RadarBox 24

I think I am using Jessie. Not sure why. I just have it up to date with the latest flight aware software. 3.6.3. Didn’t know that could be changed. Thought it was set by FlightAware.

Normally (don’t do it!) you would run

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

To get the next major milestone of the operating system.

But there was a problem with the old piaware sd-card image resulting in errors when doing that update.

So you are encouraged to download the latest piaware sd-card image.
After that point even if the major operating system version changes again after stretch you should be able to just use these commands to upgrade.

But it is not strictly necessary, jessie can work fine as well.
If you try to follow some instructions like or install stuff, it might be meant for stretch and not work correctly.

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To find your OS verison, use following command:

cat /etc/os-release

See below the output generated when this command was issued on Raspbian Jessie.

cat /etc/os-release

PRETTY_NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux 8 (jessie)”
NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux”
VERSION_ID=“8”
VERSION=“8 (jessie)”
ID=debian
HOME_URL=“http://www.debian.org/
SUPPORT_URL=“Debian -- User Support
BUG_REPORT_URL=“https://bugs.debian.org/

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Just switched over to an RPI4B, have everyhting working but the RB24 MLAT file seems to be missing:

“sudo apt-get install mlat-client -y”

E: Unable to locate package mlat-client

Any one else run into this?

Guessing their repo is out of date or upgrading their client?

 
Yes, I faced this problem long ago, and solved it by building mlat-client from source code. I have posted this method in RadarBox24 forums:

https://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=101771.msg407051#msg407051

 

## Installed required packages (dependencies and build tools)
sudo apt update -y
sudo apt-get install -y git curl build-essential debhelper python-dev python3-dev

## Downloaded source code
cd /home/pi/
git clone https://github.com/mutability/mlat-client.git

## Built mlat-client's installation package
cd /home/pi/mlat-client
sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b -uc

## Above command took some time to build package
## After the package was built, installed it by following command
cd /home/pi/
sudo dpkg -i mlat-client_*.deb

you might need to update your instructions.

I did it on Friday after a reinstall. In the rbfeeder.ini there is a reference to Python 3.5 which is not working any longer on Buster
Changing the entry to Python 3.7 did the trick

It is not necessary. This line (and another for dump978-rb, in blue color) are commented-out (#) and hence are not implemented.
I did not make any changes to it and still both the mlat-client and dump978-RB are working OK

image

Yes built it from source abcd567 supplied and it does work. Not really enough nearby mlat receivers for rb24 but it does work and I do have some mlat aircraft showing up now, but most without positions.
That was what I was getting before the hardware upgrade so it’s working.

The Flightaware mlat works much better because I can have up to 40 stations to tri-angulate with. A couple nearby stations in different directions would help, nearest receivers are all clumped together way up north in Winnipeg, but I do get one in Regina once in a while.

I am not talking about dump978 because i do not use it.

This is where i needed to change the line:

[mlat]
autostart_mlat=true
mlat_cmd=/usr/bin/python3.7 /usr/bin/mlat-client

without that change from 3.5 to 3.7, the MLAT client did not start.
I have no idea where this 3.5 setting came from, but it wasn’t me

 
Please see my post above. I did NOT change anything in /etc/rbfeeder.ini,

  1. Did NOT un-comment the line (i.e. did NOT remove # at start of line)
  2. Did NOT change version from 3.5 to 3.7

MLAT is still working OK as shown on RadarBox24 site for my station # 000035

https://www.radarbox24.com/stations/EXTRPI000035

 

Two instances of mlat-client are running

  • One instance for Adsbexchange
  • Other instance for RadarBox24

You do not get me. I am not saying you change the rbfeeder.ini. But it might be worth to get this at least noted :slight_smile:

I have the same setup, both feeds work fine on both devices i am running

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See RB24 mlat feedback on VRS or mm2 on port 30007

CREDITS: @denzen
https://forum.adsb.in/f50/cervis-radarbox24-com-beta-testirovanie-1103/index22.html#post48131

Edited line in rbfeeder.ini:

mlat_cmd=/usr/bin/python3.7 /usr/bin/mlat-client --results beast,listen,30007

 

sudo nano /etc/rbfeeder.ini
[client]
network_mode=true
log_file=/var/log/rbfeeder.log
key=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
sn=EXTRPI000035

lat=43.5xxxxxx
lon=-79.6xxxxx
alt=155

sat_used=0
sat_visible=0

[network]
mode=beast
external_port=30005
external_host=127.0.0.1

[mlat]
autostart_mlat=true
mlat_cmd=/usr/bin/python3.7 /usr/bin/mlat-client --results beast,listen,30007

[dump978]
#dump978_enabled=true

 
 

sudo systemctl restart rbfeeder 

netcat 127.0.0.1 30007 

111111  3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒C▒▒▒]3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒▒▒X▒v▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒@▒▒   ▒-I3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒▒
                                                              X▒▒▒$3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒>b▒▒I▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒▒X▒▒̖3▒MLAT▒▒̐5Q<▒▒▒L▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐5T▒▒X▒-▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐51<d▒"6▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐54▒▒X▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐5▒▒X▒K:▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐1▒8
▒▒ u3▒MLAT▒▒̐1▒_X▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐158▒▒l▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐1▒▒Y5▒p▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/▒4▒▒▒▒T3▒MLAT▒▒̐/▒1Y3 ▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/▒4>▒▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/Է▒Y)26j3▒MLAT▒▒̐/▒4
▒▒Q     3▒MLAT▒▒̐/ķsY3▒WL3▒MLAT▒▒̐/A1▒▒^▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/D▒/YFM▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/1h▒<▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐/▒▒YV[▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐-▒0▒穳k#3▒MLAT▒▒̐-ĴYX▒▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐-Q.▒▒▒`▒^3▒MLAT▒▒̐-T▒YYq{1O3▒MLAT▒▒̐+▒.▒ݺ▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐+▒Y▒▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐+q,v▒▒t▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐+t▒▒Y▒▒▒▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐+A+T▒▒Z3▒MLAT▒▒̐+D▒▒Y▒▒w3▒MLAT▒▒̐)▒*Z▒▒Y243▒MLAT▒▒̐)ԭ▒Y▒t▒N3▒MLAT▒▒̐)▒)▒▒m▒(3▒MLAT▒▒̐)▒▒EY▒:os3▒MLAT▒▒̐'▒&▒▒g▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐'䪓Y▒-▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐'▒'▒*>a▒3▒MLAT▒▒̐'Ԫ▒Y▒~R▒11^C

 

Noted something new.

On Piaware SD card image (which has dump978-fa and its dependencies pre-installed), the dump978-rb works OK.

On Armbian Buster, on which I have NOT installed dump978-fa, the dump978-rb failed.

$ sudo systemctl stsatus dump978-rb 
... ....
ExecStart=/usr/share/dump978-rb/start-dump978-rb (code=exited, status=2)

Checked by directly starting dump978-rb

$ /usr/bin/dump978-rb --sdr driver=rtlsdr,serial=00000102 --sdr-auto-gain --format CS8 --raw-port 30978 --json-port 28380 
.... ....
Configuration error: No matching SoapySDR device found (cause:SoapySDR::Device::make() no match)

 

Installed soapysdr package

$ sudo apt install soapysdr-module-rtlsdr 

Checked status:

$ sudo systemctl restart dump978-rb  
$ sudo systemctl status dump978-rb

● dump978-rb.service - dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dump978-rb.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: active (running) since Tue 2020-02-18 02:14:25 UTC; 1s ago
     Docs: https://www.radarbox.com
 Main PID: 9885 (dump978-rb)
    Tasks: 4 (limit: 2068)
   Memory: 7.8M
   CGroup: /system.slice/dump978-rb.service
           └─9885 /usr/bin/dump978-rb --sdr driver=rtlsdr,serial=00000102 --sdr-auto-gain --format CS8 --raw-po

Feb 18 02:14:25 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Feb 18 02:14:25 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Reattached kernel driver
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Detached kernel driver
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Exact sample rate is: 2083333.135571 Hz
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: SoapySDR: using automatic gain
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: SoapySDR: using stream setting buffsize=262144
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
Feb 18 02:14:26 orangepipc dump978-rb[9885]: Detected Kernel usbfs mmap() bug, falling back to buffers in users 

OBSERVATION:

Seems on Piaware SD card image, the dump978-rb uses SoapySDR which was already provided for dump978-fa, and therefore works OK

 

FWIW, this is why piaware uses cxfreeze to provide a self-contained fa-mlat-client; trying to get the python dependencies right across a range of distributions is a bit of a nightmare otherwise.

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On 18th Feb I emailed Jonis Ceara (AirNav Software Developer) and reported this bug. Yesterday 19th Feb Jonis replied that he has now fixed the bug.

After the rbfeeder install script added RadarBox’s GPG key, the command sudo apt install mlat-client worked OK on Stretch but failed on Buster.

Today morning I burned microSD card with latest Buster (Feb 2020). After running rbfeeder install script, when I issued command sudo apt install mlat-client, got responce "not found". Seems they have taken it down and trying to fix it.

In view of this situation, today I have emailed your above noted comment to AirNav’s Software Developer Jonis Ceara, thinking that your comment may help them to solve their issue.

mlat-client pre-built package uploaded to my github site:

STEP-1

Just now tested on Pi4 with Buster
First Installed rbfeeder by running their bash script
Then tried to install mlat-client

sudo apt-get install mlat-client 
E: Unable to locate package mlat-client

STEP-2

Built mlat-client_0.2.11_armhf.deb package from source-code on RPi Model 2B running Raspbian Buster.

Renamed it to mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb

STEP-3

Uploaded the package mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb to my github repository. This package can be used for both the rbfeeder and adsbexchange feeder

STEP-4

Installation Instructions
https://github.com/abcd567a/mlat-client-package/blob/master/README.md

Downloaded and installed mlat-client_0.2.11_armhf.deb package on Pi4 / Raspbain Buster.

wget https://github.com/abcd567a/mlat-client-package/releases/download/v1/mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i mlat-client_0.2.11_BUSTER_armhf.deb

STEP-5

Checked radarbox24 feeder, mlat is active now.

Observations

  1. The mlat-client’s .deb package was built on RPi Model 2B, but successfully installed and working on RPi 4

  2. To build the mlat-client package on RPi Model 2B/Raspbian Buster, I had to first install following
    sudo apt-get install build-essential debhelper python3-dev
    However to install the pre-built package on Pi4/Buster, I did not require to install any of these.

EDIT (23-Feb-2020)

Found that mlat-client package for even STRETCH is not available by sudo apt-get install mlat-client.

Built mlat-client package on Raspbian Stretch, and uploaded to my github site

Both the mlat-client for BUSTER and for STRETCH are here:
https://github.com/abcd567a/mlat-client-package/blob/master/README.md

 

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That worked! Now I have the odd plane with MLAT positions. Thank you!
Still need more nearby stations though.

I also have dump978 running on this pi, now have to get that data added to RB24 now the MLAT issue is fixed. :slight_smile:

Hello everyone!

I found this thread envigorating.

Special thanks to abcd!!

So I have got myself a Rpi4, and installed the latest piaware. It is working okay.
Then I got greedy, and after spending some time in forums (abcd and widehopf are very active), I could install feeders for Flightradar24, Planefinder and Radarbox. Huge shout out to you guys!

Now, I noticed that the MLAT for Radarbox was not functional.

My system

cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME=“Raspbian GNU/Linux 10 (buster)”
NAME=“Raspbian GNU/Linux”
VERSION_ID=“10”
VERSION=“10 (buster)”
VERSION_CODENAME=buster
ID=raspbian
ID_LIKE=debian
HOME_URL=link removed
SUPPORT_URL=link removed
BUG_REPORT_URL=link removed

I tried

pi@piaware:~ $ sudo apt-get install mlat-client -y
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Unable to locate package mlat-client

Now, which of the above mentioned activities should i try to enable MLAT?

I had emailed RB support they asked me to:

Installed required packages (dependencies and build tools)

sudo apt update -y

sudo apt-get install -y git curl build-essential debhelper python-dev python3-dev

Downloaded source code

cd /home/pi/

git clone GitHub - mutability/mlat-client: Mode S multilateration client

Built mlat-client’s installation package

cd /home/pi/mlat-client

sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b -uc

Above command took some time to build package

After the package was built, installed it by following command

cd /home/pi/

sudo dpkg -i mlat-client_*.deb

I have not done the above YET. I believe its a copy paste of abcd’s post of newly complied code above, think post 46.

Please bear in mind, I intend to start feeding to adsbexchange next. Any ideas regarding that is also welcome.

PS: I am a total newbie in Linux. I work in healthcare, and this is a hobby I’ve picked up. Please be gentle.

Thank you

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