Pi vs ESP32

Dark Sky Systems LLC sells two receive computers. One fits a bag. One stays at a named site and also hears ADS-B.

The pocket computer is an ESP32 with a color screen. USB-C. Three buttons. Cooperative Remote ID on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. That is the whole radio.

The site computer is a Raspberry Pi kit. The indoor kit is a Raspberry Pi 5, a Remote ID board, a USB receive radio, and a 1090 whip. It hears cooperative Remote ID and 1090 ADS-B on one checkout.

The Pi kit already includes an ESP32 Receiver Board for Remote ID. You are not choosing a chip in the abstract. You are choosing a form. Screen in the hand, or a computer you leave on.

Read the row. Then pick a computer.

Shop stickers are Ready-to-Run. Hardware Only vs Ready-to-Run is the other checkout on the same radio.

An ESP32 receiver hears cooperative Remote ID on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. ASTM F3411 / OpenDroneID broadcasts from aircraft that are transmitting them. That is the pocket screen. That is the desk box. That is the wall node.

A Raspberry Pi kit hears that layer because the kit includes a Remote ID board. It also hears 1090 ADS-B through a USB receive radio. 978 UAT is an add-on or a feeder kit. ADS-B is crewed transponders, not drones.

Remote ID is a drone broadcast when the aircraft is cooperative. ADS-B is a crewed transponder broadcast on 1090, and 978 UAT in the United States. Do not read an ADS-B track as a drone. Do not read a Remote ID track as a crewed aircraft.

If the aircraft is dark, or RID-off, it is not in the picture. Quiet is not a clearance. Rings on the map are scale, not detection range.

The Raspberry Pi ADS-B Feeder hears 1090 and 978 only. No Remote ID board. Do not buy it to hear drones. Ready-to-Run $369.

Add 978 to a 1090 Pi you already own with the 978 add-on. Do not force a dual-band kit if you only need UAT.

Remote ID receivers is the line guide. This page is the computer choice.

You carry a bag. You stand at a door. You sit at a desk. You want a color screen in your hand. You do not need ADS-B.

Start with the Pocket Remote ID Receiver. Color screen. USB-C. Cooperative Remote ID only. Ready-to-Run $129. Best seller in the shop.

A door or a desk that stays put is the Desk Remote ID Receiver. OLED. Small weather box. Remote ID board. Ready-to-Run $179.

A wall or a mast with Remote ID only is the ESP32 Receiver Site. Weather box. USB-C. 2.4 GHz whip. Ready-to-Run $199. Still no ADS-B.

Shop the ESP32 line when the job is cooperative Remote ID and a small form. All ESP32.

If you later want 1090 at a named site, buy one Pi kit. Do not buy a second Remote ID computer and hope it grows a 1090 radio.

You have a named indoor site. You run a trailer. You plant a mast. You want 1090 on the same kit as Remote ID.

The indoor kit is the Raspberry Pi Receiver. Raspberry Pi 5, Remote ID, ADS-B, and a 1090 whip. Ready-to-Run $479. Leave it on.

A first kit for a bag or a trailer is the Raspberry Pi Receiver Starter. Raspberry Pi 4, Remote ID board, USB receive radio. Ready-to-Run $349.

A mast, a fence, or a plant is the Raspberry Pi Receiver Outdoor. Weather box. 9 dBi 1090. Remote ID board still in the kit. Ready-to-Run $729.

Crewed aircraft only, 1090 and 978, is the Raspberry Pi ADS-B Feeder. No Remote ID board. Ready-to-Run $369.

Shop the Pi line when the job is a computer that stays. All Pi kits.

The map and spectrum is Dark Sky Field Pad at $5,900 — a device we build. Sample at /console/.

Pick one Pi. The indoor kit already has a Remote ID board. A second Pi does not give you a second layer. It gives you a second computer.

Add an ESP32 only as a second node or a pocket scanner. A door box while the Pi stays in the closet. A color screen in the bag while the site kit stays on. That is a node. That is not two site computers.

A common order is the indoor Pi for the named site, then the pocket receiver for the walk. One computer on the wall. One screen in the hand.

Mesh is several ESP32 nodes sharing a picture. Each node still hears cooperative Remote ID on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Mesh is not ADS-B. Mesh is not a substitute for a Pi kit.

Do not buy two Ready-to-Run Pi kits to cover one room. Do not buy a pocket ESP32 and a desk ESP32 and a site ESP32 for the same doorway. Pick the form. Add a node only when the site has a second place to stand.

1090 and 978 are a radio on the Pi kit. The pocket ESP32 has a color screen and a Remote ID radio. It does not grow a 1090 front end.

A wall ESP32 is still Remote ID. A desk ESP32 is still Remote ID. A mesh node is still Remote ID. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth only.

Want 1090 on the same checkout as Remote ID? Buy the Raspberry Pi Receiver. Ready-to-Run $479.

Want 1090 on a mast? Buy the Raspberry Pi Receiver Outdoor. Ready-to-Run $729.

Want 1090 and 978 with no Remote ID board? Buy the Raspberry Pi ADS-B Feeder. Ready-to-Run $369.

Want a screen in the hand and no ADS-B? Buy the Pocket Remote ID Receiver. Ready-to-Run $129.

Detection is receive-only. We sell receivers. We do not sell a clearance.