Trying to run both dump978-fa and dump1090-fa with 2 FlightAware RTL dongles

FlightAware ADS-B Flight Tracking
1

Hi,
I have a FlightStick Pro Plus (Blue) for 1090, and an orange FlightStick Pro for 978. Both appear to have the same serial number and same USB ID. What is the simplest, reliable way to configure piaware running on a multi-core ARM board to run both receivers at once, and to make sure that it uses the Blue for 1090 and the orange for 978?

Doing “lsusb” shows:
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bda:2832 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2832U DVB-T
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 0bda:2832 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL2832U DVB-T
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub

Thanks,
-Tom

2
3

Thanks. I found what I needed from that page, but the actual link was on the “how to re-write the dongle serial number” page. Both dongles presently have the same number. Actual technique was shown at How-to Serialize Dongles for ES1090 + UAT978

I will give it a try tonight.

4

That technique is essential, but not enough. After serializing, you have to carry out following essential part also:

1 Like
5

I spent all day today trying to add dump978-fa to my existing setup:
Raspberry Pi 3 B+
Rasbian Buster with desktop installed
RTL-SDR v3 Dongle with BiasT enabled
RTL-SDR LNA Triple Saw Filter
FlightAware 1090 antenna
PiAware 3.7.2 installed with dump1090 (without dump978)
Graphs, Timelapse, ADSBCompare installed

Added:
FA 978 antenna
FA orange dongle

Reason it took all day trying to install dump978-fa due to issues with the missing libsoapysdr0.5-2 dependency, finding the workaround to download from debian, configuring the dongle serials, adding the various settings in dump1090-fa dump978-fa and piaware.conf etc etc etc.

When I tried checking on the PiAware status, it didn’t seem to be working:

pi@PiAware $ piaware-status
PiAware master process (piaware) is running with pid 18699.
PiAware ADS-B client (faup1090) is running with pid 18740.
PiAware ADS-B UAT client (faup978) is not running (disabled by configuration settings)
PiAware mlat client (fa-mlat-client) is running with pid 18730.
Local ADS-B receiver (dump1090-fa) is running with pid 14704.

dump1090-fa (pid 14704) is listening for ES connections on port 30005.
faup1090 is connected to the ADS-B receiver.
piaware is connected to FlightAware.

dump1090 is producing data on localhost:30005.

Your feeder ID is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (from /var/cache/piaware/feeder_id)

But I saw someone post about trying sudo, and when I tried it I got a completely different result:

pi@PiAware $ sudo piaware-status
PiAware master process (piaware) is running with pid 18699.
PiAware ADS-B client (faup1090) is running with pid 18740.
PiAware ADS-B UAT client (faup978) is running with pid 20371.
PiAware mlat client (fa-mlat-client) is running with pid 18730.
Local ADS-B receiver (dump1090-fa) is running with pid 14704.
Local ADS-B UAT receiver (dump978-fa) is running with pid 20340.

dump1090-fa (pid 14704) is listening for ES connections on port 30005.
dump978-fa (pid 20340) is listening for UAT connections on port 30978.
faup1090 is connected to the ADS-B receiver.
faup978 is connected to the ADS-B UAT receiver.
piaware is connected to FlightAware.

dump1090 is producing data on localhost:30005.
dump978 is NOT producing data on localhost:30978.

Your feeder ID is xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (configured at /etc/piaware.conf:8)

So did I successfully install and configure dump978-fa, or not? Hard to know without any 978 messages received. I hate to troubleshoot the physical issues (connections, filters, antenna placement, etc) if this is still a programming issue…

pi@PiAware $ sudo systemctl status dump978-fa
● dump978-fa.service - dump978 ADS-B UAT receiver
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/dump978-fa.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2019-11-27 20:49:44 PST; 26s ago
Docs: PiAware - ADS-B and MLAT Receiver - FlightAware
Main PID: 20340 (dump978-fa)
Tasks: 4 (limit: 2200)
Memory: 2.2M
CGroup: /system.slice/dump978-fa.service
└─20340 /usr/bin/dump978-fa --sdr driver=rtlsdr,serial=00000978 --sdr-gain 45 --format CS8 --raw-port 30978 --json-port 30979

Nov 27 20:49:44 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: json-port: listening for connections on [::]:30979
Nov 27 20:49:44 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: usb_claim_interface error -6
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: Found Rafael Micro R820T tuner
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: Exact sample rate is: 2083333.135571 Hz
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: [R82XX] PLL not locked!
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: SoapySDR: using manual gain 45.0 dB
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: SoapySDR: using stream setting buffsize=262144
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: Allocating 15 zero-copy buffers
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware dump978-fa[20340]: [::]:30978: accepted a connection from [::1]:46414

pi@PiAware $ sudo systemctl status piaware
● piaware.service - FlightAware ADS-B uploader
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/piaware.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2019-11-27 20:44:32 PST; 7min ago
Docs: PiAware - ADS-B and MLAT Receiver - FlightAware
Main PID: 18699 (piaware)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 2200)
Memory: 11.5M
CGroup: /system.slice/piaware.service
├─18699 /usr/bin/piaware -p /run/piaware/piaware.pid -plainlog -statusfile /run/piaware/status.json
├─18730 /usr/lib/piaware/helpers/fa-mlat-client --input-connect localhost:30005 --input-type dump1090 --results beast,connect,localhost:30104 --results beast,listen,30105 –
├─18740 /usr/lib/piaware/helpers/faup1090 --net-bo-ipaddr localhost --net-bo-port 30005 --stdout --lat xxxxx --lon -xxxxx
└─20371 /usr/lib/piaware/helpers/faup978 --connect localhost:30978

Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware sudo[20360]: piaware : TTY=unknown ; PWD=/ ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/netstat --program --tcp --wide --all --numeric
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware sudo[20360]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware sudo[20360]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware piaware[18699]: ADS-B data program ‘dump978-fa’ is listening on port 30978, so far so good
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware piaware[18699]: Starting faup978: /usr/lib/piaware/helpers/faup978 --connect localhost:30978
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware piaware[18699]: Started faup978 (pid 20371) to connect to dump978-fa
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware piaware[18699]: faup978(20371): Connecting to localhost:30978
Nov 27 20:49:45 PiAware piaware[18699]: faup978(20371): Connected to [::1]:30978
Nov 27 20:50:06 PiAware piaware[18699]: 1188 msgs recv’d from dump1090-fa (1091 in last 5m); 1188 msgs sent to FlightAware
Nov 27 20:50:06 PiAware piaware[18699]: 0 msgs recv’d from dump978-fa (0 in last 5m); 0 msgs sent to FlightAware

6

Seems fine, you just have no 978MHz traffic visible (this is fairly normal).

You could try the (stretch) piaware sdcard image, which supports 978 without modifications, on a separate sdcard if you want to doublecheck.

7

Looks like it’s working for me. Love graphs1090, it automatically captured the 978 data without any additional setup!

2019-11-30%20dump1090-localhost-signal_978-24h 2019-11-30%20dump1090-localhost-range_978-24h 2019-11-30%20dump1090-localhost-aircraft_978-24h 2019-11-30%20dump1090-localhost-messages_978-24h

8

Looking for a little help. Been awhile since I have done this programming. Trying to upgrade my system 2 run 978 and 1090 on the same unit.

Orange Stick is serialized as 00010978
Blue stick is serialized as 00011090

I just can’t seem to figure out how to get them both running together.

Right now 1090 is active but but 978 is not showing on the monitor
Here is what my monitor is telling me.

PiAware feeder “Normal” PiAware 8.2 is running.
1090 receiver “Normal” Received Mode s data recently.
FlightAware feed “Normal” connected to Flight aware.
Multilateralization “Normal” Multilateralization Synchronized.

So I think I haven’t got the 978 dongle configured properly.

It’s all in the PiAware config.txt file. Do I need to add something to another file?

If I could get the exact receiver configuration text for the two dongles that would be great.

P4b rev8.2 software.

I’ve read thru the chain but it isn’t sticking for some reason.

here is what I have for receiver configuration

sudo piaware-config uat-receiver-type sdr
sudo piaware-config rtlsdr-device-index 00011090
sudo piaware-config uat-sdr-device driver=rtlsdr,serial=00010978

Thanks in advance!

9

Did you install dump978 ? You will need both dump1090 and dump978 in order to get both dongles running on the same system.

10

Good question. I looked on a different sd card, and on that one I am seeing the 978 UAT Receiver:
Right now Piaware feeder, 1090 receiver and flight aware feed are all green.
Multilateration is indicating “ERROR” in red Not Enabled", but in the PIAWARE.config.txt it is mlat enabled yes. 978 UAT Receiver is in orange, as connected but not seeing recent data.

Now the 978 is odd as it will boot up initially with a green normal, but them switch to orange.

I did this card so long ago… Not sure if I set up UAT correctly. It’s almost like when the 1090 kicks in, the 978 loses data.

If I had a pre flashed card from FA, would that come with 1090 and 978 flashed on it?

I haven’t been able to log directly in tou the device to do any commands to load dump 978.

11

are you able to provide the logging after booting up the reciever ?

This can be done from the status page of the reciever. Then we would be able to determine what is happening on your system.
This page step 3 tells you how to enable the additional settings so you are able to login to the image.
I don’t have feeders based on the SD card image ( package add-on only setups here).

Once you are in we can have a look at the logging there, it also will enable us to tell if and how 978 is installed.

12

If you have piaware SD card image version 6 or higher, then issue following commands:

sudo piaware-config uat-receiver-type sdr  

sudo piaware-config rtlsdr-device-index 00011090  

sudo piaware-config uat-sdr-device driver=rtlsdr,serial=00010978  

sudo reboot

If you have Raspberry Pi OS image with package install of dump1090-fa, dump978-fa, and piaware (version 6 or higher), then do following:

First check if you have dump978-fa installed by following command:

apt-cache policy dump978-fa | grep Installed

If it shows “Installed: none”, then install it by following command


sudo apt update  

sudo apt install dump978-fa

Next issue following commands:

sudo sed -i 's/^RECEIVER_SERIAL=.*/RECEIVER_SERIAL=00011090/' /etc/default/dump1090-fa  

sudo sed -i 's/driver=rtlsdr[^ ]* /driver=rtlsdr,serial=00010978 /' /etc/default/dump978-fa  

sudo piaware-config uat-receiver-type sdr

sudo reboot

 

1 Like
13

Thanks for every one’s help! I have Both working and reporting in to FlightAware.

The only issue remaining is Mlat is enabled but status is red stating it’s not.

I THINK I may have deleted a line regarding a port assignment. I have a copy of the original that I can re-enter into the configuration.

14

When I face tough issues, my approach is simple. For tought to solve issues, instead of struggling and wasting time, I adopt an easy, fast, headache-free, and clean remedy: I re-image microSD card with latest piaware SD card image. :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes
15

Thanks, I’ll try that!