The Network
At the time of writing the network has 20 receiving stations dotted around the UK from Cornwall to Kent through the Midlands to just over the Scottish border.
At peak times I am processing in excess of 2,500 packets per second and on average over 2,000,000 packets per day.
Depending on the time of day and level of traffic the system can be tracking anything from 300-2000 aircraft in realtime.
How it works
We run a server at a data centre that receives ADS-B messages encapsulated in UDP/IP frames in real-time from a network of receivers. The receivers are a mixture of people that already feed FlightRadar24 or FlightAware and dedicated receivers for only the 1090MHz UK network. The receivers are run by a mixture of hobbiests, individuals and companies.
Data is processed by dedicated servers in our data centre in the UK and made available in a number of output formats - see Services for more information.
Anyone providing a feed to the 1090MHz UK network gets access to the command line system to see the receiver stats and query the realtime aircraft information database, and gets access to real-time output data.
Receving Stations
The central processing system maintains a "Leader Board" with all receiving station statistics which are updated in real-time, like this:
Station Online IP Address Messages Drops Unique Dupe-Intra Dupe-Inter DF17 DF18 DF19 Ave Dist Max Dist Unique% Contrib% FERNHILL YES 82.68.212.65 35536188 0 19401390 8494 16126304 19373114 28276 0 60.82 357.73 54.60 7.42 TREVENBAL YES 147.147.142.18 71197279 0 37834608 12827137 20535534 37804565 30043 0 151.73 360.00 53.14 14.46 MELBORNE --- 80.235.222.210 5221666 0 1884937 1125 3335604 1882063 2874 0 29.71 358.10 36.10 0.72 WANTAGE YES 212.159.115.151 46327607 0 5984442 2576 40340589 5906782 77545 115 62.39 291.76 12.92 2.29 PENBREY YES 145.224.66.201 59582729 0 12515746 544877 46522106 12458641 57105 0 102.06 350.89 21.01 4.78 GAMLINGAY YES 188.74.92.94 30598570 0 12281465 4479 18312626 12263047 18418 0 46.18 359.60 40.14 4.70 ERDINGTON YES 81.135.6.77 26650104 0 5888864 3527 20757713 5885998 2866 0 58.30 213.16 22.10 2.25 SHEPPEY YES 86.144.182.108 30341000 0 19513073 12768 10815159 19467253 45820 0 57.94 359.86 64.31 7.46 BRACKLEY YES 31.22.14.236 22162696 0 3872489 1933 18288274 3850896 21593 0 37.70 170.89 17.47 1.48 MIDHURST --- 82.68.205.1 8475648 0 4500272 2638 3972738 4492021 8251 0 29.26 359.06 53.10 1.72 NEWPORT YES 82.9.183.219 41770184 0 10593344 3835031 27341809 10540289 53055 0 94.78 354.64 25.36 4.05 WOODLAND YES 212.159.174.117 40037572 0 15518067 8730 24510775 15102517 415550 0 139.40 360.00 38.76 5.93 WTISTED YES 193.237.129.218 34326353 0 15527826 7209 18791318 15464829 62997 0 53.68 331.85 45.24 5.94 MKEYNES YES 51.148.135.110 41446282 0 16313362 7433 25125487 16269670 43692 0 52.08 359.44 39.36 6.24 BIRTIES YES 31.125.120.155 55297837 0 25071602 1553603 28672632 24908159 163443 0 81.61 359.99 45.34 9.58 NUNEATON YES 82.14.82.141 15197754 0 3125555 2111 12070088 2928945 196610 0 49.70 255.89 20.57 1.19 BRADWTHY YES 188.29.200.5 49292425 0 13428397 8108 35855920 13398072 30325 0 127.65 358.39 27.24 5.13 BUCKSTONE YES 94.173.109.94 13650427 0 9285490 4455 4360482 9279191 6299 0 40.33 354.83 68.02 3.55 DERBY YES 86.22.106.104 27478040 0 5124334 2194 22351512 5026039 98295 0 43.88 306.31 18.65 1.96 LYDD YES 147.28.121.24 43643625 0 23914492 11116 19718017 23903339 11153 0 83.15 356.81 54.79 9.14
Aircraft Summary Data
It is possible to view aircraft summary data from the command line interface:
Ident Callsign Cty Type Squawk Wake Category Status Count Last Heard (GMT) Lat Long Altitude Station Dist(Nm) 4076DA EXS72UW GB 0526 Large Airborne 18247 08-09-2023 17:25:37 44.80006 -7.21239 37000 TREVENBAL 379.1 4026A4 GBMLK GB 7000 Light Unknown 3390 08-09-2023 16:14:28 53.92942 -1.19129 450 BIRTIES 27.6 3C6654 DLH55P DE 2366 Large Airborne 3520 08-09-2023 17:58:15 49.39215 5.15463 29825 LYDD 214.6 405B6A EZY72ZB GB 2076 Large Airborne 19991 08-09-2023 20:09:57 53.80508 -3.03538 37000 BIRTIES 57.2 507C60 UZB202 UZ 4621 Large Airborne 7403 08-09-2023 16:52:11 52.76733 6.14410 33000 SHEPPEY 244.5 4BA9F6 THY6199 TR 4637 Heavy Airborne 5081 08-09-2023 16:27:47 50.85159 4.17391 13725 LYDD 140.1 40796E EXS94PK GB 4215 Large Airborne 15315 08-09-2023 17:16:10 47.44306 -12.76294 36000 TREVENBAL 389.1 484186 TRA6729 NL 2101 Large Airborne 2260 08-09-2023 17:15:17 46.46816 1.12699 37000 TREVENBAL 386.0 406E75 GCIRB GB 7000 Ultralight Unknown 152 08-09-2023 16:51:41 0.00000 0.00000 0 BRADWTHY 0.0 40772E EZY63UP GB 0537 Large Airborne 30122 08-09-2023 19:57:01 45.50300 -5.23713 37000 TREVENBAL 319.2 C06BE3 TOM1VC CA 5255 Large Airborne 23360 08-09-2023 17:37:43 51.68468 5.65521 37000 LYDD 208.7 4072A4 TOM5KW GB 2000 Large Airborne 23038 08-09-2023 17:26:17 45.66724 -8.99975 36000 TREVENBAL 353.6 407F89 GFRGP GB 0010 Helicopter Airborne 11632 08-09-2023 17:31:07 0.00000 0.00000 1050 FERNHILL 0.0 4066CF TOM18D GB 2000 Large Airborne 20044 08-09-2023 17:35:52 46.03514 -9.00001 34000 TREVENBAL 331.4 A2C897 TFL1XM US 2122 Large Airborne 259 08-09-2023 16:53:46 49.65075 6.33896 35000 LYDD 253.7 39C422 AFR386 FR 5643 Heavy Airborne 17322 08-09-2023 18:26:08 50.93611 -11.00937 35975 BRADWTHY 288.2 02013A RAM851W MA 2106 Large Airborne 2187 08-09-2023 17:06:54 46.69245 1.24290 37000 TREVENBAL 379.7 489009 SAH53P PL 2733 Large Airborne 21700 08-09-2023 18:27:10 47.40275 2.67080 41000 TREVENBAL 405.7 407F7D EXS6PT GB 2000 Large Airborne 24024 08-09-2023 17:29:01 45.75950 -8.99959 36000 TREVENBAL 348.0 AA77F0 AAL139 US 6034 Heavy Airborne 19790 08-09-2023 18:55:22 56.66729 -6.16767 36000 BUCKSTONE 125.2 4CAD29 RYR48YM IE 2061 Large Airborne 24395 08-09-2023 20:09:50 52.99466 4.17625 37000 SHEPPEY 178.9 401473 GAMKU GB 7000 Light Unknown 7133 08-09-2023 16:21:32 52.14051 0.14824 1675 GAMLINGAY 2.6 4070EE EXS9LD GB 3405 Large Airborne 15401 08-09-2023 16:53:59 51.75226 5.34470 35000 LYDD 196.9 4009F9 BAW793 GB 0736 Large Airborne 19300 08-09-2023 20:06:43 51.47809 -0.30598 1375 GAMLINGAY 52.1 48548E KLM84Q NL 6305 Large Airborne 7925 08-09-2023 17:01:55 52.50506 4.05113 8650 SHEPPEY 156.8 4074BF HLE60 GB AMB 0003 Helicopter Airborne 6007 08-09-2023 20:09:57 51.28991 1.16730 1325 LYDD 24.8 4CA84C RYR8QZ IE 6315 Large Airborne 32084 08-09-2023 19:49:53 53.61701 -5.12141 11675 PENBREY 100.7 4CA9ED RYR9K IE 7702 Large Airborne 21185 08-09-2023 17:12:19 45.53726 -3.35150 37000 TREVENBAL 328.6 406B59 EFW2589 GB 7532 Large Airborne 7655 08-09-2023 19:48:22 51.16808 -0.04501 1150 LYDD 46.1 406A3E BAW554R GB 2255 Large Airborne 5000 08-09-2023 16:33:56 47.95999 2.76368 37000 TREVENBAL 391.5 4B1A26 EZS2185 CH 1165 Large Airborne 12673 08-09-2023 17:00:51 48.15276 2.94502 38975 TREVENBAL 393.6 40702E EXS21WA GB 5232 Large Airborne 12915 08-09-2023 17:07:37 51.80319 4.09998 37000 LYDD 147.4 4CA912 RYR7ZF IE 1165 Large Airborne 22038 08-09-2023 19:33:26 47.38078 0.40821 37000 TREVENBAL 319.1 407E69 EXS52MD GB 3424 Large Airborne 9960 08-09-2023 16:34:41 51.56545 5.22636 37000 LYDD 189.0 407913 EXS89GV GB 4612 Large Airborne 14178 08-09-2023 17:20:33 52.17297 3.86925 37000 LYDD 150.5 4066CE TOM3BC GB 2220 Large Airborne 17906 08-09-2023 17:12:20 45.15106 -6.97163 37000 TREVENBAL 352.8 405D11 EZY86RH GB 2265 Large Airborne 22370 08-09-2023 20:09:57 50.09081 -0.09346 36975 LYDD 75.6 873334 ANA216 JP 0656 Heavy Airborne 11379 08-09-2023 18:25:11 49.17816 4.50844 26975 LYDD 199.4 4CA84F RYR26WZ IE 2145 Large Airborne 788 08-09-2023 16:11:22 46.30568 0.93169 37000 TREVENBAL 387.2 407995 BAW19J GB 4451 Heavy Airborne 14173 08-09-2023 18:27:51 51.79095 -11.09001 34000 BRADWTHY 295.4 440625 EJU39QB AT 1176 Large Airborne 31089 08-09-2023 20:09:21 47.76334 0.89580 37000 LYDD 220.5 4CA8DB RYR766N IE 2264 Large Airborne 25198 08-09-2023 17:41:39 47.30340 1.11800 37000 TREVENBAL 348.8 440D00 EJU647Y AT ???? Large Airborne 438 08-09-2023 19:15:38 48.21620 2.50474 37000 TREVENBAL 373.3
It is also possible to query the database for a specific aircraft category such as military ("MIL") or Emergency Services ("POL", "FIR" or "AMB") for example:
Ident Callsign Cty Type Squawk Wake Category Status Count Last Heard (GMT) Lat Long Altitude Station Dist(Nm) 3B9B21 BELLIGY FR MIL 3377 Helicopter Airborne 1628 08-09-2023 18:30:05 49.66216 -1.63399 375 LYDD 145.2 43C4CA SHF469 GB MIL ???? Helicopter Unknown 992 08-09-2023 18:35:01 0.00000 0.00000 0 WANTAGE 0.0 43C208 BCT812 GB MIL 0411 Heavy Ground 35518 08-09-2023 19:36:45 54.27875 -1.52469 275 WOODLAND 144.1 44F681 BAF637 BE MIL ???? High Vortex Airborne 23225 08-09-2023 19:14:27 50.98922 3.50998 9000 LYDD 110.9 480C43 MMF62 NL MIL 2154 Heavy Airborne 20678 08-09-2023 19:41:13 52.13427 4.21969 12175 LYDD 161.9 43C39C RRR7208 GB MIL 3610 Heavy Airborne 6929 08-09-2023 16:55:08 0.00000 0.00000 1550 DERBY 0.0 AE01CC JAKE17 US MIL 0407 Heavy Airborne 3075 08-09-2023 17:14:50 52.23906 0.93800 3550 SHEPPEY 56.2 C2B52B CFC2963 CA MIL 1350 Large Airborne 10756 08-09-2023 18:13:18 55.22832 -3.87010 9150 BIRTIES 141.0 A1F3AA CMB449 US MIL 7545 Heavy Airborne 10743 08-09-2023 18:37:01 53.54769 -8.52394 38000 PENBREY 224.3 43C391 PZ865 GB MIL 7000 Light Airborne 508 08-09-2023 18:28:09 51.99927 -0.96036 2000 NUNEATON 43.8 43C5E8 DNGHT01 GB MIL ???? High Vortex Ground 5793 08-09-2023 19:18:25 54.30243 -1.54116 0 WOODLAND 145.6 3B7B95 DRAGO56 FR MIL 7014 Helicopter Airborne 496 08-09-2023 19:50:55 48.07026 -3.90958 3450 TREVENBAL 154.0 AE04D8 CNV4197 US MIL 7651 Large Airborne 1160 08-09-2023 20:05:47 55.40039 -6.56304 16950 BUCKSTONE 135.5 43C5E3 DRDNT02 GB MIL ???? High Vortex Ground 6 08-09-2023 20:11:55 51.75695 -1.57381 0 WANTAGE 14.2