RF Modeller Support

Radio coverage prediction over real terrain, for macOS.

What it does

RF Modeller predicts where a transmitter's signal actually reaches. Place sites on a map, set their RF parameters, and the app models coverage over real elevation and land-cover data using ITU-R P.1812-7, Longley-Rice (NTIA ITM), Extended Hata or free space. Results render as colour-banded overlays on the map and export to Google Earth or as a high-resolution image.

Getting started

Place a site — press Add Site in the toolbar and click the map. You can also import sites from KML/KMZ, paste a Google Earth pin (⌘V), or import real registered transmitters with Import ACMA Towers in View.
Set its parameters — frequency, power (dBm or watts, as EIRP, ERP or TPO), antenna height, antenna type, azimuth and tilt, receiver height, and the maximum range the model should extend to.
Press Compute — terrain and land cover for the area download on first use and are cached locally, so later runs over the same ground need no network.
Read the result — hover anywhere for coordinates, ground altitude, land-cover class with clutter height, and the modelled signal at that point. Double-click a tower to frame it at its maximum range.

Trial and purchase

RF Modeller is free to download and includes a 7-day free trial, started from the welcome screen. After the trial, a single one-off purchase unlocks the app permanently — there is no subscription. The trial and the unlock are both non-consumable in-app purchases, so they follow your Apple Account: if you reinstall or move to another Mac, press Restore Purchase rather than buying again. Project files remain on your Mac whether or not the app is unlocked.

Coverage presentation

Engineering — your own dBm bands (default −80 / −95 / −105 / −115).
ACMA Standard 2026 — the Telecommunications (Mobile Network Coverage Maps) Industry Standard 2026 view: Good ≥ −95, Moderate ≥ −105, Basic ≥ −115 dBm, computed with the mandated assumptions (100 m grid, outdoor pedestrian, 1.5 m receiver, −3 dBi gain, 4 dB body loss, 85% cell-edge probability) and shown with the mandated level descriptions and disclaimers.

Data sources

Everything is fetched on demand from open data and cached locally:

Terrain — Geoscience Australia SRTM 1-second DEM (30 m, Australia-wide), Copernicus GLO-30 elsewhere.
Land cover — ESA WorldCover 10 m, mapped to P.1812 representative clutter heights.
ITU digital maps — downloaded from the ITU on first run. They are licensed for personal use and are never redistributed with the app.
Basemaps — Apple standard and satellite, Queensland state aerial imagery, Digital Earth Australia's cloud-free Landsat mosaic, GA Topographic, EOX Sentinel-2, and optionally Google Satellite if you add your own Google Map Tiles API key in Settings (⌘,).
Tower data — the ACMA Register of Radiocommunications Licences daily extract, used by the tower import.

Common questions

Nothing computes, or an error mentions terrain — the first run for an area needs a network connection to fetch elevation and land cover. Try again once you are online; cached areas keep working offline.
The first compute is slow — the ITU digital maps and the elevation and land-cover tiles for that area are downloading. Later runs over the same ground are much faster.
Why is my coverage a square? — the model extends to the site's Max range. Raise it (and expect a longer compute) to model further out.
Google Satellite is greyed out — add a Google Map Tiles API key in Settings (⌘,). All other basemaps need no key.
Where did my location prompt come from? — a new, empty project centres the map on you. Declining simply leaves the map where it is; nothing else uses location.
Can I share results? — export coverage as a Google Earth KMZ or as a 4K image with basemap, rings, markers, legend and attribution, and export a path profile as a PDF.

Get help

Contact us via the form at outwest.ai and mention RF Modeller — include your macOS version, what you were computing (frequency, range, model), and any error shown on the map.

Attribution

Digital Elevation Model © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) CC BY 4.0 · Copernicus DEM © ESA / Airbus · ESA WorldCover © ESA WorldCover project CC BY 4.0 · Imagery © State of Queensland CC BY 4.0 · Digital Earth Australia CC BY 4.0 · Tower data based on Australian Communications and Media Authority information · ITU digital maps © ITU · propagation engine: crc-covlib, Communications Research Centre Canada (MIT).

Privacy

RF Modeller collects nothing — read the full privacy policy.