📡 ADSB Visualiser - ModernRadar - Air-Gapped ADS-B Virtual Radar

ModernRadar is a modern Virtual Radar application that tracks air traffic using RTL-SDR hardware and dump1090. It is designed to be 100% offline with zero external API dependencies.

The system resolves aircraft metadata, flight routes, and airline information in milliseconds via local SQLite databases (BaseStation.sqb and StandingData.sqb) using pure ADO.NET. It is built to operate at full capacity even in remote, off-grid locations without internet access.

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✨ Key Features

• 100% Offline Enrichment: Does not require external APIs (like AirLabs or FlightAware). All data resolution is handled strictly via local SQLite files.
• Unified Full-Stack Host: The Angular frontend is compiled directly into the .NET wwwroot folder. The application runs as a single process—no need for a separate Node.js frontend server.
• Real-Time Tracking: BaseStation data (TCP Port 30003) from dump1090 is processed by a .NET background service and broadcasted instantly to the UI via SignalR.
• Smart Hex Decoding: Mathematically calculates the aircraft's registration country using bitmask operations on the 24-bit Mode-S Hex code, ensuring the correct flag is displayed even if the aircraft is not explicitly listed in the database.
• Rich User Interface: A modern UI built with Angular and Tailwind CSS, featuring an interactive aircraft photo carousel, airline logos, and dynamic country flags.
• High Performance: Built on the .NET 10 architecture utilizing IMemoryCache and pure ADO.NET (Microsoft.Data.Sqlite) queries for a minimal CPU/RAM footprint.

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend (.NET 10)

• Framework: ASP.NET Core 10 (Web API, Background Services & Static File Hosting)
• Data Access: Pure ADO.NET (Microsoft.Data.Sqlite) - No ORMs (like Dapper or EF Core) are used, prioritizing raw speed.
• Real-Time Communication: SignalR
• TCP Client: Custom Asynchronous TCP Socket Listener (Port 30003)

Frontend (Angular)

• Framework: Angular 17+
• Styling: Tailwind CSS
• Map Engine: Leaflet.js / OpenStreetMap
• Icons & Flags: Flagpedia CDN, AVS Logos

Hardware & Signal Processing

• RTL-SDR (Any RTL2832U based SDR receiver)
• dump1090 (or readsb forks)

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🚀 Installation & Setup

1. Prerequisites

• If you just want to run the application, you don't need any of these. Since, this is compiled standalone. all you have to do is just run .\ModernRadar.Host. But if you want to download the source code, and compile by yourself, steps are below:
• .NET 10 SDK
• Node.js and npm (Only for building the frontend)
• An RTL-SDR dongle.
• CRITICAL: A background instance of dump1090 (or a similar tool like readsb) must be running and actively broadcasting BaseStation formatted data on TCP Port 30003. (not needed, since there is a dump1090 simulator project in solution for development purpose, you also don't need rtl-sdr dongle if you are doing development).
• Virtual Radar Server (VRS) database files: BaseStation.sqb and StandingData.sqb.

2. Database Preparation

Place the required .sqb files into a local directory on your machine (e.g., C:\RadarDB\).

Update the appsettings.json file in the Backend project with your specific file paths:

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "BaseStationDb": "Data Source=C:\\RadarDB\\BaseStation.sqb;Mode=ReadOnly",
    "StandingDataDb": "Data Source=C:\\RadarDB\\StandingData.sqb;Mode=ReadOnly"
  },
  "RadarSettings": {
    "Dump1090Host": "127.0.0.1",
    "Dump1090Port": 30003
  }
}

3. Build the Frontend (One-time Setup)

The frontend app is configured to output its build files directly into the .NET project's wwwroot directory. Open a terminal in the Angular directory and run:

cd ModernRadar.WebUI
npm install
npm run build

4. Running the Application

Since the frontend is now hosted by .NET, you only need to run the API project. Ensure your dump1090 background service is running, then open a terminal in the API directory:

cd ../ModernRadar.Api
dotnet restore
dotnet run

By default, the application runs on port 5000. Open your browser and navigate to: 👉 http://localhost:5000

Optional Custom Port: You can override the default port by passing the --port argument:

dotnet run --port 8080

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📂 Data Architecture (How it Works)

The system parses raw TCP lines (e.g., MSG,3,111,111,4B8429,10000,38.5,27.1,,,) and enriches them in the following order:

1. Country Detection: The Hex code (4B8429) is matched against the CodeBlock table in StandingData.sqb using bitmasking to mathematically determine the registration country (e.g., Turkey).
2. Aircraft Metadata: The Hex code is queried in BaseStation.sqb to fetch the Registration (e.g., TC-AAI), Aircraft Type (B738), and Owner (Pegasus Airlines).
3. Full Model Name: The short type (B738) is joined with tables in StandingData.sqb (AircraftType, Model, Manufacturer) to resolve the full commercial name: "Boeing 737-800".
4. Route Details: If the aircraft broadcasts a Callsign (e.g., PGT2816), StandingData.sqb resolves the origin (ADB) and destination (ISL) airports.

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📂 ADSB Emulator

The time i was developing this app, i didn't have up and running adsb receiver. So, ModernRadar.Simulator project is just dummy aircrafts pushing to tcp 30003.

👨‍💻 Developer

Ali (TB3ARY) - Amateur Radio Operator & Software Developer.
Passionate about off-grid communications, RF technologies, and full-stack engineering.