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The ADS-B Kit

A complete FlightTracker LED with its own plug-and-play ADS-B receiver — the full tracker, fully API-provider independent for overhead traffic, out of one box. Built in partnership with the airplanes.live community network. It does not include the handmade maple case: the receiver hardware adds real cost, and dropping the case is what keeps the complete kit at $399.

Illustration of the receiver half of the kit: a single-board computer in its case, a preloaded memory card, a receiver dongle, a 1090 MHz antenna, and a power supply. — An illustration of the receiver half of the kit — not a photograph, and the LED display isn't drawn yet. Real photos land here once the first kits are assembled.

The self-contained tracker

FlightTracker LED · ADS-B Kit

Full Tracker + Plug-and-Play Receiver · Preloaded · One Unboxing

This is the whole thing: the same 64×32 LED flight tracker that powers Mach 2, plus a complete plug-and-play ADS-B receiver, in one box. Plug in the receiver, plug in the display, switch Local ADS-B on in the owner portal — and your wall paints aircraft the moment your own antenna hears them, with routes and airline names filled in like always. No flashing a disk image, no command line, no ordering four parts from four sites and hoping they fit.

What's In The Kit

64×32 LED matrix flight tracker display (the full Mach 2 electronics — every mode, every update)
Raspberry Pi single-board computer, set up and tested
SD card imaged and configured before it ships — nothing to flash
SDR receiver dongle + 1090 MHz antenna
Receiver case and power supplies
No wood case — the receiver adds cost, and skipping the maple keeps the kit affordable. See the two configurations below.

Two Configurations

Open frame — $399. The display ships caseless: the panel, the electronics, and the receiver kit. Frame it, mount it, build for it — its final look is yours.
3D-printed case — $474. Add a purpose-designed 3D-printed enclosure for the display (+$75). Not handmade maple — skipping the maple is what keeps the price down — but clean and shelf-ready on day one.

Register your interest — no payment or order The kit is still being developed. Joining the list records your interest; it does not reserve a finished unit or place an order. Confirm your email to hear when ordering opens and if the plan materially changes.

Stay in the loop

Be first to hear.

After a confirmation email, I’ll send kit availability and material plan changes only. No newsletter, promos, or charge. Manage your subscription from any update. Tell me which configuration you’re considering in the notes if you already know.

Have a question instead?

If you would rather ask something than sign up for anything, message me directly. I answer these myself.

Complete

Display, computer, SD card, receiver dongle, antenna, and power supplies in one box.

Preloaded

Everything is imaged and configured on the bench. There is nothing to flash and no terminal to open.

$399

Open frame, complete. Add the 3D-printed display case for $75. No wood case — that's how it stays affordable with a receiver in the box.

Direct

Overhead positions come straight off your own antenna — fully API-provider independent.

Already own a Mach 2, or already run a Raspberry Pi receiver? You may not need this. If you own a Mach 2 and run PiAware, dump1090, tar1090, or readsb on your network, Local ADS-B is already yours — switch it on in the portal and skip this page. The ADS-B Kit exists for people starting from zero, or Mach 2 owners who want a ready-made receiver without building one — not as a toll gate on the feature.

Which tracker is for you?

Two ways to put the sky on your wall.

Same tracker heart, two different products. The honest way to choose:

Mach 2 — the furniture-grade oneHandmade solid maple, finished, gift-ready, tracks flights over Wi-Fi out of the box. The flagship, and it stays that way. Local ADS-B works on it too — with your own receiver.

ADS-B Kit — the self-contained oneThe full tracker plus its own receiver, no wood case. For people who want their display to hear the sky directly from day one — or who plan to build it into something of their own.

You already run a receiverThen a Mach 2 plus your existing PiAware/dump1090/tar1090/readsb setup gives you everything the kit does, in maple. Nothing here replaces or improves a receiver you already have.

You want the antenna experience, assembledThat is who this kit is for. It arrives configured so the only steps left are plugging things in and flipping one switch in the portal.

Out of the box

Plug it in. Switch it on. That's it.

1
Plug in the receiver
Antenna, power, and your home network. No screen, no keyboard, no image to write to a card.
2
Set up the display
The same guided setup every FlightTracker gets: connect it to Wi-Fi, claim it in the owner portal, pick your spot on the map.
3
Turn on Local ADS-B
One switch in the owner portal, plus your receiver's address. A health card confirms it's hearing aircraft before you walk away.
4
Your own sky, live
The display reads the receiver directly across your own network — the receiver never needs to be exposed to the internet, and only private network addresses are accepted. Routes and airline names keep arriving from the service like always.

The bigger picture

Built with the network that powers thousands of trackers.

We're building the ADS-B Kit in partnership with the airplanes.live community network — the same community-receiver network Mach 2 has drawn its overhead data from since day one. Community antennas are why hobbyist flight tracking exists at all. Read how Local ADS-B works →

Your antenna fills your gapsShared networks see the sky from wherever their volunteers live. Your kit hears the low, light, and local traffic over your own house — the aircraft no wide network is positioned to catch.

Feeding the networkA planned opt-in lets your kit feed the airplanes.live community network — the antenna on your shelf sharpening the shared sky for every tracker on every wall. Opt-in, and off by default, like everything else we ship.

Nothing your antenna hears is uploadedToday, aircraft your receiver picks up stay on the display. What goes to the cloud is a small health summary — whether the receiver is reachable, roughly how many aircraft it sees, and how fresh that is.

One thing worth being straight aboutThe receiver's address is a setting like any other. You type it into the owner portal, so it is stored server-side with the rest of your display's settings. I would rather say that plainly than claim it never leaves your house.

Kit FAQ

Straight answers, as usual.

Not yet — you can reserve a spot. The first kits are still being assembled, so this page holds your place in line and takes no payment. When kits are ready, the people on the list order first, at the prices shown here.

$399 for the complete open-frame kit: the full LED flight tracker plus the plug-and-play receiver. Add the 3D-printed display case for $75 ($474 total). There is no handmade maple option on the kit — the receiver hardware adds real cost, and leaving the maple to the Mach 2 is what keeps this price where it is.

Same tracker heart — every display mode, the owner portal, free over-the-air updates. The Mach 2 is the finished furniture piece: handmade solid maple, tracks flights over Wi-Fi, gift-ready. The ADS-B Kit trades the maple for a complete receiver, so the tracker hears the sky through its own antenna out of one box.

No. If you already run PiAware, dump1090, tar1090, or readsb on your home network, a Mach 2 (or the tracker you already own) reads it directly — Local ADS-B is a firmware feature, not a kit exclusive. The kit is for starting from zero.

Yes. The display is a full FlightTracker: overhead tracking, flight-number tracking, and Departure Board all work over Wi-Fi with the receiver switched off or unplugged. The receiver adds your own antenna as a source; nothing breaks without it.

Airplanes.live is the community-receiver network Mach 2 has drawn overhead data from since day one. We're building the kit with them so the receiver side is done right, and so a future opt-in can let your kit feed the community network — the antenna on your shelf sharpening the shared sky for everyone. That feeding option isn't live yet; when it is, it will be opt-in and off by default.

Nothing your antenna hears is uploaded — the aircraft your receiver picks up stay on the display. What the box reports is a small health summary: whether the receiver is reachable, roughly how many aircraft it is seeing, and how fresh that data is. Separately, the receiver's network address is a setting you enter in the owner portal, so it is stored server-side alongside your other settings. The receiver itself never needs to be exposed to the internet, and only private network addresses are accepted.

It comes to me and is used for this kit only. You get an email when kits are ready, and one if the plan changes. Reply to either to come off the list.