Feed planedata.io

If you run an ADS-B receiver, you can share its data with planedata.io alongside the other networks you already feed. It takes a few minutes and doesn’t change anything else on your receiver.

What you get

• Your aircraft on the map, merged with everyone else’s, and your name on the contributors page (or not, if you prefer).
• MLAT: positions for aircraft that don’t broadcast them, worked out together with nearby feeders, sent back to your own map.
• Ten times the API allowance (1,200 requests a minute), recognised automatically from the address you feed from. See the API.
• Your airport’s board with expected arrival times, for a screen or website. Especially useful for FBOs: see why.

adsb.im feeder image

1. Open your feeder’s web interface (the address it shows on your network, often http://adsb-feeder.local).
2. Go to Setup → Expert.
3. In Add additional Ultrafeeder arguments, paste:
   If the field already has entries, add a ; after the last one and paste this after it.
4. Click Submit and wait for the feeder to restart its containers.
5. Your MLAT name is normally the site name from Setup → Basic. That’s the name shown on the contributors page.

Ultrafeeder (Docker)

In your docker-compose.yml, add planedata.io to the ULTRAFEEDER_CONFIG of the ultrafeeder service, separated from existing entries by ;:

Use a local port for MLAT results (39010 above) that none of your other mlat, entries use. Then apply it:

docker compose up -d

Ultrafeeder sends your UUID with the data, which lets the contributors page match your aircraft data and MLAT connection. If it isn’t set yet, create one with cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid and add it as UUID=…. New to this? The step-by-step Raspberry Pi guide covers everything from the hardware up.

Other setups

readsb or dump1090 without Ultrafeeder

Add a connector to readsb’s options:

mlat-client

Use your receiver’s exact position: MLAT needs it to within a few metres. The connection back to localhost:30104 puts MLAT results on your own map.

Privacy

The contributors page shows your MLAT name and your area rounded to about 10 km. Your IP address, exact location and UUID are never shown to anyone else. To hide your name and area completely, add ,--privacy to the end of the mlat,… entry (or --privacy to mlat-client).

Where we need feeders most

Airports with many flights over the last week that we only know from schedules and history, because no receiver hears them taking off or landing. A receiver near one of these fills the biggest gaps.

Check it’s working

Open the contributors page from a device on the same network as your receiver. It recognises your connection and shows your feeder’s message rate and MLAT status. It can take a minute after a restart before you appear.