News
News: 19th September 2026
Radar feeder update
The "Radar" feeder software that is used to connect your receiver to the aggregator has received several software updates aimed at improving reliability and efficiency.
We observed that occasionally a receiver would drop off the network for no obvious reason and not come back until the feeder software was re-started. After a code audit with an AI we discovered a bug in the Beast protocol decoder state-machine that could leave the system stranded in an unknown state after a corrupt packet. This has been fixed.
Traditionally the feeder software has mapped one ADS-B message to one UDP/IP message sent to the aggregator and this was fine for quieter sites seeing 50-100 messages or so per second, but since we've installed receivers at some bigger commercial radio mast sites have seen traffic at up to 400-500 messages per second. We have re-implemented the software and it now buffers up to 20 ADS-B messages in to a single UDP/IP message and forwards messages when either (a) 20 messages are waiting or (b) 50mS has elapsed.
This change reduces network traffic by around 50% and is a worthwhile improvement in efficiency.
Please consider upgrading to Radar version 2.10-1 which is available on GitHub:
In most cases rename your existing 'radar' directory 'radar.old' and then:
git clone https://github.com/G8TIC/radar.git
cd radar
make
sudo make install
sudo service radar restart
should be sufficient as the configuration is already stored in /etc/default/radar and does not been to be changed, so you do not need to run 'make setup' again.
Aggregator update
Significant work is going on in the background to improve and update the central aggregator, it has been re-written with multithreading and some tasks split out in to micro-services.
We are in the process of improving the web-front end and implementing a set of web-services APIs for third-party developers.
Ham radio and KST2You
Amateur radio has a web-based chat system known as KST for arranging skeds (attempts to make radio contacts) especially on the VHF/UHF/Microwave bands.
Robin Szemeti, G1YFG, has created KST2You for microwave and VHF operators - it has a significantly more modern User Interface and integrates aircraft radio scatter prediction tools, mapping, path profiles, beacon lists and more. The radio scatter prediction tool uses the real-time ADS-B feed from 1090MHz UK.
For more info see:
Robin's Facebook page.
Robin's Github page.
UAT on 978MHz
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Ofcom have authorised operation of Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) airborne transmission on 978MHz for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) which includes Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) and Drones as part of the UK's airspace e modernisation programme. Unlike the USA where manned aircraft operating below 15,000ft are expected to move to UAT and ADS-B be used predominantly over 15,000ft, here in the UK we are seeing a different split - between 'manned' and 'unmanned' aircraft.
We have started experimenting with the reception of UAT on 978MHz from two sites in the UK (Worcester and Folkestone) and plan to add support for UAT to the existing system in the near future.
Contact us if you are interested in working on 978MHz UAT projects.
Looking for more feeders
The 1090MHz UK network is always looking for more receivers/feeders - especially in parts of the UK and Europe where coverage is 'thin'.
If you are a radio amateur, member of a flying club, or just an ADS-B enthusiast - if you know anyone with the ability send a feed to us please get in touch.