Guides

ADS-B guides

Plain-language guides for anyone running, or thinking about, an ADS-B receiver at home: what the signal is, what the hardware does, how to get more range, and what the numbers on the screen mean.

• What is ADS-B?

  ADS-B is how airliners broadcast their position, altitude and speed on 1090 MHz, twice a second, unencrypted. What it is, who uses it, and why a small antenna at home can hear it.

• What does an ADS-B receiver hear?

  A home ADS-B station is three small things: an antenna, a cheap USB radio and a tiny computer. What each part does and what the receiver picks up every second.

• Which ADS-B antenna should you buy?

  The antenna in the box works. One made for 1090 MHz, mounted high with a short cable, hears much further. Which kind to choose, where to put it, and when an ADS-B preamplifier helps.

• How far can an ADS-B receiver hear?

  ADS-B on 1090 MHz travels in straight lines, so antenna height decides range: a few miles from a basement, well over a hundred from a roof. Why, and how to get more.

• View your PiAware receiver on iPhone, iPad & Apple TV

  Turn your PiAware or dump1090 receiver into a native radar app. Overhead 1090 connects to the Raspberry Pi on your network and shows live traffic on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV — a native alternative to watching SkyAware in a browser.

• PiAware on Apple TV: live flight radar on the big screen

  Overhead 1090 shows your own PiAware or dump1090 receiver on Apple TV as a radar scope. No account, no outside feed. Watch Walt explain how it works.

• What's a squawk code?

  A squawk code is the four-digit number air traffic control gives a flight. Most are routine; 7700, 7600 and 7500 mean trouble. What they mean, and what your own receiver shows when it hears one.

• Who's flying that?

  Every aircraft broadcasts a 24-bit address, six hex characters, that stays with the airframe. Match it to the registry and you get the tail number, the aircraft type and the operator.