The Susquehanna Valley Mesh RF-sim is a collection of scripts and LeafletJS to make a nice map that shows RF coverage.
Designed for Ubuntu, Debian or Armbian. You should be able to easily port to other OS.
WARNING: This is still very much in beta state. Do not use without some Linux knowledge/experience. 30m and 90m seems to be working. Python script works, web app works. You can view live version at https://susme.sh
sudo chmod +x gensite.sh
dos2unix gensite.sh
./gensite.shThese can download the HGT terrain tiles to cover the latitude and longtitudes you'll want to model. Adjust them by hand. 30m tiles will take a very long time to process. Think an entire day or more.
# 90m global 3-arc second DEM files
for lat in {38..43}; do for lon in {73..83}; do curl -fLO --retry 3 https://step.esa.int/auxdata/dem/SRTMGL3/N${lat}W$(printf "%03d" $lon).SRTMGL3.hgt.zip || true; done; done
# 30m global 1-arc second DEM files
for lat in {38..43}; do for lon in {73..83}; do curl -fLO --retry 3 https://step.esa.int/auxdata/dem/SRTMGL1/N${lat}W$(printf "%03d" $lon).SRTMGL1.hgt.zip || true; done; doneRemember, you will need to convert using srtm2sdf-hd or srtm2sdf. See below.
These are hosted by the the ESA Scientific Toolbox Exploitation Platform. They are sourced from the NASA / USGS Shuttle Radar Topography Mission dataset, collected by Space Shuttle Endeavour in February 2000 using interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). It mapped 80% of the land surfaces, and was the first near global dataset for terrain and elevation. The canister, mast, and antenna from that mission are now on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. I'll take photos next time I'm down there.
Copernicus DEM is another option if you want alternative dataset. But it's stored in GeoTIFF DEM tiles. You can use it but would have to do an additional step of converting. You won't get significantly more accuracy, but it is slightly more accurate for some niches.
#90m
for lat in {38..43}; do for lon in {73..83}; do
curl -fLO --retry 3 \
"https://copernicus-dem-90m.s3.amazonaws.com/Copernicus_DSM_COG_30_N${lat}_00_W$(printf "%03d" $lon)_00_DEM.tif" || true
done; done
#30m
for lat in {38..43}; do for lon in {73..83}; do
curl -fLO --retry 3 \
"https://copernicus-dem-30m.s3.amazonaws.com/Copernicus_DSM_COG_10_N${lat}_00_W$(printf "%03d" $lon)_00_DEM.tif" || true
done; done
# converting to HGT
for f in Copernicus_DSM_COG_*_DEM.tif; do
lat=$(echo "$f" | sed -n 's/.*_N\([0-9]\+\)_00_.*/\1/p')
lon=$(echo "$f" | sed -n 's/.*_W\([0-9]\+\)_00_.*/\1/p')
gdal_translate -of SRTMHGT "$f" "N${lat}W${lon}.hgt"
doneTechnically next step is 1m LIDAR DEM's from USGS 3DEP 1m DEM (US Only), but you're not going to have a fun time compiling them. Not recommended unless trying to do for a specific city at a time. If there is interest, I'll write a guide for that. You're exponenetially increasing processing requirements for minor gain unless doing a small area or hyper specific RF target.
# Install dependencies
sudo apt install g++ cmake libbz2-dev gdal-bin python3-gdal libspdlog-dev zlib1g-dev splat zip dos2unix bc git
# Get code
git clone https://github.com/W3AXL/Signal-Server.git
cd Signal-Server
# Build instructions
mkdir build
cd build
cmake ../src
make
# ignore warnings
# For 30m high-resolution data, this will take overnight.
#for file in /Path/to/Folder/*.hgt; do
# srtm2sdf-hd "$file"
#done
# For 90m high-resolution data, this is faster and good enough for most scenarios. Still will take hours
# Change folder name
for file in /Path/to/Folder/*.hgt; do
srtm2sdf "$file"
done
# Move the sdf files to whatever folder you put as SDF_DIR
# You need to switch : to _ , use this:
#cd /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/data/SRTM1 && for f in *:*; do mv "$f" "${f//:/_}"; doneGo to CONFIGURATION section in script and adjust variables. This uses Signal-Server, which is an upgrade of SPLAT from the 90's.
While this tool is intended for Meshtastic or Meshcore, you can use it for any frequency between 20MHz to 100GHz. Please do not use in polar regions.
Bare minimum is updating TX_LAT, TX_LONG, TX_HEIGHT, TX_FREQ, TX_POWER_WATTS and TX_ANTENNA_DBI
90m is working. 30m is still in progress. So leave RESOLUTION alone.
===============================================================================
SVM Signal-Server RF Coverage Map Generator
===============================================================================
[INFO] Checking dependencies...
[INFO] Using standard binary for 1200 resolution (90m SRTM3 data)
[INFO] INFO - 1200 resolution uses standard .sdf files (converted with srtm2sdf)
[INFO] Calculating coverage bounds...
[INFO] Bounds: N=41.162755, S=39.366133, E=-75.706378, W=-78.060844
[INFO] Running Signal-Server...
Command: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/build/signalserver -sdf /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/data/SRTM1 -color /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/M4_dBm.dcf -lat 40.264444 -lon -76.883611 -txh 10 -f 906.875 -erp 3.97 -rxh 2 -rt -120 -pm 1 -rel 50 -conf 50 -R 100 -res 1200 -m -dbm -dbg -o /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.168] [info]
____ _ _ ____
/ ___|(_) __ _ _ __ __ _| | / ___| ___ _ ____ _____ _ __
\___ \| |/ _` | '_ \ / _` | |____\___ \ / _ \ '__\ \ / / _ \ '__|
___) | | (_| | | | | (_| | |_____|__) | __/ | \ V / __/ |
|____/|_|\__, |_| |_|\__,_|_| |____/ \___|_| \_/ \___|_|
|___/
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.169] [info] Version 4.0 (master defdc59)
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.169] [info] Compile date: Jan 23 2026 15:25:44
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.169] [info] Built for 100 DEM tiles at 1200 pixels
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.169] [info]
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [debug] Debug logging enabled
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [debug] Appending / to SDF directory
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] -------------------------------- Plot Information --------------------------------
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] TX site parameters: 40.264444N, 76.883611W, 33 ft AGL
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Plot parameters: 62.14-mile radius, resolution of 1200 ppd
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Model parameters: 906.875 MHz at 3.97 W EIRP (dBd), 50% confidence
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Map segments: 4
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Metric mode
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Using threaded processing
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info]
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Directories:
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] SDF: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/data/SRTM1/
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [debug] Radius of 62.137 mi is approx 1.175592 deg EW and 0.900579 deg NS
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [debug] Calculated plot bounaries: 39.363865N 75.708019W to 41.165023N 78.059203W
[2026-01-28 09:20:14.446] [info] Loading topo data for boundaries: (39.363865N, 75.708019W) to (41.165023N, 78.059203W)
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[2026-01-28 09:20:30.318] [debug] Finished PlotPropagation()
[2026-01-28 09:20:30.318] [debug] Cropping 1: max_west: 78.0619 cropLat: 0.9000 cropLon: 1.1783 longitude: 76.88361 dpp 0.0008333
[2026-01-28 09:20:30.318] [debug] Cropping 2: max_west: 78.0619 cropLat: 0.9000 cropLon: 1.1783333 longitude: 76.88361 width %d
[2026-01-28 09:20:30.653] [info] Area boundaries:41.164443 | -75.705278 | 39.364445 | -78.061944
[INFO] Signal-Server completed successfully
[INFO] Converting PPM to transparent PNG using GDAL...
Input file size is 2828, 2159
0...10...20...30...40...50...60...70...80...90...100 - done.
[INFO] PNG created: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.png
[INFO] Creating KML file...
[INFO] KML created: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.kml
[INFO] Creating KMZ file...
[INFO] KMZ created: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.kmz
===============================================================================
RF Coverage Map Complete
===============================================================================
Site Name: Harrisburg
Location: 40.264444, -76.883611
Frequency: 906.875 MHz
ERP: 3.97 W
TX Height: 10 m
Radius: 100 km
Threshold: -120 dBm
Model: 1
Resolution: 1200 ppd (Standard 90m)
Output Files:
PNG: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.png
KML: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.kml
KMZ: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.kmz
PPM: /mnt/c/scripts/signalserver/sites/Harrisburg.ppm
===============================================================================Dump kml_2_leaflet.py in a folder with the KML's and PNG's.
./kml_2_leaflet.py -i . -o leaflet_dataUnder the example LeafletJS webapp, you'll see a folder called potential. Dump the output there.
index.json at the root of "potential" folder is just a list of the sites. You'll need to list all of your sites in it. Each site has a manifest.json , which leaflet uses to create an individual pin.
You can create multiple folders, which individual index.json's. Each its own category, with color coded pins. You can link to manifest.json in different folders.
Update // Put your token here: const MAPBOX_TOKEN = "CHANGE_API_KEY_HERE";
You can get the key from https://www.mapbox.com/ , it's used for LOS pathing functionality.
You can clone and submit pull requests. Or look for me on Meshtastic or Meshcore discord. Same username as here.
Maybe JSON if he helps out, he's a GIS nerd.
This is free, open-source software. Donate a refreshing beverage to your local mesh.