Enter to separate sentences works just fine, i understand you much better now 
i use this command to edit and change the file contents
im a nobb but learning all the time
Yeah but that file to edit is gonna be in the current directory you are in.
If you want to edit the settings file, you need to do this:
sudo nano /etc/default/airspy_adsb
Changing the file in the current directory doesn’t help. (unless you navigate to /etc/default with cd)
yes i would have gone into default first sory for confussion
i will go swap over now
airspy working on pi4 perfect
thankyou
Ok ive done the switch over to pi3 in loft with airspy and triple filter amp
im unable to locate piaware-conf on pi4 now to adjust gain to max = -10
no conf in sdcard but working on airspy at mo how do i get conf bk on sdcard install what
Aren’t you using the pi4 with the Airspy?
yes
unable to adjust gain on dump1090-fa conf
or add id for flightaware
ssh showing this but no faup1090
This is how you adjust the gain for the Airspy: GitHub - wiedehopf/airspy-conf: Configure airspy_adsb for use with readsb or piaware.
Well have you installed piaware?
You are not on the piaware sd-card image anymore i believe.
So piaware needs to be installed.
reverted back to my rtl blog dongle till i get pi4 os sorted
If you used the manual method, you should know how to revert it.
If you can’t manage that, use a fresh image.
I thought the pi4 was working with the airspy …
yer i put in your scraipt before piaware so cant alter conf
pi4 works ok on airspy but i got no way of checking max gain setting on piaware conf or add my flightaware id
maybe i should do fresh install
Just install piaware.
I really don’t understand the problem if the airspy is working and dump1090-fa map is showing aircraft.
Well, the airspy gain isn’t set via piaware config.
wget http://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/files/packages/pool/piaware/p/piaware-support/piaware-repository_3.7.1_all.deb
sudo dpkg -i piaware-repository_3.7.1_all.deb
sudo apt install piaware
sudo piaware-config feeder-id xxxxxx-xxx-xx-x-
sudo bash -c "$(wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wiedehopf/airspyconf/master/install.sh)"
Adjust gain
cd /etc/default
sudo nano airspy_adsb
#gain is 0 to 21, each step of gain is equivalent to about 3dB, so reduce in increments of 1 if 21 is too high
GAIN= 21
#other options, append or remove from the line starting with OPTIONS=
#-f: error correction, only use 0 or 1, using a value larger than 1 produces bad data, feed services will block you
#-v: leave it on, will provide messages to system log, read with sudo journalctl -u airspy_adsb
#-x: dx mode, improves reception of weak messages, introduces some bogus messages
#-p: bit packing, reduces USB bandwidth but slightly increases CPU load. Not recommended on RPi 3B+
#-b: enable bias-t
OPTIONS= -v -f 1
#sample rate can be 12 or 20, 20 may not work depending on the system
SAMPLE_RATE= 12
restart airspy & dump1090-fa
sudo service airspy restart
sudo service dump1090-fa restart
only line i didnt add on pi4 was id line as i was already using it ahh
i thought airspy piggy backed on piaware bit conffused there
i can now add the line and work through thanks
It uses dump1090-fa, not piaware 
dump1090-fa normally takes the part of talking to the rtl-sdr dongle.
In case of the airspy, it serves as a hub for managing the messages and displaying the local map.
piaware in every case is only in charge of getting the data to flightaware.
it also takes care of MLAT for flightaware.
bramjacobse
yes i got all that and understand
but what is the base os on sdcard ?
I used
Raspbian Buster Lite
https://downloads.raspberrypi.org/raspbian_lite_latest
yes i did that and installed piaware install as per ins you put up
but no piaware conf to add id XXXXXX to
If you install piaware, then there will be piaware-config.
If there isn’t, try
hash -r
Then try piaware-config again.