Piaware for new RPi 3B+

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
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I should mention that the RPI 3B+ board will only work with the latest Raspbian OS version called stretch. It will not work with the Jessie version.

Here are some solutions to get PiAware to work on the RPI 3B+.

  1. If you are upgrading from a older RPi3 system. SSH into the box and then update the OS to stretch.
    This will probably not work and some things might get messed up.

  2. Grab the Stretch version of the OS from the Raspberry Pi Site and then install the piaware software package.
    Here is the link to the official Stretch OS.
    Raspberry Pi OS ā€“ Raspberry Pi

The PiAware software package installer

Then copy over your old feeder-id if you want to keep your ADSB stats

  1. Wait for a PiAware Stretch image.

I just got my RPI 3B+ and I will have more information about doing a upgrade from PiAware Jessie to PiAware Stretch (Option 1 above) . I did try following the Official upgrade from Jessie to Stretch and it doesnā€™t work.

When I put the SD card into my RPi 3B+ the LED lights will blink 4 times (a code for invalid OS image on the SD card). This doesnā€™t have to do with a power problem. If you grab the official stretch image linked above and put it into your RPI 3B+ it should boot up.

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Thanks for the feedback David. Noticed during a visit to the Raspberry Pi site that firmware is changed for the RPi 3B+. Think Iā€™ll try option 2 and resort to option 3 if that fails.

Lowell

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Iā€™m new to this and have the same issue of it not going past the multicolor screen.

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Itā€™s a problem with firmware needed for the new RPi 3B+ to boot. I downloaded the latest Stretch version of Raspbian and then the PiAware software once the unit would boot to the GUI. Flightaware sees the station and I can send commands from the console but the feed from the current dongle doesnā€™t seem to be tracking any aircraft. The Skyview image is blank.

Iā€™m currently looking for a file to set NTP servers in the Raspbian OS. That will be an issue that needs resolved to deal with the corporate firewall.

Hopefully the next version of PiAware retains those capabilities.

Lowell

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IĀ“m a new user of Raspberry Pi hardware. I bought Model 3 B+. It was not posible to boot from Piaware Img (4 long and 4 short blinking red led). Then and prior to send the raspeberry back to Amazon, I tried with Raspberrian and Piaware software instalation. Everything is OK now. My Skyview is tracking flights.
I have to polish some details, MLAT incluiding, but it is working.
Iā€™ll wait for the next version.

Terral
(P:S. Excuse my english)

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Well actually the raspberry pi 3 B+ works fineā€¦ You could have gone ahead and installed it if you read the how to install piaware site. it says in small text ā€œRaspberry Pi 3B+ can be used, however the PiAware SD Card image does not yet support the 3B+ model. You must do a package installation of PiAware.ā€ which means if you install it manually it works fine! heres the link if you would like to find out more https://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/install.rvt

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  1. Download Raspbian Stretch Lite image (current version 2018-03-13)
    Raspberry Pi OS ā€“ Raspberry Pi

  2. Write raspbian img to microSD card.

  3. While microSD card is still plugged to card reader of Desktop/Laptop
    (a) Create file ssh in /boot folder.
    (b) Add WiFi username & passwd in file /boot/piaware-config.txt.

  4. Slip microSD card in Pi 3+ and power up.

  5. Locale. time zone, expand File System
    sudo raspi-config
    sudo reboot

  6. Install piaware data feeder and dump1090-fa

    wget http://flightaware.com/adsb/piaware/files/packages/pool/piaware/p/piaware-support/piaware-repository_3.5.3_all.deb    
    sudo dpkg -i piaware-repository_3.5.3_all.deb    
    sudo apt-get update    

    sudo apt-get install piaware    
    sudo piaware-config allow-auto-updates yes    
    sudo piaware-config allow-manual-updates yes    

    sudo apt-get install dump1090-fa    

    sudo reboot

.
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  1. Set existing feeder ID
    sudo piaware-config feeder-id xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
    sudo systemctl restart piaware
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Can you give examples of known quality power supplies? What works for you? Any special type of chokes?

I have noticed that if my RPi/dongle/power supply are too close together, the system will receive much less. I believe it is the generic power supply because the RPi/dongle work well plugged directly together and my dongle has a metal case.

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The best option, but not feasible in most situations, is to use a regulated filtered linear power supply.

The second best, and the one Iā€™ve been using, is to re-purpose a ā€˜beefyā€™ 5 Volts adapter from discarded electronics. They normally use barrel connectors, but pigtails converting from barrel to micro USB are available on eBay for 99 cents. Be mindful of the polarity!!!