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ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast) is a surveillance technology where aircraft continuously broadcast their position, altitude, speed, and identification on the 1090 MHz frequency. It’s one of the core signal types SkyTracker supports, and works great for tracking aircraft over land within line-of-sight of your antenna.

SkyTracker supports three signal types: ADS-B (1090 MHz) for real-time aircraft tracking over land, satellite reception for decoding weather imagery from NOAA and Meteor-M satellites and tracking 10,000+ orbital objects, and Inmarsat ACARS for following aircraft over oceans via satellite-relayed position reports. Each signal type uses its own SDR dongle, and you can run them all simultaneously.

Inmarsat ACARS is a satellite-based messaging system that aircraft use for communication over oceans and remote areas where ground-based radar can’t reach. SkyTracker decodes these messages to extract position reports, dispatch messages, and even search-and-rescue alerts — giving you visibility into oceanic flights that no ADS-B receiver can see.

Start with an RTL-SDR dongle, a 1090 MHz antenna, and a Linux single-board computer (like a Raspberry Pi). Install the open-source SkyTracker agent and claim your station on skytracker.ai. That gives you ADS-B aircraft tracking. From there, you can add more SDR dongles for satellite reception and Inmarsat ACARS whenever you’re ready.

No. ADS-B signals are broadcast openly by aircraft, and receiving them is legal in most countries. The same applies to receiving satellite transmissions and Inmarsat ACARS messages. You do not need any special license or permission to operate a SkyTracker ground station for personal use.

Every active feeder on the SkyTracker network receives full Pro access at no cost. That includes AI-powered rarity scores across all signal types, your personal lifer list, tail number stories with oceanic segments, satellite pass tracking, predictive alerts, and one full year of history.

Our machine learning model analyzes how frequently each aircraft type appears in your region across ADS-B and ACARS signals. Common airliners score 1–3, infrequent types score 4–6, and truly rare aircraft — military, vintage, or head-of-state — score 7–10. Scores update as the network grows.

Very little. A typical SkyTracker station uses about 1-2 GB of data per month for ADS-B alone — less than streaming a single movie. Satellite imagery uploads add a bit more depending on pass frequency. The SkyTracker agent compresses all data before sending it to the network.

For ADS-B, a well-positioned station can receive aircraft signals up to 250 nautical miles away. For Inmarsat ACARS, range is effectively unlimited — you’re receiving satellite signals that cover entire ocean basins. Satellite tracking depends on the orbit, but you’ll see passes across your full visible sky.

Yes. If you’re already running readsb, the SkyTracker agent integrates directly. You can feed SkyTracker alongside FlightAware, ADS-B Exchange, or any other network simultaneously — and add satellite and ACARS capability with additional SDR dongles at any time.

The Coverage Map is an interactive visualization of your station's actual ADS-B reception range. Unlike a simple circle, it shows a directional polar plot based on real sighting data — so you can see that your station picks up aircraft further to the east than the west, for example. It also displays live aircraft with distance labels, nearby airports, network ranking, and 7-day activity statistics.

FIS-B (Flight Information Service — Broadcast) is a free, FAA-provided weather data service broadcast on 978 MHz. With a UAT-capable SDR dongle, your SkyTracker station can receive real-time METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, NOTAMs, SIGMETs, TFRs, and winds aloft — the same weather data that pilots receive in the cockpit. This makes your station a live aviation weather source for nearby airports.