More range, more fun - ADS-B setup updates

Quick post today...

I've updated my ADS-B receiving station about a week ago and today, most likely due to radio propagation conditions change, I set a new detection range record of 241nm (or 466km) - here's the view from my FlightRadar24 dashboard, and the day's not over yet!

Strangely most detections are due South today, which wasn't the case over the rest of the week (most are N-NW due to window where the antenna is being exactly North facing). This is the magic of radio propagation - band conditions change constantly, sometimes in most surprising way.

Right, so what what were the updates I made last week? I made only one...

Raspberry Pi meets Edimax EW-7811Un wireless adapter

This post contains my notes - what I did to make it work properly, so next time I build the system, I have a step by step guide. In case you lived under the rock for the last months and don't know what Raspberry Pi is, you should visit www.raspberrypi.org now.

I bought Edimax EW-7811Un adapter for my Pi - small factor, b/g/n type, so why not... especially when vendor says it provides Linux drivers (wohoo!). Sadly as it turns out, compiling drivers on x86 or x64 and ARM architectures can be totally different experience - especially with Raspberry Pi being in it's software infancy. In all seriousness - Pi is for those that like to solve problems (at least at the current stage), but the community works hard to catch up very quickly - great stuff!