What does HackerNews think of dump1090?
Dump1090 is a simple Mode S decoder for RTLSDR devices
Language:
C
It's not his first radio software. Almost a decade ago he wrote the rtl-sdr ADS-B software dump1090 https://github.com/antirez/dump1090 . It was much easier to set up and use than prior GNU Radio 3.6 gr-airmodes (c++/python) + Virtual Radar (java) options. It went on to be forked and improved upon and it is now the community standard.
I used to have fun tracking flights over my previous home using a little usb rtl-sdr antenna attached to a raspberry pi and leveraging the dump1090 software. I moved homes, and got too lazy to re-set things up...but that dump1090 software did the trick back then. Its been a few years, so there could be better software nowadays. dump1090 was a bit of work to do the initial software setup, but thereafter was easy. The 2 versions that i recall back in the day...
https://github.com/antirez/dump1090 (original i think?)
https://github.com/MalcolmRobb/dump1090 (the form?)
Have fun!
Or just run antirez's dump1090 https://github.com/antirez/dump1090 with the appropriate ADS-B dongle
> Ever wonder what airplane is flying overhead?
Also - not all planes broadcast ADS-B. Also - theres a privacy push to mask a plane's real tail number in ADS-B broadcasts - relevant for private planes (not commercial)
I've been using a Pi for a while to track ADS-B and AIS. If you haven't purchased the hardware yet head over to https://www.nooelec.com/store/ to get the SDR dongles. And then grab the latest Dump1090 https://github.com/antirez/dump1090
As for guides. It's a pretty big community so just use the keywords from above [RTL-SDR, ADSB, DUMP1090] and you should get a lot of guides on tracking aircraft.