Install vdlm2dec

caution

vdlm2dec is an older VDL2 decoder that is no longer actively developed. For new installations, we recommend using dumpvdl2 instead, which offers more features, flexible output options, and active maintenance.

vdlm2dec is a lightweight VDL Mode 2 decoder. If you still need to use it, here are the installation steps for Ubuntu/Debian.

Installation

Install dependencies

sudo apt-get install build-essential cmake git libusb-1.0-0-dev librtlsdr-dev

Install libacars

git clone https://github.com/szpajder/libacars.git
cd libacars
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ../
make
sudo make install
sudo ldconfig

Build vdlm2dec

git clone https://github.com/TLeconte/vdlm2dec.git
cd vdlm2dec
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -Drtl=ON
make
sudo make install

Basic Usage

vdlm2dec -j feed.airframes.io:5555 -i MY-STATION-VDL2 -r 0 -g 40 136975000

Key options

Option	Description
-r <device>	RTL-SDR device number
-g <gain>	Tuner gain in dB
-j <host:port>	Send JSON via UDP
-i <station_id>	Station identifier
-v	Verbose output

Frequencies are specified as trailing arguments in Hz.

Migrating to dumpvdl2

dumpvdl2 is a drop-in improvement over vdlm2dec. The equivalent command would be:

dumpvdl2 --rtlsdr 0 --gain 40 \
  --output decoded:json:udp:address=feed.airframes.io,port=5552 \
  --station-id MY-STATION-VDL2 \
  136975000

See the dumpvdl2 installation guide for the complete setup.