Can't get dump 978 working

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
41

librtlsdr talks to RTL2832-based dongles in SDR mode, and provides the received SDR data via a C API.

The rtl_sdr command line utility is just a simple interface to that - it asks librtlsdr to set the frequency / sample rate / gain etc, then asks librtlsdr for SDR data, and writes the SDR data to stdout.

Original dump978 reads data from stdin and relies on something else to do all of the tuning, frequency setting, and fetching data from the SDR. Remember that original dump978 was mostly just a proof of concept. Pushing the SDR work to an external program simplified it, but there are many limitations of that approach.

dump978-fa uses SoapySDR, not an external program, to fetch the SDR data. SoapySDR is similar to librtlsdr in function, but it has modules that lets it talk to many different types of SDR hardware, not only RTL2832 dongles. It is an adaptation layer that provides a single interface to many different SDR libraries.

Analogously, dump1090 uses librtlsdr or libbladeRF or libhackrf etc to fetch the SDR data. Eventually I’d like to move it to using SoapySDR too so that only one interface is needed, not half a dozen different libraries.

3 Likes
42

Thanks @obj for detailed clarification. I always wondered why SoapySDR is there.

43

I was wondering why dump1090-fa and dump978-fa looked so different both in accessing the sdr as well as the published interfaces. Eventually it’d be nice if they shared a common library that contains everything except the demodulator and other bits specific to their bands/message types.

44

Very different development histories…

45

antirez/dump1090 >> MalcolmRobb/dump1090 >> mutability/dump1090 >> flightaware/dump1090

mutability/dump978 >> flightaware/dump978

46

That explains a lot :slight_smile:

48

So I have been successfully feeding FR24 for a few years, and also running Dump-1090-fa on my Pi3. Decided I would like to try feeding FA data as well.
I followed the install instructions here for the Stretch version:
(seems I cant post links here!) …flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/install

After rebooting I am unable to “claim” my feed, but I can still see AC data on Dump-1090

I found this thread and followed the following steps:

49

seems I have to split my reply… continued…
But its Still not working :frowning:

pi@raspberrypi : ~ $ sudo systemctl status dump978-fa

● dump978-fa.service - dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver

Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dump978-fa.service; enabled; vendor prese

Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2020-09-29 00

Docs: PiAware - ADS-B and MLAT Receiver - FlightAware

Process: 816 ExecStart=/usr/share/dump978-fa/start-dump978-fa (code=exited, st

Main PID: 816 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Tasks: 0 (limit: 4915)

Memory: 0B

CGroup: /system.slice/dump978-fa.service

Sep 29 00:46:27 raspberrypi systemd[1]: dump978-fa.service: Failed with result ’

50

…and the final part…
pi@raspberrypi : ~ $ cat /etc/os-release

PRETTY_NAME=“Raspbian GNU/Linux 9 (stretch)”

NAME=“Raspbian GNU/Linux”

VERSION_ID=“9”

VERSION=“9 (stretch)”

VERSION_CODENAME=stretch

ID=raspbian

ID_LIKE=debian

HOME_URL=“xxx//www.raspbian.org/”

SUPPORT_URL=“xxx//www.raspbian.org/RaspbianForums”

BUG_REPORT_URL=“xxx//www.raspbian.org/RaspbianBugs”
(so these are the links Im not allowed to post!)
ANy suggestions please?

51

STEP-1:
Re-image microSD card with latest piaware 3.8.1 sd card image. You will have dump1090-fa, dump978-fa, and piaware data feeder pre-installed

Direct download:
http://piaware.flightcdn.com/piaware-sd-card-3.8.1.img.zip

To Configure, follow instructions here:
Howto : Piaware SD card image 3.8.0 Quickstart Guide

 

STEP-2:
Run following bash command to install FR24 feeder

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

When signing up / configuring FR24, do NOT use setting receiver= dvbt

Use setting:
receiver=“beast-tcp”
host=“127.0.0.1:30005”

 

3 Likes
52

OK Thanks very much I appreciate your reply, however as I have fine tuned my FR24 setup over the last 12 months or so, and I’m definitely a Linux novice, Im a little reluctant to nuke what I have working now, and try again. Since Dump 1090-fa seems to be working well I hoped it would be a simple matter to get it connected.

53

These are not the right steps to follow if you want to install piaware to feed 1090 data from an existing install.

You should follow steps (2) and (6) of PiAware - dump1090 ADS-B integration with FlightAware - FlightAware

(Note that we’re having some network problems currently, so step 6 may fail)

54

Your apprehension is fair and understandable.

However, it is not at all difficult to configure FR24 feeder. All its configurations are in one file named /etc/fr24feed.ini.

(1) Before reimaging copy contents of this file in a text editor like Notepad on your computer and save the Notepad.

sudo nano /etc/fr24feed.ini 

receiver="beast-tcp"
host="127.0.0.1:30005"
fr24key="xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
logmode="1"
bs=no
raw=no
mlat="yes"
mlat-without-gps="yes"

(2) After re-imaging with Piaware SD Card image, and installing FR24 feeder, open file /etc/fr24feed.ini, delete all its contents and copy-paste contents from saved Notepad.
Save file fr24feed.ini (Ctrl+O), then close (Ctrl+x)

Now restart fr24feed
sudo systemctl restart fr24feed

1 Like
55

THanks very much… it must have been the server issues… I’m on the air now!

PiAware - Claim and Link a Brand New PiAware Ground Station

Success!

1 Like