There is some, but it’s highly regional.
If you look at the “weather” layer of FlightAware ADS-B Coverage Map - FlightAware that’s basically Comm-B coverage.
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I wasn’t completely serious, i’m well aware many prefer the piaware image for simplicity.
(note the smily with a halo, maybe that was too suddle)
But if you connect a monitor and keyboard to the RasPi and put time and effort into it, there is enough material on how to get the basics running.
Installing piaware is described well here: PiAware - dump1090 ADS-B integration with FlightAware - FlightAware
In the caes of the RPi4 you need a couple more commands mentioned in this thread.
The problem for piaware is that there is no base image with a stable kernel that works with the rtl-sdr devices on the RPi4, so they can’t produce a working image right now.
Also for all that simplicity i’m sure they do quite a bit of testing to ensure it works.
If someone here had problems getting the Buster Lite flashed on to an sd-card and getting logged in on the RPi4, i’m sure several people here could assist.
Thus if you are thinking about getting an RPi4, i’d encourage you to go ahead.
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Purchasing RPi 4 at the moment is asking for trouble.
Better wait till all bugs are removed.
If in hurry, better purchase RPi 3.
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Why, several people have it working nicely.
It’s much faster for similar money.
The heat it generates is a downside though if you aren’t getting a fan for it.
For someone who will just use the piaware sd-card image anyway and do nothing else with the Pi, the speed doesn’t matter and the RPi 3B+ or even 3B works just fine.
For me RPi 2 B works fine, and it is not only dump1090-fa + piaware, it is following 
- 2 x 1090 Mhz Antennas
- 2 x Dongles (FA ProStick + RB24 FlightStick)
- 2 x dump1090-mutability
- 2 x Piaware (Stations 5252 and 76000)
- 2 x Planefinder feeders
- 2 x Flightradar24 feeders
- 1 x Adsbexchange feeder
- 1 x Radarbox24 feeder
- 1 x OpenSky Network feeder
- 1 x RadarVirtuel feeder
- 1 x ModeSMixer2
.
No Heat Sink
No Fan
The gaps in graphs are due to removal of regular micro SD card for short periods (to use test card)
Unless one is also interested in programming, customization and the like, nothing beats using the Piaware image.
I have said it before, and I will say it again. I think FA did a fantastic job with the image. Much much better than the ‘competition’. Being able to set it up on a Windows PC using just a text editor, makes the life of the person interested only in the final results of setting up an ADS-B station a much better option.
Please note: No criticism of those that look for more from their hobby, on the contrary, they are to be commended. It’s just that not all feeders, myself included, are interested in the ‘extras’, not right now and/or not all the time.
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Sure. Just brows the Flightradar24 forum, and see how the users suffer with their PI24 image, particularly activation (= “claim your station” of Flightaware).
-
Their activation page malfunctions, and does not list the new station. Instead it throws user to another page which asks user to SSH and issue a Linux command. A large number of users dont know how to SSH. They also dont know how to copy-paste command, so they type the command, make all sorts of typo and fail to activate.
-
Even if someone succeed to SSH and copy-paste their bash command, it often fails due to GPG key problem.
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Even after struggle and multiple attempts, if someone succeeds in adding feeder key and other details to the PI24 image, it fails to save the feeder key in the file
/etc/fr24feed.ini, and activation fails. The reason is that their file system often gets mounted as read-only. Reboot does not solve the problem. The only way out is to first issue commandsudo mount -o remount,rw /, then issue the commandfr24feed --signup. -
The Pi24 image serves a darkened Google map at
IP-of-PI/dump1090/gmap.html. Reason is that it uses an outdated version (1.14) of dump1090-mutability.
Thank you Flightaware for the excellent Piaware SD Card image
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I was hoping you would jump in.
You are one of the posters I had in mind when I said those that look for more from their hobby are to be commended. If I recall, you said that until you set up your first ADS-B station, you did not know much about the Raspberry Pi and Linux. Look at you now , one of the most prolific and helpful posters. 
What you described with FR24 is one of the reasons I stuck with the FA image. I did not want to get into that level of ‘detail’. Also, some other images require too much ‘work’ to enable Wi-Fi. Again, the FA image makes it easier.
Lastly, I’m not interested in software, other that as an end user. I’m a ‘hardware guy’. I’m still waiting for that eBay antenna some of you ordered. Nothing seems to get here from China in less than two months.
Looking at the NooElec page yesterday night, I noticed they have a good selection of dongles. I was only ‘familiar’ with one. This other one caught my attention:
For those of you using additional modules requiring Bias Tee, this one is a good option. No software configuration, no power inserter, just plug and play. Needless to say I ordered one.
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Just a caution:
“always-on bias tee”
If you are going to connect antenna to the dongle directly, make sure the antenna does not have a DC short.
That is its ‘claim to fame’, always on bias-tee. It does have some protection for momentary shorts, but the caution is well noted.
In my case, it will be used with either the SpyVerter, the RTL-SDR Blog ADS-B LNA, or the RTL-SDR Blog generic LNA.
Well after reviewing my already purchased hardware for my second install I find I already have a FLIRC aluminum heatsink case, FA antenna, 25 feet of Proxicast wire, FA light blue bandpass filter (all from Amazon). I need a PI, (3b+ fits the case (not 4)) Power supply, blue FA dongle and cooler weather so I can crawl into my son’s attic 2 1/2 stories up.
Sooo, not that an 12 dollar case should make the decision about which version to purchase but it was just another nail in the 4’s coffin. Also it looks like the 3b+ will be around for a while.
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Keep an eye on the temperature of the Pi:
vcgencmd measure_temp
One of my Pi 3B was in an aluminum case until yesterday. The FA page was alerting me that the temperature was 70 Celsius (160 F, I think). Removed it for the case, and the temp is 15 Celsius lower.
I also added the little fan I mentioned elsewhere, and that dropped the temp a bit more.
The other Pi 3B is inside a clear plastic case, and it does not reach the same temperature as the one inside the aluminum case did.
Fans really help any RPIs that get hot. Either the POE unit with the built in fan or a cheap fan will help enormously.
And still set up the same way. The temps as per RPI monitor is hovering around 36 to 40 degrees C.
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Purchased two of those at Walmart yesterday. CAD$11.98 each plus HST.
But the one I installed the day before is in the picture, no ‘contraption’, it’s a work of art 
:
This is the second station. Generic dongle, cheap eBay wideband LNA. The Pi is the one that was in an aluminum case until yesterday. This is inside the garage.
The other station, the main one, is a couple of feet away, also ‘hanging’ from under the roof. I love plastic tie wraps.
Walmart also has the one in the picture, but USB powered, for CAD$10.50 plus HST.
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How do they do in regards to power use?
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The USB version? I don’t know, this is why I went with the other model, safer and no switching converter if connecting to 110V.
I ordered one of those very small USB fans from eBay, only 99 cents shipped. I’ll let you know how it performs when I receive it, sometime in October, no kidding!
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You guys make me laugh. I think using a fan on heat sink is the way to lower temps fast and cheaply. BUT it is still a mechanical fan. Using a passive heatsink with thermal compound never fails because of dust or bad bearings. If you want you can get a 110v fan and remove the bottom plastic cover and cool the case/heatsink.
But I thought you guys were just telling us that heat wasn’t a problem with a B+ and PiAware.
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An easy alternative to Piaware SD card image (which is currently Stretch based):
Bash script for easy one-step package install of piaware and dump1090-fa on latest version of Raspian (currently Buster)
This is NOT for Pi 4 (for now). It is for Pi 2 & Pi 3
https://github.com/abcd567a/piaware/blob/master/README.md
.
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