flightpatch.app · part of the ADSBiq network
Put your airfield on the live map. Plug a ~$50 USB dongle into the computer you already have, run one installer, and your airport goes live at adsbiq.com/airport — every takeoff, landing and pattern, in real time. No Raspberry Pi, no config, no hassle.
Built for flight schools and FBOs, but anyone is welcome.
- Any Windows 10/11 or Mac computer (the office desktop is perfect — it can run this in the background).
- A ~$50 RTL-SDR dongle + 1090 MHz antenna. A good, proven pick: NooElec RTL-SDR v5 (R820T2) or an RTL-SDR Blog V4. (Any R820T2 / R828D based receiver works; make sure it tunes 1090 MHz.)
- Power and Wi-Fi. Indoors is fine — the antenna in a window facing the ramp is even better.
- A live traffic board for your field (great on a lobby TV).
- A per-tail tracker — watch your own aircraft live, with instructor alerts.
- A permanent pilot logbook with one-click KML export to ForeFlight.
The agent is built for multiple receivers on the same PC and auto-detects each one's role, so it "just works" whether you have one dongle or two:
| Dongle | Band | Feeds |
|---|---|---|
| ADS-B | 1090 MHz | aircraft positions (the live map) |
| VDL2 / ACARS | 131–136 MHz (VHF) | datalink messages (flight/route data) |
Run it with just a 1090 dongle and you feed ADS-B. Add a second dongle on a 136 MHz antenna later — even after the first is already running — and the agent picks it up and starts feeding VDL2 automatically. Have only a 136 MHz dongle? It runs as a VDL2-only feeder. Nothing to configure either way. (VDL2 support is landing now; the ADS-B path is live today.)
1090 dongle -> ADS-B decoder (Beast) \
>-- feed agent -- registers, feeds, phones home --> ADSBiq network
136 dongle -> VDL2 decoder (JSON) /
The feed agent in this repo registers your device once (optionally under your school/FBO name), forwards the decoder output to the ADSBiq network, and phones home every 60s — so it keeps itself up to date automatically and can be paused, resumed, or retuned remotely without you touching the machine. It reconnects on its own after any drop, reboot, or outage. Because it always dials out, nothing needs an open inbound port or a static IP.
Pre-built, single-file binaries for Windows, macOS (Intel + Apple Silicon), and Linux are published on the Releases page. The one-click installer bundles the dongle driver, the decoder(s), and this agent as a background service so the whole thing installs and connects with no terminal.
The agent sends only what's needed to feed and stay healthy: your aircraft data, a byte/rate
heartbeat, version, and the optional name you chose. No personal files, no browsing, nothing
else. It's open source — read agent/ and see for yourself. MIT licensed.
A dongle at your desk reliably catches everything airborne over your field and on approach or departure from all runways (aircraft up high have clear line of sight). For taxi and ground traffic across the whole field, put the little antenna in a window facing the ramp.
| Path | What |
|---|---|
agent/ |
The Go feed agent — registration, Beast forwarder, phone-home management, auto-update. Single static binary, no runtime deps. |
installer/ |
Windows / Mac installer sources (driver + decoder(s) + agent + service). |
cd agent
go test ./... # unit tests
go build -ldflags="-s -w" -o adsbiq-feed-agent # native
GOOS=windows GOARCH=amd64 go build -o adsbiq-feed-agent.exe # cross-compileRegister a device and run it against a local decoder:
./adsbiq-feed-agent --org "My Flight School" # first run: registers, saves identity
./adsbiq-feed-agent --local 127.0.0.1:30005 # subsequent runs: feed + phone homeThe feed agent is working and tested end-to-end: registration, live feeding, and remote
management (enable/disable, restart, auto-update) all verified against the production network.
The VDL2 (second-dongle) decoder now builds for Windows — CI produces dumpvdl2.exe
plus its runtime DLLs — and has been proven end-to-end from a real dongle through the
network. The one-click installer (silent driver + bundled decoders) is in progress.
- Live map: adsbiq.com/airport
- Become a feeder: adsbiq.com/guide · getadsbiq.com
MIT — see LICENSE.