Squawk Boxlive flight tracker display

Squawk Box is a device: a desktop flight tracker with its own 3.5″ touchscreen that runs by itself over WiFi. It installs nothing on a computer. You plug it into a USB-A phone charger or a computer’s USB-A port, set it up once from your phone’s browser, and it shows the aircraft near your home.

Squawk Box shows up to 25 aircraft at once on a radar scope, out to 25, 50 or 75 miles from your home, on a 3.5″ color touchscreen with radar, list, detail and stats views. Tap a plane for its type, operator, tail number and an hour of altitude history, and when one passes within three miles below 20,000 feet the screen tells you which way to look. It has limits too: it refreshes about every 90 seconds, so it is not a second-by-second view; it works in the United States only; it needs a 2.4 GHz WiFi network; and it shows the aircraft near your home, with no flight-number or worldwide flight lookup. You pay once on Etsy with no monthly fee, and I assemble each one by hand in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

Squawk Box shows up to 25 aircraft at once, nearest first, within a radius you set to 25, 50 or 75 miles from your home and can change anytime. If more than 25 aircraft are in range it shows a selection of 25, so not every plane will always appear. The radar view is centered on your home, and the list view puts the aircraft in range on one board, nearest first.

No. You pay once on Etsy, and that is the whole cost. Setup happens in your phone’s web browser, so there is no app to install and no account to create. Free firmware updates arrive over the air on their own. The flight data comes from outside sources, and the last question on this page covers what happens if one changes.

Squawk Box, a desktop flight tracker, shows the real aircraft near your home on its own screen, each with its callsign, aircraft type, operator, altitude, speed and distance. When a plane passes within three miles of your home below 20,000 feet, a LOOK UP message gives its compass direction and how many degrees above the horizon to look. It can only show aircraft that broadcast ADS-B and reach its data sources, which covers most traffic but not all of it.

Squawk Box isn’t a radio receiver, so there’s no antenna or dongle involved. Aircraft positions arrive over your home WiFi as live ADS-B data, relayed through PlankLabs’ own servers and refreshed about every 90 seconds, which means it works just as well on an interior desk as it would beside a window.

Squawk Box shows LOOK UP when an aircraft comes within three miles of your home below 20,000 feet. A message like “LOOK UP · DAL123 · NE ^62” means that flight is to the northeast, 62 degrees above the horizon, or roughly two-thirds of the way from the horizon to straight overhead. Step outside, face that way, and it should be right there. A few minutes before a close pass you’ll usually see an INBOUND notice first.

Squawk Box doesn’t need to be near an airport, though living near one makes it livelier. Cruising traffic shows up across most of the country, and the search radius goes out to 75 miles. Coverage leans partly on volunteer receivers, so it’s strongest around cities and major airports and can be thinner somewhere very remote. Someone under a busy approach path will see a packed scope; someone rural will mostly see the high overflights crossing the country.

No. Squawk Box works in the United States only, and setup asks for a US city and state or a ZIP code. Inside the United States, coverage is strongest around cities and major airports and can be thinner somewhere very remote.

No. Squawk Box shows the aircraft near your home, within 25, 50 or 75 miles, and has no flight-number lookup and no worldwide view. Tap any aircraft on the screen for its type, operator, tail number and an hour of altitude history. A plane that is not in range cannot be searched for.

Squawk Box can only show aircraft that broadcast ADS-B and reach its data sources, which covers most traffic but not all of it. Some of that data comes from adsb.lol, a community network of volunteer receivers, so a plane is occasionally missing where no receiver can hear it. Some aircraft aren’t required to carry ADS-B at all, some owners use privacy programs that hide their identity, and in busy airspace with more than 25 aircraft in range the screen shows a selection of 25. It’s built for watching the sky, not for flight following.

Squawk Box needs a 2.4 GHz WiFi network. It can’t join a network that is 5 GHz-only or WPA3-only, but most home routers broadcast a 2.4 GHz network alongside their 5 GHz one, and the setup page lists the networks it can see. If setup fails, it tells you why in plain English. Not sure about your router? Message the shop on Etsy before you order.

I make every reasonable effort to keep your PlankLabs gadget working, and updates arrive over the air on their own, but nobody can guarantee that an outside data feed will exist forever, and most gadgets depend on one. The hardware is always yours, and the data is for delight and general awareness, never for navigation, emergencies or safety-critical decisions.