Step by step guide

Wingbits station setup

These guides will walk you through setting up your local system and onboarding to the Wingbits project. We realize some people prefer written steps, while others prefer video walk-throughs. You can choose from either below.

Hardware Setup

1. Keep PI powered down

2. Connect Antenna to cable (if your antenna does not have cable permanently attached) by screwing cable connector onto antenna base.

3. Connect other end of cable to USB receiver (dongle). by screwing gently the smaller connector onto it.

4. Plug USB receiver into PI usb slot

5. Proceed with either Video or Written Guides.

Video Guide

Written Guide

This guide is for those using a Raspberry Pi. It assumes you can SSH into your Pi already (OS has been installed/setup) and that you have the permissions to install software.

1. Make sure you have all the Hardware needed and that it is all (PI, usb receiver, cable, and antenna) connected.

2. Register for an Account:

   • Go to wingbits.com and create an account.

   • Check your email for a verification link and click on it to verify your account.

3. Log In to Your Dashboard:

   • Once your account is verified, log in to your dashboard on wingbits.com.

4. Register Your Antenna:

   • In the dashboard, find the 'Antennas' table and click on 'Register Antenna'.

   

   • Use the auto-complete address field, enter the coordinates of your antenna, or select its location on the map.

   

   • Note down the Antenna ID generated during registration.

5. Set Up Your Antenna:

   • SSH into your device.

   • Run this command:

     curl -sL https://gitlab.com/wingbits/config/-/raw/master/download.sh | sudo bash

   • The script will prompt you to enter the Antenna ID. Use the ID you noted earlier.

   • After the script finishes, restart your device.

6. Set Up Your Location for ADS-B tools:

   • SSH into your device.

   • Using the same coordinates (lat/lon) as when registering the antenna, run this command (replace <lat> with your latitude and <lon> with your longitude):

     sudo readsb-set-location <lat> <lon>

7. Check Antenna Status:

   • Go back to the dashboard and check the status of your antenna in the table.

   • It should display 'Online' within a few minutes (hit F5 to refresh the browser to update Online/Offline status).

8. Troubleshooting:

   • Make sure all the hardware is connected, including the antenna/cable being attached to the usb receiver.

   • If your antenna still doesn't show as 'Online', follow the troubleshooting steps provided in Debug the receiver to resolve the issue.