Radar Display — ESP32 + LVGL + dump1090

Live aircraft radar pulling data from a local dump1090/readsb instance over WiFi. Two hardware targets supported — swap between them with a single build flag.

Target	Board	Display	Resolution	Touch
S3 (default)	ESP32-S3 4848S040	ST7701 RGB	480×480	GT911 (I²C)
C6	ESP32-C6 DevKit	ILI9341 SPI	240×240 crop	none

Quick start

git clone https://github.com/gregdev/dump1090-radar-display.git radar-display
cd radar-display

# 1. Create your config
cp src/config.example.h src/config.h
# Edit src/config.h: set WiFi SSID/password, dump1090 host IP, and home lat/lon

# 2. Build & flash

# ESP32-S3 + 480×480 RGB (default):
pio run --target upload

# ESP32-C6 + ILI9341 2.4" SPI:
pio run -e esp32-c6-ili9341 --target upload

Windows users: see First-time setup below for PlatformIO details.

Build targets

The project uses two PlatformIO environments — switching is a one-line change:

# platformio.ini

[env:esp32-s3-4848s040]   # S3 + ST7701 RGB 480×480 (PSRAM, touch)
[env:esp32-c6-ili9341]     # C6 + ILI9341 SPI  240×240 crop (no PSRAM, no touch)

The entire codebase is platform-aware via -DPLATFORM_C6_ILI9341 — display driver, screen dimensions, touch, and memory allocation all switch automatically. No code changes needed to move between targets.

C6 wiring (ILI9341)

ILI9341 pin	ESP32-C6 GPIO
SCK	6
SDI (MOSI)	7
SDO (MISO)	2
CS	18
DC (RS)	19
RESET	20
LED (BL)	21

To change pins, edit the ILI9341_PIN_* defines under #ifdef PLATFORM_C6_ILI9341 in config.h.

Hardware

ESP32-S3 (default)

• Board: ESP32-4848S040C_I_Y_3 (Jingcai/Guition)
• MCU: ESP32-S3, 16MB Flash, 8MB Octal PSRAM
• Display: ST7701 RGB 480×480, 16-bit parallel
• Touch: GT911 capacitive (I²C)
• Library: LovyanGFX (display), LVGL v9 (UI)

ESP32-C6 (alternative)

• Board: ESP32-C6 DevKitC-1
• MCU: ESP32-C6, 8MB Flash, 320KB SRAM (no PSRAM)
• Display: ILI9341 2.4" SPI TFT, 240×320 → 240×240 square crop
• Touch: none (skipped in firmware)
• Platform: pioarduino/platform-espressif32 (Arduino-ESP32 v3.x)

Project structure

platformio.ini          # PlatformIO build config (two envs)
lv_conf.h               # LVGL v9 configuration (PSRAM-aware)
boards/
├── esp32-s3-4848s040.json          # Guition integrated board definition
├── esp32-s3-devkitc-1-n8r8.json    # Bare S3 DevKit, 8MB flash / 8MB PSRAM
├── esp32-s3-devkitc-1-n16r8.json   # Bare S3 DevKit, 16MB flash / 8MB PSRAM
└── esp32-c6-devkitc-1.json         # Custom C6 board (enables Arduino)
flash_win.ps1            # Windows PowerShell flash helper
build_flash.sh           # WSL build/flash helper
src/
├── main.cpp             # Entry point: WiFi → display → LVGL → radar loop
├── lgfx_config.h        # LovyanGFX config (RGB / SPI, platform-aware)
├── radar_ui.h / .cpp    # LVGL canvas-based radar rendering
├── aircraft_data.h / .cpp   # HTTP fetch + JSON parse
├── coord_convert.h / .cpp   # Geo → pixel projection
├── config.h             # WiFi, dump1090 URL, home, display pins & dims (gitignored)
├── config.example.h     # Template — copy to config.h
├── land_mask.h          # Generated land/sea mask data
└── fonts/
    └── lv_font_monoid_12.c  # Custom bitmap font

First-time setup

Windows

git clone <url> radar-display
cd radar-display
python -m pip install platformio
pio run                         # builds S3 firmware
pio run -e esp32-c6-ili9341     # builds C6 firmware
pio run --target upload         # builds + flashes S3

WSL / Linux

git clone <url> radar-display
cd radar-display
pipx install platformio  # or: python3 -m pip install platformio
pio run                    # build S3
pio run -e esp32-c6-ili9341  # build C6
pio run --target upload    # build + flash S3 (needs USB passthrough on WSL)

WSL notes: USB passthrough is unreliable. Use flash_win.ps1 from Windows PowerShell instead, or attach the device via usbipd (usbipd bind --busid X-Y, usbipd attach --wsl --busid X-Y).

Configuration

Edit src/config.h:

#define WIFI_SSID     "MyWiFi"
#define WIFI_PASSWORD "password123"
#define DUMP1090_HOST "192.168.1.100"   // your Pi/PC running dump1090
#define DUMP1090_PORT 8080
#define HOME_LAT      51.5074           // your latitude
#define HOME_LON      -0.1278           // your longitude
#define RADAR_RANGE_NM 40               // radar range in nautical miles

Expected serial output

=== ESP32 Radar Display ===
dump1090: http://192.168.1.100:8080/data/aircraft.json
Home:     51.507400, -0.127800
Range:    40 NM (220 px radius)
WiFi connecting..........
WiFi connected: 192.168.1.42
Display: 480x480
Touch: LVGL indev registered
Initial fetch: 12 aircraft
Running.

dump1090 API

Fetches http://<host>:<port>/data/aircraft.json every 2 seconds. Expected format:

[{
  "hex": "4ca89b",
  "flight": "RYR123  ",
  "lat": 51.52, "lon": -0.10,
  "alt_geom": 35000, "gs": 440,
  "track": 270, "vert_rate": 0, "seen": 0.3
}]

Aircraft without lat/lon are skipped automatically.

Land mask

To generate the land mask background for your location:

1. Open tools/land_mask_map.html in a browser
2. Enter your home lat/lon and range → Update Map
3. Download land_mask.h → drop it into src/

Troubleshooting

Issue	Fix
Blank display	Check pinout in config.h matches your wiring; verify rotation setting for C6
Build fails on C6	First build downloads the pioarduino platform (~5 min); ensure internet connection
C6: "missing platformio-build-esp32c6.py"	Ensure platform = points to pioarduino/platform-espressif32 — the stock espressif32 platform lacks C6 Arduino support
No WiFi	Check SSID/password in config.h
No aircraft	Verify dump1090 is running: open http://<host>:8080/data/aircraft.json in browser
Compile error	Run ./setup.sh or .\setup.ps1 to create source symlinks
Upload fails	In WSL, use flash_win.ps1 from Windows PowerShell instead
LVGL config warning	lv_conf.h is correctly configured — the warning is cosmetic
Display upside-down or sideways	Adjust lcd.setRotation() value in main.cpp (0–3)