RADIO 4DAT

Plan the net

Tell the app the mission. It picks radios you may legally use, the lowest power that reaches, the antenna, and what your phone can and cannot do.

Recommended build

Heads-up

Kit on hand

The same inventory, battery and reorder tracking as Garage Reorder 4DAT, applied to radios. The last column shows whether you may transmit on each radio with your current license.

Item	Qty	Battery	Last test	You may transmit	Reorder

What this device can do

The platform inventory decides which kits the planner may recommend. It is re-checked at every OS release.

Capability	Android	iPhone / iPad	Mac

Gear guide

Commercial radios, LoRa boards, receivers and accessories that work with RADIO 4DAT. Each card shows whether you may transmit with it under your current license. Cost tiers are 4DAT estimates: $ under $50, $$ $50–150, $$$ over $150.

Only gear I can use

What's inside: the radio chips

The same few chips power most of this gear. Knowing them tells you the range, battery life and which devices can talk to each other.

Chip	What it does	Found in	Why it matters

As an Amazon Associate, 4DAT earns from qualifying purchases. Links marked "Maker" go to the manufacturer. Amazon sets its own prices; check the listing. Product names are trademarks of their owners. Listing a product is not a claim that it is legal for every use. Check the license column.

Spectrum survey

Channel	Frequency (MHz)	Power over floor	Status

Direction finding

—Bearing to emitter (magnetic)

—Confidence

RSSIRotate a directional antenna; a KrakenSDR adds phase bearings

Link planner

Plane-earth model with clutter loss and radio horizon, the same equations as the white paper. Antenna height usually buys more range than power does.

Result

—Reliable range (10 dB fade margin)

—Est. intercept radius, sensitive enemy receiver

—Radio horizon limit

Assumes −120 dBm receiver sensitivity and a 1.5 m near-end antenna. The intercept estimate assumes a −130 dBm, +10 dBi receiver at 10 m. Planning aid only; field tests calibrate it.

TAK data modem

RADIO 4DAT packs a Cursor-on-Target message into a few dozen bytes, then offers only the paths your license allows.

Team picture

iTAK / ATAK

Size and airtime

—Airtime per message

—Channel busy, whole team (keep under 20%)

Time	From	Type	Bytes	Airtime	Path	Status

PACE card

Radio rules that trip people up

The radios are cheap and easy. The rules are not, and they hit former and current amateur operators hardest. Each card shows the rule, who it hurts, and what RADIO 4DAT does about it.

Service	License	Radio must be	Data	Encryption	Relays	You, now

This is a planning aid, not legal advice. Rules summarized from 47 CFR Parts 5, 15, 95 and 97 and FCC Enforcement Advisory DA 18-980 (2018). Items marked "verify" need a check against the current rule text. Military frequencies come only from the unit spectrum manager.