It’s been a busy year for Team RFinder, partnering with radio societies worldwide in the countries of Italy, Mexico, Spain, France, Germany and now the American Radio Relay League in the United States.
We have worked hard for you to improve data and it will get even better in the near future with more detail on the new digital modes that have cropped up in the past couple years. Those of you that use RFinder know that we constantly upgrade the software to have cutting edge technologies, integrate data feeds from great data sources and adding new languages.
Thanks to a new strategic alliance with CloudRF.com we will now have coverage maps for all repeaters on earth. Our systems are busy rendering and indexing coverage maps based on ground path loss using the Longley-Rice irregular terrain model. We have worked with Alex, M6ZUJ, at CloudRF.com to render coverage maps for nearly the entire collection of machines in RFinder’s database.
“CloudRF is honoured to have been chosen to support the world’s premier repeater database with coverage maps. We look forward to working with RFinder to improve RF coverage maps for the world. RFinder is by far the largest collection of transmitters we have seen and we are excited to be part of this groundbreaking project.” says Alex Farrant, M6ZUJ, creator of CloudRF. “Bob contacted me in late February about our API. Several days later he had his own client script and had rendered most of his substantial database of repeaters at 100-mile radius each using CloudRF’s powerful servers. Bob was able to efficiently outsource the substantial horsepower and reference data required for this mammoth task and download each site afterwards as a KMZ overlay for Google Earth and host them himself. Best of all, most of the hard work was done whilst we were sleeping!”
The resulting KMZ files are viewable in Google Earth on Windows and Mac (through web.rfinder.net and routes.rfinder.net), on Android and iOS versions of RFinder. The Windows and Mac versions allow multiple coverage maps viewable simultaneously, a great aid to Repeater Coordinators worldwide!
As part of this project, RFinder will be providing complimentary access to repeater coordinators worldwide. As repeater coordinators update repeaters with HAAT, Power and Gain and updated Lat/Lon, maps will be automatically re-rendered within a few minutes and made available to all subscribed users.
The procedure to sign up for the Repeater Coordinator program will be announced in mid-March of 2016. This new capability will make Repeater Coordinators more efficient, as they will easily be able to see repeater coverage maps side by side for both coordinated and uncoordinated machines. This information is critical as simplex nodes for Internet linking, crossband repeaters and homebrew repeaters crop up worldwide using various new out of-the-box and homebrew technologies.
For a limited time, users of the trial version of RFinder on Android will have access to coverage maps. After that only subscribers will have access. RFinder is a subscription service for ~$9.99US and a single subscription provides access through web.rfinder.net, routes.rfinder.net, Android, iOS, RT Systems and CHIRP, as well as POI files for popular GPS systems.
Radio Amateurs of Canada entered into a partnership agreement with RFinder in March 2014 and RAC endorses RFinder as the official Worldwide Repeater Directory for all Canadian Amateur Radio operators.
RFinder is:
- the official repeater directory of Radio Amateurs Canada. Canadian Amateurs who purchase RFinder support RAC.
- the official repeater directory app of Radio Society of Great Britain. UK Amateurs who purchase RFinder support RSGB.
- the official repeater directory of Amateur Radio Society Italia. Italian Amateurs who purchase RFinder support ARS.
- the official repeater directory of Federación Mexicana de Radioexperimentadores, A.C. Mexican Amateurs who purchase RFinder support FMRE.
Subscribe to RFinder by visiting https://www.rfinder.net/subscribe.php from your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch or your Android. Those without an Apple or Android device can subscribe with the link at the bottom of https://www.rfinder.net/subscribe.php.