HOW TO ACTIVATE THE MLAT FOR RADARBOX24

[AndreasWarby]

Hi there,

My station https://www.radarbox.com/stations/EXTRPI004762 is showing MLAT as active, but there are no stations synced.  I've confirmed that the correct lat/lon/elevation coordinates exist in /etc/rbfeeder.ini and "systemctl status rbfeeder" is showing both "/usr/bin/rbfeeder" and "/usr/bin/python3.9 /usr/bin/mlat-client ..."

In /var/log/syslog, I have the following (with no further activity pertaining to rbfeeder's mlat):

Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 mlat-client 0.2.11 starting up
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 Connected to multilateration server at mlat1.
rb24.com:40900, handshaking
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 Server says:
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         AirNav Server
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         The multilateration server source code is available under
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         the terms of the Affero GPL (v3 or later). You may obtain
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         a copy of this server's source code at the following
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         location: https://github.com/adsbexchange/mlat-server
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]:         
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 Handshake complete.
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024   Compression:       zlib2
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024   UDP transport:     disabled
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024   Split sync:        disabled
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 Input connected to 127.0.0.1:32457
Jul 11 08:35:37 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:37 2024 Input format changed to BEAST, 12MHz clock
Jul 11 08:35:38 piaware rbfeeder[18253]: Thu Jul 11 08:35:38 2024 Beast-format results connection with 127.0.0.
1:32004: connection established

[gerfie]

Hi
I had the same problem and no one had a solution here for that.
But the solution is very simple!
go to Radarbox Website. In the left upper corner you see your stats.
First line is your stantion number and under station number there is your country.
Here you can change your location data. Click on it and put your correct lat and long.
The important part is the sea level. Do not take any numbers from a map.
Take the numbers what Radarbox interface gives you and click enter.
This was the point in my case.
It takes a few minutes and then it will work. Maybe after that start your browser new.

Regards

[AndreasWarby]

Thanks gerfie for your kind reply.  I had known about the easy suggestion you gave, so already tried it.  I have been able to confirm that the correct "alt=" value was getting written back to my /etc/rbfeeder.ini file.  No luck yet!

[Runway 31]

I presume you have both installed the Radarbox MLAT Client?

Can you post your ini file with your personal details deleted

Alan

[AndreasWarby]

Thanks for your follow-up, Alan.  How can I check that I have the right mlat-client for RadarBox?

I'm unable to post mlat-client version and /etc/rbfeeder.ini info here without being stymied by this web interface's anti-spam misconceptions.

I've attached a screenshot showing this info.  Thanks for any insights you can give!

[Runway 31]

It looks ok to me but the only observation I would make is that you are using the older Bullseye OS and not Bookworm but I think it should still work

Have you rebooted the Pi after installing the MLAT client?

My Linux knowledge is limited and I hope abcd picks up the thread and offers advice

Alan

[abcd567]

Please issue following command:

sudo ststemctl status rbfeeder   
@AndreasWarby

If in the output generated by above command, you see following line, then mlat is working ok:

/usr/bin/python3 /usr/bin/mlat-client --input-type dump1090 --input-connect 127.0.0.1:32457 --server mlat1.rb24.com:40900 --lat 43

Please see attached screenshot.

[AndreasWarby]

Yes, thanks @abcd567, I had checked using "sudo systemctl status rbfeeder" and see a line as follows:

(see attachment for screenshot)

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[abcd567]

@AndreasWarby

(1) You do NOT need any more help. Your system is running perfectly normal.

(2) In Systemd service, every App has a user assigned to run it. That user is independent of OS user like pi. Following users are used for ADS-B Apps

APP	USER	GROUP
Radarbox24	rbfeeder	rbfeeder
Flightradar24	fr24	fr24
Piaware	piaware	nogroup
dump1090-fa	dump1090	nogroup

Please see attached screenshots.

[AndreasWarby]

Thanks @abcd567 -- my system may appear to be running perfectly normal, and its status page is showing MLAT as active, yet for several days it's also been indicating "No stations synced".

I appreciate your description of the various organizations' moves away from root.root user.group permissions; however, that does not appear related to a solution for my particular problem.

I can see the running "mlat-client" process belonging to rbfeeder using resources on my RPi, alongside similarly running piaware and ADSBexchange MLAT executables.

Other than the initial connection handshake, there are no further traces of rbfeeder's MLAT activities in /var/log/syslog.  I've checked that my coordinates and antenna elevation are all correct.  My system clock is disciplined by a stratum-1 GPS system located on the same LAN, so timing info should be well calibrated.

I am still at a loss as to what is going on.  I had hoped that some of the log file contents in my earlier post (Jul. 11th) might help to shed some light.

[Runway 31]

You are the expert abcd but would you recommend a purge and reinstall of the mlat client to see if thsat makes a difference

Alan

[abcd567]

You are the expert abcd but would you recommend a purge and reinstall of the mlat client to see if thsat makes a difference

Alan

Yes, sure. It is a good idea and very easy to try. It will clear any corrupt / broken mlat client .

sudo apt purge mlat-client 

sudo apt clean 

sudo apt install mlat-client   

sudo reboot   

[AndreasWarby]

I appreciate the instructions, thank you @abcd567.  I performed them, but the situation remains effectively unchanged: rbfeeder seems to be working well; MLAT is active and I can see the process working away; BUT, still "No stations synced".

My station: https://www.radarbox.com/stations/EXTRPI004762

For good measure, I again clicked "Edit" on the above page and re-entered my antenna's coordinates.  No luck!

I'm beginning to wonder whether there is a problem on the server (rb24) side of things, perhaps related to the fact that my station was down over the past year while I was overseas.  I note, however, that my friend just set up a new rb24 feed yesterday, and his mlat is working very nicely.

[Runway 31]

I am seeing changes on my own page.  The red and yellow blocks have now all turned green but at this time although there are aircraft showing on the map I am showing as offline with MLAT active but no stations synced.

Edit 1700 all back to normal for me with 50 stations synced

Alan

[AndreasWarby]

Unfortunately, I can no longer reply usefully on this thread due to Cleantalk issues.  I see that the forum software hasn't been updated since 2017, which is perhaps even more concerning.

Bottom line: I've disabled MLAT feeding to AirNav RadarBox.