ads-b with usb dongle on board an airbus

[RoSi]

Great, I was looking for this interface. Never know how it is calling or where to get it.
Thanks

[SoCalBrian]

YouTube Video: In Flight tracking using rtl1090.. rtl dongle and XHSI interface

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGq7yHn6f3U

[fungus]

nzradar,

I'm not sure that being discreet would (or should) be the first priority. Complying with an airline's (and regulators) regulations/laws might be the first and most important. One can be discreet with a knife, although I'm not quite sure the 'enjoy' side of it fits the discussion from the point of view of the knife.

Regards,
Gregg

[nzradar]

OK guys, here's my experience:

A couple of years ago I took a Beast receiver together with my laptop (with PlanePlotter) and a small whip antenna like the one that comes with a dongle aboard a flight from Melbourne to Wellington. After laptops were cleared for use (10,000') I fired up the computer, left the Beast and antenna in my back pack by my feet and monitored ADS-B all the way until 10,000' in the descent.

Being discreet and sensible is the key, enjoy! The next time I fly I'll be taking a dongle with me, even more discreet.

[balt]

This is unlikely to work. The Aluminium tube you're in is a pretty good faraday cage, as you'll notice by the absence of any useful GPS signal unless the antenna/device is held against the window. I did run a trial of this once, running my customised dump1090 on the raspberry off a battery for a short haul flight. It recorded a few other flights, but not a single position was received of the flight I was on. If it was saturating the dongle, I'd expect no other signal to have come through, so my guess is due to faraday cage, not enough signal inside the tube.

Things would look different if you were to stick the antenna up against the window. That might work, but that also would raise suspicions, aggravate the crew, you'd end up in handcuffs have all your gear confiscated and it generally would ruin an otherwise perfectly good day... so my recommendation there is to stick to the IFE...

Cheers

- B

[fungus]

I'd still recommend erring on the side of caution. The one situation we don't want to find ourselves in is forcing airlines/authorities to decide to encrypt ads-b due to this sort of thing becoming an issue or perceived issue for them (the 'norm'), as I said, no matter how well intentioned the users of these setups may be. As it is, here in Australia, some individuals from Air Services Australia hold a certain position with regard to flight tracking websites (I'm not going to elaborate further here) and we certainly don't want to give them more reasons or 'ammunition' as it were for those concerns.

Regards,
Gregg

[GitseBase]

No cabin crew member (or certainly other passengers) are going to be familiar with 'dongles' and /or the other paraphernalia or terminology discussed in this thread with which we may be familiar and could therefore create suspicion with what an individuals intention may be (as others have also hinted at). I am of the opinion that it may be seen as a provocative move by a pax with all too obvious consequences.
Gregg

If you look at the YouTube video you'll notice that there is no antenna attached to the dongle making it inconspicuous to fellow pax.

I use my GPS on board but do so very discreetly as the 'rules' vary per airline/crew member.
On some airlines it is stated that transmitting devices are forbidden but devices that receive are allowed. Should someone ask you can always explain that is is an app that can tell you where you are flying by using GPS. If you are allowed to use a GPS there is a greater change that TS can use the dongle.

[GitseBase]

Laptops don't pass on x-ray

I've never had any trouble bringing my laptop's and tablet on board an aircraft for international or Schengen flights. Sometimes they ask me to turn the laptop on but haven't had that in a while.

[fungus]

I think the matter of whether it is possible for it to work or not misses the point. No cabin crew member (or certainly other passengers) are going to be familiar with 'dongles' and /or the other paraphernalia or terminology discussed in this thread with which we may be familiar and could therefore create suspicion with what an individuals intention may be (as others have also hinted at). I am of the opinion that it may be seen as a provocative move by a pax with all too obvious consequences. Simply because one (or a few) individuals have attempted it in the past with some degree of success doesn't indicate carte blanche acceptance world wide, let alone the next time you might fly on an aircraft with this intention and as I stated previously no matter how well intentioned. Of course, others will/may have a very different point of view. In that case airlines/various authorities such as FAA/CASA and their European equivalents/counterparts policies may also have an impact on the outcome. If a brew-ha is possible to break out over an over-sized bag attempting to be placed in an overhead bin, or similar disagreement of say, sitting next to a large or inebriated pax, I'd hate to think of the reaction to the scenario being discussed. One may wish to consider the situation from the cabin crews perspective.

In a prevous post on this thread I made the statement concerning looking up sites such as FR24 on the aircraft's 'internet' facility (if it is equipped with such capability) but I believe bandwidth may sadly impact on this idea especially in the case where many pax may be logging on at the same time. I'm not aware if they've successfully overcome that hurdle just yet.

Regards,
Gregg

[mrcarlos]

Next month I'm going to fly and I I'll try this app with my doongle https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ion_ADSB_final I I'll try to pass doongle together with pc 💻 portable for scape x-ray

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[mrcarlos]

Laptops don't pass on x-ray

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[GitseBase]

ADS-B onboard B737 realtime PFD and ND

ADS-B onboard Ryanair 737
Not exactly what TS was asking for but this person used it to display (in real time) the status from the primary flight display (PFD) and navigation display (ND).

If you are worried about the text on the dongle causing trouble you can always put a sticker over it with 'music' written on it

...especially as I am interested in identifying the geographical features when visibility is good.

This will be a challenge. You will need display software with a detailed map included to be used offline...
I don't know if it will be possible to save the flight path like you would with a GPS.


With my Garmin eTrex20 I'm able to zoom in to see details on the map while it's saving the track. Keeping the GPS near the window is enough to keep a lock on narrow body's but on wide body's that can be a challenge.

[digiblur]

Dvb-T stick pass on x-ray without damage? I'm not sure......

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

I don't see why not. Laptops do.

[mrcarlos]

Dvb-T stick pass on x-ray without damage? I'm not sure......

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

[digiblur]

I remember seeing pictures of a guy talking about SDR at a conference with him sitting on the plane picking up stuff with passengers next to him. I would be nervous if i saw someone with a dongle with an antenna too though!