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Alerts and Watchlist
Blipscope can call your attention to two kinds of aircraft: ones squawking an emergency, and ones you've specifically asked to watch for.
Aircraft broadcast a four-digit transponder code ("squawk"). Three codes are reserved worldwide for emergencies, and Blipscope flags them automatically — no configuration needed. When a contact in range is squawking one of these, it gets an expanding red "ping" ring and a permanent red label:
| Squawk | Label | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 7500 | HIJACK |
Unlawful interference (hijacking) |
| 7600 | NORDO |
Radio failure (no radio) |
| 7700 | EMERG |
General emergency |
Red is reserved exclusively for these alerts — no other marker or altitude colour uses it — so an emergency is unmistakable on the radar.
The watchlist lets you tell Blipscope which aircraft you care about. Enter one or more terms (comma-, semicolon-, or newline-separated) in the Watch box on the Configuration Reference page. Each term is matched as a prefix against an aircraft's:
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Callsign (e.g.
BAW) -
Tail number / registration (e.g.
G-) - ICAO address
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Aircraft type (e.g.
A320)
So BAW matches every British Airways callsign, G- matches UK-registered aircraft, and a specific tail number matches just that airframe.
Watchlisted contacts in range get an amber ring and an always-on callsign on the radar, and show in amber on the Screens and Gestures list — so they stand out even before you reach for your phone.
Because the watchlist can match on registration and type, Blipscope automatically enables metadata enrichment whenever your watchlist isn't empty.
Pair the watchlist with a free ntfy.sh topic to get a push notification on your phone the moment a watched aircraft flies over — even if you're not looking at the device.
- Install the ntfy app (iOS / Android) or open ntfy.sh in a browser.
- Subscribe to a topic name of your choice (pick something hard to guess — anyone who knows the topic can read its notifications).
- Enter that same topic in the ntfy.sh topic field on the config page.
When a watchlisted aircraft appears, Blipscope sends a "Blipscope flyover" notification to your topic. Notifications are throttled internally so a single aircraft loitering overhead won't spam you.
Phone alerts require both a non-empty watchlist and an ntfy topic. With no topic set, watched aircraft are still highlighted on-screen but no notification is sent.
- Configuration Reference — where to set the watchlist and topic
- Radar Display — on-screen highlighting