Running multiple devices concurrently in separate locations.

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Dear Sir/Madam,

 I've been upgrading / testing new PiAware hardware and at this point, I have two devices associated with my account (lblumber).  One is a secondary / backup device with MAC address /site b8:27:eb:ac:f1:4f / 56245 which is showing as my primary feed - how do I change the primary feed to the other MAC address / site ( b8:27:eb:79:d9:b9 / 56952)?  The system I'm putting in production is the 56952 site.   

  Along those lines, I was going to use the 56245 / b8:27:eb:ac:f1:4f backup device as a portable device which may run concurrently with the b8:27:eb:79:d9:b9 / 56952 device, although in a different location.   Should I setup that device with a different login / passwd to FA?

  Thanks in advance for all the help...

Lenny Blumberg
lenny@lennyblumberg.com

2

If your hardware is Raspberry Pi, and if your Pis were registered with Flightaware BEFORE March 20, 2017, a way to swap station numbers between two devices is to swap mac addresses.

Current
PRIMARY: 56245 / b8:27:eb:ac:f1:4f
BACKUP: 56952 / b8:27:eb:79:d9:b9

After MAC addresses swap by spoofing mac addresses
PRIMARY: 56245 / b8:27:eb:79:d9:b9
BACKUP: 56952 / b8:27:eb:ac:f1:4f

HOW TO SWAP MAC ADDRESS:

Primary Pi

  • First shutdown the other PI (Backup Pi) to avoid mixup

  • edit /boot/cmdline.txt file. This file has only one line
    At the end of this line, add (without line break)
    following:
    smsc95xx.macaddr=b8:27:eb:79:d9:b9
    Note: mac address spoof will not work if there is a line break between existing line and new text added.

  • Delete file /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id

  • Reboot Primary Pi

Backup Pi

  • First shutdown the other Pi (Primary Pi) to avoid mixup

  • Power-up Backup Pi

  • edit /boot/cmdline.txt file. This file has only one line
    At the end of this line, add (without line break)
    following:
    smsc95xx.macaddr=b8:27:eb:ac:f1:4f
    Note: mac address spoof will not work if there is a line break between existing line and new text added.

  • Delete file /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id

  • Reboot Backup Pi

  • Power up Primary Pi

3

If your hardware is Raspberry Pi, and if your Pis were registered with Flightaware AFTER March 20, 2017, a way to swap station numbers between two devices is to swap feeder-id.

Current
PRIMARY: 56245 / xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
BACKUP: 56952 / yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy

After feeder-id swap
PRIMARY: 56245 / yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy
BACKUP: 56952 / xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

HOW TO SWAP FEEDER-IDs:

First from your Flightaware Stats page note down feeder-id for both Pis
it is in format 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc

Primary Pi

  • First shutdown the other PI (Backup Pi) to avoid mixup

  • Delete file /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id

  • give following command using Back up Pi’s current feeder id
    sudo piaware-config feeder-id yyyyyyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyy-yyyyyyyyyyyy

  • Reboot Primary Pi

Backup Pi

  • First shutdown the other PI (Backup Pi) to avoid mixup

  • Power up Backup Pi

  • Delete file /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id

  • give following command using Primary Pi’s current feeder id
    sudo piaware-config feeder-id xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

  • Reboot Backup Pi

  • Power up Primary Pi

4

Mr. abcd567,

 Many Thanks for your suggestions - I added the command line parm to set the MAC address and also switched from a DHCP to a static address so I'm not chasing my Pi all over my network...

 At this point the spheres are in harmony (so sez Gustaf Holst..) and I've got good data and the MLAT client is also up and running.  

  I'm thinking that the user accounts are fairly position-centric, so If I travel out to New Mexico with a portable PiAware setup, I should probably setup a different account/passwd as a login to FA to use with that rig.

Thanks for all your help - Lenny

Lenny Blumberg
lenny@lennyblumberg.com
Austin, Tx.

5

You don’t need a separate account, you can associate multiple sites (with different locations) with a single account.