Problem with port 30104 & Airspy Mini/Odroid XU4

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
21

I’m not opposed to that :slight_smile:
If that works that way that’s just great.
Then the -l on the airspy command needs to be dropped.

I’m not sure the 30104 was indeed the problem it may well be that the other thing messed everything up somehow.

There was a thread with ipv6 entries in /etc/hosts producing some kind of error in some version of piaware or dump1090 i don’t remember.

Would probably try with dump1090-fa again but this time with the command line without the 30005 or did you try that before as it was SMburn’s suggestion all along?

22

I believe I stated a while ago that airspy listening on 30005 provided better performance than sending to 30104.
MLAT is fed directly via 30005 and provides MLAT and ADS-B data to dump1090 on 30104.
It saved a data step in sending airspy data into dump1090 only to have it come back out to MLAT and back in again.
My Odroid XU4 can barely keep up with my local traffic.

23

I have tried without 30005 as per airspys quick guide, but just would not work :persevere:

sudo ./airspy_adsb -c localhost:30104:beast -c sdrsharp.com:47806:avr -p &

@jonhawkes2030

Thanks for your input - what settings would you recommend for the data ports?
Didn’t want to use their -c sdrsharp.com47806:avr as it looks like they are also getting the information :rage:

24

try:
sudo airspy_adsb -c localhost:30104:beast -p -n -w 4 -g 21 -f 0 &
If you need bias-tee enabled, add the -b back in.

should work. It assumes that dump1090 is in --net-only mode and listening on port 30104.

Remember that the airspys are pretty deaf. They do need an external amplifier.

25

I think the --net-only was the main thing that was missing before.

dump1090-fa probably quits when it doesn’t find it’s rtl-sdr dongle.
airspy then can’t connect to dumpo1090 or rather the connection is lost.

26

Thanks for that, I will try it out later using a new build on another sd card - how do I get dump1090-fa into net only mode?
Had a look for a similar config file like dump1090-mutab where I could make the change, but didn’t find anything :persevere:

27

just add --net-only in the net_options in /etc/default/dump1090-fa

NET_OPTIONS="--net --net-heartbeat 60 --net-ro-size 1000 --net-ro-interval 1 --net-ri-port 0 --net-ro-port 30002 --net-sbs-port 300    03 --net-bi-port 30004,30104 --net-bo-port 30005"

change to

NET_OPTIONS="--net --net-only --net-heartbeat 60 --net-ro-size 1000 --net-ro-interval 1 --net-ri-port 0 --net-ro-port 30002 --net-sbs-port 300    03 --net-bi-port 30004,30104 --net-bo-port 30005"
28

Did you tried to ask for help from the program itself? Type in the console:

dump1090-fa --help

You will see there this:
--net-only Enable just networking, no RTL device or file used

1 Like
29

Well, firstly a very big thank you to all those kind and knowledgeable people on this forum who have helped me out to sort this problem and achieve a working airspy/Odroid/FA system.

I rebuilt a new OS copy and followed all the advice given, and now have 3.6.3 piaware/dump1090-fa system up and running and feeding data. :grinning:

Your assistance very much appreciated. :+1:

1 Like
30

I just updated the the latest airspy decoder. It works much better than the version i was running.

31

I’m very happy with the results I am obtaining with my ‘mini’ and even though I have been ‘off air’ for periods trying to get this all working properly it has increased my results by approx 50~60%.

My RPI was maxing out, but now it’s running on the XU4, peak usage has gone down to 50% during peak periods - well happy :grinning:

Once again, thanks for your help.

1 Like
32

That’s a most impressive improvement in your stats.
I may have to experiment with my own airspy to see if it gives a similar jump in performance.

33

Some important notes when using the latest airspy_adsb decoder:

  • The latest airspy_adsb has a new detection algorithm with new options. The command line is backward compatible. This means some obsolete switches will be ignored.

  • It is not recommended to disable FEC (-f 0) because this will also delegate all the packet filtering to the client software and you could see a lot of garbage packet.

  • A new DX mode (-x) is available for Radar Spotters. This can detect very weak signals, but can also increase the likelihood of false positives.

  • For Raspberry Pi’s, it is recommended to use 12 MHz MLAT (-m 12). This saves both USB bandwidth and CPU power

  • For Odroid, the default MLAT frequency (20 MHz) works just fine. You can force it with -m 20 if in doubt.

  • The command line options in the latest version:

pi@raspberrypi3:~ $ ./airspy_adsb -h
airspy_adsb v1.37
Options:
-s <serial_number> Device serial number
-t Aircraft timeout in seconds
-g <rf_gain> RF gain: 0…21
-f Forward Error Correction (FEC) bits
-c :[:format] Add a Push Client
-l [:format] Add a Server
-m <mlat_freq> MLAT frequency in MHz: 12 or 20
-x Enable DX mode
-r Reduced IF bandwidth
-b Enable Bias-Tee
-p Enable Bit Packing
-v Verbose mode
-h Display this help screen
Available output formats:

  • AVR - Raw AVR format
  • AVR-STRICT - Raw AVR format with only CRC valid frames
  • ASAVR - Raw Airspy AVR format
  • Beast - Raw Beast Binary format
34

Thanks for the updated info for latest version :+1:

Is there anyway you can query the airspy to read what the option settings are presently set to?

35

You can propably just check the command line of the running process:

ps aux | grep airspy_adsb

1 Like
36

Cheers, that worked fine VMT :+1:

37

For those not ‘in the know’, @prog is ‘da’ man.

He is the designer/creator/developer of the AirSpy SDR series, and the excellent SDR# software.

That said, do your homework before asking him questions.:wink: Just kidding, but do your homework anyways.:rofl:

Nice to see you here @prog. It’s a nice forum.

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