Issue receiving data from USB receiver

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hi all,

I am trying to make an ADS-B station with a RaspberryPi v3. I have in my drawer a “PCTV Systems PCTV 74E” and I am looking to re-use it before going further.
http://www.pctvsystems.com/Products/ProductsEuropeAsia/DVBTT2products/PCTVpicoStick/tabid/203/language/fr-FR/Default.aspx

I have been able to install all the stack, I can see on my flightaware account the instance of my RaspberryPi.

My problem is that it is empty of data, so let me give you some logs. Maybe one of you can help.

pi@piaware:~ $ lsusb | grep PCTV
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2013:0246 PCTV Systems PCTV 74E

pi@piaware:~ $ systemctl status piaware
● piaware.service - FlightAware ADS-B uploader
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/piaware.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Thu 2018-05-17 09:25:27 CEST; 36min ago
Docs: PiAware - ADS-B and MLAT Receiver - FlightAware
Main PID: 387 (piaware)
CGroup: /system.slice/piaware.service
└─387 /usr/bin/piaware -p /run/piaware/piaware.pid -plainlog -statusfile /run/piaware/status.json

May 17 10:00:29 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 250 seconds, next check in 60s
May 17 10:00:39 piaware sudo[2309]: piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --numeric
May 17 10:00:39 piaware sudo[2309]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
May 17 10:00:39 piaware sudo[2309]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 10:00:39 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
May 17 10:01:05 piaware piaware[387]: 0 msgs recv’d from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 0 msgs sent to FlightAware
May 17 10:01:29 piaware sudo[2329]: piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --numeric
May 17 10:01:29 piaware sudo[2329]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
May 17 10:01:29 piaware sudo[2329]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
May 17 10:01:29 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 310 seconds, next check in 60s

pi@piaware:~ $ sudo piaware-status
PiAware master process (piaware) is running with pid 387.
PiAware ADS-B client (faup1090) is not running.
PiAware mlat client (fa-mlat-client) is not running.
Local ADS-B receiver (dump1090) is not running.

no program appears to be listening for connections on port 30005.
faup1090 is NOT connected to the ADS-B receiver.
piaware is connected to FlightAware.

got ‘couldn’t open socket: connection refused’
dump1090 is NOT producing data on localhost:30005.

Your feeder ID is xxxxxxxxxx (from /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id)

pi@piaware:~ $ tail -f /var/log/piaware.log
May 17 10:15:02 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 10 seconds, next check in 60s
May 17 10:15:41 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
May 17 10:16:02 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 70 seconds, next check in 60s
May 17 10:16:05 piaware piaware[387]: 0 msgs recv’d from dump1090 (0 in last 5m); 0 msgs sent to FlightAware
May 17 10:16:41 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
May 17 10:17:02 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 130 seconds, next check in 60s
May 17 10:17:42 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
May 17 10:18:02 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 190 seconds, next check in 60s
May 17 10:18:42 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program is serving on port 30005, not starting multilateration client yet
May 17 10:19:02 piaware piaware[387]: no ADS-B data program seen listening on port 30005 for 250 seconds, next check in 60s

Feel free to ask if you need something else for investigation.

Thank you.

2

@kbumbaz

Give following commands, and post output of last command

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install rtl-sdr

sudo systemctl stop piaware
sudo systemctl stop dump1090-fa

rtl_test -t
3

I think I have my answer ???

$ lsusb | grep PCTV
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 2013:0246 PCTV Systems PCTV 74E

$ rtl_test -t
No supported devices found.

4

To work with Piaware Software (dump1090-fa), you need a DVB-T with RTL2832U + R820T (or R820T2) chips.

Quote from:
Is My DVB-T / Pro Stick / RTL SDR Dongle OK?

5

(1) https://www.amazon.fr/gp/aw/d/B06W2M16PM/

.

(2) https://www.ebay.fr/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m4084.l1313.TR2.TRC1.A0.H0.Xrtl2832u+r820t2.TRS0&_nkw=rtl2832u+r820t2

6

Thank you.

As a last advise abcd567, do you recommend the standard flightaware dongle, or some other are better ?

Thank you.

7

This depends on location of receiver, as well as on personal preferences.

I use following 3 types (I have 3 Pi):
Generic DVB-T.
Flightaware Pro Sick (orange color).
Flightaware ProStick Plus (blue color).

Ask a general queation from all members, and see what they respond.

8

That says it all! :wink:

My preferred setup currently is an RTL-SDR Blog v3 dongle and an RTL-SDR Blog preamp/filter combo.

But I have used a FA orange, blue, and also a generic black dongle with the R820T not/not the R820T2, and the blue dongle with the R820T2.

If you are in the early days of the hobby, unsure about its longevity and/or short of cash, I suggest the blue generic dongle with the R820T2 that @abcd567 mentioned/linked above.

But don’t forget the antenna. The FA antenna is one of the best, but again, in the early days or cash impaired, go with the QuickSpider antenna, also from @abcd567, it works wonders for the investment in time and money.

For a start, you could simply use the little mag mount antenna that comes with the blue dongle. Just trim it to the correct length. Look once again for the @abcd567 post showing how to do it.

9

I am in a ‘noisy’ area from al aspects near old Athens airport, so a filter is a must.

I have 3 configurations;

  1. rpi + prostickplus blue + 3m coax + cantena ( see [(Three Easy DIY Antennas for Beginners)] by abcd567 ) ca 1000 msg/sec 40 aircraft
  2. rpi + rtl-sdr v3 + FA filter + 3m coax + cantenna ca 500 msg/sec 35 aircraft
  3. desktop pc win7 or xubuntu + nooelec blue 820T2 + 3m coax used as a testbed for various antennas, with various results, none matching the prostick plus or v3.
    I use it on occasion for acars, atc monitoring etc.

prostick seems best but limited to ads-b and rpi. the other two have very good performance for FM,VHF too and on desktop pc.

evangel

10

@kbumbaz

For dump1090-fa to work, the DVB-T should have both these chips:
RTL2832 + R820T

The DVB-T with these chips will NOT work with dump1090-fa:
RTL2832 + Fitipower FC0012

11

Thank you all for your answers.