Use of Google Earth for Comms...

[disamuel]

Does anyone have any experience with using Google Earth to record repeater coverage in a particular area? For example if I wanted to conduct a test of a repeater on a tower, is there a way that I can record the points in which there is reliable comms coverage? I would want to be able to share the information with other members, but I would want to password protect it. (I am not looking for Google Earth to make a coverage prediction, only to log the actual data points.)

I think this can be done with .kml layers, but I would want to track a bunch of information (different repeaters, mission bases, aircraft locations) all at once. I think there is an opportunity to use Google Earth's capability to assist in operations, but I am not sure how to exploit it. Has anyone tried this before?

I was thinking of embedding the information in a squadron's website and keeping it password protected, but I was only able to do it using Google Maps, and only for a single location, the squadron's meeting site.

Any ideas would of course be appreciated.

Thanks in advance-

[Nick]

I have used Google Earth as a byproduct of illustrating coverage area when producing TSB-88 contour maps in my former life... I would use a third-party software that has 1-meter contour files for the region, you feed it information about the transmitter, receiver, antenna elevation, orientation, gain, etc., and then render a shape file based on whatever specifications (a minimum dBm or whatever).  Once that shape file is rendered, you can georeference it and export it as a layer to Google Earth.

Bottom line -- it's a very precise representation of what your actual repeater performance can be expected to be, except that: 1) you must have accurate specifications for your repeater hardware, antenna location, and line loss, and 2) you can't account for man-made obstacles that interfere with line of sight.  Trying to solely use Google Earth itself would probably work for plotting point locations where you have feedback on the quality of signal, and then you can draw a polygon based on the plots to give a rough approximation of the coverage area.