RIDAR can use the EUD itself as a sensor, picking up Remote ID broadcasts over BLE, 2.4 and 5 GHz Wi-Fi, and cellular. These settings only need to be applied once per phone.
Most drones broadcast over BLE, which works as soon as Bluetooth and Location are on. The Wi-Fi steps below unlock the rest.
1. Turn on Live RF in RIDAR
- Set Live RF (EUD) to ON — tap the EUD chip until it turns green.
2. Grant permissions
Settings → Apps → ATAK → Permissions
- Location → Allow → Precise. This is the master permission. Without it, BLE, Wi-Fi, and cellular scanning all return nothing.
- Nearby devices → Allow. Required for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi scanning on Android 12 and newer.
3. Turn the radios on
Quick Settings
- Bluetooth — ON
- Wi-Fi — ON. It can stay connected to a network.
- Location — ON. Android returns no BLE or Wi-Fi results while the system Location switch is off, even when the permission has been granted.
4. Unlock full-rate Wi-Fi scanning
- Enable Developer options — Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times.
- Turn Wi-Fi scan throttling OFF — Settings → System → Developer options.
This is the step most operators miss. Left on, throttling caps Wi-Fi to roughly one sweep every 30 seconds. Turned off, Wi-Fi Remote ID runs at full rate — about 8 seconds. It has no effect on Bluetooth, which scans continuously either way.
5. Keep it scanning with the screen off
- Set ATAK battery to Unrestricted — Settings → Apps → ATAK → Battery.
Device hardware
These depend on the phone and cannot be toggled:
- BLE 5 Long Range — enabled automatically where supported.
- Wi-Fi Aware — skipped if the device does not have it.
- Cellular — requires telephony hardware.
A modern flagship will support all three. A paired RIDAR sensor still beats any phone on range.
