Live tracking: follow flights in real time

Reading arrivals and departures boards: how to plan your spotting day

The airport board is more than a list for passengers. If you filter out codeshares, spot the waves and combine the board with a flight tracker and wind, you can plan your spotting day in half an hour.

Receiving ACARS messages with an SDR: acarsdec and ACARS Hub

Besides ADS-B, airliners also send short text messages over ACARS. With an SDR stick, an airband antenna, acarsdec and ACARS Hub, you can make this datalink visible – as long as you keep the legal situation in mind.

Build your own 1090 MHz antenna: spider, collinear and ground plane

A good ADS-B antenna costs almost nothing: a piece of wire, a connector, some coax cable. Here are the dimensions for ground plane, spider and coax collinear, the math behind them and the typical build mistakes.

Finding the best antenna location: height, line of sight, cable and loss

The antenna makes the difference between 50 and 400 kilometers of range. How to find the best spot, why height and line of sight are everything, which cable to use and how to keep signal loss under control.

Receiving and sharing ADS-B data: what is allowed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland?

An ADS-B receiver doesn’t transmit anything, it only listens. Still, the question comes up whether you may receive the signals and pass them on to Flightradar24 & Co. This overview shows which laws matter in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where the gray areas are and how to handle the data responsibly as a feeder.

Running an ADS-B receiver outdoors: enclosure, cooling, surge protection and power

When the antenna cable gets too long, the receiver moves outdoors. How to package a Raspberry Pi and SDR stick weatherproof, handle heat and condensation, guard against surges and get the power right.

Build your own ADS-B receiver: Raspberry Pi, stick and antenna

Raspberry Pi, SDR stick, antenna – that is all your own ADS-B receiver needs. Which parts have proven themselves, where the antenna belongs, what software exists and what to watch for legally and technically.

What feeders get in return: free subscriptions from FR24, FlightAware, AirNav Radar and Plane Finder

Your own ADS-B station pays off in subscriptions: Flightradar24, FlightAware, AirNav Radar (formerly RadarBox) and Plane Finder reward feeders differently. The comparison shows what you get, which conditions apply and how to combine all the benefits with one receiver.

Buying an ADS-B receiver instead of building one: ready-made units, kits and costs

Not in the mood for flashing memory cards and Linux? For ADS-B, there are ready-made receivers, complete kits and even free hardware for selected locations. Here you see which routes exist, what they cost and who they are worth it for.