I made a video showing how I used a $20 ADS-B receiver to overlay air traffic on FPV video from my drone--in a web browser. The blog post, "Augmented reality display of air traffic for amateur drones" has more details, including instructions on how you can do the same thing.
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Arthur, it looks like full_all.json is a pretty small subset of their data. For example, here's a map plotting all the positions from a snapshot of full_all.json about 10 minutes ago:https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=1DQDmO7WqBqxTI...
The flightradar24 web app seems to use JSONP from regional-specific URLs, e.g. http://db8.flightradar24.com/zones/na_sw_all.js?callback=pd_callbac...
There's plenty of code already out there, like librtlsdr and dump1090, that might help. It looks like people have already done some work on communicating with an RTL-SDR from Android, e.g. https://github.com/keesj/android-rtlsdr and http://dangerousprototypes.com/2013/03/31/sdr-touch-android-app-for...
Arthur, there currently is nowhere to get that info online as far as I know.
Flightradar24 is probably the biggest aggregator of world-wide ADS-B data, but their data is not open and they do not have an external API. This is despite the fact that they have over 500 volunteers contributing data (it reminds me of a similar data collection that used volunter effort and then closed its data). I tend to think this is an obsolete model that is not viable in the long term.
I think this is a great time for modern ideas about open data to bloom in this part of the aviation world, and for interested people to start a completely open, worldwide aggregator of ADS-B data.
Marc...good point. Although, I would imagine someone, somewhere, just once, has used an ultralight to make some money. I am not saying this is correct, as it is not correct for anyone to currently use UAS commercially. But, it happens. I hope that someone foolishly using this technology does not ruin it for everyone. I also hope sensible laws come about which allow UAS to be used for commercial uses, including agriculture and utility work, two areas in which I have interest. Also, for disaster relief efforts, which is an area I have most interest.
I apologize for thread-jacking, as I diverted way off the main topic of this discussion, which is John's amazing heads up air traffic awareness system. I think the next several years will be interesting for this hobby, and industry, and work by the likes of John will help move things in the right direction. Thank you!
Keep in mind that Part 103 ultralights are prohibited from commercial use in the US, with the sole exception of flight instruction. With the airspace restrictions, ultralights can't ever be anything more than a hobby. The intent is to give UAVs access to more airspace and permit wider commercial use, which will inevitably lead to stricter regulation.
[ For those outside of the US, by the way, our "ultralights" are your "microlights", and your "ultralights", are our "light sport aircraft" ]
Awesome contribution to this community! Bravo!
HeliStorm, my only point is that, unfortunately, ADS-B can't be a 100% solution to being being able to sense & avoid aircraft here in the US, as not all aircraft are, or will be, equipped with ADS-B transmitters. That includes ultralight vehicles, which are not considered to be aircraft by the FAA.
As for ultralights, they are more strictly regulated under Part 103 than most people realize. In addition to weight limitations, they can't be operated "over any congested area of a city, town, or settlement, or over any open air assembly of persons", can't be operated at night, can't be operated in the types of airspace that cover many large urban areas, etc. If the FAA were to apply similar regulations to UAVs, many of those who wish to use them commercially (except, perhaps, farmers) would be quite unhappy...
Mind you, I don't want my friend to lose his ultra-light. Interestingly, he owns a farm, and claimed the ultra-light purchase was to aid in crop maintenance. He flies over his fields, and occasionally I think he has spotted some blight, but mostly he flies for fun-sake. He actually asked me once about using a UAV for similar use, as it would be cheaper to operate. When I told him technically that would be illegal, he was floored.
Marc, to go along with your comment, ultra-light aircraft are allowed in the airspace with no positioning system required, and piloted by unlicensed amateurs. I have often wondered why the government is trying to strictly regulate, or even ban, my sub-pound camera quad, but a friend of mine gets to keep his ultra-light?
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