Understand your receiver’s results
Tell the difference between radio activity, decoded messages and reports accepted by Layer400.
01Radio → messages
02Messages → reports
Reviewed · Current receiver requirements
Follow the four stages
- Receiver connected: the Pi is communicating with Layer400.
- Radio listening: a capture worker or aircraft source is operating with fresh status.
- Reception confirmed: compatible Remote ID or aircraft messages have been decoded.
- Contribution accepted: the platform has acknowledged an observation. Look at the acknowledgement time as well as the total.
These are separate checks. Connected hardware identifies a device; Radio health describes its current operation. A saved ADS-B source still needs a working decoder output.
RF frames include other Wi-Fi traffic. RID frames are compatible Remote ID messages, not unique drones. BLE advertisements are not automatically Remote ID. ADS-B decoded updates differ from aircraft counts, usable positions and accepted platform contributions.
A healthy receiver can be quiet
Remote ID reception depends on compatible broadcasts being nearby, on the channel and transport you can hear. A drone may be out of range or obscured. ADS-B activity depends on aircraft, the decoder and the feed it exposes. No received report is not proof of empty airspace.
Check freshness before interpreting a zero. A new rate chart needs samples; an unavailable measurement must not be treated as zero. An increasing ordinary-frame counter can confirm radio traffic without confirming drone reception.
Coverage, channels and usable positions
Antenna placement, terrain, buildings, interference, power and driver support all affect reception. One Wi-Fi radio listens on one channel at a time. Scanning divides its listening time; extra compatible radios can provide more simultaneous channel coverage or another antenna view.
A decoded identity without a usable position may contribute evidence without appearing as a located map track. Multiple receivers can hear the same object; the map can consolidate their reports while retaining receiver evidence. More feeds from the same decoder do not create extra physical coverage.
Delivery, retained history and lifetime totals
A queue holds observations awaiting delivery during interruptions, within storage and age limits. A fresh acknowledgement means the platform accepted data; a local capture counter alone cannot prove delivery. If the queue grows, check connectivity and storage before changing radio settings.
Local History offers day, range and one-year selections in the receiver’s configured time zone. Retention is bounded to up to 366 days and 500,000 records per source; busy stations can retain less. Bounded queries may show partial coverage. A wider date range cannot recover records already removed.
The lifetime accepted-observation total is kept separately from history cleanup. Local retained history also differs from website playback, whose available recordings and account entitlement determine what you can open.
Read and share observations responsibly
Report times, reception gaps, source types and TEST labels matter. First and last received positions do not establish take-off or landing. A broadcast identifier is not by itself verified ownership or an authenticated identity.
Predicted paths are estimates; missing data stays missing. Do not infer a pilot’s identity, intent or a confirmed incident from a map marker. Read the live map and playback guide for prediction, group and encounter indications.