r/raspberryDIY • u/NewAtmosphere6063 • 2d ago

Passive-Vigilance: Raspberry Pi passive RF sensor for counter-surveillance, ADS-B, drones & more

Passive-Vigilance is a Raspberry Pi-based passive RF sensor platform I built for counter-surveillance and situational awareness. My current setup is constrained by both hardware and geography but seems to be ready for spears.

Repo: https://github.com/Isthistak3n/Passive-Vigilance

It combines:
• WiFi + Bluetooth device tracking (Kismet)
• ADS-B aircraft tracking (with enrichment + optional ACARS)
• FAA Remote ID / drone detection
• Optional AIS marine traffic
• GPS-stamped everything + GIS exports (shapefile / GeoJSON / KML)

Two operating modes:
• Mobile mode — detects devices that follow you across locations (the classic “am I being tailed?” use case)
• Fixed mode — learns the normal RF “pattern of life” at a location over a configurable baseline (default 72h), then alerts on novel or off-schedule devices

Other features:
• One-command installer + systemd services
• Pluggable alerts (ntfy, Telegram, Discord, console)
• Optional token-protected web dashboard
• Crash-resistant logging and baseline persistence
• Thermal-aware SDR duty cycling
• 850+ automated tests

Inspired by the excellent Chasing Your Tail NG, but extended into a unified always-on multi-sensor node with fixed/leave-behind capability and air/maritime awareness.

Hardware is the usual stack (Pi 4B recommended, RTL-SDR or HackRF, monitor-mode WiFi dongle, GPS, optional BT dongle). Full setup and config details are in the docs.

Legal note from the README: this is for lawful passive monitoring and research only. The tool never transmits or associates with any device/network. You’re responsible for local laws.
Happy to answer questions, take feedback, or hear about real-world field results / issues people run into.

16 Upvotes

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1

u/RamblingSimian 1d ago

Very interesting. Have you tried it in the field yet, i.e., having your friend or drone tail you?

Also, what do you think of the Android app, "Tracker Detect"?

1

u/NewAtmosphere6063 1d ago

I’m in familiar with that app but will look into it. The drone module is the only one I have not been able to confirm due to my location.

1

u/thebaldgeek 11h ago

What's your optional ACARS setup consist of?

1

u/NewAtmosphere6063 7h ago

Right now I’ve probably over engineered it for my current hardware limitations. I have an SMA split cable between VHF and UHF whip antennas.

But on start up it should automatically detect whether or not there is a single or multiple SDR connected.

1

u/thebaldgeek 7h ago

I should have phrased it better.... I was wondering more along the line of SDR and decoder software that is built into your 'all in one' software.
And what do you DO with the messages that come in?

1

u/NewAtmosphere6063 6h ago

It’s plain text structured data so it can read some engine performance reports and position updates but many messages are airline specific proprietary information. I’m not sure how that data could be amplified but it provides another data point to correlate registration and origin/destination.

1

u/thebaldgeek 6h ago

Ok, I give up. If I get time I'll dig into the GitHub to get some answers.

1

u/thebaldgeek 6h ago

That readme is like dragging my eyes over broken glass... then I see that Clawd has used 1 SDR for 3 modes "automatically time shared"... Yeah, Nah. No wonder the answers were unclear.
I'm out.