987Mhz Tracking

I’ve been tracking for a while now and noticed almost all of the planes are jet traffic. I fly piston GA and would like to track more of those, if they are even out there. Anyone modified the software to track on 978Mhz (below 18000’ in the US)? Are the FlightAware guys even interested in this traffic?

Bryan

978MHz thread of doooom: ads-b-flight-tracking-f21/978-mhz-uat-in-the-us-t18256-25.html

dump978 will do the decoding: github.com/mutability/dump978/
Or the Stratux project has adapted/integrated the dump978 demodulator for their 978MHz support.

Fair warning though, the experience that others have had is that there’s not much transmitting on 978MHz at the moment.

978Mhz(not 987) is available. It requires another rtl-sdr dongle. I have it running on two RPI2s.

You can get the software here
github.com/mutability/dump978

also, search dump978 in the discussion section.

I am in Brooklyn next to the Hudson. I see a few aircraft per week at the moment.
I expect it to ramp up by Jan 1, 2020 when it becomes mandatory in most controlled airspace(in the U.S. below FL180).
It is not used outside the U.S. so development will be limited. Also, it is more for GA, site seeing and short haul traffic. FA probably gets 99% of their revenue from commercial/Airline Transport traffic.

It does have the advantage of providing FIS-B but seems to require UAT978 out to generate this traffic(this is the main complaint I hear).
Add-on units will get cheaper closer to the mandate.

It is one of two options for aircraft operating below or in B, C, or D airspace post 2020. If you operate In class A, you have to have a mode S-ES transponder. Those with UAT-out also have to have a 1090/1030mhz transponder. It makes UAT a less appealing choice in some cases.

It doesn’t require UAT-out to get UAT-in. If you are providing a proper “out”, you can get UAT-in. An aircraft can have mode S-ES (1090mhz) as ADS-B out and recieve ADS-B in on 978UAT to get FIS-B data. With just a mode S-ES, you can get TIS-B data. The people having trouble are those trying to get UAT-in without providing their position data to the system. In other words, they are trying to cheat the system.

Can you get FIS-B transmitting only Mode S or S/ES?

Update to that last statement. FAA is in the midst of changing the policy. From what I understand, TIS-B will be open to all receivers… no need to be near an ADS-B out transmitter.
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2016/January/04/FAA-announces-changes-to-TIS-B

I run a 978 UAT ground station and only see single digit airplanes per day, but I’m almost ready to put the antenna on my roof next to the 1090 antenna. Not sure how many more I’ll see, maybe double digits! You can see my stats here: http://flightaware.com/adsb/stats/user/arerecich#stats-4410

I am just about to move my 1090Mhz Antenna to the roof/Chimney(I have all of the equipment just need a ladder)
It will be one of these dpdproductions.com/page_vhf_air.html#adsbout
I will put a little 978Mhz antenna in the attic(unless I can mag mount the antenna on a whirlybird(Roof vent)).

This will be a little higher than an FA Antenna inside the 2nd(US) floor(1st floor in Europe and Aus) bedroom. (I still get 2000 A/C per day)
If all goes well, I will upgrade the 978Mhz antenna to a decent external Antenna next.

Note that building attenuation can be significant at 1Ghz
See vbn.aau.dk/files/204386691/moder … n_IEEE.pdf
I had another URL but not on this PC.

Guess I got a little dyslexic when typing the subject! Thanks for the info, I’m going to try and setup another Pi to scan 978. It should be interesting to see if there are any aircraft around here transmitting on it. Interestingly, if you search the forums for just the number 978, no hits.

yeh, Fa’s discussion search is not the best.
It doesn’t seem to do partial matches well.

You can do 978 UAT on the same RPI(RPI2 is better. much more CPU). I found it easier to setup that way(dump1090 or piaware tries to steal the USB Dongle at startup)

Look at
github.com/jprochazka/adsb-feeder
ads-b-flight-tracking-f21/ads-b-feeder-project-setup-scripts-t36532.html
He has a script to set everything up in one go.
It also installs the better Mutability version of dump1090.
This colours the aircraft base on Alt and allows you to sort based on country, call sign, squawk, distance, altitude and more.
You can also enable 2.4Mhz bandwidth mode.
I get about 25% more traffic with the mutability version of dump1090.

You can get FIS-B if you have UAT-in and a Mode S-ES as your ADS-B out. Note: FIS-B isn’t the same thing as TIS-B.

I know the difference, that is why I asked.
Thanks.

FIS-B is available to anyone with a receiver. No ADS-B out required. Only TIS-B required you to be transmitting your position.

Please provide citation.

If you read that article that you posted, it reinforces what I stated. **You must provide ADS-B out (via 1090 or 978) to get TIS-B or FIS-B. **

The only way to avoid this is if you cheat and grab a signal intended for a different aircraft.

I had to update my system to continue getting TIS-B data. You now need a SIL & SDA of 1 or higher to get TIS-B and FIS-B data.

Yeah, the specific change is:

TIS-B/ADS-R Client Status logic will be modified to only provide TIS-B/ADS-R client status to aircraft broadcasting ADS-B with NACp>4, NACv>0, SDA>0, SIL>0, and NIC>4

which is a stronger requirement than previously.

I personally use FIS-B while flying a Mode-C equipped airplane using a portable 978 MHz receiver (& 1090 MHz & GPS & AHARS) combined with an iPad. I also receive TIS-B when near enough to an ADS-B out aircraft to ‘piggyback’ on their data.

Need a citation? faa.gov/nextgen/programs/adsb/faq/#18

“Is FIS-B free? Is TIS-B free?
TIS-B is a free service available to aircraft operators equipped with ADS-B Out and ADS-B In. FIS-B is available free to any operator with the ability to receive and display the data that is broadcast on the Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) or the 978 MHz link.”

Looks like I did misread the intent of the article and will just have to wait until I equip my plane to get reliable TIS-B.

You’re only stealing data intended for another aircraft.

I should edit to add… I believe the FAQ is now out of date. The FAA is changing the rules for use of their system. The updates started in the past month.