Dashboard guide¶

The React interface is statically built and served by the Python relay. It fetches snapshots every two seconds and history separately so chart updates do not block the live view.

Information architecture¶

mindmap
  root((Observatory))
    Overview
      Aircraft count
      Message rate
      Signal power
      Feed state
      Position plot
    Signals
      Families
      Downlink formats
      Type codes
      Recent frames
    Aircraft
      Search
      Sort
      Details
      CSV export
    Receiver
      RF power
      Decode quality
      USB samples
      Process health
    Feed
      TCP state
      Destination
      Connections
    History
      1 hour
      6 hours
      24 hours
      7 days
    Diagnostics
      Events
      Logs
      Inspector
    Station
      Identity
      Coordinates
      Runtime

Overview¶

Use Overview for a quick answer to four questions: Is the receiver fresh? How many aircraft are active? How many valid messages arrive each second? Is the airplanes.live TCP connection established?

The position plot uses received latitude and longitude values. When station coordinates are configured locally, the collector also supplies range and bearing. A target counts as active when it was seen within 15 seconds.

Signals¶

Signal cards show the trailing 60-second frame rate, session total, and aircraft count for each family. Selecting a card filters formats and recent frames. A zero can be normal: TIS-B and ADS-R depend on nearby ground infrastructure and radio conditions.

Aircraft¶

Search callsign, ICAO hex, or squawk. Sort by identity, altitude, speed, signal, message count, or age. On phones, each target becomes a card; selecting it opens a full-height detail sheet with navigation, integrity, position, and raw fields.

The CSV export prefixes spreadsheet-formula characters in text fields so a callsign cannot become an executable spreadsheet formula.

Receiver¶

Receiver values have different meanings:

• Mean signal and noise are relative dBFS values from the decoder.
• Signal above noise is a derived difference in dB.
• Strong percent counts accepted messages above −3 dBFS and can reveal overload.
• Corrected percent reflects accepted messages that needed bit correction.
• Samples lost or dropped indicate USB or processing pressure.
• CPU work breaks down readsb decoder subsystems.

History¶

Charts display real stored samples. Missing or stale periods remain visible as gaps. Click or tap legend labels to isolate series; change the range without leaving the page.

Inspector¶

Inspector is the most detailed view. Choose snapshot, receiver statistics, raw aircraft, or host state, then filter field names and values. Tables use fixed responsive columns and wrap long nested values to avoid the overlap that can occur with unconstrained telemetry.

The dashboard intentionally publishes received aircraft telemetry. Receiver ingestion remains token-protected and station-setting writes remain local-only.