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HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

heywhatsthat.com

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Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#21

Post by vosper »

thedookmaster wrote: post #12
bjterry wrote: post #10

There is a widely spread myth that Mt. Diablo in Oakland has the second largest viewshed in the world after Mt. Kilimanjaro[1]. With this tool you can actually compare them directly, which is pretty cool: Mt. Diablo: https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=K1JW43D4 Mt. Kilimanjaro: https://www.heywhatsthat.com/?view=ME9CTRPG 1: Debunked here: https://www.kqed.org/news/11808501/does-mount-diablo-have-th...

Mt. Diablo is in Contra Costa County, not Oakland.

And at the right time of year there are tarantulas everywhere. Awesome spot.

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#22

Post by lesmond »

matthewmcg wrote: post #4

This is very useful for vhf and uhf radio communications as well, which are normally* line of sight. In fact, the adsb-receiver[1] software package for setting up an aircraft tracking station includes a neat feature where you can use HeyWhatsThat to calculate maximum line of sight distances to aircraft at various altitudes and include these contours on your aircraft tracking map. * atmospheric phenomena such as densi…

We actually added this as a feature to our sharing software at Plane Finder using our own modelling. If you sign up and then view your stats on the web you can compare your actual to the predicted. https://planefinder.net/coverage

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#23

Post by pridkett »

matthewmcg wrote: post #4

This is very useful for vhf and uhf radio communications as well, which are normally* line of sight. In fact, the adsb-receiver[1] software package for setting up an aircraft tracking station includes a neat feature where you can use HeyWhatsThat to calculate maximum line of sight distances to aircraft at various altitudes and include these contours on your aircraft tracking map. * atmospheric phenomena such as densi…

It’s also baked into tar1090[1] which is a little more maintained of a package and pretty easy to get set up if you’ve got an SDR and 1090MHz antenna to track planes.

It’s a fun little hobby - where I live there really isn’t much of a reason to do it as there are enough other 1090MHz receivers in the area, but it still is cool when I look and see obscure jets flying overhead.

[1] https://github.com/wiedehopf/tar1090

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#24

Post by ge96 »

scott113341 wrote: post #16

If you thing this is cool, also check out CalTopo (my favorite mapping software for backpacking): - https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=40.10094,-105.61557&z=15&b=m... - Right click and select "Simulated View" - Change to "WireImagery" in the upper right

that is cool, the history url thing... hit back like a thousand times can't get out, I get the reason but still

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#25

Post by angst_ridden »

chrisshroba wrote: post #3

I use the app PeakFinder all the time and it’s incredible for determining what mountain is what when you’re on the go!

I was just going to say the same. The mobile version is fantastic for when you're out in the field.

The AR feature is really nice.

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#28

Post by hdersch »

wackget wrote: post #6

I'm still waiting for an AR-style app which overlays the image from your phone camera with points of interest or GPS co-ordinates of distant places. Or hell, even just a map where you can turn your phone facing a general direction and see an approximate line of sight.

GeoImageViewer, not an overlay but side-by-side view of photograph and maps. Clicking the image anywhere (not just precalculated pois) shows corresponding location in map and vice-versa. https://hdersch.github.io/

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#29

Post by nathancahill »

scott113341 wrote: post #16

If you thing this is cool, also check out CalTopo (my favorite mapping software for backpacking): - https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=40.10094,-105.61557&z=15&b=m... - Right click and select "Simulated View" - Change to "WireImagery" in the upper right

I also love CalTopo, and this is a really cool feature. But once you switch to WireImagery, FATMAP gets you the same thing (but better).

Re: HeyWhatsThat – Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth

#30

Post by joecool1029 »

Wild, I was going to submit this to HN about a week ago and I hardly ever submit anything. Just slipped my mind. Weird how much the active users on this site think of similar stuff at the same time.

This site also holds that distinction of being niche and useful enough for me to want to remember it but then I forget its name every so many years and have to ask around since it's hard to search it.

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