Is this site good for hosting an ADS-B receiver?

[Pimpom]

I live in a hilly region and coverage is very poor. Flights around the nearest airport always disappear when they descend below about 5-6000 ft. I want to add coverage by hosting an ADS-B receiver but my residence is not suitable because the view is blocked by a hill.

I have now found what seems to be a good site for the receiver (a close relative's house). It has an excellent view of the airport and the surrounding area. It also has a height advantage, being 2300 ft. higher than the airport. The only uncertain factor is that the airport is 9 air miles (14.5km) away.

How much is the distance likely to impact coverage? Is tracking likely to be poor, OK or excellent? Here's a Google Earth view from the proposed site.

Airport view.jpg

[f14driver]

https://www.heywhatsthat.com/ will let you calculate the theoretical range of your setup

The range you will get will give you an idea of the performance, depending on what items you are using in your setup ( dongle, cable, antenna en maybe LNA and filter if needed).

[Pimpom]

Thanks for the reply. I've just opened the link and, right now, I'm not sure what it's all about and how it's going to help.
I'm already familiar with the view from the proposed site of the ADS-B receiver, both in real life and from Google Earth.

[f14driver]

If you follow the steps on that site and you put in the location of the receiver it will give you an estimated range plot so you can see how far the site will be able to see aircraft passing by. It calculates the maximum theoretical range that can be achieved based on the location and the altitude of the aircraft passing in your area.

[abcd567]

https://www.heywhatsthat.com/ will let you calculate the theoretical range of your setup

The range you will get will give you an idea of the performance, depending on what items you are using in your setup ( dongle, cable, antenna en maybe LNA and filter if needed).

Thanks for the reply. I've just opened the link and, right now, I'm not sure what it's all about and how it's going to help.
I'm already familiar with the view from the proposed site of the ADS-B receiver, both in real life and from Google Earth.

Please see my following year 2016 sticky post in "Technical Matters", which explains step-by-step method of using https://www.heywhatsthat.com/ site to get maximum range.

https://forum.flightradar24.com/forum/radar-forums/technical-matters-hardware/9539-what-is-the-maximum-range-i-can-get

.

[Pimpom]

Got it. Thanks, f14driver and abcd567.
Flights over and around my area seem to be already well covered. The problem is with those near the airport. The airport is at an elevation of 1400 ft. in the shadow of a mountain. It's surrounded by hills on all sides, some quite near, some several kilometers away. Planes always disappear when they drop below about 6000 ft. Departures are never visible.

The airport is on the outskirts of a small town but I don't know anyone there. Even if I did, the uneven terrain could pose a problem. My city, the state capital, is higher than the airport by 2000-3000 ft depending on the location. The aerial distance is 14-15 km (32 km by road) but the view from my house is blocked by a hill.

The image I posted is the view from a friend's house as depicted by Google Earth. The elevation is 3800 ft - 2400 ft higher than the airport - with an excellent 360º view. I've earmarked other sites that are almost as good. My reason for posting was to ask if the distance is too great for reliable tracking of aircraft near the airport. It now looks as if it isn't.

One thing though: I couldn't use the heywhatsthat site to get data for altitudes lower than the prospective receiver location. Anything below it brings up the message that the entered altitude is too low.