Getting Started — Feed ADS-B and Get an API Key

This guide takes you from zero to a feeding station and an API key with 10,000 requests a month. You need an RTL-SDR with a 1090 MHz antenna running readsb or dump1090 (see the hardware guide).

Already running readsb, ultrafeeder or adsb.im? One line

AvioADSB takes the same Beast feed as other community aggregators. Add this connector, using your station's UUID:

adsb,feed.avioadsb.org,30004,beast_reduce_plus_out,uuid=<your-uuid>
mlat,feed.avioadsb.org,31090,uuid=<your-uuid>

• Ultrafeeder (docker): append both to ULTRAFEEDER_CONFIG, separated from existing entries by ;.
• readsb: add --net-connector feed.avioadsb.org,30004,beast_reduce_plus_out,uuid=<your-uuid>.
• adsb.im: tick AvioADSB in the aggregator list.

Your data counts straight away, no account needed. Check it's arriving from the same network. The account is only needed for an API key: create one (step 1), then on the dashboard click Claim a station and paste your UUID. Treat the UUID like a password. Whoever holds it can claim the station, so don't post it publicly. Read the data policy for what happens to the data.

Then skip to step 4.

No readsb connector? Use the feeder script

The steps below cover stations that output SBS on port 30003 (dump1090, older setups, Windows and macOS) through our feeder script.

Step 1 — Create a free account

Go to avioadsb.org/register. Click the link in the verification email; you need a verified address to create an API key.

Step 2 — Add a receiver

1. Open the dashboard and click Add receiver.
2. Give it a name (e.g. "Rooftop Pi").
3. Optionally enter its latitude, longitude and antenna height. This is what lets the network check that your positions are physically receivable from where you are. It's stored privately and never returned by any API; public maps show it rounded to ~28 km. Without it, we estimate a location from your IP address.

The receiver's Setup panel shows its feed token. Keep it secret: anyone with the token can feed data as your station. You can rotate it any time.

Step 3 — Run the feeder script

From the Setup panel, download the script for your system and run it on the machine with your decoder:

# Linux / macOS: foreground (Ctrl+C to stop)
bash avioadsb-feeder-linux.sh

# Linux: install as a systemd service that starts on boot
sudo bash avioadsb-feeder-linux.sh

# Windows (PowerShell)
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\avioadsb-feeder.ps1

The script reads SBS from your local decoder on 127.0.0.1:30003, authenticates with your token, and relays it to AvioADSB on port 31003. It reconnects automatically.

Optional: airspeed, heading and wind. SBS has no room for true/indicated airspeed, Mach, heading, selected altitude or wind. If your decoder also writes an aircraft.json (readsb, dump1090-fa and tar1090 all do), the script finds it on its own and sends those fields too, every couple of seconds, over the same connection. On Linux and macOS this needs jq (sudo apt install jq). If there is no aircraft.json or no jq, nothing changes: basic data keeps flowing as before. Set AIRCRAFT_JSON=/path/or/url (or -AircraftJson on Windows) for a non-standard location, or AVIOADSB_EXT=0 to turn it off. Many aircraft will not report these: airspeed and wind mostly appear for aircraft your antenna hears being interrogated by nearby radar.

Step 4 — Create your API key

On the dashboard, click Create API key and copy it: it's shown once. Once your station reports aircraft, the key's badge turns Contributor tier:

• 1 request per second, 10,000 per month
• Point queries up to 250 nm, and the global snapshot /v1/aircraft

The tier stays active while any of your receivers has shared data in the last 7 days. Try it:

curl -H "X-API-Key: $AVIOADSB_KEY" https://avioadsb.org/v1/me

What's next?

• Public API: endpoints, headers and examples
• Hardware guide: antennas, range and MLAT
• ADS-B protocol: what the feeder actually sends