SoftRF      

Multifunctional DIY IoT-based general aviation proximity awareness system.

Features:

• 2-way raw data bridge between 868/915 MHz radio band and Wi-Fi ;
• standalone, battery powered, compatible proximity awareness instrument that fits typical 2.25 inches hole ;
• lightweight version to carry onboard of an UAV.

Compatibility ¹

Type	Protocol	FLARM	OGN tracker	PilotAware	Skytraxx	SoftRF
Radio	FLARM AIR V6				2
	OGNTP					3
	P3I					3
	UAT 978					4
	FANET+					3
Data	FLARM NMEA
	Garmin GDL90
	MAVLINK
	Dump1090  5

¹ - it is necessary for a reader to distinguish the difference between statement "compatible" and statement "fully compatible".
     SoftRF implements only a reasonable minimum of the protocols specs. No "bells and whistles" so far.
² - FANET+ can not receive FLARM. However it is able to transmit it.
³ - valid for Prime Edition Mark II ; valid for Standalone and UAV Editions with optional DIY SoftRF LoRa RF module
⁴ - Reception of traffic 'downlink' frames only. Valid for Standalone Edition with optional DIY SoftRF UAT module
⁵ - also known as "raw ADS-B"

Models

Model	Platform	First appearance	Status	Comment
1 Prime 2 Standalone 3 UAV	Espressif ESP8266	Q4 2015		Prime model is no longer supported - use Prime MkII instead. ESP8266 platform will be phased out through year 2019 in favour of ESP32.
1 Prime Mark II 2 Standalone + adapter 3 UAV 4 SkyView EZ 5 Flight Recorder	Espressif ESP32	Q1 2018		Today's best platform
1 Raspberry Edition 2 SkyView Pi	Broadcom BCM283X (Raspberry Pi)	Q4 2018		Good for use together with RTL-SDR dongles to achieve additional 1090ES (and 978UAT) ADS-B air traffic reception.
UAT module	Texas Instruments CC13XX	Q1 2019		Resources of this platform are not sufficient to fit full SoftRF firmware. Unique RF radio specs are useful for UAT reception [ 1 , 2 , 3 ].
Retro	STMicroelectronics STM32	Q3 2019		STM32F103C8 "Blue Pill" (same MCU that STM32 OGN tracker uses) is doing good [ 1 , 2 ] . As well as AcSiP S76G "3-in-1" system-in-package [ 3 , 4 , 5 ] .

Documentation

• SoftRF overview

  • Part 1 (PDF, December 2015)
  • Part 2 (PDF, March 2017)

• Prime Edition MkII

  • Quick start
  • Enclosure

• Standalone Edition

  • Specifications
  • Shield
  • Modules
  • Assembly
  • Enclosure
  • ESP32 adapter

• UAV Edition

  • Bill of materials
  • Wiring and pin-out
  • Enclosure

• Raspberry Edition

• SkyView EZ

  • Quick start
  • Settings
  • Enclosure

• Retro Edition

• Flight Recorder

  • Quick start

• Software

  • Firmware
    • Release information
    • Binary
    • Settings
    • Update (Web method)
    • Source

• Extras

  • Long range (LoRa) RF module
  • Protocols
    • UAT
    • OGNTP
    • P3I Open (PilotAware)
    • FANET (Skytraxx)
  • Garmin GDL90 datalink
    • SkyDemon
    • Avare
    • ForeFlight
  • Integration with airborne (Stratux, PilotAware,...) and groundstation (FlightRadar24, FlightAware,...) ADS-B receivers
  • Combined use of multiple SoftRF units

• Archive

  • Prime Edition
    • Bill of materials
    • Wiring
    • Enclosure
  • Applications
    • Emulator

Highlights

• Prime Edition Mark II

• Standalone Edition

• SkyView EZ

• Flight Recorder

 

• Software driven emulation

• UAV appliance