Skybridge-Alaska

Configuration Reference — DOT-VHF Ground Station

Project: SkyBridge Alaska Station ID: DOT-VHF Date: 2026-03-12


1. Network

Parameter Value
Hostname DOT-VHF
Ethernet (eth0) 192.168.1.81/24 (DHCP)
WiFi (wlan0) 192.168.1.80/24 (DHCP)
DNS Via DHCP / NetworkManager

2. OpenWebRX

Config location: /var/lib/openwebrx/settings.json

Parameter Value
Station Name DOT-VHF SkyBridge Alaska
Location Anchorage, Alaska
Coordinates 61.2181N, -149.9003W
Elevation 40m ASL
SDR Device RTL-SDR Blog V4 (serial: BLOGV4)
Sample Rate 2,400,000 Hz
rtl_tcp Port 1235 (127.0.0.1)
Web Port 8073

SDR Profiles

Profile Center Freq Band Modulation RF Gain
VHF Air Low 119.05 MHz 117.9-120.2 MHz AM 29
VHF Air Mid 121.80 MHz 120.6-123.0 MHz AM 29
VHF Air High 127.00 MHz 125.8-128.2 MHz AM 29

Aviation Bookmarks (19 frequencies)

File: /var/lib/openwebrx/bookmarks.json (also ~/openwebrx-anchorage-bookmarks.json)

Frequency Label Modulation
114.300 MHz PANC VOR/DME AM
118.600 MHz PANC Tower AM
119.050 MHz Merrill Tower AM
119.100 MHz Lake Hood Tower AM
120.400 MHz Merrill Ground AM
121.500 MHz Emergency Guard AM
121.700 MHz PANC Ground AM
121.800 MHz PANC Unicom AM
121.900 MHz PANC Ground 2 AM
122.200 MHz FSS Kenai AM
123.600 MHz PANC ATIS AM
124.700 MHz PANC Approach N AM
125.200 MHz PANC Approach S AM
125.700 MHz PANC Approach E AM
126.400 MHz PANC Departure AM
127.600 MHz PANC AWOS AM
128.200 MHz PANC Clearance AM
132.600 MHz PANC ATIS Dep AM
135.150 MHz Approach W AM

3. VHF Pipeline

Config location: ~/scripts/vhf-pipeline.py (constants at top of file)

Systemd overrides: /etc/systemd/system/vhf-pipeline.service

Parameter Value Source
RTL_TCP_HOST 127.0.0.1 hardcoded
RTL_TCP_PORT 1235 hardcoded
CENTER_FREQ_HZ 121,800,000 (121.8 MHz) CLI –freq
SAMPLE_RATE 2,400,000 hardcoded
AUDIO_RATE 24,000 Hz hardcoded
WHISPER_RATE 16,000 Hz hardcoded
WHISPER_MODEL tiny.en env WHISPER_MODEL
VAD_THRESHOLD 0.005 CLI –vad-threshold
VAD_HOLD_S 1.5 seconds hardcoded
SEGMENT_MAX_S 30 seconds hardcoded
ARCHIVE_DIR /mnt/nvme/skybridge/vhf-audio hardcoded
TRANSCRIPT_DIR /mnt/nvme/skybridge/transcripts hardcoded
LOG_DIR /mnt/nvme/skybridge/logs hardcoded
MESH_HOST (empty = serial) env MESH_HOST
MESH_PORT 4403 env MESH_PORT
MESH_CHANNEL 0 env MESH_CHANNEL

4. readsb (ADS-B 1090 MHz)

Config location: /etc/default/readsb

Parameter Value
Device ADSB1090 (rtlsdr, by serial)
Gain auto
PPM 0
Max Range 450 nmi
JSON Write Interval 1 second
Globe History /mnt/nvme/skybridge/adsb/
State Write Interval 300 seconds
Range Outline 24 hours

Network Ports

Port Protocol Direction
30001 Raw input listen
30002 Raw output listen
30003 SBS (BaseStation) listen
30004 Beast input listen
30005 Beast output listen
30104 Beast input (alt) listen

5. dump978 (UAT 978 MHz)

Config location: /etc/systemd/system/dump978-fa.service

Parameter Value
SDR Driver rtlsdr
Device device=1 (should be serial=UAT978 after reboot)
Gain auto
JSON Port 30978

6. skyaware978

Config location: /etc/systemd/system/skyaware978.service

Parameter Value
Connect 127.0.0.1:30978
JSON Directory /run/dump978
Latitude 61.2181
Longitude -149.9003

7. tar1090

Config location: /etc/default/tar1090

Parameter Value
Update Interval 8 seconds
History Size 450 entries
978 UAT Enabled yes
978 URL http://127.0.0.1:8504/skyaware978
GZIP Level 1
Position Tracks 8 hours

8. Backup (rclone)

Config location: ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf

Parameter Value
Remote skybridge-central (not yet configured)
Destination dot-vhf/skybridge/
Schedule Every 6 hours (systemd timer)
Bandwidth Limit 2 MB/s
Max Transfers 4
Max Checkers 8
Retries 3
Excludes backup-staging/**

9. SSH / Security

Config location: /etc/ssh/sshd_config.d/60-skybridge-hardening.conf

Parameter Value
Authentication Public key only (Ed25519)
Password Auth disabled
Root Login disabled
Max Auth Tries 3
Login Grace Time 30 seconds
X11 Forwarding disabled
Agent Forwarding disabled

fail2ban: /etc/fail2ban/jail.d/skybridge-ssh.conf

Parameter Value
Max Retry 5
Find Time 10 minutes
Ban Time 1 hour

10. Log Rotation

Config location: /etc/logrotate.d/skybridge

Parameter Value
Scope /mnt/nvme/skybridge/logs/*.log
Frequency weekly
Retention 12 rotations
Compression yes (delayed)
Owner blastly:blastly (0640)

11. NVMe Mount

Config location: /etc/fstab

Device Mount Filesystem Options
/dev/nvme0n1p2 /mnt/nvme ext4 defaults,nofail

12. tmpfiles.d

Config location: /etc/tmpfiles.d/dump978.conf

d /run/dump978 0755 blastly blastly -

Creates runtime directory for dump978 JSON output on every boot.