Using the public map
FreqMapper keeps evidence, activity, and map controls separate so an interesting-looking layer never gets mistaken for a coverage claim. A map that sometimes says “we do not know yet” is a lot more useful than one that acts certain everywhere.
Coverage colors
The exact thresholds can evolve by region, but the public legend follows this meaning:
| Map item | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green / strong cell | A tagged mapping test was independently heard with strong evidence, usually by several watchers. |
| Yellow / fair cell | The test has usable but more limited evidence. |
| Orange / weak cell | A verified test was heard weakly or has limited independent confirmation. |
| Red / not heard cell | A completed mapping test received no independent Watcher receipt during the 90-second matching window. This records the result without claiming why it was not heard. |
| Red outline on another color | The hex contains both heard and not-heard completed tests. The fill still shows the quality of the heard evidence. |
| Neutral grid | Not yet measured. It is not a not-heard result. |
| Blue reported-position cell or dot | A recent node Position Packet from MQTT. Blue cells group nearby reports into a 500 m reference hex; blue dots are individual nodes. This optional layer is activity only, never verified coverage. |
Detailed coverage hexes are approximately 100 m across flats; the coarser overview uses approximately 300 m hexes. These are separate from the blue 500 m activity grid. The grid is fixed in angular coordinates and calibrated near latitude 40 degrees, so physical cell widths vary with latitude; cell counts are not equal-area comparisons between regions. A colored cell summarizes mapping tests, not guaranteed coverage everywhere inside it. The third-party API returns the original verified test coordinates, not these display cells.
Android and iPhone also offer a Test outcome coloring option. It uses the same saved hexes and does not replace or change the signal-quality layer:
| Outcome color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Green | A Watcher heard the test and Meshtastic confirmed that the mesh relayed it. |
| Lime | A Watcher heard the test; Meshtastic did not report a relay. |
| Cyan | Meshtastic confirmed a relay, but no independent Watcher receipt was recorded. |
| Red | After 90 seconds, neither a Watcher receipt nor a Meshtastic relay confirmation was recorded. |
| Gray | The private current-session result is still pending. Pending tests are not published as shared coverage. |
When several tests fall in one hex, its outcome fill uses the most common result. A tie favors the category with stronger independent evidence. Counts remain separate so a relay acknowledgment is never treated as Watcher verification.
Use the top-right map settings gear to show or hide the blue reference layer and map status box. Those choices are remembered in your browser after refresh. The Legend explains what you are seeing; it does not change the map.
What you can do on the map
- Move, zoom, and return later. The site remembers your last map position and zoom in that browser, so refresh does not have to send you back to the regional overview.
- Use the map controls. The right-side controls change the base map theme, refresh the shared coverage snapshot, or return the map to north-up. The top-right Map settings button controls optional reference layers and the small status box.
- Select a coverage cell. Click or tap a green, yellow, orange, or red coverage hex to open its results. Heard tests list the approved Watcher receipts behind them; red cells explain how many completed tests were not heard.
- Follow positioned Watchers. When a selected test was heard by a Watcher with a known map position, the details can draw an evidence line to that Watcher. Watchers without a reported position still count as evidence; they simply cannot be placed or linked on the map.
The map is a shared regional snapshot. The mobile apps also show temporary, device-local event markers for the current app session; those are separate from everyone else's live app sessions:
| Session marker | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Orange TX | This phone asked its connected radio to send a mapping ping; independent Watcher evidence is still pending. |
| Cyan ring around TX | Meshtastic reported that another mesh node relayed the packet. This is not Watcher verification. |
| Green TX | At least one independent FreqMapper Watcher received the mapping ping. |
| Red TX | No independent Watcher received the completed ping during the 90-second matching window. |
| Purple RX | This phone's connected radio received an ordinary text message here. FreqMapper mapping-test text is excluded. The dot is the receiver's location, not an inferred sender location. |
Tap a session marker in Android or iOS to see its time, packet and available delivery/evidence details. These markers clear when the app process closes.
Nodes and watchers
Node icons mark devices that have reported a current public position. They do not say that a device is a feeder, a repeater, or a promise that you can reach it from where you are standing.
The special eye icon marks a node that FreqMapper has evidence is uploading mesh receipts to the MQTT service. It may appear in a regional watcher list only after its own Position Packet resolves it to the region. Watchers without a known position remain unassigned and are not placed on the public map, but they can still independently verify a wardrive test.
Regional boundaries
At a regional view, the selected area is fully visible while surrounding areas are dimmed. Zoom out to see other IATA regions and select one from its marker or the Regions menu.
Boundaries may start from county shapes and can later be replaced with an approved custom GeoJSON boundary. They show where regional policy and local administration apply; radio signals can, of course, travel straight across a line.
Details and "who heard it"
Selecting a verified result will show the recorded mapping test and every approved feeder receipt used as evidence. This is the answer to "who heard it?"
- RSSI/SNR describe the received signal reported by that feeder.
- Receipt time shows when that feeder observed the packet.
- Hop information is useful diagnostic context when available.
- Evidence lines connect the selected test to Watchers whose public position is known. They are a visual aid, not a claimed radio route.
Those facts still do not prove that the signal travelled directly between two pins. Meshtastic can route through one or more nodes.
Last updated: 2026-08-31