I like planes. I like radios, too. When I discovered that a USB dongle designed for receiving over-the-air television signals could also be used to receive ADS-B broadcasts from commercial aircraft, I knew I had to try it. I mean, it combines two of my hobbies, so not trying it was simply not an option.

I read everything I could find on the Internet in order to get a system up and running. All the information was scattered across various sources, though: websites, Yahoo Groups, mailing lists, emails… I downloaded files, apps, PDF manuals… It was a lot of reading and a lot of trial and error, but in the end I had a system up and running. So that you don’t have to go through all of the trouble that I did, I’ve decided to compile everything I learned into a single step-by-step post that you can follow to accomplish the same thing. By the end, you’ll be able to see on a virtual radar screen the aircraft that fly within range of your location, log that information in a database for reporting, and you’ll be able to share that data with others to further the hobby.

You’ll need a few things first, namely hardware and software.

Hardware

  • A RTLSDR USB dongle that uses the RTL2832U/R820T chipset. I found mine on eBay for $19, shipping included. I’ve read that not all dongles are the same and not all can receive on the required frequency, so read the descriptions carefully. This is what I ordered.

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Software

Only three pieces of software are required — the rest are all optional depending on what you want to achieve.

Required

  • RTL1090 is the software that decodes the ADS-B transmissions from the aircraft that are received by your dongle. You can download the latest build of RTL1090 from Yahoo Groups at http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/rtl1090_english/files/ (You’ll need to join the group first, but this is quick and easy.)
  • In order for your dongle to work with RTL1090, you’ll need the latest Zadig drivers from SourceForge. There are two versions of Zadig — one for Windows Vista and Windows 7, and a second version for Windows XP. Make sure you grab the right version from the site.
  • Lastly you’ll need some DLL (Dynamic Link Library) files that you can get here.

Optional

Now that you have the three required pieces of hardware, you’ll need to download at least one piece of optional software in order to see the results of of the decoded data.

  • PlanePlotter is a virtual radar application that plots the location of aircraft. It can also share this data with other PlanePlotter users, or it can upload the data to a web service like flightradar24.com, which aggregates data from users worldwide and plots it all on a global map.
  • ADSBScope is similar to PlanePlotter but has a limited feature set. I like its radar display better than PlanePlotter’s, but that’s just my preference.
  • Virtual Radar Server (VRS) is a simple but very powerful piece of software that plots aircraft on a map that you can view with any web browser, on your local network or over the Internet. It also can rebroadcast the data feed in three other formats so you can piggyback other applications (like PlanePlotter or ADSBScope) on it. That may sound a bit confusing but it’ll make more sense later when we get into the step-by-step stuff. If you download VRS then I suggest you also download the Database Writer plug-in for it.
  • FlightRadar24’s feeder software can be used to share your data with the world on their website. Using this software to share rather than PlanePlotter gives you access to a premium membership at flightradar24.com.
  • Kinetic’s BaseStation software is very optional. I downloaded the CDROM version. BaseStation is what Kinetic uses to map aircraft fed from its own hardware, which costs hundreds of dollars. While we are aiming to do the same thing using a cheap USB dongle, there is no doubt that a commercial receiver like the SBS, Mode-S Beast or AirNav RadarBox would yield better results. I don’t run the actual BaseStation software because I can’t get it to recognize the feed from my dongle (though others say this is possible using even more software), but I do use the utilities that come with it to access and edit the database of aircraft and flights that are logged by the other applications I use.
  • SBS Resources is also very optional and — in my opinion — very unstable and confusing. Until you’re really comfortable with using all the other apps you’ve downloaded, I’d put SBS Resources to one side.

Other Things You Need to Know

As mentioned, there are numerous ADS-B receivers available on the market. As you might expect, each of these receivers translates the ADS-B data into a different format than the others, so they aren’t compatible with each other. The PlanePlotter software is able to understand all of these formats. Virtual Radar Server understands some of them, and ADSBScope understands one. It doesn’t matter which application you choose to use to map the data on a virtual radar, all of them are capable of translating the feed from RTL1090. (ADSBScope requires an additional parameter in RTL1090’s startup, but we’ll discuss that later.)

Installation and Setup of Required Software and Hardware

Once you have obtained a dongle, you’ll need to have RTL1090, the DLL files, and the Zadig drivers handy. Don’t plug your dongle in yet! We have some setup to do first.

  1. Unzip rtl1090-latest-build. We need somewhere to place the application, so let’s create a folder on your hard drive. I recommend creating a folder called RTL1090 on your C Drive. I do not recommend putting it in C:\Program Files, however, as this gave me problems later on. Once your folder is created, copy rtl1090.exe to C:\RTL1090.
  2. Unzip RelWithDebInfo. This should give you a folder called rtl-sdr-release. Go into that folder, then into x32 and copy the following files to the same folder where you installed RTL1090:
    • rtlsdr.dll
    • msvcr100.dll
    • libusb-1.0.dll
  3. Plug your RTL2832U/R820T dongle into an available USB port in your computer. If Windows starts to install drivers for it, try to cancel it. Don’t panic if you can’t cancel it. We’ll simply replace those drivers in the next step.
  4. Uncompress the Zadig drivers you downloaded and run Zadig.exe. In the drop-down menu select Bulk-In Interface 0. (If that isn’t available then go to the Options menu and select List All Devices. Then try again.) Don’t change anything else; just click Replace Drivers.
  5. Run RTL1090. Click the options for RTLAGC and Tuner AGC, then click START. If you did everything correctly up to this point, RTL1090 should start streaming raw data in hex format in its window.

Installation and Setup of Optional Software

RTL1090 broadcasts the raw data on port 31001, so any software you install to read the data has to connect to this port. I’m going to walk you through my setup, which uses Virtual Radar Server AND PlanePlotter AND ADSBScope. All of this is running on one PC, by the way, namely a Dell Latitude D610 laptop running Windows 7.

Virtual Radar Server (VRS)

Installation of VRS is pretty simple. Just download and run VirtualRadarSetup.exe. Also download and install DatabaseWriterPluginSetup.exe. This is a plug-in for VRS that creates and populates a database of aircraft and flights for use in the virtual radar display.

    • Run VRS and select Tools > Plugins… A window opens showing the Database Writer.
    • Click Options. In the field for Database filename enter the following: C:\Kinetic\BaseStation\BaseStation.sqb (note the use of both upper and lowercase).
    • Click Create Database.
    • Check the box beside Enabled to activate the plug-in, then click OK to close the window.
    • Click Close to close the Plugins window.
    • Now select Tools > Options. Each option is numbered (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc).
    • Set 1.1 Data source to AVR or Beast Raw Feed.
    • Set 1.2 Connection type to Network.
    • Set 2.1 Address to 127.0.0.1
    • Set 2.2 Port to 31001 (this is the port on which RTL1090 broadcasts the raw data)
    • Set 4.1 database filename to C:\Kinetic\BaseStation\BaseStation.sqb, which is the database you created in the Database Writer plug-in.
    • Set 4.2 Flags folder to C:\Kinetic\BaseStation\OperatorFlags (you may have to create this folder)
    • Set 4.3 Silhouettes folder to C:\Kinetic\BaseStation\OperatorFlags (yes, the same folder as above)

Still in the Options window, you’re now going to tell VRS where you are in the world so that it can calculate distances correctly.

    • On the left side of the Options window, click Raw Feed Decoding
    • Set 1.1 Receiver location to the latitude and longitude of your location. Give this location a name. If you don’t know your location in lat and long format, you can find it here. Simply enter your street address, city, state/province and country, select Google, then click Geocode It. you’ll get lat and long numbers in the format xx.xxxxxx. Use these numbers in VRS. (Note, if you’re south of the equator or west of the prime meridian, your numbers will start with a – (e.g. 43.55555, -79.33333). Write these numbers down, as well, because you’ll need them again later.

The next two sets of Options in VRS are for specifying parameters related to the built-in web server. You can force users to login, change the port number the server runs on, specify an initial latitude and longitude to be displayed in the map, the type of map to display, and change measurement units. How you configure these is up to you and has no impact on the setup of PlanePlotter or ADSBScope later on. For now, you can skip over Web Server and Web Site and jump straight to the next set of Options.

    • On the left side of the Options window, click General
    • We’re interested here in setting up 3.1 Rebroadcast Servers. Click the … button in the field to bring up the Rebroadcast Servers setup dialog. We’re going to setup three servers. For each one, first click the New button.
      1. Name: Passthrough. Format: Pass-through. Port: 33001. Enabled: On.
      2. Name: BaseStation. Format: BaseStation. Port: 33002. Enabled: On.
      3. Name: AVR. Format: AVR. port: 33003. Enabled: On.
    • Once all three are configured and enabled, click OK.
    • Click OK again to close the VRS Options window.

If you’ve got everything setup correctly, the Connection status in VRS should now say Connected. If not, try selecting Tools > Reconnect to Data Feed. If you are connected, you’ll notice a blue http link in the middle of the VRS window. Click it to open the VRS map in your web browser. You should see nearby aircraft superimposed on the map.

PlanePlotter

You might think you can connect PlanePlotter directly to the same port that VRS connects to, but RTL1090 doesn’t seem to like that too much. The last connection forces all previous ones to disconnect, so only one app can listen to RTL1090 at a time. Because VRS is rebroadcasting the feed from RTL1090, we can connect PlanePlotter to one of the rebroadcasts instead.

Start by installing PlanePlotter by running the setup program you downloaded. That’s the easy part. Once you run PlanePlotter, you’ll need to configure a few things to get it listening to the rebroadcast from VRS.

    • Go to Options > Home location > Home location setup and enter your latitude and longitude. Note that unlike VRS, you can use W and S instead of a – to specify co-ordinates west of the prime meridian or south of the equator (e.g. N43.55555, W79.33333)
    • Next go to Options > Mode-S receiver > Beast receiver > Setup TCP/IP client. Here we will enter the ip and port number of the Passthrough feed we set up in VRS, so 127.0.0.1:33001
    • Finally go to Options > I/O settings. Under Input data, make sure Mode-S/ADS-B is turned on, and in the list of receivers scroll down and select Beast receiver TCP.
    • In order to view the aircraft, click Process > Start. If all went well, planes should start appearing in PlanePlotter.

ADSBScope

ADSBSCope doesn’t need any installation. All you have to do is unzip the file you downloaded and then move the uncompressed folder to the root of your hard drive. Once done, you should have a folder called C:\adsb_all. ADSBScope has two versions: one displays a maximum of 256 aircraft, so if you’re PC is underpowered you may want to use this; the other displays thousands of aircraft but uses more CPU horsepower. Whichever one you want to run can be found by going to C:\adsb_all\pc_software\adsbscope\XX where XX is the current version number (25 as of this writing). In there you’ll see two executable files: run the appropriate one.

Once ADSBScope is running, you’ll once again need to do some configuration to get things working correctly.

    • Start by going to Other > Network > Network setting. We want to configure the RAW-data-client port and url to match the AVR rebroadcast from VRS, so 33003 and 127.0.0.1. Click Close when done.
    • Next you’ll want to move the map, zoom in (or out) and relocate the green crosshairs until they are roughly pointing to your part of the world. You’ll see the latitude of the crosshairs on the left side of the screen and the longitude at the top. Move the map around until the lat and long match yours. If you’re having trouble and need some reference points, go to the Load Maps menu and select your part of the world.
    • Once the map is in place, go to Other > Set Receiver location to have ADSBScope remember your location for the future.
    • To activate the radar display, go to Other > Network and select RAW-data Client active.

FlightRadar24 Feed

If you want to share the data from your dongle with the world, install and run the fr24feed application. Click the Sign Up button and enter all the relevant information. For port number, you’ll want to enter the post of the BaseStation rebroadcast from VRS, which is 33002. It’s very difficult to change the port number if you enter it wrong, so make sure it’s right before you finish signing up!

FlightRadar24 will assign your virtual radar station a name (mine is CYKZ1) based on the airport closest to your latitude and longitude. It may take a while for your feed to fully register with FR24’s servers and for your premium account to become active — I had to wait overnight for this to happen — so be patient.

Conclusion

And there you have it. You now have a cheap USB dongle feeding ADS-B data to three applications and one website. The steps I’ve outlined above are the basics to get this working. You don’t have to use Virtual Radar Server; instead you can connect PlanePlotter, ADSBScope or FR24 directly to RTL1090 if you want to limit your PC to running just the bare number of apps for this purpose. There are also additional features in PlanePlotter for sharing your data with other PlanePlotter users or with FlightRadar24 — or both. You can also configure RTL1090 to output its raw data in a different format, or to use multilateration. That’s a big word that I have to admit I don’t fully understand yet. I’ll cover the more advanced options in other blog posts.

For now, enjoy watching your virtual radar screen! My range, by the way, has topped 200 nautical miles.

64 replies on “Using a RTLSDR Dongle for ADS-B”

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  2. Great post! Thanks for the instructions. Thinking about setting a server up at work, in an out of the way location, with an antenna and Ethernet connection. Thanks for the step by step instructions.
    -Shawn

  3. Hi
    Were can OperatorFlags
    it not underC:\Kinetic\BaseStation\OperatorFlags
    or how is it made?
    Thanks

    1. I emailed Beau directly to better understand what he was asking for, which turned out to be how to install the silhouette images so that they show up in Virtual Radar Server. Here’s the final answer:

      “Check out SBS Resources (http://www.sbs-resources.com/download/index.html). This will let you install flags and silhouettes. If you don’t have BaseStation, you can manually create the directories needed for the image files. Or, better, yet, install BaseStation: http://www.kinetic.co.uk/newsite/basestationdownloads1.php

      No matter which version of Windows you are using, I recommend installing BaseStation in the directory you have listed: C:\Kinetic\BaseStation. Do not install it in C:\Program Files

      Once you have the flags and silhouettes installed, then in Virtual Radar Server you can change the options so that VRS is looking in the BaseStation folder for the images.”

      Rob

  4. Thanks for the instructions….I spent days attempting to collect all the info….I started my 1090 dongle, and it worked well, but on shut down, it wouldn’t restart….grrrr!! try as I may, it refuses to start…any thoughts?

    Doug

    1. Is your dongle still plugged into the same USB port as before; or have you unplugged it and plugged it back into a different port? You may need to run Zadig and install the drivers again if you’re using a different port.

  5. Hi, Thanks for the great page but I am having a problem with :-
    In the drop-down menu select Bulk-In Interface 0. (If that isn’t available then go to the Options menu and select List All Devices. Then try again.) Don’t change anything else; just click Replace Drivers. I do not have this option in my list, when I list all I am given 4 choices: USB Human Interface Device interface 0 and interface 1, Realtek 2832U device interface 0 and HID Infrared Remote Receiver Interface 1.

    Could you please let me know if you can advise where I am going wrong,
    Kind Regards, Jamie

      1. Hi Rob, Sorry I forgot to mention that I am using Vista and downloaded file zadig_v2.0.1.160.7z. I wondered if the file had not downloaded correctly of extracted correctly so before I sent the message I deleted the file and re-downloaded/extracted the files with the same effect. To extract the files I used 7-Zip,

        Kind Regardsm Jamie

        1. You might want to try starting again from scratch. First unplug your dongle from your PC, then go into the Device Manager. Click the triangle for Universal Serial Bus devices (not controllers) and remove each Bulk-In Interface by right-clicking on it and selecting Uninstall. Reboot. Plug in your dongle, install the Zadig drivers, and see if that works for you.

        2. Geez, I can’t believe I missed this in your first comment: Realtek 2832U device interface 0. That is the R2832U dongle. Try selecting that in the Zadig install.

          I’m coming down with a cold — that’s the only excuse I have for not noticing this in the first place. 🙁

  6. You’ll realise by my questions that I’m a newcomer to all this 🙂 But…. is the little antenna that comes with the dongle sufficient for good reception for these purposes? Would a Diamond discone do as good a job or better?

    Warm regards,
    Jim

    1. Hi, Jim. The small antenna that comes with the dongles works great for me…but I’m on the 7th floor of an apartment building. My average maximum range is around 190 nautical miles but I’ve had more than a dozen hits out to more than 340 nautical miles. Every situation is different, but generally the higher up you can get the antenna, the better. I’d suggest trying the antenna that comes with the dongle first — you may have to move it around to get the best reception for your area — and if you find the results aren’t to your liking, look for an alternative then.

      Rob

  7. Many thanks for that, Rob. Any thoughts as to whether or not a Diamond discone would be suitable as an outside antenna? I have one sitting in the garage unused at the moment.

    Warm regards,
    Jim

    1. From the reading I’ve done, a discone will suffer some loss when used for ADS-B because of its even sensitivity across a wide range of frequencies. Your range will suffer as a result.

      Rob

  8. Ah right! Again, many thanks for your reply and all the info you’ve kindly supplied here.

    Warm regards,
    Jim

  9. I have not been able to establish a connection with the settings it says no connection could be made because the taregt machine actively refused 127.0.0.1:31001

    I am using a windows & pc withthe RTL Dongle and Planeplotter and I want to set up VRS on my opther PC on Windows Vista which is connected to the network

    Does this require me to add to the windows firewall permission. If so what do I have to do?

    1. Geoff, the ip address 127.0.0.1 is what’s known as a ‘loopback’ address. In other words, it loops back to the same machine that you’re working with. It isn’t a legitimate ip address on any network. What you need to do is find out the ip address of the pc on which you have RTL1090 running. Go to that computer and click the Start menu, then go to All Programs, Accessories, and click Command Prompt. In the window that opens, type ‘ipconfig’ (without the quotes) and hit return. You’ll get a list of information about your computer’s network connections. If your computer has a network cable plugged into it, look for the section called ‘Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection.’ If your computer is wirelessly connected to your network, look for ‘Wireless LAN adapter Wireless Network Connection.’ Under the appropriate section is an entry for IPv4 Address. The numbers to the right of that are the ip address for your computer on your network. (Mine is 192.168.0.13.) You need to use your computer’s IPv4 address as the one to connect to in Virtual Radar Server on your other computer. Hope that helps you, Rob.

      1. Thanks for that tip. I used ipconfig to recheck the address of my old XP in the basement, running RTL1090, and it had changed. (I think I was using a wifi dongle before, and it’s now back on the regular NIC).
        Now I’m able to use adsbScope upstairs, to see what RTL1090 is decoding! 🙂

        Cheers,
        Rich

  10. Hey Rob,

    When I go in the X32 folder there is no msvcr100.dll to copy and put in the RTL1090, am I missing it somewhere?

    1. That’s strange. I redownloaded the library to be sure, and you’re correct: it’s gone! Don’t panic, though: I’ve uploaded it to this site and you can download it using this link. Rob

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  13. Hi Rob,
    i have a question Rebroadcast Servers
    let say you have one for 31001 can you have two programs on the same port at the same time?
    Thanks Beau

    1. Yes, you certainly can. I have had several apps all connecting to the same rebroadcast port with no issues.
      Rob

  14. Hi Rob, I remember you had a problem with squawks not showing in Basestation using RTL1090, I appear to be having the same problem,only one squawk shown in 5hours running. I used the recommended set up as per Francois F5ANN site and everything works fine apart from the above…I’m using XP sp3 32bit on a Samsung N130 netbook. Any ideas/thoughts??

  15. I have searched in the Internet and I found out that there is a way to
    use a raspberry pi or a MK802 systems in order to share live data
    continuously. My problem is that I am using as a receiver the wellknown Nooelec
    SDR-DVB dongle and the data are decoded by the usual software RTL10190
    of jetvision.de, as you describe above. If I had an autonomous receiver the whole procedure could be more easy.

    I have a MK802 system which at the moment is running android and it
    can be connected with these sdr dongles by loading the appropriate
    drivers, which exist and you can make your tablet as a Software
    Defined Radio. However, as far as I have searched, I did not find such
    kind of ads-b 1090 decoders (applet) for android or linux.

    Could you please inform me if this try is in vain or they this kind of
    programs or any other procedure does exist in order to make this MK802
    running 24/7 and providing ads-b data.

    1. Hi, Gus. I have a Raspberry Pi and had read the same thing as you: that it can be used to share live data. FlightRadar24 has a Linux version of its feeder software that will run on the Pi. However, there are currently no applications available for Linux (that I know of) that will decode the data from an SDR dongle, so you have no way of getting the data to the sharing software unless you decode the data on a Windows PC. So your all-in-one-box solution using Linux will have to wait.

      1. Rob thank you very much for the information provided. Atleast you confirmed that this project could not be done.

        1. Gus, I’ve done more research into the RTLDSR dongles and the Raspberry pi…and it turns out there is decoder software available! It has taken me two days but I now have my Raspberry Pi serving ADS-B data to ADSBScope on a Windows machine. I’ll write up a tutorial soon, but one thing to know up front is that the number of aircraft isn’t as high as I’m getting simultaneously with RTL1090 (or even ADSB#). If you don’t want to wait for my tutorial, do an Internet search for “dump1090.”

          1. Rob, thank you very much for your interest. I searched for “dump1090”, I found some sites and valuable information, however I am going to wait for your tutorial, because it is going to be well written and very informative, as always.

    1. Great video, Gus. And thanks for mentioning this site in it! Glad everything is working for you.

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  18. I’m not having any success in linking adsbScope on my home computer to a remote laptop with RTL1090 and anRTLSDR USB dongle connected to the Internet using a 3 Mobile dongle.

    I have set up an address on the laptop using No-IP and have put that address in the adsbScope network settings URL field.

    When starting Raw-data client after a while I get an error message Client: Fehler 10060.

    Is this because 3 do not issue a unique IP address?

    1. I know nothing about 3 Mobile but my first thought is that it’s a firewall issue. Is RTL1090 serving on its default port of 31001 and is that the port you have specified in ADSBScope? If so, it may be that you need to allow traffic on port 31001 in the firewall on your remote laptop. Does the 3 Mobile dongle even allow connections on the port you’re trying to use?

  19. Hi..

    Just a quick question on the data being collected by the dongle. How do I store it for future reference. I have a special interest in the flight data for my local lifeboat station (I’m currently crew) as it could have an impact on whether we get a new RNLI Shannon class lifeboat.

    Many thanks

    Declan

    1. I don’t think you can save it directly from RTL1090 but if you pipe the data into a virtual radar application then some of those can log it. BaseStation, for example, can create an log file that you can playback at a later date; I believe PlanePlotter may do the same thing. I’m not sure about ADSBScope but I think Globe-S Mini can also create the RPT file used by BaseStation. You may want to follow up with the developers or support forums for each of those apps.

  20. Hi Rob

    I’m trying do follow you step by step with the exact same dongle, but with little luck.

    When I run zadig it shows no devices, and when I choose Options->List all devices it terminates with a windows message saying Zadig stopped working. So I’m stuck with the standard drivers (windows says it’s a keybord, maybe because of the wireless remote control?)
    RTL1090 was able to see the device but gives error messages like ‘cannot set freq:-1″ . Now I have reset the laptop to before installation

    Any Ideas? (The PC is a Dell Latitude E6530)

    1. Do you have the right Zadig drivers? There is one set for Windows 7/Vista and a second for XP. Make sure you’ve grabbed the right one. Also ensure the dongle is firmly inserted into the USB port before you run Zadig.

        1. Looks like you’ve been busy. The only thing I can suggest at this point, which I haven’t seen anyone suggest in the other forum, is to run Zadig as an administrator. First, though, I would disable and remove the drivers that have been installed for the dongle as others have suggested through the Device Hardware function. Then reboot. Then plug the dongle in and let Windows do whatever it wants with it. Once Windows is done, right-click on your Zadig installer and choose “Run as administrator.” See if that helps.

    2. Hi Knub,

      I got the same issue with an EzCap stick. Turns out it has an FC0012 tuner instead of the E4000 expected. Check RTL1090 log messages to see which chipset you got…

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  22. hi all, not sure if this is the right place for this, but, how do i install two dongles on one pc to run sdr & rtl 1090?, i have been running a dongle (zadig drivers) rtl 1090 & planeplotter for a while now & want to use the second dongle as a scanner/acars receiver using sdr & a virtual audio cable, but everyt ime i plug the second dongle in, windows (XP) starts the hardware installer (found new hardware), then just as it starts, it kicks onto the dreaded windows blue screen of death,, just cannot seem to find a workaround for it ,
    cheers
    john

    1. My only suggestion to solve your dilemma would be to serialize the dongles using RTL1090. If you have build 100 of RTL1090, read the release.txt notes that came with it for instructions on how to serialize the dongles.

  23. Hi.
    I hope someone can help me get VirtualRadar going. I suspect (hope) I’m missing a simple permission setting.
    I’m running Windows 7. I have a dongle that I can connect up with RTL1090 and ADSB# at will and feed their outputs into ADSBscope with no problems.
    When I try to use VirtualRadar instead of ADSBscope it connects up to the Dongle okay (whether through RTL1090 or ADSB#). I do get a popup telling me it can’t start the web server on port 80.(During installation I specified port 8080, but I’ll deal with that another day). When I then click the “Take Online” button, I get a nasty error message about “Cannot access a disposed object”. Finally, when I click on the link http://127.0.0.1/VirtualRadar, my browser (Chrome) opens a tab but tells me that there’s nothing to see there.

    Log file contents included below.
    Any suggestions would be approciated.

    Thanks,
    adm

    Log file:

    [2013-05-24 18:41:56.997 UTC] [t3] Program started, version 1.2.4.36814
    [2013-05-24 18:41:57.001 UTC] [t3] Working folder C:\Users\andrew\AppData\Local\VirtualRadar
    [2013-05-24 18:41:57.502 UTC] [t3] Caught exception when starting web server: System.Net.HttpListenerException: Access is denied
    at System.Net.HttpListener.AddAll()
    at System.Net.HttpListener.Start()
    at VirtualRadar.WebServer.WebServer.DefaultProvider.StartListener()
    at VirtualRadar.WebServer.WebServer.set_Online(Boolean value)
    at VirtualRadar.Library.Presenter.SplashPresenter.StartWebSite()
    [2013-05-24 18:43:59.814 UTC] [t1] An unhandled exception was caught: Cannot access a disposed object.
    Object name: ‘System.Net.HttpListener’.
    Full message:System.ObjectDisposedException: Cannot access a disposed object.
    Object name: ‘System.Net.HttpListener’.
    at System.Net.HttpListener.CheckDisposed()
    at System.Net.HttpListener.get_Prefixes()
    at VirtualRadar.WebServer.WebServer.DefaultProvider.get_ListenerPrefix()
    at VirtualRadar.WebServer.WebServer.DefaultProvider.set_ListenerPrefix(String value)
    at VirtualRadar.WebServer.WebServer.set_Online(Boolean value)
    at VirtualRadar.Library.Presenter.MainPresenter.View_ToggleServerStatus(Object sender, EventArgs args)
    at VirtualRadar.WinForms.MainView.OnToggleServerStatus(EventArgs args)
    at VirtualRadar.WinForms.MainView.webServerStatusControl_ToggleServerStatus(Object sender, EventArgs e)
    at VirtualRadar.WinForms.Controls.WebServerStatusControl.OnToggleServerStatus(EventArgs args)
    at VirtualRadar.WinForms.Controls.WebServerStatusControl.buttonToggleServerStatus_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnClick(EventArgs e)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnClick(EventArgs e)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Button.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mevent)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
    at System.Windows.Forms.ButtonBase.WndProc(Message& m)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Button.WndProc(Message& m)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
    at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
    at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

  24. Pingback: SonicGoose.com | Using Globe-S RTL Edition with RTL1090

  25. I cannot get zadig to install the drivers. I follow all of the procedures listed, have the correct version of zadig for Win7 64 bit, and see bulkin-interface0, click on install and immediately get installation failed. Yes I am running it as an admin. Any ideas. I did all of these steps exactly as listed: Unzip RelWithDebInfo. This should give you a folder called rtl-sdr-release. Go into that folder, then into x32 and copy the following files to the same folder where you installed RTL1090:

    rtlsdr.dll
    msvcr100.dll
    libusb-1.0.dll

    I have repeatedly gone to device mgr. to see the exclamation pt by bulk-in interface and uninstall, then start over. I’ve been working on this for days. I really want this to work. Thanks!

    1. Hey, Joe. I assume you have the dongle plugged into a spare USB port when you run the Zadig installer…?

      1. Yes, I have tried all 3 USB ports. I have nothing else plugged into these ports, no other USB ext. devices.

        J

  26. Hi

    Just wanted to say THANKS for the instructions. Nice to have them set up all in one place!

    Got it running in a VM running Windows8 on my MacBook Air.

  27. Running adsb# and Virtual Radar Server, I setup rebroadcast server port 33001 in Virtual Radar Server. I’m using the RTL R820T and trying to run SBSplotter. What format does SBSplotter need Pass-through/Basestation/AVR? Also how long does SBSplotter need to run to start showing messages received and rates?

  28. Hi,
    Great Site

    I have just set up my receiver and PP, Is there any way to make the report dates match with my local time instead of UTC? and is there anyway to make my reports create a log similar to your flights but only on my pc?

    Thanks

    1. Thanks, Ben. Aviation in general uses UTC/GMT/Zulu Time, so it makes sense that the reports also use that time. I’m not sure if there is a way to change that in PP. I would suggest asking your questions in the PlanePlotter Yahoo group, which is the first link on this page: http://www.coaa.co.uk/planeplottersupport.htm I’m really not very familiar with the reporting options in PP, but I do know you can have PP automatically generate reports. File > Report > Setup Report Format then setup the “Automatic reports at intervals of X minutes.” A day is 1440 minutes long.

  30. Pingback: SonicGoose | Connecting PlanePlotter directly to RTL1090

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