Who we are
About
An independent, buyer-side advisory for Remote ID and RF-spectrum detection equipment.
Why Ridfinder exists
Buying a Remote ID receiver is needlessly hard. Vendor claims don’t share test conditions — one manufacturer’s “5 km” is another’s “1.5 km under the same sky”. Compatibility questions repeat in every procurement, yet independent English-language comparisons barely exist. And the wrong layer gets specified: teams budget for RID when their threat includes aircraft that never broadcast, then discover the gap after an incident.
Ridfinder works from the buyer’s side of the table. We also supply a Ridfinder-branded equipment line, built by vetted OEM manufacturing partners to our specification. When we compare equipment, the same evidence labels and test conditions apply to our own line as to anyone else’s – and every deliverable states which role it is written in. We read the specifications, chase the documentation, request decode samples, and hand you a shortlist you can defend internally — with every claim labelled by where it came from and when it was checked.
What we evaluate
- Detection layers — Remote ID reception, RF-spectrum scanning, and how the two chain together for your threat model
- Standards coverage — ASTM F3411, ASD-STAN PrEN 4709, UK RID, GB 42590-2023 (safety requirements) and GB 46750-2025 (operational RID, in force since May 2026) and DJI Drone-ID decode capability
- Integration reality — API and webhook documentation, output formats, export paths, offline behaviour
- Total cost — hardware, subscriptions, feature-library terms and firmware support windows
Every specification is labelled with its evidence level: measured in our own tests with conditions stated, vendor-reported with the date we checked it, or community from operator reports we consider credible but have not replicated.
Disclosures
- Dual role, stated up front: we supply our own branded line and provide buyer-side selection for third-party equipment. Comparisons never default to our own line — the evidence label decides
- Referral fees and our own equipment line are both disclosed in writing before any of your details are shared
- We do not evaluate jammers or counter-UAS equipment
- Ridfinder is a small, independent operation — you deal directly with the person doing the analysis
We keep the right to recommend alternative suppliers — including competitors of any partner. That independence is the product.