And what do they do above oceans? Interpolate? Or are there fallback sources of flights positions?
Flightradar24 – how it works
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Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#32Not a big fan of "data monopolies" like Flightradar24. It's as if OpenStreetMaps was a private company that capitalizes on being first into the space and having a community of contributors willing to supply data to a private company for free. I hope an open data project such as https://www.adsbexchange.com/ wins in the long-term.
Flightradar24 is probably one of the better flight trackers out there. It is well supported and has a polished easy to use interface.
They are only a “data monopoly” because they are good at what they do.
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#33I started checking Flightradar24 after seeing a few planes circle above my office building one day. Never knew that transponder data was so accessible!
You'll be surprised how much data you can easily grab out of thin air, if you probe the right frequency.
Reminds me of this DIY article: http://jeremybmerrill.com/blog/2016/01/flyover.html
HN thread here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10969447
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#34“Every civilian airliner is equipped with a special device — the so-caller ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) transponder” Not true actually: in the US, ADS-B isn’t required until January 1, 2020 [1]. Also, FR24 uses radar data in the US (probably because not all aircraft has ADS-B) [2]. There are also sites, such as ADS-B Exchange [3] that provide unfiltered flight data...very helpful for tracking mi…
Even after 2020 ADS-B out won't be required in much of the airspace in the US. Only within 30 nautical miles of a class B airport, within the lateral limits of a class C airport, within class D airspace, and above 10k feet (but not below 2500 AGL I think). Even then, its only required for aircraft originally equipped with an alternator and electrical system (except in class B). Basically, it's optional in most uncont…
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Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#35And what do they do above oceans? Interpolate? Or are there fallback sources of flights positions?
Iridium has a new service (Aireon) piggybacking off of its new satellite constellation that will relay ADS-B data from over the ocean.
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#36“Every civilian airliner is equipped with a special device — the so-caller ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) transponder” Not true actually: in the US, ADS-B isn’t required until January 1, 2020 [1]. Also, FR24 uses radar data in the US (probably because not all aircraft has ADS-B) [2]. There are also sites, such as ADS-B Exchange [3] that provide unfiltered flight data...very helpful for tracking mi…
Flightaware hardware will perform multilateration (using time distance of arrival) for transponders not announcing location via ADS-B.
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#37Not a big fan of "data monopolies" like Flightradar24. It's as if OpenStreetMaps was a private company that capitalizes on being first into the space and having a community of contributors willing to supply data to a private company for free. I hope an open data project such as https://www.adsbexchange.com/ wins in the long-term.
I thought it would be cool to have some kind of gateway service that collects the data and then sends if off to adsbexchange, flightradar and others but apparently it's not so easy. Someone else already asked this question before: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/ar3qrw/feed_to_a_sing...
Do you mean collect data from multiple receivers and send it off to various services from one computer? That messes with MLAT [0] calculations and shouldn't be done.
If you want to send data to multiple services from one receiver all you need is to install the feeder for each service. Most uses dump1090 [1], but Flightradar24 uses their own. Dump1090 sends data in different formats to various local ports by default, and ADS-b Exchange uses netcat to send it to their server. You can use the ADS-B Receiver Project [2] to install everything needed.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilateration
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#38They surely get data from other sources too. You can track planes flying across the ocean, where they get that data from?
Satellites, radar, interpolation up to 120 minutes, and receivers on islands.
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/the-evolution-of-flightra...
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/over-the-ocean-24-hours-o...
https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/tracking-flights-with-sat...
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#39Flightview also offers an enterprise account for those running an ADS-B ground station and reporting it with their software.
Re: Flightradar24 – how it works
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
I thought it would be cool to have some kind of gateway service that collects the data and then sends if off to adsbexchange, flightradar and others but apparently it's not so easy. Someone else already asked this question before: https://www.reddit.com/r/ADSB/comments/ar3qrw/feed_to_a_sing...
Do you mean collect data from multiple receivers and send it off to various services from one computer? That messes with MLAT [0] calculations and shouldn't be done. If you want to send data to multiple services from one receiver all you need is to install the feeder for each service. Most uses dump1090 [1], but Flightradar24 uses their own. Dump1090 sends data in different formats to various local ports by default,…
Thanks for the explanation. I was referring to the second use case and I didn’t know it’s so easy. So I guess it’s not that big of a problem.