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 ADS-B					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 Mark II , Dongle and Uni Editions; valid for Standalone and UAV Editions with optional DIY SoftRF LoRa RF module
⁴ - Reception of traffic 'downlink' frames only. Valid for Uni Edition alone and for Standalone Edition with optional DIY SoftRF UAT module
⁵ - also known as "raw ADS-B"

Models

By Processing Unit

Model(s)	Platform	First appearance	Status	Notes
1 Prime 2 Standalone 3 UAV 4 WebTop	Espressif ESP8266	Q4 2015		Prime model is no longer supported - use Prime MkII instead.
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.
1 UAT module 2 Uni	Texas Instruments CC1310 and CC1352R	Q1 2019		1 Unique RF radio specs are useful for UAT reception [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] ; 2 holds FCC/CE mark
1 Dongle 2 Retro	STMicroelectronics STM32	Q3 2019		AcSiP S76G "3-in-1" system-in-package is doing good [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] . As well as STM32F103C8 "Blue Pill" (same MCU that STM32 OGN tracker uses) [ 4 , 5 ] .
Mini	Cypress PSoC 4100S	Q3 2020		1 good add-on candidate for modded Kobo e-Readers ; 2 holds FCC/CE mark
Badge	Nordic Semiconductor nRF52840	Q4 2020

By sub-1 GHz radio

Radio	Model(s)	First appearance	Status	Notes
Nordic Semiconductor nRF905	1 Prime 2 Standalone 3 UAV	Q4 2015
Semtech SX1276	1 LoRa module 2 Prime Mark II 3 Raspberry Edition 4 Dongle	Q4 2017
Texas Instruments CC1310	UAT module	Q1 2019
Semtech SX1231	Retro	Q3 2019		operates through OGN driver with OGNTP protocol only
Semtech SX1262	1 Prime Mark II 2 Mini 3 Badge	Q1 2020
Texas Instruments CC1352R	Uni Edition	Q2 2020

By GNSS chip

GNSS	Model(s)	First appearance	Status	Notes
Generic NMEA	Standalone	Q4 2016
U-blox 6/7/8	1 Prime Mark II 2 Retro 3 Uni Edition	Q2 2018
Hangzhou ZhongKe AT6558	Prime Mark II	Q2 2019
Sony CXD5603GF	Dongle	Q4 2019
MediaTek MT3339	1 Raspberry 2 Uni	Q3 2020
GOKE GK9501	1 Mini 2 Badge	Q3 2020

Documentation

• SoftRF overview

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

• Prime Edition MkII

  • Quick start
  • Enclosure
  • Firmware update
    • USB
    • webUI
    • programming device

• Standalone Edition

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

• Uni Edition

  • Firmware installation
  • Enclosure

• Mini Edition

  • Firmware installation
  • Quick start
  • Enclosure

• Dongle Edition

  • Firmware installation
  • Quick start
  • Settings
  • Enclosure

• UAV Edition

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

• Raspberry Edition

• Retro Edition

• SkyView

  • EZ
    • Quick start
    • Settings
    • Enclosure
    • Dual boot
  • Pi

• WebTop

  • Quick start

• Flight Recorder

  • Quick start

• Software

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

• Extras

  • Long range (LoRa) RF module
    • Frequency deviation
  • 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

• Uni Edition

• Dongle Edition

• Mini Edition

• SkyView EZ

• UAV appliance

• Flight Recorder