Author: Brian Lloyd

Posted on

Raspberry Pi Flight Tracking

The newest addition to my Raspberry Pi Projects, ADS-B Flight Tracking. 

With open-source software, overhead and or nearby aircraft can be tracked through the ADS-B signals the planes transmit. Currently the flight data is sent to 7 different flight Tracking websites. (Contributor ID provided when possible.)

  1. FlightRadar24
  2. adsbExchange
  3. FlightAware
  4. PlaneFinder
  5. RadarBox
  6. Opensky Network
  7. Jack Sweeney’s TheAirTraffic.com

Hardware List:

Raspberry Pi Zero W & basic case

RTL-SDR USB Receiver

Dipole Antenna base with SMA connector

Telescopic Antenna located in my Attic

USB adapters for power and SDR connection

Picture - Flight Tracking Example

Posted on

Self-Hosted Minecraft Server

My newest project was to create a self-hosted Minecraft server. This server is publicly accessible. Feel free to login and have a look around. At the moment, this is for the Desktop version of Minecraft only.

Currently has a max of 30 players at a time.

Server address is mc.brian.ws – port 25565

Plugins installed on server: EssentialsX, LuckPerms, ViaVersion, FastAsyncWorldEdit, Vault, MultiVerse, Citizens, CoreProtect, GriefPrevention

Minecraft Server mc.brian.ws
Posted on

NOAA Weather Satellite Images

My newest project during the COVID Quarantine has been focused on NOAA Satellite images.
I recently came across a Reddit article that talked about how an RTL-SDR dongle can download weather images from passing NOAA Satellites. I was very interested and had to try it. I found several articles from different people explaining their setup with Raspberry Pi units and how they automated the process.

Ending results:
My Raspberry Pi with an RTL-SDR dongle and a small (currently outdoor) antenna, captures and decodes the broadcasts from the passing Weather Satellites.

It’s still a work in progress, this is a rough working setup at the moment.

Downloaded images from Satellite passovers – Link Here

Examples and References:
Link for Guide: https://www.instructables.com/id/Raspberry-Pi-NOAA-Weather-Satellite-Receiver/

Posted on

Audio Feed provider Multiple NOAA Weather Apps

  • I am contributing an audio feed to a 3rd party NOAA Weather Radio iOS App and two Websites. To help, I started capturing the local NOAA weather broadcast in my area to stream to the developer’s server and be available on their app.
  • Radio Broadcast: NOAA Weather Radio, Gloucester, MA Marine – Frequency 162.425
    Official NOAA Station Site: https://www.weather.gov/nwr/sites?site=WNG574
    Feed: Gloucester, MA Weather (Marine Feed)
  • iOS App: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/noaa-weather-radio/id410148139
  • 1st Website: https://www.weatherusa.net/radio
  • 2nd Website: https://noaaweatherradio.org/
  • You may also listen to the feed directly here: http://wxradio.dyndns.org:8000/GloucesterMarine
  • Technology Setup:
    Windows 10 Virtual Machine on a Dell PowerEdge T620 ESXi Server using an RTL-SDR USB Tuner.
    Software is SDR-Sharp + “BUTT”
  • I do not own the iOS application, I am simply providing a feed to it as a contributor. There are instructions in the app on how to become a feed provider.

Posted on

Migrating to PFSense

For one of my tech projects during the COVID-19 world quarantine, I migrated to using PFSense as my Home & Home Lab Router. The purpose of this project was to seperate my Home Lab from my Home Network through V-LANs and to also have better Firewall control for my Internet facing services. This has worked out very well and I am happy with the network control and results of this project.

Homebrew Router Specs:

  • Dell OptiPlex 390 (Mini Tower)
  • 500 GB SSD
  • 8GB RAM
  • 1 Gigabit on-board LAN port
  • Intel PCI-E 4 port Gigabit network card.
Posted on

Broadcastify Feed Provider

I volunteer to broadcast the Gloucester, MA Police and Fire radio frequencies to Broadcastify (Radio Reference).

Gloucester Police broadcasts on digital frequency P25, 471.58750MHz
Gloucester Fire broadcasts on digital frequency P25, 470.400MHz

The radio traffic is captured through two scanners attached to a Raspberry Pi Board.


You can listen to this Feed on a computer or mobile device. Either from the Broadcastify Links below, or the recommended mobile apps for iOS and Android.
App Links: iOS App & Android App

Feed Link – Broadcastify – Police Feed – Click here
Feed Link – Broadcastify – Fire Feed – Click here

error: Content is protected!