Drop your transmitter on the map and this traces the signal over real terrain — earth curvature, the hills in the way, and how a big antenna or more power changes the picture. It is the coverage-prediction model the pros use (Longley-Rice), for VHF/UHF and 900 MHz line-of-sight bands. For HF/shortwave (the ionospheric bounce), use the HF Skywave Coverage tool instead.
Where your signal will actually be heard, over real terrain.
This traces your signal over real elevation — earth curvature, the hills in the way, and how power and antenna height change the picture. It’s the Longley-Rice terrain method the pros use, for VHF/UHF and 900 MHz line-of-sight bands.
A low-power handheld replies far weaker than a base transmits, so the two-way area is usually smaller than the heard area — raise the reply power to grow it.
Sensitivity floors are kept deliberately conservative. It models terrain, not repeaters, buildings, foliage or HF skywave — treat the edges as optimistic, and for Meshtastic set a realistic node power (well under a watt to a couple watts).
