ALFA AWUS036ACH × Raspberry Pi: Standard Remote ID Drone Detection Kit Complete Guide (2026)

Yupitek Technical Team | Official ALFA Network Distributor, Taiwan

1. Why You Need a Remote ID Detection Kit

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Drone regulation worldwide has entered the “broadcast identity” era. Standards require drones to continuously broadcast the following information while in flight:

Broadcast uses two types of wireless carriers:

• Bluetooth: BT4 Legacy Advertising, BT5 Long Range (Extended Advertising)
• Wi-Fi: NAN (Wi-Fi Aware, 2.4 / 5 GHz), Beacon (2.4 / 5 GHz)

For site managers at airports, industrial parks, prisons, and large events, passively receiving these public broadcasts (essentially seeing a drone’s “tail number”) is a compliant and low-cost approach to situational awareness — no active interference needed.

2. Product Positioning: Lowest-Risk Open-Source Path

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After evaluating multiple technical approaches, we chose a configuration centered on the ALFA AWUS036ACH:

• The AWUS036ACH uses the Realtek RTL8812AU chipset, dual-band 2.4 + 5 GHz (802.11ac), 2×2 MIMO, two detachable 5 dBi high-gain RP-SMA antennas, and ample USB 3.0 bandwidth.
• The community-maintained rtl88xxau driver provides stable monitor mode and raw packet injection — the prerequisite for capturing Wi-Fi RID Beacon / NAN frames.
• Crucially, the sxjack/unix_rid_capture README explicitly states “Tested using an rtl8812au based WiFi dongle, an nRF52840 dongle and a Raspberry Pi 3B”. The community has already done the hardware validation for us. Reproducing their architecture for a productized kit is the lowest-risk path.

3. Hardware List

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Note: The community DroneAware project originally specified the AWUS036N (Ralink RT3070, 2.4 GHz single-band). This kit upgrades to the AWUS036ACH (dual-band) to cover both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz NAN and Beacon Wi-Fi RID transmission methods — broader coverage and better future-proofing.

4. Software List

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5. GitHub Project Links

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# Core decode library (ASTM F3411 / EN 4709-002 message encode/decode)
https://github.com/opendroneid/opendroneid-core-c

# Linux capture program (this kit's main software, validated on rtl8812au + nRF52840 + RPi)
https://github.com/sxjack/unix_rid_capture

# Community real-time map network (one-click install, auto-uploads to droneaware.io)
https://github.com/fduflyer/DroneAware-Node-Releases

# Wireless detection framework (DJI OcuSync path requires SDR plugin)
https://github.com/kismetwireless/kismet

# RTL8812AU monitor / injection driver (required for AWUS036ACH)
https://github.com/morrownr/8812au-20210629

6. Step-by-Step Setup

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Step 1 — Flash the system

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Use Raspberry Pi Imager to write Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit). Click the gear icon (advanced settings):

• Hostname: droneid-kit
• Enable SSH and set credentials
• Enter WiFi credentials (saves having to connect Ethernet later)

Step 2 — Connect and verify hardware

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Plug the AWUS036ACH directly into the Pi’s USB 3.0 port (blue / labeled SS). Make sure both antennas are tight. After boot, SSH in:

ssh <user>@droneid-kit.local
sudo -i
lsusb

You should see:

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 0bda:8812 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8812AU 802.11a/b/g/n/ac WLAN Adapter

Step 3 — Install the rtl88xxau monitor driver

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sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y dkms git bc
git clone https://github.com/morrownr/8812au-20210629.git
cd 8812au-20210629
sudo ./install-driver.sh
sudo reboot

Step 4 — Verify monitor mode

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sudo ip link set wlan0 down
sudo iw dev wlan0 set type monitor
sudo ip link set wlan0 up
iwconfig wlan0

The output should show Mode:Monitor.

Step 5 — Install build dependencies

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sudo apt install -y git cmake libncurses-dev libpcap-dev \
  libbluetooth-dev libgps-dev libnl-genl-3-dev libgtest-dev build-essential

Step 6 — Build opendroneid-core-c

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git clone --recursive https://github.com/opendroneid/opendroneid-core-c
cd opendroneid-core-c
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ../.
make -j
# Produces libopendroneid/libopendroneid.so and test/odidtest

Step 7 — Build unix_rid_capture

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unix_rid_capture requires opendroneid.c / opendroneid.h. Copy them from the previous step:

cd ~
git clone https://github.com/sxjack/unix_rid_capture
cp opendroneid-core-c/libopendroneid/opendroneid.{c,h} unix_rid_capture/
cd unix_rid_capture
cmake .
make

Step 8 — Run capture

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Root privileges or cap_net_raw are required:

sudo setcap cap_net_raw+eip rid_capture
./rid_capture -x > rid_capture.txt        # Capture and save as JSON

Live UDP output (open another terminal):

nc -lu 32001

Step 9 — Visualize flight paths (GPX → Google Earth)

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./scripts/rid2gpx.pl < rid_capture.txt      # Generate .gpx

Open the .gpx file in Google Earth to see the drone’s flight path. A typical detection JSON entry looks like:

{
  "mac": "ac:67:b2:09:50:d4",
  "operator": "GBR-OP-ZZZZZZZZZZZZ",
  "uav id": "SERIAL NUMBER",
  "uav latitude": 25.0330,
  "uav longitude": 121.5654,
  "uav altitude": 120,
  "uav heading": 90,
  "uav speed": 8,
  "base latitude": 25.0300,
  "base longitude": 121.5600
}

Step 10 — (Optional) Connect to the DroneAware community live map

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curl -fsSL https://github.com/fduflyer/DroneAware-Node-Releases/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sudo bash

7. Important Technical Clarification: Standard RID vs. DJI OcuSync

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This is where the expertise matters — make sure your customers understand the difference:

• The ALFA AWUS036ACH is a Wi-Fi band (2.4 / 5 / 6 GHz) receiver. It handles standard RID completely.
• DJI’s proprietary OcuSync DroneID does not use standard Wi-Fi protocols. The ALFA adapter cannot decode it. You need an SDR covering 2.4 / 5.8 GHz (e.g., ANTSDR E200) with the alphafox02/antsdr_dji_droneid + Kismet plugin.
• ⚠️ Note: Standard RTL-SDR has a bandwidth ceiling of about 1.7 GHz — it cannot see OcuSync at 2.4 / 5.8 GHz. You must choose an SDR that supports higher frequencies.
• The two paths are complementary: the ALFA adapter handles standard RID broadcast detection, while the SDR handles DJI’s proprietary protocol — together forming a complete Counter-UAV / RF situational awareness front end.

Appendix: Glossary for Beginners

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If you are new to drone regulation and counter-UAV technology, here is a quick plain-English reference for the terms used in this guide:

In one sentence: This guide teaches you how to turn an ALFA adapter into a “drone identity scanner” — passively receiving the public information that drones are legally required to broadcast. It is a legal method for site security management.

References

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1. opendroneid/opendroneid-core-c — Open Drone ID Core C Library
2. sxjack/unix_rid_capture — WiFi/BT RID capture (rtl8812au + nRF52840 + RPi validated)
3. fduflyer/DroneAware-Node-Releases — Community Remote ID detection network
4. kismetwireless/kismet — Wireless detection framework
5. alphafox02/antsdr_dji_droneid — DJI OcuSync DroneID SDR decoder
6. morrownr/8812au-20210629 — RTL8812AU Linux monitor/injection driver
7. ALFA AWUS036ACH product page (Yupitek)
8. Contact and ordering (Yupitek)

This article was compiled by the Yupitek technical team. AWUS036ACH and related hardware are available through Yupitek with authorized distribution and technical support.