Overhead 1090 Explains · Episode 3
How far can an ADS-B receiver hear?
Updated October 2026
From a basement, a few miles. From a roof with clear sky all round, well over a hundred. The difference is almost all about height.
What's said in the video
Last time, what your antenna hears. Today: how far can it actually hear? Radio at this frequency travels in straight lines. So height is everything. Antenna in a basement? A few miles. On the roof, with clear sky all round? Well over a hundred miles.
Line of sight
Signals at 1090 MHz don't bend around the Earth or pass well through buildings and hills. Your antenna hears an aircraft only when there is a clear line between them. A plane at cruising altitude is visible to the radio from a long way off, but anything between you and the horizon (walls, roofs, trees, terrain) eats into that.
Why height matters most
Raising the antenna lowers your horizon and clears the obstacles around you. Moving it from a window to the attic, or from the attic to the roof, usually makes a bigger difference than any other upgrade. Many home stations on a roof see aircraft 100 to 200 miles away.
Other things that help
- An antenna designed for 1090 MHz rather than the small one bundled with a USB radio.
- Short, good-quality cable between the antenna and the radio, since long cable loses signal.
- A 1090 MHz filter or a low-noise amplifier, if nearby phone masts or other transmitters drown the signal.
Overhead 1090 shows how far your own receiver reaches: range rings on the live map and the farthest aircraft in your reports.
The series
- Ep. 1: What is ADS-B?
- Ep. 2: What does an ADS-B receiver hear?
- Ep. 3: How far can an ADS-B receiver hear?
See every plane over your house on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV: Overhead 1090 on the App Store, one purchase, no subscription.