Eiswolfs Flightradar (CYD)

A live ADS-B flight radar running on the ESP32 "Cheap Yellow Display" (CYD, ESP32-2432S028), showing nearby aircraft on a rotating radar screen with altitude/speed/model/route details and a proximity LED alert.

platform framework

Features

  • Live radar screen – circular radar view, sized to the full screen width, with a rotating green sweep line
  • Real ADS-B data via the free adsb.fi API, refreshed every 8 seconds
  • Color-coded aircraft by altitude (green <10k ft, yellow 10-30k ft, red >30k ft) with an on-screen legend
  • Tap an aircraft to open a detail panel: callsign, airline, aircraft model (via hexdb.io), altitude/speed/distance/heading in both metric and aviation units, estimated seat count
  • Adjustable range (10/25/50/100 km) via on-screen button
  • Touch-driven WiFi setup and on-screen keyboard for first-time configuration
  • IP-based geolocation (no GPS module needed) to center the radar on your location
  • Proximity LED alert – the onboard RGB LED blinks green when an aircraft is within 3 km (no speaker on this board, so this replaces an audible alert)
  • Dual-core design – all networking (WiFi, ADS-B polling, aircraft detail lookups) runs on Core 0, while the display and touch input run on Core 1, so the UI never freezes during a network request
  • Data (airline names, aircraft-type seat estimates) loaded from CSV files on the SD card, auto-seeded on first boot

Hardware

  • ESP32-2432S028 ("Cheap Yellow Display", CYD) – ILI9341 2.8" 240x320 touch TFT
  • microSD card (FAT32) for settings, WiFi credentials, and lookup tables
  • No GPS, no speaker required – uses IP geolocation and the onboard RGB LED

Pinout used

Function Pins
TFT (VSPI) MISO=12, MOSI=13, SCLK=14, CS=15, DC=2, BL=21
Touch (XPT2046) CLK=25, CS=33, MOSI=32, MISO=39, IRQ=36
microSD (HSPI) CLK=18, MISO=19, MOSI=23, CS=5
RGB LED (active-low) R=4, G=16, B=17

Getting started

  1. Flash with PlatformIO (platform = espressif32, board = esp32dev, framework = arduino)
  2. Insert a FAT32-formatted microSD card
  3. On first boot: touch-calibrate the screen, then select your WiFi network and enter the password using the on-screen keyboard
  4. The radar screen appears automatically once WiFi and location are ready

Data sources

  • Aircraft positions: adsb.fi (free, no API key)
  • Aircraft model lookups: hexdb.io (free, community-maintained, rate-limited)
  • Location: ip-api.com (free IP geolocation)

Disclaimer

Aircraft model and seat-count data are estimates from community databases and local lookup tables, not live/official figures. This project is for hobby use and is not intended for navigation or safety-critical purposes.

License

MIT (or add your preferred license here)

Description
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Readme 58 MiB
v1.2.2 Latest
2026-08-16 22:17:20 +02:00
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