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Perfect is the enemy of good
Hi friends,
I've just wrapped up the MVP (minimum viable product) of read5.net, including Stripe integration and Facebook sign-in. I was in two minds about pursuing this project. It's definitely something I've thought about for a while, and it looked promising as a proof of concept, but it has been harder in execution, and not for the reasons I expected.
01 Sourcing data
One might think that in the internet age data is freely available, but that's just not the case. Pretty much everything that's available is behind terms and conditions, or a paywall, that make innovating almost entirely impractical.
It also means I've had to go the route of sourcing radio equipment and making my own recordings, which is why read5.net is currently limited to Perth.
Even the online AIP is behind personal, non-commercial terms and conditions. I would love to present ADS-B data projected over geospatial TIF aeronautical charts, but to do so commercially in Australia means going through a very expensive paywall. Contrast that with the FAA in the United States, where digital charts are simply public domain.
I think we're in a bit of a strange place in Australia, where the data we can obtain and use for the safety of air navigation depends on how much an individual is willing to pay.
02 Settling for good
So I'm not completely happy with it. The ADS-B data is patchy, and it doesn't include radar data. The radio coverage is not complete and reception could be better: transmissions can be weak, or half of an exchange is missing because low or ground stations couldn't be received. That's a little frustrating if you're following an IFR flight and want to hear what clearances were issued before departure.
But I think what I have produced, and the data that I can capture, could be useful. So I decided to settle for good, see whether people find that's the case, and hopefully improve from there.
Thanks in advance for your support and encouragement.
Jim 11 October 2026