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thebaldgeek.bsky.social
thebaldgeek
@thebaldgeek.bsky.social
4.6K followers 67 following 740 posts
Decoding satcom ACARS messages one byte at a time. Helping OSINT avgeeks understand aircraft data / tracking. Maps and live data can be found here: thebaldgeek.github.io
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Screenshot of the ADSC and ACARS aircraft we are tracking and plotting their positions.
Link to the map is here, but do take a moment to read how this is VERY different to every other flight tracking site on the Internet...
tbg.airframes.io/das...
Great answer! Even more complicated than documented or as I thought...
Can anyone explain why the @jhewitt.net wardriver UK scans channels 1,6,11 and 14 when @wiglenet stats page shows the most popular are channels 1,6, 11 and 3 ???
@463n7_57 I assume the Signal Sleuth does the same 4?
wardriver.uk/how_it_...
#wardrive #AllTheWiFi
After finding the wardriver UK and Signal Sleuth (aka, all ESP32 and BW16 builds) severely lacking in senstivity (ie, they are stone deaf) I'm working with my CAD guy to revisit the #WigleFin. Looking at a bottom load option for a cleaner (more weather resistant) look.
Oh and a landscape option....
Website Uptate:
The feeds are back up and the status page is now more live/accurate.
I'm still having issues with 98w C-Band (ADSC and ACARS). That's a mechnical issue with the satellite dish. I have a plan, Im working on it, at least L-Band is Ok from Inmarsat 4F3 via the #DiscoveryDish
What started as a bit of a hobby on looking at why aircraft fly different paths from time to time, sure has grown.

I had no idea that @CNN were looking at the site / data.
Pretty interesting: www.cnn.com/2025/10/...

ADSB is there where.
ACARS is the why.
Another guy DM'ed me that putting 8's on his #jhewitt units really woke them up.
The trouble I have is even with a 12dbi antenna on them, they are still constantly 1000's below the S20 Android.
Website Update:
The site is up, but I am having an odd issue with the feed server.
Some feeds are not making it to the site.
I am actively working on fixing it (whatever it is).
No ETA.
I've run out of time for trying to get the Signal Sleuth sorted.
The OTA 'update' turned out to be a downgrade.
It removed the total display, which I heavily use for testing.
Also the unit factory resets first powerup after every config, wiping out the @wiglenet API key. I've IDE downgraded for now.
It finished after 8.5 hours and rebooted ok.
I've put in my Wigle API key and will be testing the auto upload.
Thanks for all your work on it. Just a bit of a shame the ESP32 RF sensitivity is so lacking.
Far out! The OTA update feature on the wardriver.uk is pretty cool, BUT, while the A.ino took about 3 minutes, the B.ino is going to take EIGHT and a half HOURS!
That #wardrive I had planned, yeah, happening today...not today.
I've just added a short section to the bottom of my #wardriving blog about how I also do 'radiation driving'.
I figure since I am out and about, I may as well map background #radiation with my #radiacode #geiger counter.
k6thebaldgeek.blogsp...
#earthquake M 7.0 - 7 km W of Tagbubungang Diot, Philippines
Depth 10.0 km
Will be keeping an eye on news reports from this one. Hope the damage is not too extensive.
Trying to understand "New Samples". Does it tie into the number of GPS / signal strength readings per SSID?
In other words, does that data give the best insight into the wardriving rig?
The wardriver.UK (Signal Sleuth) seems very low vs the WiGLE Android app?
@jhewitt.net @wiglenet.bsky.social
The results are in. The panel antenna takes the top count.
I'm very happy to see that, as it's a lot easier to mount and looks less suspicious than the Yagi.
Now to re-jig the tripod so it's closer to the window and get driving to see the bump in absolute numbers.
#wardriving my standard loop to compare the panel antenna with the Yagi antenna.
Both have around 20 dBi gain.
Output into a 4-way splitter and then the top 4 channels (1,3,6,11) into the @lozaning #wifydra since the scan speed can handle the narrow beamwidth.
Just back from a 1am, 100 mile #wardrive.
Still tweaking the #SignalSleuth setup. Slowly getting the numbers up to beating the amazing Samsung S20 in a #WigleFin on the roof.
Lots of deer out and about on the roads tonight. #AllTheWiFI
#earthquake M 6.2 - 24 km ENE of Mene Grande, Venezuela
Depth 7.8 km
Looks to be a somewhat isolated / sparsely populated area, but I'm sure it was felt strongly in the nearby towns.
No idea where all these came from
They just seem to end up in the #wardrive collection drawer.
But it sure is nice to be able to quickly grab the right-sized antenna for the job at hand.
Still unpacking after the move. Missing the panel antenna collection.
#AllTheWiFi
Yuck. Here is trouble just lurking for the wardriver rig builder.
The GPS plug outer is grounded (as it should be).
The backup battery outer is positive (as it should be).
They can touch waaaaay to easily.
Make sure you route the GPS plug/coax away from the battery.
Took me a moment to find, but here are the specs for the Bias-T current out of this GPS unit.
50mA is not a lot, but at least now I know what my upper limit is and thus what sort of GPS LNA I can run without causing issues long term. Quality GPS is critical for #wardriving
7/
One thing I've not found mentioned anywhere is that the GPS board provides 3.3V DC Bias-T voltage. This means you can run an active puck GPS antenna on the roof of the car. @jhewitt.net did not mention it on the OP wardriver.uk build either.
This puck should really boost the lock for the unit.
6/
I love how compact the Signal Sleuth can be built.
I've got some plans for mounting it in the car, so I chose to put everything on one side, keeping the back of the PCB nice and flush.
5/