It has been a long time since I wrote a state of ADSBx post and there is a lot to address, so here we go! I'm late on releasing the newest revision of the ADSBx custom image. Project creep and having to deal with a lot of of other updates this last 2 months really put a limit on how much time I had to devote to the image release. I think sometime in October will probably be when it's ready. The code for 1.29 is stable now, and I'm not going to move to Raspbian Buster just yet. Raspbian says there are no differences between Stretch and Buster other than support of the Pi 4, but due to power consumption is really a poor choice for a feeder. However, upgrading breaks everything, so a Buster image will need to be built from the ground up. (sigh) The coming additions that I need time to get working Replace TTY1 with a display that way when you boot the Pi with a monitor you will be greeted with status of the Pi and the feeder. Display IP LAN and Internet Display status of dump1090 and MLAT Display connectivity status Display plane count? maybe. Currently finished Revamp of Dump978 code and controls Adjustable gain in adsb-config.txt Update to latest Raspbian Stretch Lots of code clean up for poor user configurations Moved files into /home/pi/adsbexhange Ground work for stats dashboard for users (eventually) MLAT Servers Thanks to the hard work of a few people in the ADSBx Discord, MLAT slices are much more reliable. There is now status monitoring of each server slice and a better user site that doesn't crash your browser. There is a relay/mirror hosted by a generous ADSBx feeder located below. http://adsbx.org/ MLAT load is still an issue and we will have to do more slicing of the zones in the near future. VRS feeders There has historically been a lot of issues with VRS feeders, from basic problems with VRS data like timestamps to user configurations being totally wrong, to people just simply not reading the instructions. As of November 1st, 2019, ADSBX will not accept further VRS based feeders. Please upgrade to a Pi feeder, there is really no reason not to at this point. SBS-1 and Windows users that have good range and good antenna setup can contact ADSBx. Dan and I will try to buy the hardware to use your current antenna ourselves if we can. We have limited amounts of money to spend and shipping overseas is likely too costly vs you upgrading/purchasing a Pi and SDR locally. Nothing will change, you simply point your VRS or Planeplotter to the output port of the Pi on your LAN - you'll get better data, MLAT, and if you are a programmer - access to the ADSBX Global REST API. To use FlightWare and FlightRadar24 terms, "a $1000+ a month value". Not $89 a month for some filtered dashboard and limited history search but a full unfiltered global data feed of ALL ADSBx traffic. The equivalent feed is $20,000+ a month at FlightAware and FlightRadar24, and you still wouldn't get everything that's in ADSBx feed because they filter out much of the interesting aircraft for monthly payments from the owners and operators of those aircraft. Live TCP feed ADSBx was forced to turn off the LIVE TCP feed and only allow a select few verified users past the firewall. This issue has caused a lot of Internet posts and rage by a select group of users but there is no alternative to this. I understand this is going to cause temper tantrums, but if you want to view ADSBx data in VRS, then use the ADSBx website - at least we might get a penny or two from Google Ads. 100% of the TCP VRS complainers that have been the most vocal were NOT supporting ADSBx in any way other than sending poor data that got dropped by the system anyway. When I asked if they would be willing to pay a small monthly fee for the data stream, I was berated. It is what it is. In the last year, ADSBx has caught dozens of commercial businesses taking the TCP Live stream and using it for commercial profit without contacting or supporting ADSBx. Some, one example being HondaJet, even emailed and complained when the site was having load issues, then refused to pay when I asked them why they are using ADSBx data for commercial tracking of their aircraft in violation of the terms of use. Why? Because the data stream that ADSBx is aggregating with unfiltered ADS-B exists nowhere else at this scale or this level of access. The 'commercial' access above does not include 3 sites setup by 'enthusiasts' that were stealing the ADSBx feed to power their own public sites without crediting ADSBx or even promoting setting up feeders to improve the data coverage for everyone. Nor does it include the multiple governments that are using or were using ADSBx data this year. ADSBx needs the support of those for-profit, commercial, and government organizations using the data stream to pay for the cost of operations at ADSBx. FULL STOP. If you have an enthusiast website/app, or are a small start up - ADSBx will gladly support your business with a low cost data feed if you in turn help support ADSBx. You can host feeders, you can donate a small amount monthly, or you can do both. We appreciate both, but understand financial compensation is not always possible. ADSBx currently supports upwards of 20 start ups, enthusiast sites, and apps with free or extremely discounted commercial data. Use the contact form on the website to get in touch. LiveTraffic for X-Plane ADSBx is happy to announce that LiveTraffic is using ADSBx data for X-Plane. LiveTraffic users can setup a feeder and get an API key OR they can subscribe to the Rapid API. Thanks to the dev for making this possible. https://twinfan.gitbook.io/livetraffic/ https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/49749-livetraffic/ Rapid API Finally, if you don't want to setup a feeder to get REST API data, then there is a low cost per request API. https://rapidapi.com/adsbx/api/adsbexchange-com1 Thanks Thanks to all the feeders and volunteers that are making ADSBx possible in a world of commercialized and filtered ADS-B tracking sites. There is much more I'd like to share but I think this post is long winded enough.
