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[EN] Become ADS-B.Pro Feeder!

ADS-B.Pro Feeder Setup Guide

1. Requirements

You will need:

  • Raspberry Pi / Debian / Ubuntu with internet access.
  • RTL-SDR or another ADS-B receiver.
  • Working dump1090-fa, dump1090-mutability, dump1090, or readsb.
  • ADS-B.Pro account.
  • Your private feeder token.

The feeder token is unique per account. In the account panel it is shown as Your Feeder Token and has this format:

ADS-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That means ADS- plus 32 hexadecimal characters. The setup script expects lowercase a-f.

2. Where To Find Your Token

  1. Log in to ADS-B.Pro.
  2. Open My Account.
  3. Copy the value from Your Feeder Token.
  4. Do not publish this token in logs, screenshots, GitHub issues, or config examples.

The frontend displays this token from your account data. The actual feeder sends it to the backend through /opt/radarview.py.

Use radarview_setup-nogit.sh. It does not require cloning the repository and downloads the current radarview.py automatically.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y curl wget ca-certificates

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/br3jski/radarview/refs/heads/main/radarview_setup-nogit.sh -o radarview_setup-nogit.sh
chmod +x radarview_setup-nogit.sh

sudo ./radarview_setup-nogit.sh

The script will ask for your token:

Please enter your RadarView token (format: ADS-XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX):

Paste the token from My Account.

4. What The Script Does

The script:

  1. Checks that it is running as root.
  2. Validates the user token.
  3. Checks whether a local ADS-B source exists:
    • dump1090-fa
    • dump1090-mutability
    • dump1090
    • readsb
  4. If no dump1090/readsb installation is found, it asks whether to install dump1090-fa.
  5. Downloads radarview.py to:
/opt/radarview.py
  1. Inserts your token into:
USER_TOKEN = 'ADS-...'
  1. Creates a systemd service:
/etc/systemd/system/radarview.service
  1. Starts and enables the service:
systemctl start radarview
systemctl enable radarview

5. How Data Forwarding Works

radarview.py connects to your local ADS-B receiver on the SBS/BaseStation port:

127.0.0.1:30003

Then it forwards the data to ADS-B.Pro:

feed.ads-b.pro:48581

Before every aircraft data line, the script sends your token:

TOKEN:ADS-...

So two things are required:

  • local dump1090 / readsb must expose SBS data on 127.0.0.1:30003,
  • the feeder machine must be able to make an outbound TCP connection to feed.ads-b.pro:48581.

6. Verify The Installation

Check service status:

sudo systemctl status radarview

Watch live logs:

sudo journalctl -u radarview -f

Healthy logs should look similar to:

Connected to source 127.0.0.1:30003
Connected to destination feed.ads-b.pro:48581
Data sent with token

Check local ADS-B source:

nc -vz 127.0.0.1 30003

Check ADS-B.Pro connectivity:

nc -vz feed.ads-b.pro 48581

7. If You Use readsb

Make sure readsb exposes SBS/BaseStation output on port 30003. The feeder script does not read JSON or Beast directly. It expects text SBS data from port 30003.

Your readsb configuration should include the equivalent of:

--net
--net-sbs-port 30003

Restart readsb after changing its configuration.

8. Changing The Token Later

If the token was pasted incorrectly or regenerated, the easiest option is to run the setup script again.

You can also edit /opt/radarview.py manually, update:

USER_TOKEN = 'ADS-...'

and restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart radarview

9. Common Problems

Invalid token format
The token does not match ADS- plus 32 hex characters. Copy it again from My Account.

Error: User token not set
USER_TOKEN in /opt/radarview.py is empty. Run the setup again or edit the file manually.

Socket error for 127.0.0.1:30003
dump1090 / readsb is not running or SBS output is not enabled on port 30003.

Socket error for feed.ads-b.pro:48581
Likely DNS, internet, firewall, or outbound TCP port 48581 connectivity issue.

Account does not show Feeder status yet
The feeder needs to send stable data first. The frontend account status comes from the backend account data, so after approval you may need to log out and back in, or refresh your session token.

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