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Current Feature Articles   Nov 20 The Amateur Radio Crossword Puzzler   Nov 20 Adventure in the Arctic: VO2A Expedition to Labrador   Nov 20 Surfin': More Radio Piracy on the High Seas   Nov 16 Youth@HamRadio.Fun: Fall Magic   Nov 13 Surfin': The Real Pirate Radio   Nov 06 Surfin': Homebrewing Today   Nov 05 DX the Hard Way   Nov 02 ARRL In Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?   Nov 01 It Seems to Us: It Doesn't Just Happen   Oct 30 Surfin': Mapping Up ARRL Products: Interference/DF (More) AC Power Interference Handbook -- New insights into the causes, effects, locating and correction of power-line and electrical interference. 3rd Edition. The RSGB Guide to EMC -- Tackle RF interference problems and understand the underlying causes. Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineering -- Now Shipping! -- The most comprehensive book on electromagnetic compatibility, including all the latest advances and developments in the field. The ARRL RFI Book -- Second Edition. Practical Cures for Radio Frequency Interference. Transmitter Hunting -- Radio Direction Finding Simplified

Previous: AMSAT Announces Plans for 2008

Next: The K7RA Solar Update

This week, visit a Web site that determines how well your signal gets from here to there.

The W5GFE Splat Page plots RF coverage maps and data for any radio station in North America.

Back in July 2005, Surfin' featured SPLAT!, an excellent Linux application from John Magliacane, KD2BD, that analyzes RF signal propagation, loss and terrain for the radio spectrum between 20 MHz-20 GHz. Using terrain data available from the US Geological Survey (USGS), SPLAT! analyzes point-to-point radio paths, as a well as coverage areas of repeaters and broadcast facilities. It generates coverage maps, charts and text reports that provide information on the location of obstructions due to terrain, as well as path-loss based on the Longley-Rice propagation model.

The coverage maps that SPLAT! creates are excellent. The program uses USGS's Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data to generate its maps and the results are very accurate, but to achieve those accurate results requires a large amount of data. Also, SPLAT! runs on Linux, which is not everyone's operating system of choice

To work around these features, Bill Walker, W5GFE, downloaded all the USGS files to what he calls "a rather hefty server" and added a Web interface that permits anyone to use SPLAT! via the Internet at the W5GFE Splat Page, thus relieving the user from running Linux and downloading large files

I gave W5GFE's SPLAT! online interface a workout and it performed flawlessly and quickly (about one minute to generate each plot), which is a feat considering the amount of data that the program must manipulate. Plot early to avoid the rush.

Until next time, keep on surfin'!

Editor's note: As a former amateur cartographer, Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, loves maps and map-related applications. To communicate with Stan, send him e-mail or add comments to his blog. By the way, every installment of Surfin' is indexed here, so go look it up.

Previous: AMSAT Announces Plans for 2008

Next: The K7RA Solar Update