Episode 2 · Planefence and Plane-Alert · Series 01: The Listening Station
How does it tell me about an unusual aircraft?
- Release
- Length
- 6:06
- On the dial
- 1090 MHz
- Signal
- ADS-B
What it covers
Planefence and plane-alert pick the unusual aircraft out of everything my receiver sees around the Puget Sound. In this video I explain how: a fence of sky around the house, a community watchlist of about 17,000 aircraft, the emergency transponder codes, and the alerts that reach me through Discord and Home Assistant. I also show two things I got wrong.
Chapters
- 0:00Intro
- 0:30One stream
- 1:09Low aircraft
- 1:53The watchlist
- 3:15Two special cases
- 4:16The alert
- 4:56What I got wrong
Frames from the draft
Gear in this episode
| FlightAware Pro Stick Plus | the USB radio I use for ADS-B, with a built-in amplifier and filter |
| Awxlumv aluminum heat sinks, 50 x 25 x 10 mm (2 pack) | the heat sinks I add to most of my SDR dongles (not part of the radios as sold) |
| Raspberry Pi 4 | the small computer that runs my ADS-B receiver |
| ZimaBlade | the small server I call Michelangelo |
| CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD UPS (1500 VA, sine wave) | the battery backup that keeps almost all of my station running through a power cut |
Software and references
| docker-planefencegithub.com | planefence and plane-alert in one package: the fence log and the watchlist alerts |
| plane-alert-dbgithub.com | the community watchlist of military, government and other notable aircraft |
| browser-screenshot-servicegithub.com | the screenshot container: it opens the live map in a hidden browser and takes the picture |
| docker-adsb-ultrafeedergithub.com | the hub that holds the one stream of aircraft data |
| tar1090github.com | the live map that the screenshot shows |
| Home Assistanthome-assistant.io | the home automation software that sends the alert to my phone |
| Discorddiscord.com | the chat app that receives the alert messages |
| FAA Privacy ICAO Address programfaa.gov | the official page about privacy addresses |
What is simplified, and what is invented
- The alert message on screen is a mock-up with an invented example. It is not a real alert.
- The fence drawing is a side view and is not to scale. The aircraft and the log entries in it are invented examples.
- The watchlist rows are drawn without addresses on purpose. The counts are rounded.
- The map pictures are stand-in drawings, not real maps. The loading time in the timing drawing is simplified.
- The privacy address drawing shows the concept only.
- The planefence package can also raise an alert for a fourth transponder code, 7400 (an unmanned aircraft that lost its control link). I left it out to keep the list short.