In Range Now: What You Can Hear From Where You Are

Summary: A board of every aircraft above your radio horizon right now, with the frequencies worth tuning ranked at the top.

In range now answers the question a listener actually has: of everything on the map, which aircraft could I hear from here, and on what? Open it from the In range now button in the map’s button stack, or go straight to it with ukafg.co.uk/map/?inrange=1.

It Needs to Know Where You Are

The board works from your saved radar location (see Aircraft Radar View). If you haven’t set one it asks Where are you listening from? rather than guessing, and offers Use this device’s location. To keep a location on every device you sign in on, open the Aircraft radar and choose Set location.

What Counts as In Range

An aircraft is listed when it is in line of sight of you: inside the radio horizon for its height, which is 1.23 × the square root of its altitude in feet, in nautical miles, plus 6 nm for a rooftop aerial. An airliner at 36,000 ft is in range out to about 240 nm; a helicopter at 1,000 ft to about 45.

Each row shows the Aircraft, its Operator, Altitude, its Horizon — how far that aircraft could be and still be above your horizon at its height — and the frequency to Listen on. An aircraft close to the edge is marked Close to your horizon: you may not hear it. A Military only tick box cuts the list down to military aircraft, and clicking a row opens the aircraft on the map.

Listen On From Here

At the top, the frequencies worth tuning are ranked: military ones first, then the busiest, then the nearest. Press a frequency and the table shows only the aircraft on it. The frequencies are the same ones the aircraft panel’s Listen on block gives (see Reading the Aircraft Info Panel), worked out for every military aircraft in range and then the nearest others, up to 150.

Two Things to Keep in Mind

• The horizon is line of sight over flat ground to a rooftop aerial. Hills and buildings are not counted, so the furthest aircraft may not reach you. The Line of Sight / Viewshed Tool shows what your terrain really allows.
• Being in range of the aircraft means you can hear the crew. The controller’s transmitter is on the ground and may be too far away to hear, so you may get one side of the conversation.

A Copy link button in the board’s header copies a link to the board that another signed-in member can open.