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f you’ve ever used a flight-tracking app or
looked up local weather on Weather
Underground, you’ve likely accessed data
supplied, in part, by volunteer contributors.
Crowd-sourced data exchanges collect this
information and share the pooled results online
via interactive maps. The data ranges from
radio-signal telemetry for airplanes, ships,
weather balloons, or satellites, to seismic
measurements, to air and weather quality. The
end result is providing a useful service a larger
community through apps or websites that may
require a paid membership, or may employ the
support of advertising. In return for the time and
money spent to generate and feed data into their
commercial exchange, these outlets sometimes
offer the participants enterprise-level access to
their apps and services, which can otherwise be
quite costly. Some feeders might also simply want
to have their data viewable through a specific
provider’s UX, or enjoy contributing scientific data
to a project alongside an international community.
The devices that feed these are sometimes
proprietary, provided or sold by commercial data
exchanges, but are more commonly something
the participants make. For radio data, a typical
configuration would be connecting a Raspberry
Pi with a customized OS to an inexpensive RTL-
SDR dongle and a handmade antenna. Even the
early RasPi models work well, although it can
be advantageous to have Wi-Fi —built-in or via
dongle— for optimal tracker placement
With help from others online, I’ve assembled
the following listing of many data exchanges in
which you can participate. There are likely others,
and note that this list doesn’t contain exchanges
requiring an amateur radio license such as APRS,
PSKReporter, or WSPRnet. I encourage you to
pull out a spare Pi and grab a USB-equipped SDR
(they cost around $25) to play around with any
that might catch your eye. Have fun!
* These also supply proprietary receivers to plug gaps in coverage.
** Also accepts NMEA-0183 messages via UDP socket that is relatively simple to set up from generic software.
G LOS SARY
APRS: Automatic Packet Reporting System —an amateur radio system for real time communication of coordinates, weather
station telemetry, text messages, etc.
WSPR: Weak Signal Propagation Reporter —a protocol for testing propagation paths on the medium (300-3,000kHz) and
high (3-30MHz) frequency radio bands.
ADS-B: Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast —a flight data transmission system with wide global adoption.
ACARS: Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System —a system for transmission of short messages between
aircraft and ground stations via radio or satellite.
FLARM: portmanteau of "flight" and "alarm" —a proprietary system which alerts pilots to potential collisions between
aircraft, most commonly used in light aircraft such as gliders.
OGN: Open Glider Network —a unified tracking system for gliders, drones and other aircraft.
ATC: Air Traffic Control —"airband" radio communication between air traffic control and aircraft.
AIS: Automatic Identification System — coastal tracking system for ships.
APT: Automatic Picture Transmission —low-resolution analog image transmission system used by weather satellites.
LRPT: Low-Rate Picture Transmission —digital image transmission system used by weather satellites.
VHF/UHF: Very High Frequency / Ultra High Frequency —radio bands in which data is broadcast. VHF: 30-300MHz, UHF:
300MHz-3GHz.
LoRa: portmanteau of "long" and "range" —proprietary low-power wide-area network modulation commonly used in IoT,
with recent use in satellites.
AM/FM/CW/LSB/USB/FSK/PSK: Amplitude Modulation / Frequency Modulation / Continuous Wave / Lower Side Band /
Upper Side Band / Frequency-Shift Keying / Phase Shift Keying —modes of radio communication.
ATCS: Automated Train Control System —a train data transmission system in use in the U.S.
ARES: Advanced Railroad Electronics System —a version of ATCS specific to Burlington Northern Railroad. Not to be
confused with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service.
RS41: Data format for the RS41 weather balloon manufactured by Vaisala. One of ten weather balloon data formats tracked.
[/BODY]
ONEMINDISBUDDHA
is
a 38-year Japan resident, Make:
fan, and a radio and 3D printing
enthusiast. You can find him on
Reddit under the same name.
Flightradar24 users track data on all types of flights.
SafeCast sensor map of radiation levels in Fukushima.
Raspberry Pi connected to a SDR dongle and DIY antenna.
Weather station feeding data to Weather Underground.
sondehub.org/© OpenStreetMap contributors, Flightradar24, Google Maps, SafeCast, Mike Senese
M81_120-23_SB_DataExchange_F1.indd 121M81_120-23_SB_DataExchange_F1.indd 121 4/12/22 1:05 PM4/12/22 1:05 PM
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