DIY Rooftop Raspberry Pi Aircraft ADS-B Build

I've built an outdoor ADS-B aircraft position tracker on a budget! It uses a Raspberry Pi, two SDR USB receivers, two homemade antennas and an inexpensive enclosure to house everything on our roof.

Instructions for PiAware:

SDR Receivers for 1090 MHz and 978 MHz:

Plastic box:

Make your own antennas:

1/4 Wave Ground Plane Antenna Calculator:

[ShumanProjects]

Updates: If building again, I'd make the antenna separation wider. I'm no RF expert, but I think being so close has decreased reception. The 978 performs better when the other antenna is removed.

I didn't mention in the video, but the third USB device is a WiFi adapter since this Raspberry Pi 2 doesn't have integrated WiFi.

[FireRescue]

I’m not interested in tracking airplanes, but I do enjoy seeing others ideas. That’s probably the best idea I’ve seen yet to keep things dry. I’m gonna implement this into my interests, great idea 😂

[LionRoars]

Very cool. Living in an apartment .. my antenna is at roof level. I will be adding a 2nd setup in the next week or so. I do not have a huge amount of activity but tweaking it as we speak.

[wickedmuffin]

Nice build, I have been thinking of something similar powered off a USB battery bank and solar panel. I just started messing around with SDR but have a few Raspberry Pi's and want to make a plane tracker and also an APRS IGate.

[JeremyCook]

Nicely done! Looks like fun to track all the planes like that!

[SimonShaws]

Nice build. Love PVC pipe for these jobs.

[peaab]

You should use 3M (Scotch 23) vulcanizing tape instead of electrical tape. Higley recommended for this kind of connector sealing.

[acestudioscouk-Ace-GACE]

Nicely done! Well thought out project. thanks for sharing.

[alternativecurrency]

Cheers and Well Done! I like it a lot!

[JosueBasurto]

Very good explanation, excelent setup, and antennas! My only observation would be to place RPi and cables better into the box. But really helped me a lot!

[CosmicCraw]

are you feeding adsbexchange too? if not, please consider doing so..

[ooglek]

Cool! How does this do in the hot summer sun? It seems like with no ventilation it could get VERY hot in there to the point where it might overheat.

[other_things_OT]

i would like to do that also, thanks!

[texman]

That is a pretty nice build and glad it is working. I'd like to do something like that but I would have to go through the roof.
Regarding the USB at 3:27, is that for the 978? And what is the green USB device at 3:57?

[jctirona_aro]

Very nice video! Thanks so much for this. Hopefully I can recreate this. Will keep you posted. (: How much did the whole project cost you at the time?

[mrage-]

can u also see military aircrafts with that?

[SolitarySwede]

Has someone ever told you you're the spitting image of actor David Costabile??

[robertcosta]

What is the total cost. Advantages of building on your own over purchasing the equipment ..and what is the reliability of home made. Also do you need to have an fcc radio license

[chomanthapa]

Does it track aircraft with just Mode s transmitter ?

[Wayne_VKECS]

Nice project, did I miss what the 970Mhz was for, ADSB is 1090 but what's 970Mhz for ?.
Rgs
Wayne