As a thank you from FlightAware, users sending ADS-B data receive the following:

Live data on flightaware.com (subject to standard data processing delay of up to two minutes)

Access to up-to-the-second live data received by the local device (accessible from the stats page with a local network connection)

Data from local device highlighted on FlightAware track logs

Detailed statistics on site performance

A free Enterprise Account (USD89.95/mo value)

Micro SD card reader

If your computer does not have a built-in SD card reader/writer, you will need the optional USB SD card reader/writer.

USB SDR ADS-B Receiver (FlightAware Pro Stick or Pro Stick Plus recommended)

The USB SDR (Software Defined Radio) ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) receiver translates the 1090 MHz radio signal into something the computer can understand

Hint: If you are choosing between the FlightAware Pro Stick and the Pro Stick Plus remember the Plus has an on-board filter that works well in locations that have a lot of radio noise, such as urban environments.

1090 MHz Antenna

An indoor antenna can be purchased to start. If using the FlightAware USB adapter be sure the antenna has an SMA connector.

If you use a telescoping mast antenna be sure to collapse it to a quarter wavelength of 1090 MHz (6.9 cm) to maximize reception.

Additionally, you can choose to purchase or find the following items but they are not required.

Micro SD Card pre-loaded with PiAware

Skip the step to program the micro SD card

Raspberry Pi Case

Protect the Raspberry Pi from shorts

Ethernet Cable

This is needed if not using Wi-Fi

1090 MHz Signal Filter

If you live in an urban environment or a location that has a lot of radio noise this will help filter out that excess signal

200 joules Surge Suppressor

The Raspberry Pi is vulnerable to voltage spikes so consider a surge protector to prevent damage.

If you are in an area known for high voltage spikes consider an 800 joules surge protector

The parts to make a PiAware box are available everywhere in the world, but vendors and availability vary by country. A shopping list with helpful links is available for below; please let us know on our discussion forums if you find better vendors for your country. Alternately please view these alternate instructions: Argentina | Australia | Canada | Germany | France | India | Mexico | Norway | People's Republic of China | Russia | South Africa | South Korea | Thailand | Turkey | United Kingdom | United States

Required

Raspberry Pi 3/4/Zero Computer (Raspberry Pi)

Power Supply for Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pi)

SD Card (Amazon)

FlightAware Pro Stick USB ADS-B Receiver (FlightAware Store)

Indoor Antenna MCX plug with a SMA adapter (eBay)

Optional

Case for Raspberry Pi (Raspberry Pi)

Indoor/Outdoor 1090MHz ADS-B Antenna with mounting bracket (FlightAware Store)

FlightAware Pro Stick USB ADS-B Receiver + Cable + Filter + Antenna (eBay)

Raspberry Pi Starter kit (Amazon)

ADS-B 1090MHz Band-pass SMA Filter (FlightAware Store)

USB 3.0 SD Card Reader (Amazon)

Standard USB Keyboard (Amazon)

3ft Ethernet Cable (Amazon)

Pre-built complete PiAware kit (pre-loaded Pi, Pro Stick, filter, and power/cables) with indoor antenna (Amazon)

Pre-built complete PiAware kit (pre-loaded Pi, Pro Stick, filter, and power/cables) with outdoor antenna (Amazon)

LMR240 Outdoor Cable: Connector A: N Plug/Male - Straight to Connector B: SMA/Male - Straight (AIR802)

1090MHz filter + preamp (Nevis Computers)

FlightAware Pro Stick Plus USB ADS-B Receiver (FlightAware Store)

200 joules Surge Protector (Amazon)

Indoor/Outdoor 978 MHz UAT Antenna with mounting bracket (FlightAware Store)

Select and Download your desired PiAware SD card image

PiAware - PiAware Image on Raspbian Linux 8.2 ZIP (682MB)

PiAware with LCD display support - PiAware LCD Image on Raspbian Linux 8.2 ZIP (757MB)

Currently supported LCD display: Waveshare 3.5inch LCD Display for Raspberry Pi

Go to https://etcher.io/ download the SD card writer (approx 80MB) and follow the directions to install the program.

Information on your Windows operating system can be found under: Control Panel\\All Control Panel Items\\System. View the Control Panel with small icons to see all the Control Panel options.

Open Etcher.

Etcher may need to be run as administrator (right-click, \"Run as Administrator\").

Select the PiAware zip file.

Select the correct Micro SD card USB drive carefully, the process will overwrite any data on the drive and people have lost years worth of pictures accidentally. Consider removing external hard drives and other devices to avoid accidentally overwriting the data.

Confirm the drive on the 'My Computer' screen. The below image shows the micro SD card as 'Removable Disk F:'.

Once you are sure the correct drive is chosen press 'Flash!'.

After PiAware is installed Etcher should automatically eject the SD card, if not manually eject the SD card and remove from the computer.

Select and Download your desired PiAware SD card image

PiAware - PiAware Image on Raspbian Linux 8.2 ZIP (682MB)

PiAware with LCD display support - PiAware LCD Image on Raspbian Linux 8.2 ZIP (757MB)

Currently supported LCD display: Waveshare 3.5inch LCD Display for Raspberry Pi

Go to https://etcher.io/ download the SD card writer (approx 80MB) and follow the directions to install the program.

Open Etcher.

The program may need to be run as administrator (control+open application)

Select the PiAware zip file.

Select the correct Micro SD card USB drive carefully, the process will overwrite any data on the drive and people have lost years worth of pictures accidentally. Consider removing external hard drives and other devices to avoid accidentally overwriting the data.

Confirm the drive on the 'Finder' screen. The below image shows the micro SD card as 'NO NAME'.

Administrative privileges on the computer will be needed, sign into an administrative account if a prompt appears.

Once you are sure the correct drive is chosen press 'Flash!'.

After PiAware is installed Etcher should automatically eject the SD card, if not manually eject the SD card and remove from the computer.

Option 1: Via Bluetooth

For PiAware 7.0 or later and a supported browser, you can set up your PiAware via Bluetooth.

Supported web browsers: Google Chrome, Opera, Microsoft Edge, Chrome for Android.

Sorry, Bluetooth configuration is not supported by this browser. This process is experimental and relies on features which are not implemented by all browsers and operating systems. Supported browsers currently include: Google Chrome and Opera on MacOS (some MacBooks are not supported), Google Chrome on Android.

Set up via Bluetooth

Option 2: Manual Configuration

If on board Wi-Fi or a USB adapter will be used to connect to the internet you will need to edit the configuration file. Etcher will automatically eject the Micro SD card after formatting, physically remove the Micro SD card or USB adapter and plug it back into the computer to edit the configuration file.

The configuration file allows the user to configure and set the following

Wired network

Wireless (WiFi) network

PiAware supports unencrypted networks or WPA/WPA2 encrypted networks; WEP is not supported

Automatic or manual updates*

Multilateration (MLAT) output*

Receiver type (RTL-SDR, Beast, Radarcape or other Mode S/ADS-B source)

RTL-SDR gain, PPM and device index

* indicates a setting that can be configured on the site's statistics page. For full configuration options see advanced configuration Configuration File Format

The configuration file is a simple plain text format file. The TextEdit program on a MAC OS is known for saving in the rich text format and smart quotes so be sure those options are disabled in the program's preferences.

Lines beginning with a “#” are comment lines and are ignored. Blank lines are also ignored. All other lines specify configuration settings.

Open the Explorer program

Select the Micro SD card device labeled piaware

Open the file labeled piaware-config.txt

The file will open in Notepad

Mac OS X

Open the Finder program

Select the Micro SD card device labeled piaware

Open the file labeled piaware-config.txt

The file will open in TextEdit

# This file configures the Piaware sdcard image # configuration. Whenever the system boots, this # file is read and its contents are used to # configure the system. # Lines beginning with a '#' are comment lines # and are ignored. Blank lines are also ignored. # All other lines specify configuration settings. # WIRED NETWORK CONFIGURATION # Should piaware use the wired ethernet port # for network access? wired-network yes # Wired network configuration: # Most networks will use DHCP wired-type dhcp # Alternatively, a static address configuration # can be provided; set "wired-type" to static to use this. wired-address 192.168.1.10 wired-netmask 255.255.255.0 wired-broadcast 192.168.1.255 wired-gateway 192.168.1.254 wired-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4 # WIRELESS NETWORK CONFIGURATION # Should piaware use a wifi adaptor # for network access? You will need to attach # a supported USB wifi adaptor for this to work. # change this to "yes" to enable wifi wireless-network yes # Wifi SSID and password. # This should be changed to match your wireless # network SSID and, for networks that require # a passphrase, the passphrase. wireless-ssid MyWifiNetwork wireless-password s3cr3t # Wifi network configuration: # Most networks will use DHCP wireless-type dhcp # Alternatively, a static address configuration # can be provided; set "wireless-type" to static to use this. wireless-address 192.168.1.10 wireless-netmask 255.255.255.0 wireless-broadcast 192.168.1.255 wireless-gateway 192.168.1.254 wireless-nameservers 8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

Once the file has been edited save and close Notepad

Eject the Micro SD card either in My Computer by right clicking and selecting Eject or in the system tray.

A pop-up should appear stating it is OK to remove the SD card

Slide the SD card (with PiAware installed) into your Raspberry Pi.

Optional: Put the case on the Raspberry Pi.

Plug the USB SDR ADS-B receiver into the Raspberry Pi.

Tightly plug in the antenna cable into the USB SDR ADS-B dongle.

Plug the ethernet (internet) cable in. (If using WiFi skip this step)

Plug the power into your Raspberry Pi.

You should observe a solid red LED and a blinking green LED on the Raspberry Pi as well as yellow and green LEDs next to the Ethernet jack.

You should wait about four or five minutes for your PiAware to start and then you can associate your FlightAware account with your PiAware device to receive all the benefits.

Once your device is running, please:

Look up the IP address in your router admin and go to the assigned IP address in a browser on the same network. If the device hasn't been claimed a link to claim the PiAware device will display.

Claim your PiAware client on FlightAware.com

If after 5 minutes your device hasn't displayed as claimed try restarting the device, if that still doesn't work re-confirm the Wi-Fi settings (if using Wi-Fi) are correct. Lastly contact us at [email protected]. Check your stats page (link below) to confirm it was claimed.

View your ADS-B stats at: https://flightaware.com/adsb/stats

FlightAware will begin processing your data immediately and displaying your statistics within 30 minutes.

or click 'My ADS-B' in the header while signed in. This will only appear after the site has sent data for 30 minutes.

Configure your location and antenna height on your statistics page by clicking on the gear icon located to the right of the Site name.

Multilateration, also known as MLAT, functions by pinpointing the location of an aircraft by knowing the locations of sites that received messages from the aircraft.

The FlightAware stats page will also tell you the local IP of your device and provide a link for direct connection. This is where you can find a link to SkyAware, a web portal for viewing flights the receiver is picking up messages from on a map.

Remember that the signals from aircraft are not designed to penetrate objects, so the antenna should be located "line of sight" to the sky with no obstructions. The most optimal installations, which are installed outdoors and on a roof, have a range of over 250mi / 400km.

Enjoy using PiAware and using FlightAware with extra features reserved exclusively for ADS-B feeders like you. Please check out the discussion forums to share your experiences or learn more.

Related Links (PiAware, Raspberry Pi, dump1090, and more)

Questions about PiAware? FlightAware ADS-B Forums

PiAware homepage

Upgrade PiAware ADS-B software

Multilateration (MLAT)

Change log for recent versions of PiAware

Source code for PiAware

FlightAware dump1090 fork

Change log for the recent version of dump1090

Updating and upgrading Raspbian

Advanced Configuration documentation

PiAware About

x

Login

Login

Forgot password?

Don't have an account? Register now (free) for customized features, flight alerts, and more!

Join FlightAware

FlightAware provides accurate real-time, historical and predictive flight insights to all segments of the aviation industry.

This website uses cookies. By using and further navigating this website, you accept this.

Dismiss

Did you know that FlightAware flight tracking is supported by advertising?

You can help us keep FlightAware free by allowing ads from FlightAware.com. We work hard to keep our advertising relevant and unobtrusive to create a great experience. It's quick and easy to whitelist ads on FlightAware or please consider our premium accounts .