diff --git a/public/nodes.js b/public/nodes.js
index d1322b31..05f98a72 100644
--- a/public/nodes.js
+++ b/public/nodes.js
@@ -781,7 +781,7 @@
         ${observers.length || relayObserverCount ? `<div class="node-full-card" id="node-observers">
           ${(() => { const regions = [...new Set(observers.map(o => o.iata).filter(Boolean))]; return regions.length ? `<div style="margin-bottom:8px"><strong>Regions:</strong> ${regions.map(r => '<span class="badge" style="margin:0 2px">' + escapeHtml(r) + '</span>').join(' ')}</div>` : ''; })()}
           <h4 title="Observers that received this node's own transmission off the air. An observer that only saw traffic relayed through this node is counted separately below.">Heard By &mdash; direct (${observers.length} observer${observers.length === 1 ? '' : 's'})</h4>
-          ${observers.length ? '' : '<div class="text-muted" style="font-size:12px;padding:4px 0">No observer is within radio range of this node.</div>'}
+          ${observers.length ? '' : '<div class="text-muted" style="font-size:12px;padding:4px 0" title="Only flood-routed transmissions identify who was heard: a direct route removes the sender from the path before retransmitting (firmware Mesh.cpp, removeSelfFromPath), and an ambiguous relay hop is left unattributed rather than guessed. So an empty list is missing evidence, not proof of missing coverage.">No observation proves a direct reception here, which is not the same as being out of range.</div>'}
           ${observers.length ? `<table class="data-table observer-sort-table" style="font-size:12px">
             <thead><tr>
               <th scope="col" data-sort-key="observer">Observer</th>
@@ -1756,7 +1756,7 @@
         ${observers.length || relayObserverCount ? `<div class="node-detail-section">
           ${(() => { const regions = [...new Set(observers.map(o => o.iata).filter(Boolean))]; return regions.length ? `<div style="margin-bottom:6px;font-size:12px"><strong>Regions:</strong> ${regions.join(', ')}</div>` : ''; })()}
           <h4 title="Observers that received this node's own transmission off the air.">Heard By &mdash; direct (${observers.length} observer${observers.length === 1 ? '' : 's'})</h4>
-          ${observers.length ? '' : '<div class="text-muted" style="font-size:12px;padding:4px 0">No observer is within radio range of this node.</div>'}
+          ${observers.length ? '' : '<div class="text-muted" style="font-size:12px;padding:4px 0" title="Only flood-routed transmissions identify who was heard: a direct route removes the sender from the path before retransmitting (firmware Mesh.cpp, removeSelfFromPath), and an ambiguous relay hop is left unattributed rather than guessed. So an empty list is missing evidence, not proof of missing coverage.">No observation proves a direct reception here, which is not the same as being out of range.</div>'}
           <div class="observer-list">
             ${observers.map(o => {
               const stats = [`${o.packetCount} pkts`];
diff --git a/tests/unit/test-direct-rf-heard-by.js b/tests/unit/test-direct-rf-heard-by.js
index 28a219b4..c308f71b 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test-direct-rf-heard-by.js
+++ b/tests/unit/test-direct-rf-heard-by.js
@@ -66,8 +66,19 @@ test('relayed observers are reported as a count, without signal numbers', () =>
 test('a node nobody hears directly still renders the card, with an empty state', () => {
   const html = renderCard([], 35, esc);
   assert.ok(/Heard By &mdash; direct \(0 observers\)/.test(html), 'expected a zero direct heading');
-  assert.ok(/No observer is within radio range of this node\./.test(html),
+  assert.ok(/No observation proves a direct reception here/.test(html),
     'expected the empty state line');
+  // The empty state must not assert that nobody is in range. It cannot know
+  // that: direct-routed traffic carries no sender (firmware Mesh.cpp calls
+  // removeSelfFromPath before retransmitting) and ambiguous relay hops are
+  // left unattributed, so a node can be heard by several observers and still
+  // have no attributable direct reception. Measured on a production instance
+  // when this card shipped: 16 of 40 sampled repeaters showed the empty state
+  // while the same card counted relay observers two lines below.
+  assert.ok(!/No observer is within radio range/i.test(html),
+    'the empty state must not assert that nobody is in range');
+  assert.ok(/not the same as being out of range/i.test(html),
+    'the empty state must say what it cannot conclude, not only what it found');
   assert.ok(/Seen via relay by 35 observers/.test(html), 'expected the relay count');
   assert.ok(!/observer-sort-table/.test(html),
     'an empty direct list must not render a table header with no rows');