✈️ Desktop Aviation Radar via ESP32

By Alex Kretzschmar | July 25, 2026

After a hectic week presenting at Devrelcon in NYC, I spent a relaxing Saturday winding down with a hands-on hardware project.

🛠️ The Project Overview

The goal was to create a live aircraft tracker for my desk. Using an ESP32-C3 and a small 1.28-inch circular screen, I built a sonar-style radar that monitors local air traffic.

Technical Foundation

The project is powered by the ESP32-Plane-Radar open-source firmware developed by ironicbadger.

Project Essence: It captures ADS-B signals, calculates the aircraft's position relative to the user, and renders the data on a round display.

System Architecture

🏗️ Assembly & Hardware

The build was straightforward, though it did involve some soldering—a process I find nostalgic as it brings back memories of my racing drone days.

Installing the firmware is incredibly simple now; I used the browser-based tool to flash the board without needing complex IDE setups.

📦 The 3D Printing Hurdle

I initially tried the featured model from MakerWorld, but it didn't quite work out.

Original Model (by matixovi): While it looked stunning in the renders, the actual tolerances were far too tight for the specific batch of boards I owned.

Instead, I pivoted to a more compatible version:

• Alternative Model: ESP32-S3 1.28" Waveshare Plane Radar by ThePrintableWatch.

💻 Software Enhancements

I spent the day refining my own fork of the firmware, guided mostly by "pure vibes." I wanted more data and better usability.

🚀 New Features

• Enhanced Flight Data:
  • Now displays Origin and Destination (falling back to the callsign if unavailable).
  • More precise aircraft identification (e.g., B737-800 instead of just B737).
• Environmental Data: Added local time, date, temperature, and humidity.
• Improved Web UI:
  • Coordinates can now be updated post-setup.
  • Display settings (units, runway config, 12/24h time, temp format) can be toggled without wiping Wi-Fi credentials.
  • Typography: Default text is 10% larger, with a slider allowing adjustments from $80\% \rightarrow 130\%$.
• OTA Updates: Added authenticated Over-the-Air updates.

Update Workflow

Instead of plugging in a USB cable, I can now run:

# Conceptual OTA process
compile_binary(local_laptop) 
--> upload_via_browser(wifi_connection) 
--> update_esp32_firmware()

📅 What's Next?

• Design a custom, more forgiving 3D enclosure.
• Port the firmware to a larger display.

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📖 Other Technical Reads

• Blog Migration: After 11 years, I used Ghost moved to a static site built with Astro.

• Hardware Refresh: Using ADB commands to make a decade-old Nvidia Shield feel modern again.

• Virtualization: Using serial= in QEMU and Proxmox to make virtual disks appear as authentic hardware to inxi -xD.