Radarcape:Installation Guide

Required computer skills to execute these tasks: Beginner

Radarcape Hardware Installation

Plug the following connectors into the Radarcape:

• Mode-S antenna
• GPS antenna
• Ethernet/LAN cable
• Power cable

Connect the power supply with the electrical outlet.

Mode-S-Antenna Placement

The Mode-S antenna should be placed as free and as high as possible.

Make sure the Mode-S antenna has a conductive connection with protective ground. Otherwise, static electricity may cause damage to your Radarcape.

GPS Antenna Placement

The GPS antenna should be placed to a point with at least half of the sky in free sight, for example a window sill. Some users reported running the GPS antenna indoors. This is not guaranteed to work.

Hostname and Network Address

Network devices can be accessed in two ways:

• via IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.157)
• via hostname (e.g., radarcape)

The IP address is provided to your Radarcape during startup via the http://en.wikipedia.org Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol] (DHCP) service. Usually, your Internet router provides the DHCP service in your network and assigns an IP address to your device. A fixed address can be configured via the Linux command line.

DHCP listing of a DD-WRT router showing hostnames RC70 and RC71 as 192.168.1.180 and 192.168.1.133

DHCP listing of a Fritzbox showing hostname RC23 as 192.168.178.36

Fixed addresses can be assigned configured via the Linux command line. For the configuration of a fixed IP address, please refer to one of the Linux manuals you can find in the Internet.

The hostname is a given name that is stored internally in your device (see /etc/hostname). If there is no label on the back side of your Radarcape, the hostname is radarcape.

Note: Some router models require appending the .local to the hostname. In this case radarcape.local must be used instead of simply radarcape.

Linux Command Line Interfaces

For some special cases it is necessary to access the linux system console. There are two ways how to connect to the Linux system:

• SSH through the network (recommended)
• Back side Mini USB connector (only hardware versions with SN 1302-XXXX)

SH Access to the Radarcape Using Putty

We recommend Putty as SSH client on Windows. Download the Putty executable from http://www.putty.org. Start Putty, set the Connection Type to SSH, and the Host Name to radarcape.

Click on the Open button and the login screen appears. Enter the username root and press enter when being asked for your password (or the password if you have set one).

Accessing the Linux Console via USB

The Radarcape has 2 USB connectors:

• A standard USB type A on the front panel, e.g., for memory sticks, DVB-T sticks or other extensions
• A micro USB connector on the back side. This allows you to connect to the Linux console via a virtual serial device

Note: The Linux console via the micro USB interface is only available on hardware versions with serial number SN 1302-XXXX

Take a USB cable and connect the back side USB. Check in the device manager that a COM port becomes created.

Device Manager view without a Radarcape console COM port

Device Manager view without a Radarcape console COM port

• If it does, skip the FTDI driver installation.
• If not, perform the FTDI driver installation and check if the COM port appears.

Parameters of this COM port are 115200 Bit/sec 8N1.

Install FTDI Drivers

Download the driver from the FTDI driver Web page (http://www.ftdichip.com/FTDrivers.htm) that fits to your system and install it. The COM port should appear when the driver has successfully been installed.

Using Putty as Client for the Serial Console

The software Putty can also be used to access the Radarcape via the virtual serial device.

Download the Putty executable from http://www.putty.org.

Start Putty and enter the above detected COM port, 115200 and serial into the startup menu:

Click on the Open button and the login screen appears. Enter the username 'root' and press enter when being asked for your password (or the password if you have set one).

Set/Change Root Password

In the default configuration, no password is set for the root user (administrator) on the Radarcape. We strongly advise you to set a password for security reasons.

Please remember your password as there is currently no other password recovery method than creating a new SD card image for your Radarcape.

First you must login to your Radarcape via SSH.

An initial root password has not been set. Therefore, you can login with user root and no password.

After you have logged in on your Radarcape, you can set a new root password with the following command:

passwd

The following screenshot shows the complete password change procedure:

Radarcape Password Change

The message passwd: password updated successfully will indicate that the new password has been set.

Installation of Basestation and Flightroute Databases

The Radarcape can use external databases for displaying additional information to the 2D map and the aircraft list.

• basestation.sqb: aircraft type and registration.
• flightroutes.sqb: flight plan information (origin and destination)

These databases are not installed when we ship the Radarcape. Users can download and install them from third-party sources. This can be done via the Software Maintenance menu.

Radarcape Software Maintenance

The databases can be obtained from these sources:

• Plane Base NG (basestation.sqb, http://planebase.biz)
• PP Routes Yahoo Group (flightroutes.sqb, http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/PP-logs-and-routes/files, registration required)

As both databases contain information that is subject to change, we recommend you to update these databases in regular intervals.

Radarcape Configuration

All changes of the Radarcape configuration can be done via the Web interface.

Radarcape Settings Web Page

If all settings have been made, scroll to the bottom of the page, enter the password, and press “Save Changes” to store the configuration. The default password for changing the configuration is radarcape.

Note: Due to feature enhancements and changes, this page is often subject to change.

Advanced Configuration Interfaces / Commandline Access

There are two ways how to connect to the Linux system:

• SSH through the network
• Back side Mini USB connector

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Radarcape:Contents