Decode what aircraft are actually saying NEW

ADS-B tells you where a plane is. VDL2 (the 136 MHz VHF datalink) tells you what it is saying: OOOI times, position, weather, and other datalink reports. Few people decode it. You already feed ADS-B from a great location. Add VDL2 in about five minutes and become one of the few.

curl -sL vdliq.com/vdl2.sh | sudo bash

You supply the hardware: a second RTL-SDR and a simple VHF antenna for ~136 MHz. See what you need below.

🛰️ Hear what the planes overhead are actually saying
…
📡 Just want aircraft positions on a live map? That's ADS-B. See live aircraft positions on the map at ADSBiq ↗
Purely additive. Keep every feed and reward you already run (Wingbits, FlightAware, adsb.lol, airframes, ADSBHub). VDL2 sits on top. Nothing you have changes.
⚠️ You need a 136 MHz antenna (about 54–55 cm), not your ADS-B antenna
VDL2 is 136 MHz. A 1090 MHz ADS-B antenna is only about 7 cm and will not work, you will get almost no messages. Use a quarter-wave VHF airband antenna (~54–55 cm), or an RTL-SDR Blog telescopic dipole with the legs set to ~53 cm, mounted high with a clear view of the sky.
Cheap, proven gear — direct links (all SMA, so they mate):
📡 Antenna (VHF airband 108–137 MHz, SMA): US — Radtel 2-pack ~$11 · AliExpress flex whip (ships worldwide) · India outdoor airband
📻 SDR USB dongle (RTL-SDR Blog, SMA): US · India · AliExpress (V4)
🔌 Coax cable (SMA male↔female): US 2-pack · India
🔗 Adapters (SMA male-male couplers, mate cable↔antenna↔dongle): US 5-pack · India
Mount the antenna high with a clear view of the sky. The India outdoor antenna uses an SO-239 socket, so pair it with an SO-239→SMA lead; the whip + cable + couplers above are all SMA and connect directly.

What you get

Rare data from your own sky Read the OOOI times, positions and weather that the aircraft overhead are broadcasting. This is the signal enthusiasts chase, and it is on the same rooftop you already feed from.
Free API access Full access to the ADSBiq aviation-intelligence API (generous feeder rate limits) for the datalink messages from your own sky.
Founding VDL2 feeder Recognised as an early VDL2 feeder, a spot on the coverage leaderboard, and a personal stats dashboard (ADS-B + VDL2). Your exact location is never shown publicly.
Capture-twice resilience Keep feeding airframes alongside us and your VDL2 reaches ADSBiq by two independent paths. Real redundancy, the kind that survives a relay outage.

Install

Recommended

One command

Finds your second SDR, installs the decoder, and points it at us. Done.

curl -sL vdliq.com/vdl2.sh | sudo bash
Lowest friction

Already run acars_router? Add one destination

If you feed airframes or adsb.lol, you already have a router. Add adsbiq as one more VDLM2 output, no new decoder needed:

AR_SEND_UDP_VDLM2=<your-existing-dest>;feed.adsbiq.com:5552
Bare metal

Native dumpvdl2

dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 00000136 --gain 40 136.975 136.725 136.775 136.875 \
  --station-id $(cat /etc/adsbiq-uuid) \
  --output decoded:json:udp:address=feed.adsbiq.com,port=5552

What you need (you supply it)

Recommended build (best 24/7 reliability)
Already feed ADS-B? Just add the dongle to your current setup, no hardware change. For a new build, a small fanless x86 mini PC (Intel N100, eMMC/SSD, Linux) is the most reliable 24/7 option and avoids the #1 Pi failure: SD-card corruption. On a Pi already? Run it from a USB SSD, not an SD card. That removes most Pi feeder failures for about $15.

New to ADSBiq? Start with ADS-B first → Already feeding? Run the command above to add VDL2.

Want the data side? See the Datalink (VDL2/ACARS) API docs →

Before you start, check your local rules. Receiving radio is unrestricted in many countries but not all, and rules on decoding or sharing aircraft datalink messages vary by jurisdiction. You are responsible for operating lawfully where you live. If you are unsure whether feeding VDL2 is permitted in your country, please confirm before you set up a receiver. See our Terms.