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.
For a single cross-platform reference covering shared TX cells, aggregate RX cells, private mobile session dots, Watchers, boundaries, and layer priority, see the complete map legend.
Start at Region overview
The main freqmapper.net map opens at Region overview. It shows the area directory, available boundaries and markers, and current live activity totals. It intentionally does not combine every region's coverage into one unscoped national map.
Open Regions to search for an individual region or a Region Group. Region Group entries show their full member-region list on a separate row. Selecting an area opens its public hostname, fits the map to its boundary, and makes its coverage, Watchers, Info, and leaderboard available.
Shared trip links
A mapper with a linked profile can explicitly create a public link for one finished trip. That page filters the map to Watcher-verified TX and privacy-filtered aggregate RX cells from that session and shows only a safe summary such as its date, duration, region, and counts. Trips do not have public URLs until the mapper chooses Share trip.
The link opens the public map with every other coverage layer hidden and only the shared trip's TX and RX cells loaded. It uses the same street, topographic, satellite, hybrid, menu-theme, and coverage-color choices as the complete public map. TX appears only where an independent Watcher received a mapping ping; a Meshtastic relay or acknowledgement alone does not count or appear as a TX result. Purple cells show aggregate locations where the driving radio heard eligible mesh traffic; they do not identify a sender's location and are not verified TX coverage. Select a colored cell to see that trip's aggregate TX or RX totals, signal quality, and public-safe RF summary for the cell. The Trip, Legend, Privacy, and Settings panels remain available, along with a link back to the complete public map. This trip-only view does not reveal the mapper's route, exact TX or RX samples, sender identity, radio or account identity, packet details, packet history, or Watcher identities. It is marked not to be indexed by search engines, but anyone who receives the link can open it until the mapper stops sharing it. A revoked or unlinked trip URL returns an unavailable page.
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. |
| Dashed green/yellow/orange cell | An approved Watcher heard a normal mesh Position Packet over RF. It is Position Packet coverage and earns no mapper credit. |
| Amber / degraded cell | Established verified coverage was followed by two credible completed misses across separate wardrives. |
| Red / not heard cell | A first credible completed test found no verified coverage, or established coverage accumulated three credible newer misses. This records the result without claiming why it was not heard. |
| Neutral grid | Not yet measured. It is not a not-heard result. |
| Dark, medium, or light purple RX cell | Driving radios reported strong, fair, or weak sampled Meshtastic receptions in this area. This is passive RX, not verified TX coverage. |
Detailed coverage cells are approximately 100 m across; the coarser overview uses approximately 300 m cells. 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 observed mesh delivery, not guaranteed coverage everywhere inside it. The third-party verified-coverage API remains limited to controlled mapping tests and returns their original coordinates, not these display cells.
Verified coverage keeps its last-known color when nobody retests an area; age alone never degrades it. One credible newer miss leaves that color unchanged, two misses across at least two wardrives turn it amber, and a third turns it red. A fresh verified receipt restores the measured quality immediately. A miss counts toward degradation only after the matching window completes while an approved regional Watcher was independently active. Raw heard and not-heard history remains available even when the current fill changes.
Use Settings to choose the base map, coverage-color presentation, regional reference layers, and map-status-box visibility. Those presentation choices are remembered in your browser after refresh. The Legend explains what you are seeing; it does not change the map.
The complete browser settings are:
| Group | Choices |
|---|---|
| Map mode | Standard streets, Bright streets, Dark streets, Topographic, Satellite, or Hybrid imagery with labels. |
| Coverage colors | Standard, Accessible, or Monochrome. |
| Region layers | Neighbour zones, neighbour boundaries, the current region or group boundary, and—on a Region Group map—member-region boundaries. |
| Map display | The map status box and a separate light/dark menu appearance. |
| Coverage grid | Read-only status showing the automatic 300 m overview or 100 m detail grid. Zoom controls this choice. |
All browser map settings are presentation choices stored in that browser. They do not change regional policy, evidence, or another person's map.
Use Info after selecting a region to see its administrator-written introduction and community links, coverage statistics, and official mesh radio settings. Published primary and secondary channel keys each have a copy button because those keys are intended for members of the public mesh. Region Group Info can include its own administrator-written introduction, links, and official radio settings above the combined coverage statistics; it does not reuse one member region's information.
Under Settings → Coverage colors, the public map offers three saved presentation choices:
- Standard keeps the familiar FreqMapper colors.
- Accessible uses a blue/yellow/magenta palette with stronger separation.
- Monochrome uses high-contrast grayscale.
Coverage states also use solid, dashed, short-dashed, or bold outlines so color is not the only way to distinguish them. Changing this setting never changes evidence, counts, or coverage classification.
What you can do on the map
- Move and zoom. Pan, zoom, and rotate while exploring. Reloading or reopening an area returns to its intended overview rather than restoring an old camera position.
- Use the map controls. The right-side controls zoom or return the map to north-up. Settings provides Standard, Bright, Dark, Topographic, Satellite, and Hybrid base maps; regional reference layers; coverage-color choices; and the optional status box.
- Select a coverage cell. Click or tap a green, yellow, orange, red, or purple coverage cell to open a details panel that stays open while you inspect the map. Controlled TX results show test and Watcher counts, signal summaries, and expandable ping history. Dashed Position Packet cells summarize packets, senders, direct and relayed receipts, and final-hop signal. Purple RX cells show sample and mapper counts plus approved Watchers that heard matching packet identities within the comparison window. Red cells explain completed tests that were not heard.
- Open a map panel. Regions, Watchers, Info, Legend, and Settings share the same responsive panel style. Click or tap outside a panel to close it.
- 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. Approved Watchers without enough public identity or recent position data can still count as evidence, but they are not listed or placed on the public map.
Tap a session marker in Android or iOS to see its private time, packet and available delivery/evidence details. RX details keep the driving radio's RSSI/SNR separate from up to three approved Watcher comparisons. Cross-region Watchers are explicitly labeled. Purple RX cells use only the driving radio's signal, never Watcher signal, and cannot create verified coverage or points. Privacy-filtered aggregate RX cells also appear on the public map. Positive TX coverage displays over purple; purple can fill an untested, pending, or red area without deleting the underlying TX result. See Received here and passive RX.
Watchers
The special eye icon marks a node that FreqMapper has evidence is uploading mesh receipts to the MQTT service. The public Watchers panel lists approved Watchers that have usable node identity and a recent reported position. This keeps stale or incomplete backend records from overwhelming the directory without removing their valid historical evidence.
Each card shows the long name followed by the short name, node ID, position status, latest activity, and verified coverage packets heard. On a Region Group page it also identifies the Watcher's member region; that repeated label is omitted on an individual-region page. Selecting a positioned Watcher centers the map and opens its details. Full-color cells show mapping pings that Watcher heard while other coverage fades for context. The panel also shows its scoped cell and packet totals, a snapshot time, and expandable verified packet history. Closing the panel restores the ordinary coverage colors.
A Watcher hearing a packet proves that it received the packet. It does not mean that the Watcher relayed it. Watchers without a public position remain unavailable as map markers and evidence-line endpoints, but approved receipts 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 applies; 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: 2026-10-04