How to Track Planes Above Your House for $20

Got a $20 burning a hole in your pocket this Christmas? Turn it into your own flight tracker. One cheap USB dongle receives aircraft broadcasts and displays them on a live map, no subscriptions, no cloud services, just planes overhead with their flight numbers, altitudes, and speeds showing in real-time.

Hardware Requirements

RTL-SDR USB dongle with R820T2/RTL2832U chipset. The blue one from AliExpress works perfectly:

• RTL-SDR R820T2 - AliExpress Price 19,00USD| Amazon US Price 39.95USD

The Software (All Free):

• Zadig (USB driver installer)
• dump1090 (decodes ADS-B signals from planes)
• Virtual Radar Server (displays planes on map)

What ADS-B Actually Is

Commercial aircraft broadcast their GPS position, altitude, speed, and identification on 1090 MHz. It's called ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast). Your $20 dongle picks up these transmissions. Software decodes them. You see planes on a map. No special permissions needed, these are public broadcasts.

Windows Setup

Step 1: Install USB Driver

Windows doesn't recognize the RTL-SDR without a generic USB driver.

1. Go to zadig.akeo.ie and download it, run the .exe file.
2. Plug in your RTL-SDR dongle and wait for Windows to finish detecting it (even if it fails).
3. Right-click zadig.exe → "Run as administrator"
4. Click Options → Check List All Devices
5. In dropdown, select Bulk-In, Interface (Interface 0)
6. Critical: Must say Interface 0 (not Interface 1)
7. Right-side box should show WinUSB
8. Click Install Driver or Replace Driver
9. Wait for The driver was installed successfully.

Step 2: Download & Run dump1090

1. Get the Windows build: github.com/gvanem/Dump1090/archive/refs/heads/main.zip
2. Extract the ZIP: Unzip to a simple location like C:\dump1090\
3. Open the dump1090 folder Navigate to where you extracted it (like C:\dump1090\)
4. In the folder address bar, type cmd and press Enter. Command Prompt opens in that location.
5. Start dump1090: dump1090.exe --interactive --net

You'll see text showing aircraft detections. Each line is a decoded ADS-B message. Leave this window open.

Step 4: Install Virtual Radar Server

1. Download VRS: Go to virtualradarserver.co.uk and download the installer.
2. Run the installer: Click through the setup. Default options work fine.
3. After installation, open VRS.

Step 5: Configure VRS to Read dump1090

Open Virtual Radar Server: then from the top menu click Tools → Options

1. Click Receivers in the left sidebar.
2. Click Wizard to start the receiver setup wizard.
3. When asked what type of receiver you want to connect, choose Software Defined Radio (SDR).
4. When asked which decoder program you are using with the SDR, select dump1090.
5. When asked Is the decoder running on this computer?, select Yes.
6. Finish the wizard.

After the wizard completes, click Test Connection. It should say: A connection can be made with these settings.

Step 6: See Planes

Open the web interface: click on the blue link shown in the middle of the Virtual Radar Server window (for example: http://127.0.0.1/VirtualRadar).

Your browser will open to a map. Within a few seconds, airplane icons should appear if there is air traffic nearby.

macOS Setup

Step 1: Install Homebrew and Dependencies

1. Install Homebrew, Open Terminal and run the following command /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
2. Install required libraries, brew install cmake libusb pkg-config

Step 2: Install dump1090

1. Install dump1090 using Homebrew brew install dump1090
2. Start dump1090 with this command dump1090 --interactive --net

You'll see text showing aircraft detections. Each line is a decoded ADS-B message. Leave this window open.

Step 3: Install Max Planes

1. Install Max Planes from the Mac App Store:
   https://apps.apple.com/tr/app/max-planes/id1450483676?mt=12
2. After launching the app, at the top-right corner. Click the dropdown that says No Connections, then select Localhost.
3. Once connected, the map will start to populate with planes, and you’ll see detailed aircraft information listed on the left side

Understanding the Interface

• ICAO code (unique aircraft ID)
• Flight number (airline + flight)
• Aircraft type (Boeing 737, Airbus A320, etc.)
• Altitude in feet
• Speed in knots
• Heading in degrees
• Last seen timestamp

What Else Can This Dongle Do?

Your RTL-SDR receives 24-1700 MHz. Besides planes:

• Weather satellites - Receive NOAA satellite images as they pass overhead
• Marine traffic - Track ships via AIS signals at 162 MHz
• Air traffic control - Listen to tower communications (118-137 MHz AM)
• FM radio - Yes, boring, but it works
• Weather stations - Decode local weather broadcasts
• Pagers - In areas still using POCSAG

But watching planes never gets old. Seeing a 787 at 40,000 feet with its exact destination and speed is consistently fascinating.

Conclusion

RTL-SDR dongles prove that powerful technology doesn't require expensive hardware. A $20 USB stick, free software, and ten minutes of setup give you a nice aircraft tracking capability. The broadcasts are already there, planes transmitting their positions 24/7. Your dongle just listens.

Most people never realize how much data flows through the air around them. ADS-B is one example. Weather satellite transmissions, ship tracking, digital voice communications, all accessible with the same hardware.

Welcome to the hobby. The planes never stop flying.