OPTION-1Raspbian Lite image + dump1090-mutability + Radarbox24 data feeder (1) Download Raspbian
Lite image (zip) on your Desktop/Laptop
Download page:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/Direct download link:
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian_lite_latest(2) Unzip downloaded file to get
.img file.
(3) Insert microSD Card in your Desktop/Laptop’s card slot (or use a card reader plugged into USB Port).
(4) Write the unzipped Raspbian Lite image to microSD Card using
Win32DiskImager or
Etcher.
(5) After image is written, in Windows Explorer, double click the drive letter of microSD card. This will open the folder /boot and show lots of files and some folders.
- To enable SSH:
Windows: In File Explorer, double click the drive letter of microSD card. This will open the folder /boot and show lots of files and some folders. Right click in /boot folder, and create a new blank file named ssh or ssh.txt
Mac: Open terminal and give following command
touch /Volumes/boot/ssh
- To enable Wifi on first boot (if required):
Windows: In File Explorer, double click the drive letter of microSD card. This will open the folder /boot and show lots of files and some folders. Right click in /boot folder and create a new blank file named wpa_supplicant.conf. If your Desktop/Laptop does not show file extensions, configure Windows File explorer to show file extensions. If the file has a hidden extension .txt, it will not enable wifi.
Alternatively you can create this file by giving following command in Windows command prompt console, which will create file with correct extension:
C:\Windows\System32>echo > M:\wpa_supplicant.conf
(Replace letter M by drive letter of your microSD Card in Windows)
Mac: Open terminal and give following command
touch /Volumes/boot/wpa_supplicant.conf
Open the Finder program. Select the Micro SD card device labelled "boot". Open the file "wpa_supplicant.conf" in TextEdit.
Windows & Mac: In the opened blank file wpa_supplicant.conf, copy paste following text:
country=CA
ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=netdev
update_config=1
network={
ssid="YOUR_SSID"
psk="YOUR_PASSWORD"
}
Replace:
- CA by two letter code for your country e.g. GB for UK, US for USA, DE for Germany, FR for France, SE for Sweden, CH for Switzerland, NL for Netherland, AU for Australia, NZ for New Zealand, etc etc. (click here for complete list)
- YOUR_SSID by your router’s wifi ssid
- YOUR_PASSWORD by your router’s wifi password.
Save file.
(6) Remove microSD card from card reader, insert into Pi, power up, and SSH.
Note: On boot, wifi login info will be automatically copied into file /etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf, enabling wifi on first boot.
(7) Install dump1090-mutability v1.15~dev- It is important that first dump1090-mutability is installed, and data feeders are installed after dump1090-mutability has been installed.
- To see the map, type in address bar of your browser:
http://<IP of Pi>/dump1090/
If your OS is Debian/Raspbian BUSTERsudo apt install dump1090-mutability
sudo usermod -a -G plugdev dump1090
sudo systemctl restart dump1090-mutability
To set your latitude and longitude, give following command. Accept all other default settings by pressing Enter key.
When asked "address to bind", remove default value "127.0.0.1" to make it blank, then press Enter key.
sudo dpkg-reconfigure dump1090-mutability
If your OS is Debian/Raspbian STRETCHsudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git build-essential debhelper rtl-sdr
sudo apt install -y librtlsdr-dev libusb-1.0-0-dev pkg-config
sudo apt install -y fakeroot curl cron lighttpd
sudo git clone -b unmaintained https://github.com/mutability/dump1090.git dump1090-1.15
cd dump1090-1.15
sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b
The last command above will take some time to complete and generate lot of output.
Please be patient and wait for process to complete.cd ../
sudo dpkg -i dump1090-mutability_1.15~dev_*.deb
sudo lighty-enable-mod dump1090
sudo /etc/init.d/lighttpd force-reload
sudo wget -O /etc/udev/rules.d/rtl-sdr.rules "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/osmocom/rtl-sdr/master/rtl-sdr.rules"
sudo reboot
# To configure/reconfigure
sudo dpkg-reconfigure dump1090-mutability
For most settings, accept default settings by pressing "Enter".
For following settings, enter values as shown:
(a) Your receiver's Latitude (in decimal format): xx.xxxx
(b) Your receiver's Longitude (in decimal format): yy.yyyy
(c) Interface address to bind to (blank for all interfaces): remove default 127.0.0.1 and leave blank.
For advance users:Alternatively, you can change the settings by editing the configuration file shown below:
sudo nano /etc/default/dump1090-mutability
#after making changes, save file and exit
#restart dump1090-mutability
sudo systemctl restart dump1090-mutability
(8) See Map in your browser at following addresshttp://<IP of Pi>/dump1090/
.
(9) Install Radarbox24 data feeder(a) Install Radarbox24 Feedersudo bash -c "$(wget -O - http://apt.rb24.com/inst_rbfeeder.sh)"
(b) Configure Radarbox FeederAfter installation is complete, the rbfeeder will automatically obtain a feeder-key and station number.
To claim your station and link to your email address, go to:
https://www.radarbox24.com/raspberry-pi/claimYour feeder-key and station numbers are stored in file rbfeeder.ini.
You can check your station number and key by following command
sudo cat /etc/rbfeeder.ini
Above command will display following text
[client]
network_mode=true
log_file=/var/log/rbfeeder.log
key=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
sn=EXTRPIxxxxxx
[network]
mode=beast
external_port=30005
external_host=127.0.0.1
[mlat]
autostart_mlat=true
#mlat_cmd=/usr/bin/python3.5 /usr/bin/mlat-client
[dump978]
#dump978_enabled=true
If you already have a feeder key, you can set it by following commands
sudo rbfeeder --no-start --setkey ‹your sharing key›
sudo systemctl restart rbfeeder
#check what key has been set
sudo rbfeeder --showkey --no-start
#check status
sudo systemctl status rbfeeder -l
(10) ADD TERRAIN LIMIT RINGSDump1090-mutability v1.15~dev can display terrain limit rings using data obtained from the website
http://www.heywhatsthat.com.
(a) First you have to generate a panorama for your location. To do this, follow the steps in the
first post of the following thread:
What is the Maximum Range I can Get?(b) Once your panorama is generated, look near the top left of your newly created panorama page. You will see URL of your panorama there. The URL will be
http: // www . heywhatsthat . com/?view=XXXXXXXX where XXXXXXXX is the ID for your panorama.
See screenshot below.

(c) Use following command to download the generated panorama's JSON file "upintheair.json" to your RPi, and save it in the folder "/usr/share/dump1090-mutability/html" (replace
XXXXXXXX in the command below by your panorama's ID).
[/list]
sudo wget -O /usr/share/dump1090-mutability/html/upintheair.json "http://www.heywhatsthat.com/api/upintheair.json?id=XXXXXXXX&refraction=0.25&alts=3048,12192"
You can create as many rings as you want by adding elevations (in
meters) at the end of URL given in the wget command above after "&alts=", separated by commas.
10,000 ft = 3048 m
20,000 ft = 6096 m
25,000 ft = 7620 m
30,000 ft = 9144 m
40,000 ft = 12192 m
Hence if you want to add all the 5 elevation rings noted above, the string at the end of wget URL will become "&alts=3048,6096,7620,9144,12192"
To keep map un-cluttered, I have used only 2 rings in the wget command above. i.e. the 10,000 feet (3048 meters), and 40,000 feet (12192 meters).
Important: Use altitude in
meters in the wget URL above.
Do NOT use feet.
(d) RESTART dump1090-mutability
sudo systemctl restart dump1090-mutability