Radarspotting

Having searched the forum I'm admitting defeat and can't find a post that explains, in simple layman's terms, how to feed multiple tracking sites off the one USB "dongle" and RPi.

I have multiple, dedicated receivers from various tracking sites such as FlightAware, FR24 and VariFlight.  Therefore I've never had the need to feed these sites off the one receiver.  But others do.

For example, how does one feed FR24 from a standard install or PiAware?  What PiAware changes are needed?

Hi Mike

Tis more than possible to feed multiple sites from one dongle on RPi
I followed this guide to set up all 5 of my feeders - from one Pi I feed 7-8 different sites including my own. It is fairly simple - just an afternoon of sitting down and working throught it page by page - since doing this I have not looked back.

https://sdr-enthusiasts.gitbook.io/ads-b/

If you already have a RPi feeder set up - in some cases it is just a case of adding the feeding software to an existing install following the instructutions on website you want to feed.

FR24 - https://www.flightradar24.com/share-your-data
ADSBExchange - https://www.adsbexchange.com/how-to-feed/#feedclient
Planefinder - https://planefinder.net/coverage/client
Flightware/PiAware - https://uk.flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/build/
RadarBox - https://www.radarbox.com/sharing-data/guide

Thanks Rik.

I've always found the various instructions somewhat challenging, often written for those with existing knowledge of programming and RPi.  But, in order to help one of our members, I decided to have a go at adding a FlightRadar24 (FR24) feed to my existing PiAware installation.

I remember Daniel Baker telling me that the trigger for vastly expanding FlightAware's feeder network was the launch of the PiAware SD card image, combining the RPi operating system with the message decoding and data sharing app.  Feeders only had to supply the hardware, download the SD image and install.  No prior knowledge of running RPi software was required.  Simples.

However, adding the FR24 feed isn't as simple but it's not difficult.  Before I explain the setup in detail it might help to understand the existing setup and the key steps.

The pre-requisites are:

• An ADS-B capable "dongle" connected to an antenna and to an RPi
• A powered RPi running FlightAware's PiAware
• The RPi connected to your local network and the Internet
• A microSD card (8GB or larger) and adapter (if needed)
• A Windows PC connected to your local network

The process involves the following steps:

• Making a back-up copy of your existing PiAware SD card.  This is optional but recommended.
• Preparing the original SD card for using SSH.  SSH allows remote access to the RPi to make changes, such as installing the FR24 feeder.
• Installing SSH on Windows.  OpenSSH is pre-installed on Windows 10 but may not be installed by default.  Please read the link below.  An alternative is PuTTY if you have an earlier version of Windows.  See other link below.
• Running SSH or PuTTY on your network connected PC to access the RPi OS to download and install the FR24 feeder app.
• Finalising the FR24 feeder install by adding your email address and location coordinates
• Checking your new FR24 feed is working

Recommended reading:

• OpenSSH on Windows (https://www.howtogeek.com/336775/how-to-enable-and-use-windows-10s-built-in-ssh-commands/)
• How to use SSH or PuTTY on RPi (https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/for-beginners-how-to-ssh-to-rpi-setup-putty-in-windows/44432/)
• Download and Install FR24 feeder on RPi (https://www.flightradar24.com/share-your-data/)

The detailed process:

I choose to make a backup copy of my existing PiAware SD card image.  I used a microSD card adapter and Windows Explorer to copy the original card to a temporary folder and then to a empty, formatted microSD card.  You may need to use an SD card formatting app such as SDFormatter.  This backup is optional.

Next I prepared the original PiAware SD card for SSH.  Basically I created an empty txt file in the Boot folder of the SD card.  This is explained in How to use SSH or PuTTY on RPi (https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/for-beginners-how-to-ssh-to-rpi-setup-putty-in-windows/44432/).

I then put the PiAware SD card back in the RPi which was powered, connected to my local network and the ADS-B dongle.

OpenSSH was already installed on my Windows 10 PC.  Running SSH opens a Command type window.

Here I connected to the RPi by entering:

Quotessh pi@192.168.1.136

...where 192.168.1.136 is the local IP address of the RPi running PiAware.  You can find the IP address in your PiAware status page.

You should be asked for the PiAware password which, by default, is "flightaware".  Yours may be different.

Once logged onto "pi@piaware" you enter the following after the $ sign.  This downloads and installs the FR24 feeder:

Quotesudo bash -c "$(wget -O - https://repo-feed.flightradar24.com/install_fr24_rpi.sh)"

All being well you can sit and watch as the FR24 feed is downloaded and installed.  Should take a minute or two.

Finish off the install by entering an email address and local airport ICAO code. I chose not to participate in the MLAT calculation as I wasn't sure if PiAware's MLAT would cause a problem.

Finally, following the prompt, I started sending data to FR24. 

And that's all there was to it.  But there was one last task.  Checking my new feed was Online by viewing "My Data Sharing" in my FR24 website account.  And sure enough, there's my new feed T-EGFH90.

Simples.

Thanks to Rikgale, abcd567 and everyone else who contributed to this process.

If I've missed a step or got something wrong, please let me know.

---

Update 23rd February 2024

I was asked by a forum member for help addi8ng a feed to ADSBExchange alongside his existing feeds to FlightAware and FR24.

So I set about adding ADSBExchange to my similar RPi feeds,  But before doing so I wanted to backup the SD card and that's where I ran into some issues.

Removing the SD card from the RPi and inserting it into a card reader on the PC didn't work as before.  The existing SD card showed as two drives, one the PC couldn't access and another with PiAware etc.  After numerous attempts I ended up using Etcher to clone the SD card.  But this needs to be handled carefully as the target drive for the cloned image will be wiped clean and contents replaced by the cloned image.

Luckily I had a USB SD card reader so I could place the original SD card into the PC card reader slot and the target SD card in the USB card reader.  The PC could access two SD cards at the same time.

The Etcher clone option is straightforward and easy to follow.  When I put the cloned card into the RPi, the feeds to FlightAware and FR24 worked exactly as before.  I now have a backup SD card.

I cloned another SD card and used this to install the ADSBExchange feed.

I tried using Windows SSH but it failed to work.  So I downloaded PuTTY and used that instead.  Instructions here (https://discussions.flightaware.com/t/for-beginners-how-to-ssh-to-rpi-setup-putty-in-windows/44432/)

I logged in as "Pi" and used the "flightaware" default password.  At the $ prompt I entered this command (as shown on the ADSBExchange website (https://www.adsbexchange.com/ways-to-join-the-exchange/existing-equipment/):

Quotecurl -L -o /tmp/axfeed.sh https://www.adsbexchange.com/feed.sh
sudo bash /tmp/axfeed.sh

Tip: PuTTY uses the right mouse button to paste clipboard content.

Then I followed the on-screen instructions and once complete viewed my data on the available map.

In summry, a straightforward process, albeit time consuming as I wasted too much time between floors inserting and removing SD cards as I struggled with my initial attempts at backing up the SD card.

Since I don't wish to feed ADSBExchange, I reverted to the original SD card and once again only feed FlightAware and FR24.

Hi Mike

Many thanks for the comprehensive instructions on how to feed FR24 from a PI.

I'll try and give it a go later, when I've got a clear head ;)-

Will this allow you to feed Flightaware and FR24 together?

Thanks

Terry

Quote from: terrywadeairbus on December 06, 2022, 12:13:29 PM
Will this allow you to feed Flightaware and FR24 together?

Yes, that's the whole point  ;D

When Terry tries to connect to his RPi he's getting

Quoteconnect to 192.168.1.113 port 22:  Connection refused

He has a standard PiAware install, same as mine.  The IP address is correct and the same thing occurs with his firewall turned off.

Has anyone else experienced this and how was it overcome?

In raspi-config (commandline) check if the SSH option is checked. Without it, any connection to the RPi using SSH will be blocked.

Thanks John.

Do you know the precise file name?

We're both using the standard PiAware SD image which includes the OS.

Hi Anmer,

I setup a new PiAware feed yesterday, the easiest way to setup SSH is to put the SD card in a PC, open the SD card folder, right click and select new text document, name it ssh, put it back in the RPI and that's it job done.

Quote from: Anmer on December 06, 2022, 07:03:36 PM
Do you know the precise file name?

It's not a file. From a command-line (you need a monitor/keyboard connected to the RPi) follow the steps 1-6:

Enabling the Server

Raspberry Pi OS has the SSH server disabled by default. It can be enabled manually from the desktop:

    1. Launch Raspberry Pi Configuration from the Preferences menu

    2. Navigate to the Interfaces tab

    3. Select Enabled next to SSH

    4. Click OK

Alternatively you can enable it from the terminal using the raspi-config application,

    1. Enter sudo raspi-config in a terminal window

    2. Select Interfacing Options

    3. Navigate to and select SSH

    4. Choose Yes

    5. Select Ok

    6. Choose Finish


Addition:

For headless setup, SSH can be enabled by placing a file named ssh, without any extension, onto the boot partition of the SD Card. When the Raspberry Pi boots, it looks for the ssh file. If it is found, SSH is enabled and the file is deleted. The content of the file does not matter; it could contain text, or nothing at all.

Quote from: Faramir on December 06, 2022, 07:30:22 PM
For headless setup, SSH can be enabled by placing a file named ssh, without any extension, onto the boot partition of the SD Card. When the Raspberry Pi boots, it looks for the ssh file. If it is found, SSH is enabled and the file is deleted. The content of the file does not matter; it could contain text, or nothing at all.

Thanks, that's what we both did but with a .txt extension, as advised by abcd567's tutorial.  I'll double check my SD card.

Quote from: Anmer on December 06, 2022, 07:33:08 PM

Quote from: Faramir on December 06, 2022, 07:30:22 PM
For headless setup, SSH can be enabled by placing a file named ssh, without any extension, onto the boot partition of the SD Card. When the Raspberry Pi boots, it looks for the ssh file. If it is found, SSH is enabled and the file is deleted. The content of the file does not matter; it could contain text, or nothing at all.

Thanks, that's what we both did but with a .txt extension, as advised by abcd567's tutorial.  I'll double check my SD card.

Save the file as SSH without any extension...

Quote from: jonboy1081 on December 06, 2022, 07:16:02 PM
I setup a new PiAware feed yesterday, the easiest way to setup SSH is to put the SD card in a PC, open the SD card folder, right click and select new text document, name it ssh, put it back in the RPI and that's it job done.

Yes, that's what we did.  Worked for me but not Terry!

Just to close this thread.

Terry now has his FR24 feed running alongside his FlightAware one using PiAware on the RPi.

Terry's not sure what happened but he did delete and create a new SSH text file and that may have been the issue.  Nothing else changed.

Thanks for all the help from other members.  I'll make this a Sticky topic.