ADS-B - Ultrafeeder¶

What you'll end up with¶

An RTL-SDR USB dongle passed through to CT 200, running the Ultrafeeder Docker stack. Live flight tracking at https://adsb.home.example.com:<admin-port> (tar1090 map). Data feeding to FlightAware, FlightRadar24, and OpenSky simultaneously. Prometheus metrics for Grafana dashboard 18398.

Prerequisites¶

Komodo running
Traefik running
An RTL-SDR USB dongle plugged into the Proxmox host (e.g. RTL-SDR Blog V4, FlightAware Pro Stick)
Feeder accounts registered: FlightAware, FlightRadar24, OpenSky Network
Your receiver's coordinates (latitude, longitude, altitude in meters)

1. Get your SDR serial number and calibration¶

Plug in the dongle on the Proxmox host, then:

apt-get install -y rtl-sdr
rtl_test -t

Note the serial number shown. If you have multiple SDRs, set a unique serial with rtl_eeprom -s <serial> to avoid order changes after reboot.

PPM calibration: leave at 0 initially. After a few days of data you can fine-tune it - but for ADS-B at 1090 MHz the default is usually fine.

2. Create the LXC¶

bash <(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVE/main/ct/docker.sh)

Setting	Value
CT ID	200
Hostname	ultrafeeder
Cores	2
RAM	2048 MB
Disk	8 GB
IP	192.168.50.200/24

3. Run the CT script¶

cd /opt/proxmox-admin
bash scripts/ct200-ultrafeeder.sh

This applies the USB passthrough to CT 200. Unlike the Zigbee dongle (which uses dev0), the RTL-SDR uses a different passthrough method because Docker needs access to the entire USB bus to enumerate the device:

lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 189:* rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/bus/usb dev/bus/usb none bind,optional,create=dir

The Docker compose then adds device_cgroup_rules: 'c 189:* rwm' to the Ultrafeeder container. Both the LXC-level and container-level rules are required.

4. Fill in the stack `.env`¶

pct exec 200 -- nano /data/komodo/stacks/ultrafeeder/.env

Variable	Value
`FEEDER_TZ`	Your timezone (e.g. `Europe/Madrid`)
`FEEDER_LAT`	Receiver latitude (decimal, e.g. `40.4168`)
`FEEDER_LONG`	Receiver longitude (decimal, e.g. `-3.7038`)
`FEEDER_ALT_M`	Receiver altitude in meters above sea level
`FEEDER_NAME`	Display name for your feeder
`ADSB_SDR_SERIAL`	SDR serial number from step 1
`ADSB_SDR_PPM`	PPM offset (use `0` initially)
`ULTRAFEEDER_UUID`	Generate at UUID generator
`PIAWARE_FEEDER_ID`	Your FlightAware claim code
`FR24_SHARING_KEY`	Your FlightRadar24 sharing key
`OPENSKY_USERNAME`	Your OpenSky username
`OPENSKY_SERIAL`	Your OpenSky feeder serial

Getting feed keys:

FlightAware: After registering, go to your account → My ADS-B → claim a new feeder → copy the claim code into PIAWARE_FEEDER_ID
FlightRadar24: fr24feed signup → sharing key is emailed to you
OpenSky: Register a sensor at opensky-network.org/my-sensor - serial is assigned after registration

5. Deploy via Komodo¶

Add CT 200 as a server in Komodo (wss://192.168.50.200:8120), then deploy the ultrafeeder stack.

Use the :telegraf image tag

The compose must use ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-adsb-ultrafeeder:telegraf, not :latest. The :latest tag dropped Telegraf support - port 9273 (readsb Prometheus metrics) won't bind without it, which breaks Grafana dashboard 18398.

After deploy, open https://adsb.home.example.com:<admin-port> - the tar1090 map should appear. Aircraft will start showing up within 30�60 seconds if the SDR is receiving signals.

6. Verify feeding¶

Check each feed status:

FlightAware: https://piaware.home.example.com:<admin-port> - shows connection status and message rate
FlightRadar24: https://fr24.home.example.com:<admin-port> - shows feed status
OpenSky: opensky-network.org/receiver-profile - may take up to 24h to appear

7. Add to Prometheus (optional)¶

Ultrafeeder exposes metrics on two ports. These are already in prometheus.yml under the ultrafeeder job:

Port	Metrics
`9273`	readsb stats: aircraft count, message rate, signal quality
`9274`	feed stats per aggregator

After deploying the node-exporter-ultrafeeder stack, reload Prometheus config:

curl -X POST http://192.168.50.202:9090/-/reload

Then in Grafana, import dashboard 18398 and set the $host variable to ultrafeeder.

Day-2 operations¶

Updating Ultrafeeder¶

In Komodo UI: Stacks → ultrafeeder → Deploy. Pulls the latest image and restarts.

Pin the :telegraf tag

Don't let it pull :latest - always use ghcr.io/sdr-enthusiasts/docker-adsb-ultrafeeder:telegraf. :latest dropped Telegraf support, which breaks port 9273 and the Grafana dashboard.

Adding a new feed aggregator¶

Add an entry to ULTRAFEEDER_CONFIG in the .env file:

adsb,feed.adsbexchange.com,30005,beast_reduce_plus_out;mlat,feed.adsbexchange.com,31090,39000

Redeploy the stack via Komodo to apply.

Checking message rate / signal quality¶

tar1090 map → click the stats icon in the bottom left. Good message rates depend heavily on antenna placement - outdoor or attic placement with a 1090 MHz antenna significantly outperforms indoor.

USB device changed bus path¶

If you re-plug the dongle or change USB ports, the bus path changes but the serial number doesn't. The LXC config mounts the whole /dev/bus/usb directory, so no LXC config change is needed. Just redeploy the stack in Komodo so Docker re-enumerates the device.

Troubleshooting¶

tar1090 map loads but shows no aircraft

Check the SDR is detected inside CT 200: pct exec 200 -- docker exec ultrafeeder rtl_test -t
Confirm the serial number in .env matches the actual device: pct exec 200 -- docker exec ultrafeeder rtl_eeprom
Check the LXC passthrough is active: pct exec 200 -- ls /dev/bus/usb/

Port 9273 not responding (Prometheus scrape failing)

The image tag must be :telegraf. Check: pct exec 200 -- docker inspect ultrafeeder | grep Image.

Feeds not connecting

Check container logs for each feed service:

pct exec 200 -- docker logs piaware --tail 50
pct exec 200 -- docker logs fr24feeder --tail 50

Common causes: wrong sharing key, firewall blocking outbound connections, or feed site temporarily down.