[HN Gopher] HeyWhatsThat - Calculate viewshed and panorama for a... ___________________________________________________________________ HeyWhatsThat - Calculate viewshed and panorama for any point on Earth Author : Rygian Score : 279 points Date : 2022-03-11 15:12 UTC (7 hours ago) (HTM) web link (www.heywhatsthat.com) (TXT) w3m dump (www.heywhatsthat.com) | sytelus wrote: | One thing I constantly look for in new place is where can I see | sunsets? Where can I see unobstructed views of town? Which hill | in San Franscisco can I climb to see panoramic sunset? | | It would be great to take this tool to next level to answer such | questions. | iaw wrote: | This is really good work, I played around with a script to | calculate this info from GIS data but the drawing of the view | didn't even occur to me. | scott113341 wrote: | 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 | ge96 wrote: | that is cool, the history url thing... hit back like a thousand | times can't get out, I get the reason but still | nathancahill wrote: | 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). | matthewmcg wrote: | 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 density or humidity differences | or reflections from other aircraft, the moon, or even meteors can | enable reception over the horizon. | | [1] https://github.com/jprochazka/adsb-receiver/releases | lesmond wrote: | 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 | pridkett wrote: | 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 | hunter2_ wrote: | Not to mention even higher bands, like PtP WiFi [1]. | | [1] https://www.nycmesh.net/ | stavros wrote: | This is also going to be interesting for figuring out the | minimum altitude for maintaining the link to an RC airplane for | a given distance. | thatcherc wrote: | What a treat that the default location is Mt. Battie in Maine! I | saw the tower up there from town just about every day growing up. | Fun to see it pop up online! | jlv2 wrote: | Agreed. I climbed it 5 years ago, and immediately recognized | the name. | jjwiseman wrote: | I can _never_ remember what the name of this site is when I need | to use it. I should set up a redirecting domain. | | Using HeyWhatsThat to check whether a Russian GPS jammer in | Khmeimim Air Base in Syria would be able to affect aircraft over | Cyprus and in Tel Aviv: | https://twitter.com/lemonodor/status/1502400086696869889 | stevep98 wrote: | I'd like to be able to determine the location of a landscape | photo. Should be able to calculate the panorama for 5x5 mile | regions of earth, and use some matching algorithms to find the | closest profile to my picture. | | I thought about this when watching geowizard: | | https://youtu.be/0ZbmYh9QZgA | jerrybender wrote: | Also handy for finding cell phone ping ranges. | bjterry wrote: | 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... | thedookmaster wrote: | Mt. Diablo is in Contra Costa County, not Oakland. | bjterry wrote: | Thanks for the correction. It felt a lot closer, but I | haven't been there in a long time. | vosper wrote: | And at the right time of year there are tarantulas | everywhere. Awesome spot. | meristem wrote: | Loads of NOPE, thank you. | jeffbee wrote: | The way of getting the land area of the viewshed from this | presentation is not immediately obvious. | bjterry wrote: | My non-scientific method was to put the two windows side-by- | side, and click the "zoom out" button three times to eyeball | the difference. | wackget wrote: | 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. | ramses0 wrote: | In the early days of iOS there were tons of those apps. | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotagging#Wikipedia_article_g... | | """One of the first attempts to initiate the geotagging aspect | of searching and locating articles seems to be the now- | inoperative site Wikinear.com, launched in 2008, which showed | the user Wikipedia pages that are geographically closest to | one's current location. | | The 2009 app Cyclopedia works relatively well showing geotagged | Wikipedia articles located within several miles of ones | location, integrated with a street-view mode, and 360-degree | mode.""" | stonogo wrote: | Ah, well... To absent friends! | | https://www.wired.com/2012/05/hands-on-nokia-city-lens-beta-... | tony_cannistra wrote: | https://www.peakfinder.org/mobile/ | hdersch wrote: | 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/ | joecool1029 wrote: | 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. | dr_orpheus wrote: | Now I can confidently say I CAN see my house from here! | imilk wrote: | Would be cool to use this same approach to calculate viewscores | for properties, much like walkscore does. | chrisshroba wrote: | I use the app PeakFinder all the time and it's incredible for | determining what mountain is what when you're on the go! | dessant wrote: | Thanks so much for sharing, their website has just helped me to | better understand the horizon of my city. | | https://www.peakfinder.org | angst_ridden wrote: | 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. | jlv2 wrote: | I used to use PeakFinder, but then it was withdrawn and the | free version disabled. Now it costs $5. | sytelus wrote: | Someone spent lot of time on developing it. This is one app | that is absolutely worth $5. | idiotsecant wrote: | This is a remarkably useful tool. Well done if you are the | author! ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-03-11 23:00 UTC)