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{% extends "base.html" %}
{% set active_page = "howto" %}
{% block title %}{% if 'adsb.im' in x_forwarded_host %}ADSB.im{% else %}SDRE.im{% endif %}{% endblock %}
{% block head %}
{{ super() }}
{% endblock %}
{% block page_content %}
<div class="container">
<h3 class="mb-4">A Quick Start Guide to Setting Up an ADSB Feeder</h3>
<h4>Introduction</h4>
<div class="ml-3 mb-3">
This document is pretty old at this point, but kept here for completeness. I'll try to keep it updated and relevant,
but please look at other resources as well...
</div>
<div class="ml-3 mb-3">
This quick-start guide allows you to build a receiver and start seeing what aircraft fly above your
location in no time, and at minimum expense. Each step has “minimum configuration”, and discusses
some ideas on how to make it better at an additional cost or effort.
</div>
<div class="ml-3 mb-3">
There are a number of videos on our the <a href="https://youtube.com/@adsb">adsb.im YouTube channel</a> that
should also help you get started.
</div>
<h4>Hardware</h4>
<div class="ml-1 mb-3">
For a minimal configuration you need:
<ul>
<li>A small single board computer (“SBC”): see the list of <a href="supported">currently supported
boards</a>; if price is a concern, the OrangePi Zero 3 is a good choice, otherwise one of the
Raspberry Pi 4 boards (1 GB RAM works just fine) is likely the best option.</li>
<li>A good power supply for your SBC. Most of the recommended boards use use USB-C (Raspberry Pi 4, Orange
Pi
boards), some others use micro-USB (older Raspberry Pi models, Libre Computer Le Potato, etc) - either
way, make sure you use an actual power supply designed for at least 2.5A (or 4A for a Pi 4) and not just
a USB charger. Bad power is one of the main reasons for random issues with the boards.</li>
<li>A (good quality) µSD card of at least 8GB with 32GB or more recommended (given pricing in January 2026, 64GB
appears to be about the same price and easier to get than 32GB - so that's the current recommendation).
The software is optimized to reduce disk writes, but over time the SBC will write to it enough that
a high quality card makes a difference. SanDisk Ultra or Samsung High Endurance appear to be good choices.</li>
<li>Internet access for your SBC. WiFi is supported on most boards, including all of the Raspberry Pi family;
some other SBCs (like the Le Potato seen below) need wired Ethernet.</li>
<li>An SDR USB stick ("dongle"). Check the list of <a href="supported">supported SDRs</a>.</li>
<li>An antenna for the SDR dongle.</li>
</ul>
At current prices (and using US source / shipping), an ok indoor configuration could look like this for about $120:
<ul>
<li>SBC: <a href="https://www.pishop.us/product/raspberry-pi-4-model-b-1gb/">Raspberry Pi 4, 1GB RAM with USB-C power supply</a> from PiShop.us (~$55 with shipping)</li>
<li>Case: <a href="https://amzn.to/4hGnUeT">Geekworm, passively cooled</a> (~$10 plus Amazon shipping)</li>
<li>SDR, indoor antenna, SD card: <a href="https://amzn.to/4kQVfGL">Chinese OEM SDR with 1090 MHz “rubber duck” antenna</a> (~$50 plus Amazon shipping)</li>
</ul>
To drive down cost even more (somewhere around $80), you can choose a lower end SBC, no case, get the SDR and antenna directly from China and add a power supply and SD card:
<ul>
<li>SBC: <a href="https://amzn.to/4bWRRWI">Orange Pi Zero 3 1GB</a> (~$25 plus Amazon shipping)</li>
<li>Power supply: <a href="https://amzn.to/4iT5SqO">CanaKit USB C power supply</a> (~$10 plus Amazon shipping)</li>
<li>SDR: <a href="https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806807779978.html">Chinese OEM SDR direct import</a> (~$25 including shipping)</li>
<li>Antenna: <a href="https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256801237629737.html">Chinese basic 1090 MHz antenna</a> (~$6 if shipping with the SDR)</li>
<li>SD card: <a href="https://amzn.to/4hERFwH">SanDisk Ultra 16 GB</a> (~$10 plus Amazon shipping)</li>
</ul>
<div class="ml-1 mb-3">
You also should have access to a computer (Windows, Mac, Linux) and an µSD card writer. This will be
used for the initial setup; once everything is running, you can access the flight map from your phone
or pretty much any other device.
</div>
<div class="ml-1 mb-3">
If you want to upgrade your hardware parts to something better, then consider this:
<ul>
<li>A better/faster SBC. This will help with faster processing and it will enable running more
things in parallel. For example, a Raspberry Pi 4 (with 2Gb or more memory).</li>
<li>An enclosure (case) with cooling for your SBC. Cooling is important - things will get hot!</li>
<li>A better quality SDR dongle, look at the list of <a href="supported">supported SDRs</a> (as well as filters / LNAs).</li>
<li>A better antenna that is mounted outside. For example, ADSBExchange vertical, FlightAware
vertical, Radarbox vertical, or an antenna from DPD or Vinnant.</li>
<li>A larger SD card: 64 Gb or 128 Gb. You won't need the space, but because of the way SD cards
work and how Linux writes to them, larger SD cards will have a lot longer usable life than
small ones. One odd downside is that the first boot will take a lot longer on a larger card,
so be prepared for that extra wait time.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="row ml-1 mb-3">
<img class="col-4" alt="minimal hardware setup" src="/static/images/minimalHW.png">
<div class="col-8">
For the rest of this guide we'll show an example based on a fairly cheap and basic setup using
<ul>
<li>Libre Computer Le Potato SBC</li>
<li>CanaKit micro-USB power supply</li>
<li>SanDisk Ultra 32 Gb SD card</li>
<li>No-name SDR</li>
<li>No-name 1090 MHz “rubber duck” antenna</li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<h4>Setup</h4>
<h5>Step 1: Download and write the ADSB Feeder Image to the SD card</h5>
<div class="ml-1 mb-3">
The following steps are all performed using your PC or Mac machine. The images will show how that looks
on a Mac; it’s very similar in Windows:
<ol>
<li>
<div class="media mt-2">
<div class="media-body"><a href="/download">Download</a> the current release for the correct board.
In our example we will pick the one for the Libre Computing LePotato.
</div>
</div>
If you're using a Raspberry Pi, the image is available without separate download using the Raspberry
Pi Imager mentioned below. Just check the "other special purpose OSs" section in that app.
</li>
<li>
<div class="media mt-2">
<div class="media-body">Place the micro-SD into the SD card writer and connect it to the computer.
Verify that your computer can “see” the SD card
</div>
<img class="media-object col-2" alt="SD card in card reader"
src="https://github.com/dirkhh/adsb-feeder-image/assets/237471/79d70462-1b86-458b-b1f6-9b07b5ce817c">
<img class="media-object col-2" alt="Screenshot showing an unnamed card"
src="https://github.com/dirkhh/adsb-feeder-image/assets/237471/7e0dd1f6-abf0-4b59-b6de-a14ecb86b541">
</div>
</li>
<li class="mt-2">Use the <a href="https://www.raspberrypi.com/software">Raspberry Pi Imager</a> to write the
image you downloaded earlier to the SD card.
<div class="media mt-2">
<ol class="media-body">
<li>Click <b>Choose OS</b>. If using the Le Potato board (or another non-Raspberry board)
scroll to the bottom and click <b>Use custom</b>.
Then select the <code class="gray">adsb-feeder….img.xz</code> file you downloaded in step 1
above.
</li>
<li>Back on the initial screen, click <b>Choose Storage</b> and select the SD card you inserted.
<b>DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOU SELECTED THE CORRECT VOLUME AS IT WILL BE ERASED/OVERWRITTEN IN THE
NEXT STEPS.</b>
</li>
</ol>
<img class="media-object col-5" alt="select image"
src="https://github.com/dirkhh/adsb-feeder-image/assets/237471/c08cc7c8-2509-4d81-8c8b-b22a4a235d75">
</div>
<div class="media mt-2">
<ol start="3" class="media-body mt-1">
<li>Now click <b>Write</b> and read/follow the subsequent dialog. The image will be written
to the µSD card, and it will verify that it was written error-free.
</li>
<li>If all was written correctly, a dialog box will show that you can remove the SD card. Please
do so.
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
<h5>Step 2: Hardware Setup of your SBC</h5>
<div class="media mt-2">
<ol class="media-body">
<li>First place the SD card into the slot of the SBC. Note - for most SBCs, insert the SD card upside down.
</li>
<li>Connect the antenna to the SDR and insert the SDR into any of the open USB slots.</li>
<li>Finally, connect the power supply to the micro-USB slot and power up your SBC. The LED lights should be
on now.</li>
<li>Wait a few minutes for the SBC to complete it’s initial boot cycle. The larger your µSD, the longer
that initial boot cycle will take. Please be patient.</li>
</ol>
<img class="media-object" alt="SD card inserted with the label facing down"
src="https://github.com/dirkhh/adsb-feeder-image/assets/237471/b274b5a0-fcc6-49d8-ac92-ee89dbd331ea">
</div>
<h5>Step 3: software setup of your SBC</h5>
<ol>
<li>Assuming that you use a wired Ethernet connection, a few minutes after initially powering up your SBC,
you should be able to browse to <a href="http://adsb-feeder.local">http://adsb-feeder.local</a> (from a
different computer - the ADS-B Feeder Image doesn't include a desktop in order to keep the image small).
If this doesn’t work, try the external redirector at <a href="http://my.adsb.im/">http://my.adsb.im/</a>.
If that fails as well, you will need to determine the local IP address from your home router or whatever
device manages your network.
</li>
<li>If you are using WiFi, you'll have to go through the WiFi setup as described on the <a href="https://adsb.im/hotspot">Hotspot page</a>.</li>
<li>Use this web-UI to configure your ADSB Feeder.</li>
<li>Give it a name (used for MLAT graphs).</li>
<li>Enter the physical location of the antenna (there is a link to a useful tool if you need help finding
the correct latitude, longitude, and elevation).</li>
<li>Enter the time zone (again, there's a button to make this straight forward).</li>
<li>Select that you want to feed ADS-B data.</li>
<li>Click on <b>Setup</b> - if you have a simple setup as depicted above, you should now get forwarded to
a page where you can decide which aggregators to feed. Once you apply those settings, you'll be forwarded to
the main home page of your ADSB Feeder.</li>
</ol>
We even have a <a href="https://youtu.be/N5yHvInpDBM">short video</a> that shows the steps described above.
</div>
{% endblock %}
{% block scripts %}
{{ super() }}
{% endblock %}