Readsb

[Portmanteau of Read ADSB]

Readsb is a Mode-S/ADSB/TIS decoder for RTLSDR, BladeRF, Modes-Beast and GNS5894 devices. As a former fork of dump1090-fa it is using that code base but development will continue as a standalone project with new name. Readsb can co-exist on the same host system with dump1090-fa, it doesn't use or modify its resources. However both programs will not share a receiver device at the same time and in parallel.

Disclaimer

This is a personal, hobbyist project with no commercial background.

Modifications:

Light and dark theme.
Add max distance to stats.json.
Add VRS JSON network writer.
Implementation of non-blocking TCP connection.
BeastReduce output - Reduced message rate for non-physical aircraft data.
Aynchronous name resolution based on pthread.
Multi language in web application, supported so far: English, Deutsch, Pусский.
Uses I18next for internationalization.
Web application reworked and ported to Typescript. Moved to Leaflet map library.
Added support for GNS5894 receiver hardware.
Accept profiles to build package with individual or no receiver library dependencies.
Added bladeRF v2.0 Micro support (credits @kazazes)
Added bias tee option for supporting interfaces.
Calculate and show wind speed and direction for selected aircraft.
Show more mode-S parameters.
Added support for Analog Devices PlutoSDR (ADALM-PLUTO)
German DWD RADOLAN layer similar to NEXRAD.
Update source for aircraft metadata can be configured. Default is local readsb webserver but online sources are possible, for example this Github repo. See config.js for details.
Backup and restore of browsers indexed database to/from local ZIP file.
Additional SkyVector layers. (requires API key)
Aircraft metadata stored in browsers indexed database can be modified through web form.
Added new map controls to maximise space for plane list and better handling on mobile devices.
Use GNU Argp for program help.
Added support for local connected Mode-S Beast via USB.
Added application manifest, HD icon and favicon. That allows to install readsb on home screen of a mobile device and run as a standalone web application. Icon source https://pixabay.com/en/airplane-aircraft-plane-sky-flying-34786/ Released under Creative Commons CC0.
Hover label over aircrafts on map. Mod by Al Kissack. See https://github.com/alkissack/Dump1090-OpenLayers3-html
Additional map layers. Mod by Al Kissack.
Allow highlighting of filtered aircrafts instead of removing them from list.
Added advanced filter option using VRS style menu.
Use already included jQuery-UI to make space saving sidebar for maximum aircraft list.
Link columns removed in aircraft table.
Additional column to indicate civil or military aircraft (requires special database).
Additional row color alert in case of interesting aircraft (requires special database).
Detailed aircraft model in selected block (requires special database).
Additional special squawks used in Germany. (Rettungshubschrauber, Bundespolizei etc.)
Additional aircraft operator database. Aircraft operator will be shown in selected block and as flight ident tooltip in table.
Added basic support for feeding a single push server like VRS
Fixed memory leaks on exit
Optimized structure memory layout for minimum padding.

❗ This project is using browsers indexed database for aircraft meta data storage. The database is loaded from server on version change, when empty or doesn't exists.

Your browser may not support indexed database if it's disabled or you are browsing in private mode. To enable support in Firefox: Open URL 'about:config' search 'dom.indexedDB.enabled' set to 'true'.

Note: In Android pre-loading the database takes a minute or two, so be patient. Don't stop the script.

Push server support

readsb tries to connect to a listening server, like a VRS push server.

For example feeding VRS at adsbexchange.com use the new parameters:

--net-connector feed.adsbexchange.com,30005,beast_out

BeastReduce output

Selectively forwards beast messages if the received data hasn't been forwarded in the last 125 ms (or --net-beast-reduce-interval). Data not related to the physical aircraft state are only forwarded every 500 ms (4 * --net-beast-reduce-interval).The messages of this output are normal beast messages and compatible with every program able to receive beast messages.

readsb Debian/Raspbian packages

It is designed to build as a Debian package.

Building under jessie, stretch or buster

Dependencies - PlutoSDR (ADALM-PLUTO)

You will need the latest build and install of libad9361-dev and libiio-dev. The Debian packages libad9361-dev that is available up to Debian 9 (stretch) is outdated and missing a required function. So you have to build packages from source in this order:

$ git clone https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libiio.git
$ cd libiio
$ cmake ./
$ make
$ sudo make install

$ git clone https://github.com/analogdevicesinc/libad9361-iio.git
$ cd libad9361-iio
$ cmake ./
$ make
$ sudo make install

Dependencies - bladeRF

You will need a build of libbladeRF. You can build packages from source:

$ git clone https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF.git
$ cd bladeRF
$ dpkg-buildpackage -b

Or Nuand has some build/install instructions including an Ubuntu PPA at https://github.com/Nuand/bladeRF/wiki/Getting-Started:-Linux

Dependencies - rtlsdr

This is packaged with jessie. "sudo apt-get install librtlsdr-dev"

Actually building it

Build package with no additional receiver library dependencies: dpkg-buildpackage -b.

Build with RTLSDR support: dpkg-buildpackage -b --build-profiles=rtlsdr

Build with BladeRF(uBladeRF) support: dpkg-buildpackage -b --build-profiles=bladerf

Build with PlutoSDR support: dpkg-buildpackage -b --build-profiles=plutosdr

Build full package with all libraries: dpkg-buildpackage -b --build-profiles=rtlsdr,bladerf,plutosdr

Building manually

You can probably just run "make". By default "make" builds with no specific library support. See below. Binaries are built in the source directory; you will need to arrange to install them (and a method for starting them) yourself.

"make BLADERF=yes" will enable bladeRF support and add the dependency on libbladeRF.

"make RTLSDR=yes" will enable rtl-sdr support and add the dependency on librtlsdr.

"make PLUTOSDR=yes" will enable plutosdr support and add the dependency on libad9361 and libiio.

Configuration

After installation, either by manual building or from package, you need to configure readsb service and web application.

Edit /etc/default/readsb to set the service options, device type, network ports etc.

The web application is configured by editing /usr/share/readsb/html/script/readsb/defaults.js or src/script/readsb/default.ts prior to compilation. Several settings can be modified through web browser. These settings are stored inside browser indexedDB and are individual to users or browser profiles.

Note about bias tee support

Bias tee support is available for RTL-SDR.com V3 dongles. If you wish to enable bias tee support, you must ensure that you are building this package with a version of librtlsdr installed that supports this capability. You can find suitable source packages here. To enable the necessary support code when building, be sure to include preprocessor define macro HAVE_BIASTEE, e.g.:

"make HAVE_BIASTEE=yes" will enable biastee support for RTLSDR interfaces.

Credits

Matthias Wirth aka wiedehopf
Taner Halicioglu aka tanerH

mugabe / readsb