Just want to buy it and set it up?
Concrete picks for people who don't want to build anything — buy the box, plug it in, follow the setup guide. One pick per job, plus the honest runner-up.
🌐 Does it work in just a browser?
Mostly yes. Chrome and Edge (on a computer or Android) can talk to hardware directly — the camera, a detector over Serial or Bluetooth, an ESP32 over Serial — so no scripts. Here's the honest picture and the easy way around each gap.
The browser opens your webcam or phone camera directly. Already works — the camera setup and drive mode use it.
Pair the detector and connect it at the browser link — Serial covers detectors paired as a COM port (most of them), Bluetooth LE covers the app-based ones.
The browser reads the ESP32 Remote ID board over Serial. A phone app can also just show drones with no hardware.
Decoding 1090 MHz in a browser is possible (WebUSB) but heavy; a Raspberry Pi running the receiver is the easy path, then it feeds the map.
P25 decoding is too heavy for a browser and needs a Pi. The easy in-browser substitute is just listening to a Broadcastify feed (audio, not a map dot).
1. iPhone / Safari blocks browser‑to‑hardware entirely. Easy fix: use Chrome on a computer or an Android phone, or run the tiny PC bridge. A native app would close this later.
2. Police radio can't decode in a browser. Easy fix: run it on a $40 SDR + Raspberry Pi, or just link a Broadcastify feed to listen.
📡 Radar detectors easy
Feeds the live speed-trap layer. The easiest to set up are the ones with a Bluetooth app, because they pair straight to your phone or PC through the browser link — no script.
BLE app, so it pairs to Chrome on your phone or desktop through the browser link with no software. Range and false-alert filtering aren't as good as Uniden, but for a fixed node (a detector on your desk near the road) that barely matters. This is the plug-and-play pick.
The best range and the fewest false alerts. If its app uses classic
Bluetooth rather than BLE, connect it through the small PC bridge
(radar_bridge.py) instead of the browser. Overkill for a fixed
desk node; worth it in a car.
📷 Cameras / plate readers
Reads government & marked plates. There are three real choices; which one depends on where you're mounting it.
1. Dedicated LPR/ANPR IP camera best for plates
Purpose-built to read plates, including at night — it has a fast shutter and controlled IR so a retroreflective plate doesn't blow out. PoE + RTSP, mounts outside, feeds in through Add an IP camera. If night plates matter, this is the one.
2. General IP camera with IR night vision good value
4K, weatherproof, PoE (one cable), and — the reason to pick it — 5X optical zoom. Aim it once at your stretch of road and zoom until a lane fills the frame, so the plate is physically large in the image (that helps the full‑res crop as much as any software). Confirmed RTSP/ONVIF, feeds via Add an IP camera. Plain IR can bloom on a plate at night, so it's a daytime‑first pick.
4K PoE with 5X optical zoom and auto‑tracking, RTSP/ONVIF. Good for an intersection — but the auto‑track can wander off the lane you want, so for a fixed road node the steady RLC‑811A above is better.
3. USB webcam — the desk / window pick cheapest
If your PC sits near a road-facing window (a lot of people, maybe you), point a webcam out the glass and run the camera setup. No PoE, no network camera — just USB. Daytime plates are fine; night needs a streetlight. This is the simplest possible start with hardware you may already own.
IP camera vs webcam: an IP camera is weatherproof, mounts outside and streams over the network (best for a real road node); a webcam is cheap and indoor, needs a PC beside it (best for a window/desk node).
✈️ Planes / police aircraft easy
Plug the stick into a Raspberry Pi, flash the PiAware image, connect the
antenna. Done — it receives aircraft on 1090 MHz, including police
helicopters, and flags orbits. Add the adsb_feed.py feeder to
put your coverage on the map.
A ready box with the SDR, filter and antenna bundled if you'd rather not source parts. Same result.
🛸 Drones (Remote ID) app is instant
Install it and your phone shows drones broadcasting Remote ID nearby — and often the operator's location — using the phone's own Bluetooth/Wi‑Fi. Instant, no hardware. (To auto‑feed the map, you still pair the app or a board to the drone feeder; on its own it just shows you.)
Sold ready-flashed by hobby sellers (no flashing needed). Plug into a Pi or
PC over USB and run drone_feed.py to put drones on the map.
📻 Police radio not plug-and-play yet
Run trunk-recorder, then p25_feed.py posts "radio active here."
Worth it only if your county is unencrypted.
A digital scanner is turnkey for listening; a Broadcastify feed needs no hardware at all. Neither feeds the map by itself yet.
🔌 Extras for a portable / wireless node
The little computer that runs the camera, planes, or radio feeder.
Lets a node know where it is — so it works anywhere with no setup.
Cuts the last cords: wireless data and no wall power. Drop it anywhere.
Every device here is receive-only, and only government/marked vehicles are ever published — a private vehicle's plate is removed on the device before anything is uploaded. Recommendations are representative, not verified-live; confirm current models and prices yourself.