Flight Tracker Display on Inky Impression 7.3"

A Python-based project that displays real-time aircraft data on an Inky Impression 7.3" e-ink display using a Raspberry Pi. It fetches aircraft positions, airline logos, and route information via public APIs.

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✈️ What It Does

• Fetches aircraft near specified cities (Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston)
• Displays:
  • Flight callsign and airline
  • Altitude and ground speed
  • Distance from home location
  • Origin and destination airports
  • Airline logo (when available)
• Rotates between cities every 5 minutes
• Updates aircraft info every 10 seconds

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🧱 Hardware Requirements

Item	Buy Link
Raspberry Pi (any recent model, Pi zero works fine)	Raspberry Pi 4
Inky Impression 7.3" display	Pimoroni
Micro SD Card (16GB+)	Any reliable brand
Power Supply	Official Raspberry Pi USB-C or micro-USB
WiFi or Ethernet Connectivity	Required

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🌐 APIs Used

1. ADS-B.lol API

• Real-time aircraft position data sourced from community-operated ADS-B receivers.
• Used to fetch aircraft within a defined radius of a geographic location.

Example Endpoint:

GET https://api.adsb.lol/v2/point/{lat}/{lon}/{radius}

📄 Documentation: https://api.adsb.lol/docs

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2. ADSBdb API

• Provides route, airline, and airport metadata based on aircraft callsign.
• Used to fetch airline name, origin, and destination for improved display info.

Example Endpoint:

GET https://api.adsbdb.com/v0/callsign/{CALLSIGN}

📄 Documentation: https://www.adsbdb.com/

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🔧 Installation

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/flight_tracker_display.git
   cd flight_tracker_display

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Enable SPI and I2C on your Raspberry Pi:

   sudo raspi-config
   # Navigate to "Interfaces" and enable SPI and I2C

4. Run the script:

   python3 flight_tracker.py

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📁 Project Structure

flight_tracker_display/
├── flight_tracker.py      # Main Python script
├── example.png            # Example display screenshot
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── .gitignore             # Ignore files for Git
└── README.md              # You're reading this!

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📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. Attribution to ADS-B.lol and ADSBdb is required when redistributing or publishing derivatives.

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🙏 Acknowledgements

• ADS-B.lol — Real-time community aircraft tracking
• ADSBdb — Free global flight database

If you made it this far and still don’t have this running on your Inky Impression, well… maybe the clouds aren’t cooperating, or you just love staring at a blank screen instead of watching real-time flights. Come on, avgeeks—let’s get tracking!