ADS-B Mode-S

My tracking of nearby ADSB-out aircraft using my local AWACS server.

1090-at-work

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast - Mode-S

On January 1, 2020, Federal Regulation 14 CFR § 91.225 requiring ADSB-out to transmit their position information to ATC and other aircraft takes effect. This applies to all aircraft above 10,000 MSL, inside Class A, B, and C airspace, and within 30 NM of a Mode-C airport to the surface. Since the transmission happens at 1090MHz, is vertically polarized, and is receivable within a line of sight, ground stations can pick up signals from aircraft hundreds of nautical miles away flying at high altitude!

Unscientific deployment observation

Being within the KIAH Mode-C ring, all planes are required to have a squawkable transponder for the primary ATC radar. Unfortunately, most of these planes are invisible without the 1090MHz transponder which allows for a MLAT(multi-lateration) calculation with multiple base stations. Sometimes an ADSB-IN aircraft is flying nearby which will activate a ADSB-R (rebroadcast). The traffic within several miles and within 5000' of the aircraft will be rebroadcast meaning that my AWACS system can now see the ground traffic at major airports as well as random signatures for the remainder of the transponder only flights.

Yesterday's Stats

Yesterday's Flights last 24h range Flight and plane information

Country summary

Total airframes: 2028
Unassigned icao range: 0
United States: 1867 92.06%
Mexico: 75 3.7%
United States Luftwaffe: 33 1.63%
Canada: 20 0.99%
Germany: 5 0.25%
United Kingdom: 4 0.2%
Turkey: 4 0.2%
Taiwan: 3 0.15%
Qatar: 2 0.1%
France: 2 0.1%
United Arab Emirates: 2 0.1%
New Zealand: 2 0.1%
Panama: 1 0.05%
Austria: 1 0.05%
Netherlands: 1 0.05%
Luxembourg: 1 0.05%
Singapore: 1 0.05%
Australia: 1 0.05%
Japan: 1 0.05%
Unassigned (0xB reserved for future use): 1 0.05%
Unassigned (0xD reserved for future use): 1 0.05%

Airframe summary

Boeing : 650
B737 : 414
B737-MAX : 124
B767 : 39
B787 : 22
B757 : 20
B777 : 16
B747 : 5
B717 : 5
C-17 Globemaster : 3
B727 : 1
PT-17 Stearman : 1
Airbus : 305
A319 : 82
A321 : 80
A320 : 77
A320-neo : 30
A321-neo : 25
A300 : 5
A350 : 4
A330 : 1
A380 : 1
Cessna : 177
Skyhawk-172 : 44
Citation Soverign : 32
Citation-525 : 25
Citation Encore : 20
Skylane-182 : 15
Citation Longitude : 12
Citation Bravo : 8
Cessna-150 : 3
Caravan-208 : 3
Centurion-210 : 3
Stationair-206 : 3
Citation Mustang : 2
Chancellor-414 : 2
Skywagon-185 : 2
Cardinal-177 : 1
Cutlass-172RG : 1
Skymaster-337 : 1
Embraer : 158
ERJ-175 : 94
E-145XR : 29
Phenom : 23
E-190 : 6
E-135 : 4
E-145 : 2
Bombardier : 124
Challenger : 46
A220 : 26
CRJ900 : 23
CRJ700 : 16
CRJ200 : 9
Global Express : 4
PIC : 93
Skyhawk-172 : 44
Piper Archer : 41
Piper Arrow : 5
Citabria : 1
Cutlass-172RG : 1
PT-17 Stearman : 1
Beechcraft : 79
Bonanza : 18
200 Super King Air : 16
300 Super King Air : 13
90 King Air : 12
Beechcraft : 10
Beechjet : 4
Travel Air : 3
Baron : 2
Twin Beech : 1
Piper : 71
Piper Archer : 41
Piper Malibu : 10
Piper : 9
Piper Seminole : 5
Piper Arrow : 5
Piper Lance : 1
unknown : 70
other : 52
Hawker : 16
MD-8x : 10
DC-9 : 9
HondaJet : 6
Glider : 5
Mooney 20 : 4
deHavillandCanada : 2
Dassault : 31
Falcon : 14
Falcon2000 : 10
Falcon900 : 7
Cirrus : 30
SR-22 : 16
SR-22T : 8
Cirrus Vision : 4
SR-20 : 2
Gulfstream : 29
Gulfstream V : 14
Gulfstream IV : 10
Galaxy : 3
Gulfstream VI : 2
helikopter : 28
EC-145 : 7
R44 : 4
JetRanger : 4
EC-135 : 3
H500 : 3
R22 : 2
AS350 : 2
Bell 4xx : 1
Blackhawk : 1
S-76 : 1
LearJet : 24
LearJet 45 : 13
LearJet 60 : 5
LearJet 35 : 4
LearJet : 2
military : 23
T-38 Talon : 11
TexanII : 5
C-130 Hercules : 3
C-17 Globemaster : 3
Blackhawk : 1
cargo : 13
A300 : 5
C-130 Hercules : 3
C-17 Globemaster : 3
MD-11 : 2
warbird : 3
T-6 Texan : 2
PT-17 Stearman : 1

Airline flight summary

Total : 3023
Callsign is tail number: 605
Blockheads: 91
PIA: 3
Spionen: 5
Numerical: 2
Unidentified: 62
202 flights got close to the antenna.
N7050F did this the most, 12 times.
N7050F flew nearby the longest for 33.6 minutes.
N6UL was closest to the antenna, 2042 ft away.
Busiest plane: N27190 an E45X flew 8 routes for UCA.
UAL/UA - United Airlines : 550
SWA/WN - Southwest Airlines : 404
AAL/AA - American Airlines : 205
ASH/YV - Mesa Airlines : 162
DAL/DL - Delta Air Lines : 131
UCA/C5 - CommutAir : 108
SKW/OO - SkyWest : 96
NKS/NK - Spirit Airlines : 77
ENY/MQ - Envoy Air : 72
EJA/1I - NetJets : 48
JBU/B6 - JetBlue Airways : 31
FDX/FX - Federal Express : 29
VOI/Y4 - Volaris : 22
AMX/AM - AeroMéxico : 21
VTM/ - Aeronaves TSM : 20
FFT/F9 - Frontier Airlines : 20
UPS/5X - United Parcel Service : 20
VIV/VB - Aeroenlaces Nacionales : 19
LXJ/ - Flexjet : 16
ACA/AC - Air Canada : 15
ATN/8C - Air Transport International : 14
JSX/XE - JSX : 12
SWQ/ - Swift Air (Interstate Equipment Leasing) : 11
AAY/G4 - Allegiant Air : 10
GTI/5Y - Atlas Air : 9
ASA/AS - Alaska Airlines : 8
SCX/SY - Sun Country Airlines : 8
SLI/5D - AeroMexico Connect : 7
BAW/BA - British Airways : 6
CJT/W8 - Cargojet Airways : 6
EJM/ - Executive Jet Management : 6
THY/TK - Turkish Airlines : 6
WJA/WS - WestJet : 6
AJT/M6 - Amerijet International : 5
BYA/ - Berry Aviation : 5
UAE/EK - Emirates : 5
DLH/LH - Lufthansa : 5
CWG/ - Wing Aviation : 5
JIA/OH - PSA Airlines : 4
EDV/9E - Endeavor Air : 4
TAI/TA - Taca International Airlines : 4
AFR/AF - Air France : 3
ANZ/NZ - Air New Zealand : 3
LET/ - Aerolineas Ejecutivas : 3
QTR/QR - Qatar Airways : 3
JUS/U7 - USA Jet Airlines : 3
JTL/ - Jet Linx Aviation : 3
EDG/ - Jet Edge : 3
AJI/ - Ameristar Jet Charter : 2
AMF/A8 - Ameriflight : 2
ANA/NH - All Nippon Airways : 2
XAA/ - Aeronautical Radio Inc : 2
BOE/ - Boeing : 2
EVA/BR - EVA Air : 2
DCM/ - FLTPLAN : 2
KLM/KL - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines : 2
QFA/QF - Qantas : 2
LBQ/ - Quest Diagnostics : 2
RPA/RW - Republic Airlines : 2
RAX/ - Royal Air Freight : 2
SIA/SQ - Singapore Airlines : 2
VIR/VS - Virgin Atlantic Airways : 2
XSR/ - Executive AirShare : 2
FFL/ - ForeFlight : 2
CNS/ - Cobalt Air : 2
FTH/ - Mountain Aviation : 2
TWY/ - Sunset Aviation, LLC : 2
ABX/GB - ABX Air : 1
CYO/ - Air Transport : 1
RCH/MC - Air Mobility Command : 1
TAA/ - Aeroservicios de La Costa : 1
CLX/CV - Cargolux : 1
CAL/CI - China Airlines : 1
CMP/CM - Copa Airlines : 1
FRG/ - Freight Runners Express : 1
JNY/ - Jenney Beechcraft : 1
GEC/LH - Lufthansa Cargo : 1
SWG/WG - Sunwing Airlines : 1
BOX/3S - Aerologic : 1
GAJ/ - Wheels Up - Gama Aviation : 1
FWR/ - Flight Aware : 1
BBA/ - Bombardier : 1
CNV/ - US Navy Air Logistics Office : 1
STV/ - Saturn Aviation : 1

You only need a few things to get started:

My long range setup is using a Raspberry Pi Zero and a ProStickPlus. PiZero + ProStickPlus

To improve the setup:

ADSB-in

Since it's more expensive to add ADSB-in capability and not required by the FAA many planes don't have this. Fortunately, using almost the same setup as my home AWACS system Stratux can supplement your electronic flight bag. I'm currently using Avare with the external i/o plugin to connect to the homebuilt stratux.

References and Software

gr-air-modes - ADS-B receiving software.
wikipedia ADS-B
rtl-sdr ads-b article
antirez dump1090
satsignal pi-1090
asd-b.ca
mutability mlat-server
alkissack dump1090
British Airways used this in a pretty neat marketing campaign #lookup.