ACARS for Linux possible?
- Thread starter bobruzzo
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I will do that. I live near an airport and like planes. I'd like to understand this stuff better.I'd suggest joining the discussion group at flightaware
if you plan to continue looking at decodong aircraft data. Again, though hosted by flightaware it is not exclusive to their system - far from it actually. A huge resource of information and knowledgeable, patient enthusiasts (as well as the people behind FA) willing to help newcomers (or those returning now that software is more plentiful).
There is also an aviaition data discussion group at:
That is not as good for setup/getting started help but is a bit more general in data coverage I think (so includes Inmarsat Classic Aero and HFDL which extend the 'ACARS' type traffic when out of VHF range)
main groups.io Group
A Group for those interested in ACARS / VDL2 / JAERO. HFDL is discussed in a sub-group. Mainly to exchange ideas and help members to get the best results. Not meant to discuss everyone's 'catch of the day'. Those will find a larger audience in the https://groups.io/g/UDXF.acars-vdl2.groups.io
I think the antenna I was using wasn't optimal.....I hooked up my 800mhz yagi and dump-1090 working OK now......lots of flights in terminal and about 10 planes in map!
Worked on this program and its working well. Just not sure how to get the COLORS in the terminal. I read thru the basic usage on the github page but couldnt find anything about colors for the text displaying in terminal.Well, if you care to venture to try one more program, I put together a quick install for DumpVDL2 since morfis suggested it. Seems to be in the similar vein to Acarsdec, but I'm not well versed in what all it does that the other doesnt, so I'll just quickly post this. The github does appear to have a few example use scenarios so maybe it'll be a bit more friendly to use and get more useful info out of.
DumpVDL2
step 1
install requirement, you may have these already, or most of them, doesn't hurt to run this again, it won't cause issues.
if installing on Ubuntu/Mint, I noticed you also need to get libglib2-dev as well
Code:sudo apt install build-essential cmake git libglib2.0-dev pkg-config librtlsdr-dev libtool autoconf libusb-1.0-0-dev libsqlite3-dev libzmq3-dev libprotobuf-c-dev
Build and install optional stuff - copy and paste each line by line
Code:cd ~ git clone https://github.com/romanbsd/statsd-c-client.git cd statsd-c-client make sudo make install sudo ldconfig cd ~ git clone https://github.com/szpajder/libacars cd libacars mkdir build cd build cmake .. make sudo make install sudo ldconfig
build and install dumpvdl2
Code:cd ~ git clone https://github.com/szpajder/dumpvdl2.git cd dumpvdl2 mkdir build cd build cmake .. make sudo make install
Building and installing really does become the same few steps over and over once you get over the dependencies hurdle.
Run with
Code:dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 46
Basic Usage
GitHub - szpajder/dumpvdl2: VDL Mode 2 message decoder and protocol analyzer
VDL Mode 2 message decoder and protocol analyzer. Contribute to szpajder/dumpvdl2 development by creating an account on GitHub.github.com
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
Well, easier said than done, that's actually using a program called multitail to parse the log file and sort it out by color.
Code:
sudo apt install multitailadd this option to the end of the command you used to launch dumpvdl2 and restart it
Code:
--output decoded:text:file:path=/home/bob/vdl2.logNow we have to copy and paste this blob into a file, so run
Code:
sudo featherpad /etc/multitail.confand paste all of this inside of it at the very bottom
Code:
colorscheme:dumpvdl2
# header coloring
cs_re:green:\[
cs_re:green:\]
cs_re_s:magenta: \[(136\.975)\]
cs_re_s:cyan: \[(136\.875)\]
cs_re_s:yellow: \[(136\.775)\]
cs_re_s:red: \[(136\.725)\]
cs_re_s:blue:^\[(....-..-.. ..:..:.. [A-Z]+)\]
cs_re_s:blue:\[(.* dBFS)\]
cs_re:green:\(Ground station[^\)]*\)
cs_re:green:\(Aircraft[^\)]*\)
cs_re_s:green:\[([3-9][0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:yellow:\[(2[0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:red:\[(1[0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:red:\[([0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:yellow,,bold:([0-9A-F]+) \(Aircraft
cs_re_s:yellow:([0-9A-F]+) \(Ground station
# ACARS
cs_re_s:magenta:Reg: ([^ ]+)
cs_re_s:magenta:Reg: .* Flight: (.*)
cs_re:yellow,,bold/underline:WRN/.*
cs_re:yellow,,bold/underline:MPF/.*
cs_re:red,,bold/underline:FLR/.*
# XID
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Destination airport: (.*)
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Airport coverage: (.*)
cs_re_s:yellow,,bold/underline:XID: (Link Connection Refused Response)
# CM
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Departure airport: (.*)
cs_re_s:magenta,,underline:Flight ID: (.*)
# CPDLC
cs_re:yellow:CPDLC Uplink Message:
cs_re:yellow,,bold:CPDLC Downlink Message:
# errors
cs_re:red,,bold:.*[Ee][Rr][Rr][Oo][Rr].*
# parsing errors
cs_re:red,,bold:^ *-- .*With all of that out of the way, you can open a second terminal and run the command
Code:
multitail -cS dumpvdl2 vdl2.logand that terminal will have all the log info with colors, just make sure you are running dumpvdl2 in one terminal with that logging output decoded argument up above in one terminal, then in a second run the multitail comand and when info is received, it'll do its thing
Incredible. OK I will do this today. So far everything working pretty good. Just need to tweak a few settings. I have ACARSDEC, DUMP-1090 & DUMPvdl2 working with no issues. Where does dumpvdl2 keep its log file? I really dont need to log anything, and log files can GROW. I can always delete a log file if I know where it lives.
nice......Can you make sense outta this? Its the help file from github for dumpvdl2.....it is to display airport info. I was able to find the airport icao code for my local airport, "KPVD" but cant find "hex address" and not sure of syntax of the command exactly:
Enriching messages with ground station data
VDL2 messages formatted as text are normally logged like this:
[2020-01-10 00:02:40 CET] [136.775] [-31.8/-51.6 dBFS] [19.8 dB] [-1.2 ppm]
06A0B7 (Aircraft, Airborne) -> 29E0C5 (Ground station): Response
AVLC type: S (Receive Ready) P/F: 0 rseq: 2
dumpvdl2 can optionally print more information about ground stations using data read from a text file. Each line in the file should have the following format:
hex_address [airport_icao_code ground_station_details] [ground_station_location]
Example:
29E0C5 [EDDB Berlin Schonefeld DE] [Berlin Schonefeld]
Add the following option to dumpvdl2 command line:
--gs-file /path/to/ground_station_file.txt
Enriching messages with ground station data
VDL2 messages formatted as text are normally logged like this:
[2020-01-10 00:02:40 CET] [136.775] [-31.8/-51.6 dBFS] [19.8 dB] [-1.2 ppm]
06A0B7 (Aircraft, Airborne) -> 29E0C5 (Ground station): Response
AVLC type: S (Receive Ready) P/F: 0 rseq: 2
dumpvdl2 can optionally print more information about ground stations using data read from a text file. Each line in the file should have the following format:
hex_address [airport_icao_code ground_station_details] [ground_station_location]
Example:
29E0C5 [EDDB Berlin Schonefeld DE] [Berlin Schonefeld]
Add the following option to dumpvdl2 command line:
--gs-file /path/to/ground_station_file.txt
Attachments
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
I think what you are supposed to do is tack that extra parameter to the end of your command string and have the txt file its pointing to filled with ground station information. I found this old thread with a bunch of ground stations in it, but you'll probably need to add your own to this list if you want it to show up in the log with extra info
forums.radioreference.com
but basically just make a text file in your home directory called gs.txt or similar, and copy and paste this into it.
You may not want all of those, but its just for an example I guess. Then run the command you were running but with
on the end of the command, making sure the file its referencing is the file you just made with the ground station info in it.
The hex address is the part after the ->, the orange text if you have the multitail log going
VDL2 Ground Stations
Here are several GS identifiers that I have logged. There are a number of possible ground locations to which the messages could be directed (Montreal, Albany, Boston, JFK, Newark, Bradley, etc.) but I have found no correlations between traffic and likely ground station. Even aircraft locations...
but basically just make a text file in your home directory called gs.txt or similar, and copy and paste this into it.
You may not want all of those, but its just for an example I guess. Then run the command you were running but with
Code:
--gs-file /home/bob/gs.txton the end of the command, making sure the file its referencing is the file you just made with the ground station info in it.
The hex address is the part after the ->, the orange text if you have the multitail log going
OK the only thing I cant figure out is the hex code....not sure which ones I am seeing in terminal....I found my local airports ICAO code, lat and long, but still unsure of syntax, like how to type this out and include in my command line. Like how is the airport name and location supposed to be typed in? How would I figure out what airport the hex code is for? I see the hex codes scroll in terminal but no way to identify which airport they are associated with. here is what I THINK I have to type in:I think what you are supposed to do is tack that extra parameter to the end of your command string and have the txt file its pointing to filled with ground station information. I found this old thread with a bunch of ground stations in it, but you'll probably need to add your own to this list if you want it to show up in the log with extra info
VDL2 Ground Stations
Here are several GS identifiers that I have logged. There are a number of possible ground locations to which the messages could be directed (Montreal, Albany, Boston, JFK, Newark, Bradley, etc.) but I have found no correlations between traffic and likely ground station. Even aircraft locations...
but basically just make a text file in your home directory called gs.txt or similar, and copy and paste this into it.
You may not want all of those, but its just for an example I guess. Then run the command you were running but with
Code:--gs-file /home/bob/gs.txt
on the end of the command, making sure the file its referencing is the file you just made with the ground station info in it.
The hex address is the part after the ->, the orange text if you have the multitail log going
10412A [KPVD Providence RI USA 41.73260117 -71.42040253] [TF Green] I am not 100% sure in this example that 10412A is KPVD but I did a "find" in log file for "PVD" and a reference came up with the hex code 10412A so I just assumed.....I can try pasting this is command and see if it runs. I looked online and couldnt find any place to find airport hex codes and what airports they are associated with. And not sure if this example is the right syntax.
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
Yeah, that syntax looks right to me. The Hex code is probably accurate too, if you run it with that in the gs.txt file you can see if it gives you the correct information when new entries pop up in the log.
OK I tried running it but it wouldnt work, but thats OK for now cause I have another issue....Here is what I was using this morning and it worked fine:
dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 46 --output decoded: text:file
ath=/home/bob/vdl2.log then I ran multitail -cS dumpvdl2 vdl2.log in a separate terminal. Everything was fine. Went out for the day and came back...........But now I get this error I dont understand. I didnt change anything:
bob@mx:~/dumpvdl2/build/src
$ dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 46 --output decoded: text:file
ath=/home/bob/vdl2.logdumpvdl2 2.1.1 (libacars 2.1.3)
Could not parse output specifier 'decoded:': field_name is empty
The executable file (dumpvdl2) is in the /dumpvdl2/build/src folder. I tried running it from my /home folder and then in the /dumpvdl2/build/src folder where the executable resides but keep getting this error! If I run the simple command: dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 46 the program will start.....so there must be something wrong in the part where the --output decoded: text:file
ath=/home/bob/vdl2.log is added. Are all my colons wrong cause theres no spaces?? I cant get rid of the smiley faces!
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
Code:
$ dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 46 --output decoded:text:file:path=/home/bob/vdl2.logO boy I dont know how that happened! Thanks. OK now I will try to see if the airport location thing works.....I also found a command to add "rotate=hourly" so the log file will never get too big to deal with. Sorry I have all these questions, but there isn't much concise information except for yours!
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
I only noticed because I've spend many an hour chasing my own tail of little errors like this in the past. Its also why I have tons of sh script files in my home directory. I set up the commands I want to launch, set them to be executable, and leave them alone. If I'm going to tinker, I have to make a copy of it first.
I did make backups just in case and also copied the instructions for making and installing these programs. There is so much to tweak but the help files are too vague. I did get my local airport to display so that works. Apparently the hex code number was right. But I see all these other hex codes but dont know how to find what airport ground station they belong to. Been searching online the last hour but all I can find is everything but the hex numbers. The command to rotate the vd2.log file hourly wont work for some reason. But I guess its safe to remove contents of the file if it gets too big. Then running program again will re populate it. Acarsdec and dump-1090 are working fine. I connected an extra dongle and ran Acarsdec and dumpvdl2 at same time. I just had to specify in code which dongle to use for each instance. Do you know how to change the COLOR in dumpvdl2? The date/time and dBFS fields are dark blue and hard to see on a black background. Everything else is good.
lwvmobile
DSD-FME
If you look at that multitail config we added a few steps back, you can see those are color coding various fields. Should be just as simple as changing the desired fields to a more suitable color. And I do agree, dark blues and whatnot are quite difficult to read on a black background.
So, if you run
Code:
sudo featherpad /etc/multitail.confand scroll all the way down to the bottom of the file where you pasted that large chunk of code into it, you can edit the dBFS and time entries to a different color.
Code:
colorscheme:dumpvdl2
# header coloring
cs_re:green:\[
cs_re:green:\]
cs_re_s:magenta: \[(136\.975)\]
cs_re_s:cyan: \[(136\.875)\]
cs_re_s:yellow: \[(136\.775)\]
cs_re_s:red: \[(136\.725)\]
cs_re_s:blue:^\[(....-..-.. ..:..:.. [A-Z]+)\]
cs_re_s:blue:\[(.* dBFS)\]
cs_re:green:\(Ground station[^\)]*\)
cs_re:green:\(Aircraft[^\)]*\)
cs_re_s:green:\[([3-9][0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:yellow:\[(2[0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:red:\[(1[0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:red:\[([0-9]\.[0-9] dB)\]
cs_re_s:yellow,,bold:([0-9A-F]+) \(Aircraft
cs_re_s:yellow:([0-9A-F]+) \(Ground station
# ACARS
cs_re_s:magenta:Reg: ([^ ]+)
cs_re_s:magenta:Reg: .* Flight: (.*)
cs_re:yellow,,bold/underline:WRN/.*
cs_re:yellow,,bold/underline:MPF/.*
cs_re:red,,bold/underline:FLR/.*
# XID
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Destination airport: (.*)
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Airport coverage: (.*)
cs_re_s:yellow,,bold/underline:XID: (Link Connection Refused Response)
# CM
cs_re_s:cyan,,underline:Departure airport: (.*)
cs_re_s:magenta,,underline:Flight ID: (.*)
# CPDLC
cs_re:yellow:CPDLC Uplink Message:
cs_re:yellow,,bold:CPDLC Downlink Message:
# errors
cs_re:red,,bold:.*[Ee][Rr][Rr][Oo][Rr].*
# parsing errors
cs_re:red,,bold:^ *-- .*I underlined and bolded the two blue instances that I found, you can probably change them to cyan or any other color of your choosing. Couldn't tell you which colors are valid colors though, so probably best pick one that's already up there, just whatever is easiest on the eyes for you.
Edit: Guess you can't underline and bold in a code block, so these two
cs_re_s:blue:^\[(....-..-.. ..:..:.. [A-Z]+)\]
cs_re_s:blue:\[(.* dBFS)\]
might change them to this
cs_re_s:cyan:^\[(....-..-.. ..:..:.. [A-Z]+)\]
cs_re_s:cyan:\[(.* dBFS)\]
I refer again to the two groups I mentioned before.
There is a community built ground stations file (like many of the 'database' type files involved here it started for one piece of software but has become a kind of standard so Tomasz uses the same format allowing that same file to be dropped in whole). The conversion of the aircraft 24bit address is done using another of these community maintained files. It saves re-inventing the wheel.
I did join the Flight Aware forum and posted a couple of questions there.
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