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Heat mapping?

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Sun, 08/01/2021 - 17:15
#1
N3WTT
Heat mapping?
Is there a way to heat map aredn coverage? So far I have it been working with indoor hap aclite but was thinking about tossing an outdoor node to see what actual coverage I could get. I have tried online rf simulators but it is just a simulation, real world performance would be more factual.
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Sun, 08/01/2021 - 19:19
nc8q
nc8q's picture
heat mapping ~= path profiling ?
I use http://heywhatsthat.com/profiler.html
Samples here (scroll down below 1st 7 images):
http://miamivalleymesh.com/images/Profiles/
Others here have mentioned 'Radio Mobile', 'Google Earth, and (IIRC) Ubiquiti has a free a mapping tool.
Chuck
 
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Mon, 08/02/2021 - 08:04
(Reply to #2)
N3WTT
Thanks Chuck, 
Thanks Chuck, 

I have some profilers and have used both heywhatsthat and link.ui but I was thinking more of a wifi heat map. something like https://www.ekahau.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Capacity-Area-Planning... or https://www.acrylicwifi.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/How-to-create-a-h... but instead of using an indoor map using a map of the surrounding area. Ideally one could walk/drive around and map the signal strength. I have done similar with indoor using a cellphone but everything I been researching appears to only use commercial wifi bands.  I wasn't sure if someone tried this before or not but thought installing a node and walking/driving around to get a heatmap would provide some information that online profilers may not recognize?
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Mon, 08/02/2021 - 13:48
w6bi
w6bi's picture
War driving
A local ham, KM6FQ, did some war driving.  He used a laptop with GPS and a script polling a node in his car (with outside antenna) for signal strength and as he drove the laptop would periodically log the GPS location along with the SNR of the node in question.   (He didn't scan channels, as the hilltop nodes in this area are well known).     We used it to give us a rough idea of the true coverage footprint of a hilltop node.
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Tue, 08/03/2021 - 12:45
(Reply to #4)
N3WTT
This is what I had in mind.
This is what I had in mind. The problem is getting the WiFi to be seen on the ham bands. Simplistically it would have been nice to just take a cell phone and a wardriving app to plot/heatmap however for the life of me I can not figure out how to get it to work on the ham available channels (android.) I am still quite new with linux/raspberry pi and havent had much luck there as well. 
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Wed, 08/04/2021 - 14:03
(Reply to #5)
AB7PA
Two sides to the coin.

Two sides to the coin.
1) computer coverage prediction using a tool like Radio Mobile.

2) field coverage measurement and plotting.
This example used a "wardriving" approach and then the R language to "Krige" the data on openstreetmap.

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Wed, 08/04/2021 - 09:03
N3WTT
rethinking
OK so it looks like the USB150 is unavailable everywhere I have looked. Without being able to get software to recognize the ham band frequencies my last option would be to use a commercial channel for the heat map. While this would make thinks quite easier, there would be a lot more interference from competing commercial WiFi routes throughout the area. 

This may actually be better as it would map more of a worst case scenario, however does anyone know (even if a ball park guess) how much of an impact this would have on the measurements? I know there are a ton of variables and it is a very open ended question so I understand the level of what I am asking. I am just trying to evaluate if this information would even be of value or if it would be so squed it wouldn't even be worth it?

Basically if you were linking two nodes together on a commercial frequency over a distance how far or how far would be a realistic distance be achievable having public accesspoints competting on the same frequencies? 
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Wed, 08/04/2021 - 13:44
w6bi
w6bi's picture
Depends on a lot of factors
With 30 dB RocketDishes and Rockets, we struggle at times to maintain a decent throughput on a 32 mile link, with some Part 15 emitters (mostly WISPs) co-located on both ends.  It's our worst performing link.  We do run some shorter links (up to 25 miles) with the same equipment that are not problematic.

Hope this helps.
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