BYOD — Bring Your Own Device
Use Your Own ADS-B Receiver
Already have a Stratux ADS-B receiver? Want to build your own pilotADSB receiver? Just flash our free firmware and get the exact same Drone Pilot ADS-B experience as our own receivers — Bluetooth auto-connect, pressure sensor and AHRS support. We support Pi 3B+ and Pi 4B boards.
What You Need
| Item | Requirement | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry Pi | ✅ Tested Pi 3B+ or Pi 4 | Other Pi models with RTL-SDR should work but are untested |
| RTL-SDR Dongle | 1090 ES, plus 978 UAT (US) or 868 OGN (EU) | Two dongles recommended for full traffic coverage. A single dongle works for 1090 ES only. |
| microSD Card | 8 GB minimum | Class 10 or faster. The image needs about 5 GB once written — a 4 GB card will not work. We use Kexin cards in our own production units with excellent results. SanDisk and Samsung also work great. Avoid cheap no-name cards. |
| SD Card Reader | Required | To connect the microSD to your PC for flashing |
| BalenaEtcher | Free download | etcher.balena.io — Windows, Mac, and Linux |
Built for pilotADSB, from the ground up
pilotADSBos is our own receiver firmware — not a Stratux fork, not a patched community image. We wrote it from scratch so that everything a receiver has to do is handled by one self-contained program, with no scripts to break, no packages to drift, and nothing to configure by hand.
Flash the card and power it on. The receiver identifies its own hardware — one SDR or two, GNSS, AHRS, pressure sensor — and configures itself. It works out where in the world it is from the first GPS fix and selects the right bands automatically: 1090 ES and 978 UAT across North America, or 868 OGN elsewhere. It serves traffic over both Bluetooth and WiFi at the same time, failing over instantly between them, so a dropped WiFi connection never costs you your traffic display.
Where a HAT is fitted, attitude and pressure altitude are detected and enabled on their own, and AHRS calibration is a single button push and one short 100-200 ft drive — no menus, no orientation charts, no guessing which way the box is pointing.
Under the surface it is built like equipment rather than a hobby project. The root filesystem is read-only, so a power cut cannot corrupt it. Every image is reproducible — built from pinned sources with no downloads at build time, so the same commit always produces the same firmware. The receiver monitors its own power and temperature and reports problems in plain language, distinguishing a failing USB cable from a hot enclosure instead of leaving you to guess. Firmware updates install over the air from the app — no card removal for most releases.
This is the identical firmware we ship on our own pilotADSB receivers, so a unit you build yourself behaves exactly like one you buy. In recent testing a Raspberry Pi 3B ran for nearly three hours in 96 °F direct sun, decoding over 3,000 messages per minute, without a single dropped frame or thermal throttle.
⬇ Download pilotADSBos 0.24.21 (566 MB)SHA256 checksum is published on the GitHub releases page. Always verify your download before flashing.
How to Flash the Firmware
Download and Install Balena Etcher
Go to etcher.balena.io and download the free app for your operating system. Install and open it.
Download the Firmware
Download the firmware using the button above. You will get a file ending in .img.xz — do not decompress it. BalenaEtcher reads compressed images directly.
Insert Your SD Card
Insert your microSD card into your card reader and connect it to your PC. Use a card of at least 8 GB, Class 10 speed or faster.
Flash with Balena Etcher
In BalenaEtcher: click Flash from file → select the downloaded .img.xz file → click Select target → choose your SD card → click Flash. Wait for both the flash and the verification to complete. This takes a few minutes.
Insert the Card and Power On
Eject the card from your PC and insert it into your Raspberry Pi. Connect your RTL-SDR dongle(s) and GPS, then power on via USB. Use a quality 5V power supply — a stable voltage is important (see the note below).
Wait About 2 Minutes for First Boot
The first boot takes up to 2 minutes while the receiver identifies its own hardware and creates a WiFi name unique to your unit. Do not power it off during this time. Later boots are much quicker.
Connect and Go
On your Android device open the pilotADSB-UAS app, accept the terms & conditions, then allow the permissions the app asks for. Select Connect to Bluetooth Receiver and the app will find your receiver automatically. The setup and connection process is identical to a PilotADSB.com receiver. Once connected over Bluetooth you are LIVE, and your traffic count appears at the bottom of the screen.
Receiver WiFi Details
You do not normally need these. All settings are made in the pilotADSB app over Bluetooth. They are here for when you want a tablet or an EFB to receive traffic over WiFi instead.
pilotADSBos has no web page to log into — the receiver is configured entirely from the app. Every unit gets its own WiFi name, so several receivers can run side by side without clashing.
⚡ Use a Good 5 V Power Supply
Raspberry Pi boards are sensitive to voltage sag, and a marginal supply or a worn USB cable is the most common cause of trouble — dropped traffic, restarts, or a receiver that quietly underperforms. Use a quality 5 V / 2.5 A or better supply with a short, good-quality cable.
pilotADSBos monitors its own supply voltage and temperature continuously. If the power sags, the app tells you plainly to check the cable and port instead of leaving you guessing — and it distinguishes a power problem from a hot enclosure, because the fix is different.
If the Bluetooth controller ever locks up, the receiver detects it and restores the connection on its own, with no action needed from you.
Need Help?
Most BYOD issues come down to SD card quality, USB power supply capacity, or connection mode selection. If you're stuck, post in our community forum with your Pi model, Android version, and a description of what's happening. Our team and fellow pilots are there to help.
Questions About Your Setup?
Our community forum is the fastest way to get answers from our team and fellow pilots.
Visit the Forum Support Page