SkyRadar Live air traffic on your Garmin watch – complete guide for the app and the data field
Contents
2. App or data field?
3. Quick start
4. The radar view
5. Controlling the app
6. The data field
7. Traffic alerts
8. Airspace alerts
9. Vibration signatures
10. All settings
11. Status line & error messages
12. Hiding your own aircraft
13. Data sources & limitations
14. FAQ
1. What is SkyRadar?
SkyRadar shows live air traffic around your GPS position right on the watch: powered and commercial aircraft via ADS-B/MLAT, gliders, microlights and balloons via FLARM/OGN – plus airports and airspaces from openAIP. The watch polls a server every few seconds through the paired smartphone; the server aggregates the data sources and delivers everything pre-processed, including the alert-level computation.
Airspaces are built in – including alerts: SkyRadar draws controlled and restricted airspaces (CTR, class A–D, restricted/prohibited areas, TMZ/RMZ) around you and warns you before you enter one: a yellow alert with a countdown while your track is projected to cross the boundary, a red alert once you are inside – each with its own distinct vibration. This is a core feature, not an add-on.
Supported watches: app and data field both run on the D2 Mach 2 Pro, D2 Mach 2, D2 Mach 1 Pro, D2 Mach 1, D2 Air X15 and D2 Air X10 (the Mach 1 Pro and Air X15 share their hardware platform with the epix Pro 51 mm/tactix 7 AMOLED and the Venu 4 45 mm, which are therefore compatible as well). The app is free and licensed for non-commercial use only (a condition of the data sources, see section 13).
2. App or data field?
SkyRadar comes in two flavours built from the same code – both are named “SkyRadar” in the store:
| Watch app | Data field | |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | standalone from the app list | as a full-screen data field inside an activity (e.g. “Fly”) |
| Controls | zoom, pan and orientation directly on the watch | no direct interaction – scale and orientation are chosen in the settings |
| Typical use | briefing, watching from the ground, quick look | in flight, when the activity (recording, baro data) should run in parallel |
| Alerts | identical: same alert logic, same vibrations, same settings structure | |
3. Quick start
- Prerequisite: the watch is paired with your smartphone and the phone has internet access – all data requests go through the phone.
- Installation: via the Connect IQ store (app and/or data field). Settings afterwards in Garmin Connect → device → Connect IQ apps.
- First launch: a notice reminds you of the safety scope – confirm with START.
- Then:
Waiting for GPS...until satellite reception (usually seconds outdoors), followed byLoading traffic...until the first server response. After that the radar is live.
4. The radar view
Your position sits in the centre (blue arrow pointing along your track), surrounded by range rings at quarter intervals of the selected scale. The current scale (radius) is shown at the bottom: 1 / 2.5 / 5 / 10 / 20 / 30 NM.
Traffic targets
Each target is an aircraft symbol (jet, piston/microlight, glider, helicopter, balloon) pointing along its track, with two label lines:
- Identification – e.g.
D-ERECorDLH4KP; at red alert level additionally the airline callsign (“Lufthansa”, “Condor” …). - TCAS line – e.g.
+09▼ 132kt: altitude relative to you in hundreds of feet (+09 = 900 ft above you, −05 = 500 ft below), arrow = climbing/descending, followed by ground speed.
The colour is the alert level: Green traffic, no alert Yellow converging Red close (criteria in section 7).
Ground map
For orientation the radar can show a minimal ground map (setting “Ground map”): rivers and canals as dark blue lines, seas and large lakes as filled dark blue areas (with islands cut out), cities/towns as a dot with name, and – in the default Standard level – motorways (dark sand) and country borders (dim purple). The Full level adds main railway lines (blue-grey). These are the same features you navigate by on an ICAO chart. Deliberately reduced and drawn as the lowest layer so traffic and airspaces stay dominant; data from OpenStreetMap, loaded once per region and cached.
Airports and airspaces
Airports appear as a symbol with their ICAO code (e.g.
EDFV). Airspaces are drawn as outlines with a short label
in ICAO chart style: upper limit over lower limit in hundreds of feet
(e.g. C 100 over 045 = class C, FL100 down to
4500 ft; GND = from ground). Colours in the
default ICAO/DFS scheme (setting “Airspace colors”;
alternatively FAA/sectional style for the USA):
| Style | Airspace |
|---|---|
| red dashed | CTR (control zone; class D is blue dashed) |
| red solid | R (restricted), P (prohibited) |
| blue solid | class A/B/C |
| blue dash-dot / fine | TMZ / RMZ |
Status line
The bottom line always shows one line of diagnostics: normally e.g.
3 tgt 5 apt 12s (3 targets, 5 airports, data 12 seconds
old). If the data age exceeds 20 seconds it turns red:
OLD 25s – positions are no longer current. During an active
airspace alert or an error, this line shows the alert or the error instead
(section 11).
5. Controlling the app
| Action | Effect |
|---|---|
| UP / DOWN | finer / coarser scale (1–30 NM) |
| Tap the scale chip (bottom centre) | cycle through scales |
| Drag on the map | pan the view – traffic and airports in the new area are loaded too |
| START | back to your own position (reset panning) |
| Tap the compass rose (bottom left) | if panned: recentre; otherwise toggle north-up ↔ track-up |
In track-up the map rotates with your track (heading at the top); the compass rose shows the orientation. There is also an auto zoom (can be disabled): on a traffic alert the view jumps to a scale where the target is clearly visible, and back afterwards.
In the watch glance SkyRadar shows a one-liner like
3 targets - 4.2 km without opening the app.
6. The data field
- Add the data field to an activity (recommended: full-screen / single-field layout in “Fly”).
- Position, altitude and track come from the running activity (baro altitude!); polling runs at the same rate as in the app.
- Since data fields have no button/touch input, scale (“Scale”, 1–30 NM) and orientation (“Orientation”: north-up / track-up) are chosen in the settings. Changes apply within seconds, no restart needed.
- Status line in the field:
5 targets 4.2km; during an alertCTR FRANKFURT 90sorIN CTR FRANKFURT; without a fixno GPS.
7. Traffic alerts
A target turns yellow when it is simultaneously below the configured distance and altitude difference (default: 3 NM and ±1000 ft), and red at the tighter red thresholds (default: 1 NM and ±500 ft). Both pairs are configurable. A hysteresis prevents targets from flickering at the boundary.
- Yellow vibrates once on the level change; red repeats (every 5/10/15 s depending on the vibration profile).
- On stale data (>15 s) no escalation to red – solid red on old positions would fake a precision the data does not have.
- At red the app additionally shows the airline callsign – useful for following the radio.
8. Airspace alerts
SkyRadar warns you before you enter airspace that requires a clearance:
- Yellow
(approaching): your track projection crosses an airspace boundary
within the configured warning time (default 2 minutes). Display e.g.
CTR FRANKFURT 90s– at unchanged course you would enter in 90 seconds. - Red
(inside): your position is inside the airspace. Display
IN CTR FRANKFURT.
The affected airspace is highlighted on the map thicker and in the alert colour. Altitude is part of the check, and the projection is three-dimensional: your climb or descent rate is projected along with your track – climbing towards an overlying airspace (or descending onto one below you) triggers the yellow warning just like a horizontal approach, with the same look-ahead time. The configurable margin (default 500 ft) acts as a safety buffer in the yellow check, while red strictly means you are inside the actual vertical band – so a class C starting at 4500 ft will not alert you on the ground.
Vibration only on events, never continuously: the watch buzzes once when the approach is detected (yellow), once on entry (red), and again if the affected airspace changes (e.g. from a class D sector into the CTR). If you fly inside with a clearance, you are not buzzed repeatedly – the visual indication (status line and highlighted polygon) stays on the whole time.
Which airspaces? Selectable per setting:
CTR, A, B, C, D, R, P (default) / CTR, R, P (if you fly
in A–D with a clearance anyway) / R + P only.
9. Vibration signatures
Traffic and airspace feel different on your wrist – short pulses versus long ones:
| Event | Pattern | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic yellow | 1–2 short pulses | “tap-tap” |
| Traffic red | 2–3 short strong pulses, repeating | “tap-tap-tap” |
| Airspace yellow | 1 long soft pulse (~0.6 s) | “mmmm” |
| Airspace red | 2 long strong pulses, once on entry | “mmmm-mmmm” |
If several events coincide, only the most important one vibrates: traffic red > airspace red > traffic yellow > airspace yellow – everything stays visible on the display regardless. The “Alerts (vibration)” setting selects what may vibrate at all: both, traffic only, airspace only, or nothing. The radar display is independent of this and always complete.
10. All settings
Changing settings: Garmin Connect app → device → Connect IQ apps → SkyRadar (app or data field – separate values!). Changes apply on the next data poll, no restart needed.
| Setting | Options (default bold) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| My aircraft | registrations, comma-separated | hide your own aircraft – see section 12 |
| Update interval | 3 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 30 / 60 s | polling rate. 5 s is the best compromise; 30/60 s for observing only (alerts arrive late!) |
| Altitude filter | all altitudes / ±1000 … ±10000 ft | server-side filter: only show traffic within the altitude band around you |
| Yellow alert distance / altitude | 1–5 NM (3) / ±500–2000 ft (1000) | thresholds for yellow (both must be met) |
| Red alert distance / altitude | 0.5–5 NM (1) / ±250–2000 ft (500) | thresholds for red |
| Airspace colors | ICAO/DFS / FAA | airspace colour scheme (European or US chart style) |
| Alerts (vibration) | Traffic + airspace / Traffic only / Airspace only / Off | which alert sources may vibrate (the display always stays on) |
| Airspace alert categories | CTR, A, B, C, D, R, P / CTR, R, P / R + P | which airspace classes count as alert-worthy |
| Airspace warning time | 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 min | look-ahead time of the track projection (yellow) |
| Airspace vertical margin | 0 / 500 / 1000 ft | altitude margin above/below the airspace within which you are still warned |
| Ground map | Standard / Full / Water + cities / Off | minimal ground reference from OpenStreetMap: water and cities, Standard adds motorways + country borders, Full adds main railways |
| Vibration alerts | Strong / Normal / Gentle / Off | strength and repeat rate of all vibrations |
| Auto zoom on alert | on / off | jump to a suitable scale automatically on a traffic alert |
| Scale / Orientation (data field only) | 1–30 NM (10) / north-up / track-up | scale and map orientation of the data field |
11. Status line & error messages
| Display | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
Waiting for GPS... | no satellite fix yet | wait under open sky |
Loading traffic... | fix acquired, first server response pending | wait a few seconds |
3 tgt 5 apt 12s | normal operation: targets, airports, data age | – |
OLD 25s (red) | data older than 20 s | check phone connection/coverage; do not base decisions on these positions |
No phone -104 | no paired phone reachable | check Bluetooth / Garmin Connect app on the phone |
Timeout -300 | request timed out | check the phone's mobile coverage |
Server error 500 etc. | server problem (number = HTTP code) | usually resolves itself; otherwise retry later |
Invalid token 401 | access token wrong (private server instances only) | check the token in the settings |
Bad response -400 | response was not valid JSON | should not happen; please report if frequent |
Reply too large -402 | response too large for the watch | should not happen (server caps sizes); please report |
HTTPS required -1001 | server URL is not https | enter the URL with https:// in the settings |
Error <number> | other error | note the code and report it |
Positive numbers come from the server; negative ones are generated by the watch itself (Garmin connectivity error codes).
12. Hiding your own aircraft
If your own aircraft carries FLARM or a transponder, it would constantly
appear as a red target next to you. Enter your registration(s) under
“My aircraft”, comma-separated – e.g.
D-EABC, D-KXYZ (ICAO hex addresses work too).
The server only hides a target from this list once it demonstrably moves with you (same position, speed and track across several polls). Until confirmed it is shown capped at yellow. This way a second aircraft with the same registration list (say, a club mate in the sister plane) remains visible.
13. Data sources & limitations
- Open Glider Network (OGN) – FLARM/gliding, 1–2 s latency from the receiver
- OpenStreetMap – ground map (waterways, cities); © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
- airplanes.live – ADS-B/MLAT (fallbacks: adsb.lol, adsb.fi)
- OurAirports – airport database (public domain)
- openAIP – airspaces (CTR, classes A–D, R, P, TMZ, RMZ up to 10,000 ft)
All sources are community projects with non-commercial licensing terms – which is why SkyRadar is free and will stay free. Credit goes to these projects; if you run your own ADS-B or OGN receiver, you improve exactly the data shown here.
System limits, plainly: total latency typically 5–15 s (radio path + aggregation + polling interval). Only traffic that actively transmits and is received is visible – no transponder, no target. Near the ground and in remote areas there are coverage gaps. Airspace data is updated monthly (AIRAC cycle) but contains no NOTAMs. The watch always shows the data age – please take it seriously.
14. FAQ
The map is empty, the status line says 0 tgt 0 apt
The connection works – there simply is no transmitting traffic within range (or the altitude filter hides it). That is a result, not an error.
Track-up rotates the map the wrong way / flips 180°
Almost always a decalibrated compass. Calibrate the watch compass (settings → sensors → compass) and the orientation will be correct again.
Why does nothing vibrate?
Check: “Alerts (vibration)” not set to Off? “Vibration alerts” not set to Off? System-wide vibration enabled on the watch? And: yellow vibrates only once on the level change – not continuously.
I changed settings and nothing happens
App and data field have separate settings pages – it is easy to edit the wrong one. In Garmin Connect check the product name carefully (both are called SkyRadar; one is listed as a data field).
My own aircraft shows up as a red target
Enter your registration under “My aircraft” (section 12). Hiding kicks in after a few polls, once co-movement is confirmed.
Does SkyRadar show all traffic?
No. Only what transmits ADS-B, is MLAT-trackable, or sends FLARM/OGN and is heard by ground receivers. Military, non-transponder traffic and transmitters in radio shadows are missing. Which is exactly why: see and avoid remains your responsibility.