A high-performance ADS-B decoder for real-time aircraft tracking and data aggregation from SDR receivers.
Readsb is a fork of the original dump1090 project, optimized as a high-performance decoder for Mode-S and ADS-B signals captured by software-defined radios. It transforms raw RF data into structured aircraft position, velocity, and identification information, solving the need for a reliable, extensible backend for flight tracking systems.
Aviation enthusiasts, hobbyists running personal ADS-B stations, developers of flight tracking websites, and operators of aggregated flight data services who need a robust, self-hosted decoder.
Developers choose readsb for its proven stability, extensive network protocol support, and active development focused on performance and interoperability with major flight tracking platforms, all while remaining fully open-source and configurable.
ADS-B decoder swiss knife
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Decodes ADS-B, Mode-S, TIS, and Mode A/C with CRC error correction, providing comprehensive aircraft signal processing for diverse tracking needs.
Configurable decode threads and CPU-specific builds, like -mcpu flags for Raspberry Pi, enable efficient handling of high data rates from embedded to server hardware.
BeastReduce output throttles data for aggregators, and TCP support for Beast, RAW, SBS, JSON, and ASTERIX protocols ensures seamless integration with global flight tracking networks.
Generates JSON traces and heatmaps that power web interfaces like tar1090, directly supporting major public tracking sites such as adsb.lol and globe.adsbexchange.com.
The README warns it's 'continually under development' with expectations of bugs and segfaults, making it unsuitable for deployments where crashes are unacceptable.
Requires manual building from source with dependencies like librtlsdr-dev, or reliance on external scripts, and involves detailed command-line options for setup, posing a steep learning curve.
Critical instructions are scattered across multiple external wikis and GitHub pages, such as the adsb-scripts and tar1090 repos, complicating onboarding and troubleshooting.