100% the expert to resolve pretty much any and all RPi related issues you may be having.  In my first week he's already resolved multiple niggling little issues that kept cropping up (mostly due to my basic lack of comprehension), but he's super nice and even smarter taboot.

[Runway 31]

I was assuming he had a 978 receiver when he was asking.  Yes you need a seperate 978 receiver as well as a 1090 ADSB receiver,  You cant get them both from the same receiver at the same time

Alan

[hockeyref2]

I have 2 receivers, one for UAT and one for ADSB. 
I am using dump1080-fa and dump978-fa.    dump978-rb is installed, but is not running.

I am sending UAT data to FA.

I want to be able to send it to RB as well...
I get that error message (see OP) and would like to know what to do next.
And yes ABCD is very knowledgeable.

[Runway 31]

Hopefully he will be online tonight

Alan

[abcd567]

(1) RBFeeder:
Cause: Missing or corrupted mlat-client
Solution: Install mlat-client

To install on RPi with Raspbian BUSTER:

Code: [Select]

## Remove broken mlat-client
sudo dpkg --purge mlat-client 

## Download mlat-client package for BUSTER
wget https://github.com/abcd567a/mlat-client-package/releases/download/v1/mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb   

## Install downloaded package
sudo dpkg -i mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb   

## Reboot Pi
sudo reboot


(2) dump978:

Solution -1
You already have dump1090-fa which uses one dongle, and dump978-fa which uses 2nd dongle. To feed 978 uat to radarbox, install dump978-rb and add 3rd dongle for it.
 
Solution -2:
Use socat to port forward dump978-fa's output port 30978 to rbfeeder's uat input port 28380. Requires knowledge of Linux.

[hockeyref2]

Thoughts on the following error:?

 dump978-rb.service - dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dump978-rb.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2020-05-26 04:47:16 BST; 6s ago
     Docs: https://www.radarbox.com
  Process: 27346 ExecStart=/usr/share/dump978-rb/start-dump978-rb (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)
 Main PID: 27346 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

[abcd567]

You are trying to run dump978-rb without its dongle.
You have 2 dongles but running 3 dumps (dump1090-fa, dump978-fa, and dump978-rb).

Either plugin one more dongle, or stop dump978-rb, else you will keep getting error messages.

If you dont want to plug in 3rd dongle, then issue following command to stop dump978-rb

Code: [Select]

sudo systemctl stop dump978-rb   

sudo systemctl disable dump978-rb   

.

[dpbxcorp]

Over-engineering a solution is often the source of more problems than results.

It takes one configuration line... granted, it is not documented.

If you're running piaware with dump978-fa and it is feeding FA UAT correctly, all you need to enable submitting your UAT feed to RB is edit your rbfeeder.ini config with the following:

[dump978]
dump978_enabled=true
dump978_port=30979

sudo systemctl restart rbfeeder

It is not necessary to re-write UAT data into a dump1090 file or otherwise install extra software or manipulate your piaware installation. It is not necessary to install dump978-rb and it is not necessary to install/use an a duplicate UAT SDR receiver for each.

dump978_port is not documented, but including it will feed your dump978-fa data to RadarBox in json format (port 30979 by default).

You will be able to confirm RadarBox is receiving your UAT data by either applying filters to block out other types of data or visiting https://www.radarbox.com/stations/uat978 which displays sites with UAT actively configured.

The majority of UAT data displayed for the Miami, FL area is the product of this configuration where both 1090 and 978 MHz radios are operating on the same pi device.

If you still have issues enabling MLAT, you're also welcome to DM me.