New - Predicted Range Tool

[Lee Armstrong]

We have a new tool to unveil and it can be accessed @ https://planefinder.net/account/receivers

Simply sign in (or create an account) and click on one of your shared codes that you want to look at.

In the "Coverage Map" section alongside your actual coverage are two new plots to show predicted coverage based on the terrain. One for traffic at 10,000ft and the other for traffic at 40,000ft.

This should enable you to see what your receivers are able to detect in ideal conditions without obstructions from anything other than terrain.

We've already been optimising some of our own setups and had some great results! Have fun!

 

[Janos Konya]

Hi,

I have already noticed the improved interface, thank you for your work.
So far I have only felt in which directions the reception conditions have shortcomings, now I can easily compare it to the theoretical boundaries ...

Best regards,
Janos

 

[ab cd]

Thank you for adding this feature which is very helpful tool to judge how good/bad one's system is performing.

Are the 10,000 feet and 40,000 feet curves plotted using data from www.heywhatsthat.com ?

 

[Lee Armstrong]

No problem, the data comes from our own terrain models that power the 3D functionality in Plane Finder.

We used to use HWT but wanted something more integrated into our own toolsets and so we wrote our own!

 

[Stealth]

Its been the case for quite a while now that the coverage you show for my station is rather less than other sources indicate. Do you use some sort of report rate cut-off?

 

[Lee Armstrong]

The actual measured?

Our ADS-B decoder is quite conservative and so you may see more or less aircraft than you are seeing in say Dump1090. We tend to err on the side of caution with correcting of CRC errors and single position reports and so that might be affecting your range. We tend to see this more with SDR based feeders.

 

[Birdseye]

The actual measured?

Our ADS-B decoder is quite conservative and so you may see more or less aircraft than you are seeing in say Dump1090. We tend to err on the side of caution with correcting of CRC errors and single position reports and so that might be affecting your range. We tend to see this more with SDR based feeders.

I feed with a Beast and in one direction I consistently see solid signals out to 220+ nm, however when I check your reported coverage its cutting out around 150, although I see just now that has gone out to 190. Looking at 'Polar' in the client its also showing cover in that direction to 240 or so.

 

[Lee Armstrong]

I feed with a Beast and in one direction I consistently see solid signals out to 220+ nm, however when I check your reported coverage its cutting out around 150, although I see just now that has gone out to 190. Looking at 'Polar' in the client its also showing cover in that direction to 240 or so.

Can you share a link to your receiver on the planefinder.net site?

 

[Stealth]

Sod's Law being what it is, it seems that since mentioning it, the coverage I was referring to (NNW) more closely reflects what I would expect.

Track Receiver 98202 on August 29, 2023 - Plane Finder

planefinder.net

The predicted coverage to the West over the ocean is a major puzzle and doesn't even get close to the prediction you show. I sit near the top of a West facing escarpment and easily see aircraft on the ground at Perth and Pearce which sit on the coastal plain. However the actual coverage outside of 40nm from the coast is abysmal.

 

[Lee Armstrong]

Sod's Law being what it is, it seems that since mentioning it, the coverage I was referring to (NNW) more closely reflects what I would expect.

Track Receiver 98202 on August 29, 2023 - Plane Finder

planefinder.net

The predicted coverage to the West over the ocean is a major puzzle and doesn't even get close to the prediction you show. I sit near the top of a West facing escarpment and easily see aircraft on the ground at Perth and Pearce which sit on the coastal plain. However the actual coverage outside of 40nm from the coast is abysmal.

It could be that not a lot flies that way to be honest. The predicted range is based on the terrain and what is around. However if no planes fly in that direction we have no way of knowing if that is true or not.

 

[Stealth]

It could be that not a lot flies that way to be honest. The predicted range is based on the terrain and what is around. However if no planes fly in that direction we have no way of knowing if that is true or not.

Actually quite a few (in Perth terms) come in from the West, some days all Middle East originating flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide over fly the Perth area. The ones I struggle to see are those descending into Perth.

The attached profile from Google Earth illustrates the path from my location to an island about 30 miles West. I am about 5 metres below the highest spot and of course it doesn't take into account buildings and trees. However that 5 metres is negated by the 14 metre mast the antenna sits on.