Home Built ADS-B (Raspberry Pi Aircraft Locator)

[bjsdeer]

So, I don't know if many of you guys are into aviation, but I know everyone here is into raspberry pi's. Anyways, I'm a pilot (small piston planes as of current). In the US the FAA has rolled out a new technology that is mandated to be in every aircraft by 2020. The ADS-B out transponders in the aircraft will broadcast the location, speed, altitude, and other information to air traffic control centers, designated ADS-B towers (they look similar to cell towers), as well as other aircraft. How is this different than radar you  ask? Well, the really neat thing about this system is that is daisy chains, meaning that if one planes ADS-B can pick up another plane's it can pass along that information to air traffic control and other aircraft. This will really help reduce radar dead zones caused by mountains and other obstructions. ADS-B also has a weather function where a pilot, in air can pick up weather satellite and radar info across the US. I will link the full FAA page on ADS-B here - https://www.faa.gov/nextgen/programs/adsb/pilot/ 

 

When I first saw one of my friends show off his fancy new Stratus ADS-B receiver to me I knew I had to have one. I went onto Sportys Pilot Shop- http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/stratus-2s-ads-b-receiver-for-ipad.html to see what the price was, 900 DOLLARS, WHAT! no way, a broke college student like my self could pay that. I was pretty bummed out, util I stumbled along an open source project called Stratux - http://stratux.me/ where I read that I could built one for about 100 dollars. I went ahead and decided to build my own ADS-B. It really works like a charm, and the Stratux site has a complete amazon shopping list.

 

Anyways here is some pictures of what it looks like and does. I haven't had a chance to take it up flying yet so I have it sitting on my porch. It is line of sight, so it only picks up airliners when not at altitude, but you can still see what it does.

I think it is pretty neat-o, maybe you might too.

 

[Matthew Wang]

I am into both aviation and computer programming! 
So it is a hand held device that even has a fan? But do you need an other external device to display?Bluethooth via your phone?

[bjsdeer]

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[bjsdeer]

8 hours ago, Matthew Wang said:

I am into both aviation and computer programming! 
So it is a hand held device that even has a fan? But do you need an other external device to display?Bluethooth via your phone?

Ya, its a hand held type device. you can put on the dash of the plane, or the back seat. The case I bought for this came with fan, and the cut outs for the antenna. You do need a external device, that can hook up over WiFi. I have an ipad for and use an app called foreflight (it has all the maps, approach plates, AFDs, ect). Once I connect it, foreflight automatically shows any aircraft that are picked up on the screen. you can download foreflight for free (there are paid subscriptions if you plan on using it for more advanced features) otherwise if you have an android you can use Garmin pilot, it does mostly the same thing.

[Silverwolf_7]

Nice find and build but I'm surprised that the FAA lets you use a DIY device for that. They usually like to wrap everything up in red tape.

[bjsdeer]

23 hours ago, Silverwolf_7 said:

Nice find and build but I'm surprised that the FAA lets you use a DIY device for that. They usually like to wrap everything up in red tape.

The reason for that is that this device if for "situational awareness" only. Basically the FAA is saying that if you run into another plane because it wasn't picked up on your device, it's your fault, not the ADS-B's fault. Having this device doesn't meet the FAAs rules of having an ADS-B in the aircraft because it does not have an out signal, it only receives signals.