Peak range capped at 269.9nm (500km)?

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

I know this has been mentioned before and I thought I’d found a solution but clearly I haven’t.

My range in the performance graphs is capped at 269.9nm (500km).

I’m using the ADS-B Receiver project script and am using dump1090-mutability.

I’ve set MAX_RANGE=“700” in /etc/default/dump1090-mutability and although I don’t think it actually does anything, I’ve set -z “$MAX_RANGE” ] && MAX_RANGE=700 in /etc/init.d/dump1090-mutability

The obvious answer is that I never see anything further than 269.9nm away. That’s not correct though, my VRS heatmap does show flights further away than that and I do see them on the map on a fairly regular basis. 500km is too precise a number for that to be my actual peak range.

Any suggestions please?

Thanks,

Keith.

2

If I recall, MAX_RANGE= is used to pare out spurious entries that are clearly off the wall. I have mine set at MAX_RANGE=350.
If you want to test the effect change MAX_RANGE=200 for a while and see what happens.

Does the VRS Heatmap data show shared data?

3

The RRD used to store range history has a default maximum value of 500km.
see dump1090-tools/collectd/dump1090.db



dump1090_range          value:GAUGE:0:500000
4

obj - That may well be it, thanks.

I had to use find to locate dump1090.db and on my system it’s in ~/adsb-receiver/build/portal/graphs

I’ve increased that to 700000 and will see if that has any effect.

5

I also have the same issue despite seeing targets on the the map over water at 320nm. Please report your findings and command line required to change max range.

Thanks, B.

6

I think those settings are only used when initially creating the RRDs, you probably have to tweak the existing files with rrdtool.

7

I have no idea how to do that, can you offer any advice please?

8

Something like “rrdtool tune /path/to/rrd/file.rrd --maximum value:750000”
I don’t know where the rrd files are stored on your setup.
You may need to stop/start collectd.

9

Hi, I am also seeing maximum range on the Live Dump1090 Map of 320nm in ducting conditions over water dxinfocentre.com/tropo_wam.html

I see these max ranges in different sectors, so suspect the software has a max displayed range limit.

Is there a switch to extend displayed maximum range above 320nm please?

Thanks, B

10

Did you read the posts above?

11

Yes I did read them. I am not using mutability, just PA 3.1.0.

These are the responses I get to the above:

-bash: dump1090_range: command not found

-bash: /home/pi/adsb-receiver/build/portal/graphs: Is a directory

ERROR: opening ‘/path/to/rrd/file.rrd’: No such file or directory

12

Max range of dump1090-fa is configured to be 360NM (not 320) in the piaware sdcard image, and 300NM in a package install (I should probably fix that to be consistent). You can configure this in /etc/default/dump1090-fa for a package install. It is not configurable in a piaware sdcard install.

The commands you are trying are for use with systems that gather stats via collectd/rrdtool. If you not using such a setup, of course they will do nothing. And they only affect stats collection, not what dump1090 does.

13

Sorry, 320nm was a typo, I meant 360nm.

Just to confirm, if I put Raspbian on a card, then install the PA package, then edit /etc/default/dump1090-fa with a higher max range, the aircraft that my setup sees beyond 360nm will then be included in my aircraft (hulls) seen stats and be shown on the map?

Will wittrup’s gain optimization script and The ADSB Receiver Project graphs and maps still work with a package install?

Thanks, B

14

Local display yes. The feed to FlightAware has a hardcoded range limit that is not configurable (this is deliberate). For other software you would need to ask the maintainers of that software not me.

15

To a ham, DX (long range reception) is a common goal.

If I change to uploading with Plane Plotter, will FA still block my aircraft seen beyond 360nm from being included in my stats?

If I change to PP, can I build on top of my previous stats, or will I have to start afresh with zero stats on a new site?

Thanks, B

16

Generally we trust the planeplotter data less than data direct from a piaware; IIRC there is a more restrictive range/plausibility limit on planeplotter feeds compared to piaware feeds for that reason

If I change to PP, can I build on top of my previous stats, or will I have to start afresh with zero stats on a new site?

It will be a new site.

I would encourage you to look at it from the point of view of data quality, not maximizing stats. We don’t process extremely long range data because it is less reliable.