BlackOut Secure · OpenWrt Package Feed 23.05-SNAPSHOT

readsb-wiedehopf from feat-add-pkg-readsb-wiedehopf

Install

After adding the feed above, install with:

opkg install readsb-wiedehopf

Configuring readsb-wiedehopf

After adding the feed and installing the package, run the wizard:

opkg install readsb-wiedehopf
readsb-setup        # guided first-boot: lat/lon, UUID, SDR, feeders, reload

The package is fully usable without readsb-setup — postinst enables and starts the daemon with safe defaults — but you need at minimum a station location (and, for most aggregators, a UUID) before it'll actually receive aircraft. Re-running the wizard is idempotent; every step is skippable.

This page documents only the OpenWrt-specific layer (UCI, init, hotplug, geoip, helper CLIs, presets). For the readsb daemon itself — every CLI flag, the autogain algorithm, BeastReduce, MLAT, pushing to aggregators, tar1090, the JSON/API outputs — see upstream:

github.com/wiedehopf/readsb

UCI options map directly to upstream flags: each option in /etc/config/readsb becomes the same-named --flag on the daemon command line (underscores → dashes). So upstream's --net-connector=… is option net_connector '…' here, --net-beast-reduce-filter-dist=… is option net_beast_reduce_filter_dist '…', etc. Anything upstream supports but that the package doesn't surface as a UCI option goes through option extra_args verbatim.

Helper CLIs shipped with the package

• readsb-setup — guided wizard. Five idempotent steps: lat/lon, UUID, SDR (gain/PPM/AGC/bias-T, auto-skipped on net-only units), at least one aggregator feeder, apply changes. Also: --status (rc 0 if essentials present, 1 if not — also reports missing/stopped companion packages per enabled feeder), --config (pretty-printed dump of /etc/config/readsb), --banner (re-print the post-install orientation card).
• readsb-feeder — feeder management CLI. Subcommands: list, show <name>, add, set, enable / disable / remove, wizard, probe, url [preset], presets, companions [preset], examples. Run readsb-feeder -h for the live list.
• readsb-uuid — generate or print the station UUID written to readsb.main.uuid. Idempotent; -p = print-only, -f = force regenerate (do NOT do this after registering with an aggregator).
• readsb-geoip — public-IP lat/lon auto-fill (ipapi.co with ip-api.com fallback). City-level accuracy. --force overwrites existing values; --self-test is a read-only PASS/FAIL diagnostic.

What the OpenWrt glue adds on top of upstream readsb

• USB hotplug auto-config (/etc/hotplug.d/usb/30-readsb, gated per section by option hotplug '1', default on). Recognises the full librtlsdr known-device list (Realtek 0bda:2832/2838, Hauppauge, Terratec, Compro, MyGica, Astrometa, Nooelec, RTL-SDR Blog v3/v4, etc.). On add it pins device=<USB serial>, sets device_type=rtlsdr, net_only=0, enabled=1, and restarts the service. On the last RTL-SDR being removed, the section reverts to net_only=1. Already-attached SDRs at boot are re-injected through the same handler so install-then-reboot behaves identically to hot-insert.
• Multi-SDR support. If two or more RTL-SDRs are attached (e.g. one for 1090 MHz ADS-B, one for 978 MHz UAT), label each dongle with its target frequency via rtl_eeprom -s <freq> (from the rtl-sdr package), then per-section option freq selects which dongle each section claims by exact serial == freq match. If no serial matches, the handler logs the available serials at warn and leaves device empty for you to set manually.
• Boot-time waits. geoip_wait_timeout (default 60 s, poll geoip_wait_interval = 10 s) blocks startup until readsb-geoip resolves coordinates — covers the cold-boot case where WAN isn't ready when START=90 fires. usb_wait_timeout (default 0 = off, poll usb_wait_interval = 2 s) optionally waits for a USB SDR to appear; honored only when option hotplug '1'. A no-USB reconciliation step normalizes a hotplug-managed section back to net_only=1 if no SDR is present, so a stale device=<serial> from an unplugged dongle can't block startup.
• Multi-aggregator feeder framework. config feeder <name> sections — define zero, one, or many. Each enabled section becomes one outbound --net-connector using a built-in preset (adsblol, airplaneslive, adsbfi, planespotters, theairtraffic, flyitaly, avdelphi, adsbexchange, flyrealtraffic) or a user-supplied custom host/port. Manage with readsb-feeder; details in Feeding aggregators below.
• Logging via syslog under tag readsb (and readsb-geoip for the geolocation helper): logread -e readsb -f. The periodic stats block (option stats '1', cadence stats_every = 120 s) is on by default; silence with option stats '0'.

UCI cheatsheet

Mutating workflows in order of preference: (1) readsb-setup / readsb-feeder wizard; (2) non-interactive helpers (readsb-feeder add, readsb-uuid); (3) plain UCI; (4) hand-edit the conffile (always works, but any later commit from anything else strips your comments).

uci show readsb                          # current effective config
# cat /etc/config/readsb                 # raw file view

# Override the geoip-detected location with your real receiver coordinates.
uci set readsb.main.lat='12.3456'
uci set readsb.main.lon='-65.4321'

# Gain. 'auto' is upstream's ADS-B autogain (see upstream README § Autogain).
# With system log_level=debug the init script promotes this to 'auto-verbose'
# automatically. Or pin a manual dB value (0..50) from `readsb --help`.
uci set readsb.main.gain='auto'

uci set readsb.main.mlat='1'             # emit MLAT timestamps in Beast OUT

# Multi-SDR pinning (only when more than one RTL-SDR is attached).
# Requires `rtl_eeprom -s 1090` / `-s 978` to label each dongle first.
# uci set readsb.main.freq='1090MHz'
# uci add readsb readsb           # second section for 978 MHz UAT, etc.
# uci set readsb.@readsb[-1].freq='978MHz'

# Pass-through for upstream flags not surfaced as a UCI option
# (whitespace-separated, appended verbatim to the daemon command line).
# uci set readsb.main.extra_args='--write-binCraft-old --aggressive'

uci commit readsb                        # procd reload trigger picks it up
service readsb status
logread -e readsb -f
viewadsb                                 # text UI of live aircraft
# readsb-geoip --force                   # re-run geoip lookup (overwrite lat/lon)

For the meaning of every option, search upstream readsb --help for the dash-form name (UCI net_beast_reduce_filter_dist → --net-beast-reduce-filter-dist).

Default network listeners

As shipped in /etc/config/readsb:

net_api_port, net_json_port, write_globe_history, heatmap, and the rest are unset by default — enable them in /etc/config/readsb as described upstream.

Feeding aggregators (zero, one, or many)

Outbound feeding is configured with config feeder <name> sections. Each enabled section becomes one outbound --net-connector; readsb shares the same decoded message stream across all of them with no priority or order between feeders.

• Zero sections — no outbound feeding (the shipped default). The daemon still decodes locally and serves net_bo_port (30005) etc. for LAN clients (tar1090, vendor feeders running on another host, …).
• One section — feed a single aggregator.
• Many sections — feed several aggregators in parallel. No fixed upper limit beyond memory and uplink bandwidth.

The init script also accepts the legacy option net_connector / list net_connector form on the main section (one --net-connector=<host,port,proto[,uuid=…]> per item). Both forms coexist and readsb-feeder list / readsb-setup --status enumerate both, but the legacy form isn't manageable by readsb-feeder — prefer config feeder sections for new deployments.

Built-in presets. All ship the same protocol (beast_reduce_plus_out, BeastReduce-Plus over TCP). Pick a preset by name and the helper resolves host/port for you. Endpoints can change without notice — readsb-feeder presets always prints the live list.

Add a feeder. Interactive (recommended — prompts for everything, validates as you go, prints any companion-package install hints):

readsb-feeder wizard
service readsb reload

Non-interactive (scriptable):

# From a preset:
readsb-feeder add adsblol adsblol enabled=1 silent_fail=1

# Custom endpoint:
readsb-feeder add mycustom custom \
    host=feed.example.com port=30004 \
    protocol=beast_reduce_plus_out \
    enabled=1 silent_fail=1

service readsb reload

Mute, disable, remove.

readsb-feeder disable adsbexchange     # keep section, stop pushing
readsb-feeder enable  adsbexchange     # turn it back on
readsb-feeder remove  adsbexchange     # drop the section entirely
service readsb reload

Inspect and probe.

readsb-feeder list                # all sections + resolved host/port/protocol
readsb-feeder show adsblol        # one section in detail
readsb-feeder probe               # TCP-probe each enabled feeder
readsb-feeder url [preset]        # public stats URL (where one is published)
readsb-feeder presets             # current preset list with endpoints
readsb-feeder companions          # optional companion package(s) per enabled feeder
readsb-feeder examples            # ready-to-paste UCI blocks for scripted setups
logread -e readsb                 # script-side + daemon log lines

Station UUID. Aggregators that authenticate or de-duplicate by UUID need a stable value. Generate one once in the main section and every config feeder inherits it:

readsb-uuid                # generate (or print existing — idempotent)
# readsb-uuid -p           # print only, never write
# readsb-uuid -f           # force regenerate (do NOT do this after registering with an aggregator)
service readsb reload

Resolution order per section: option uuid on the section → option uuid in main → omitted (aggregator de-dupes by source IP only). Set a per-section UUID only when you registered separately with that aggregator under a different identity. As an alternative to option uuid in main, option uuid_file points at a file readsb reads at startup — useful if the UUID lives outside UCI.

silent_fail semantics. Every feeder section accepts option silent_fail '0'|'1', default '1'. When set, brief connection failures (DNS hiccup, aggregator restart, transient network drop) are retried silently. When unset, every failed connection attempt produces a log line. Keep the default unless you're actively debugging a feeder that won't stay connected.

Companion packages. opkg has no Recommends field, so optional companions aren't auto-installed. Currently the only one is adsbexchange-stats — the per-station ranking-dashboard uploader for ADSBx. readsb-feeder add / enable log the install hint to syslog when you turn on a preset that has a companion, and readsb-setup --status / readsb-feeder companions walk every enabled feeder and report whether each companion is installed (and, where applicable, running) with the exact fix command.

Aggregators NOT supported by this package. FlightAware (piaware), FlightRadar24 (fr24feed), RadarBox (rbfeeder), Planefinder (pfclient), and AussieADSB use closed-source vendor clients that do their own per-station enrolment and MLAT — none of which fits inside readsb. To feed them, leave them out of /etc/config/readsb, expose net_bo_port (default 30005, Beast OUT) on this device, and run the vendor's client on another host pointed at <router-ip>:30005. Each vendor client uses its own station ID — the option uuid here does NOT carry over to FlightAware's feeder-id, FR24's sharing-key, etc.

Logging and diagnostics

All script-side and daemon-side logging goes to syslog under tag readsb (and readsb-geoip for the geolocation helper). View with logread -e readsb; raise script-side verbosity with uci set system.@system[0].log_level='debug'; uci commit system && service log restart. To persist or forward, configure system-wide logging the standard OpenWrt way (system.@system[0].log_file / log_ip).

The daemon itself emits its periodic stats block on stderr; procd routes that to daemon.err on stock OpenWrt — convention matching dnsmasq/hostapd/ntpd, not a severity claim. Silence with option stats '0'.

Quick triage:

readsb-setup --status            # at-a-glance state report (rc 0/1) + companion check
readsb-setup --config            # pretty-printed /etc/config/readsb dump
readsb-feeder list               # feeder sections + resolved endpoints
readsb-feeder probe              # TCP-probe each enabled feeder
readsb-geoip --self-test         # read-only PASS/FAIL diagnostic
service readsb status            # procd status

Uninstall

Removes the package(s) installed for readsb-wiedehopf. The package's own prerm stops and disables its service for you, and its postrm cleans up /var/run/readsb:

opkg remove readsb-wiedehopf viewadsb-wiedehopf

Optional — also discard the conffile. opkg deliberately preserves your edits on remove (and saves the package default as *-opkg if it differs):

rm -f /etc/config/readsb /etc/config/readsb-opkg