Founding stations now show their number
This morning we started paying receivers for uptime, and the first stations in each band became Founding stations: twenty for aircraft, twenty-five for ships. The programme was there, but you couldn't see it anywhere except on your own /feed page. Nobody visiting the station leaderboard could tell which receivers had been there from the start. This update fixes that.
On the station itself
A Founding station now carries its number wherever the station appears:
- on the station leaderboard, right after the station name;
- on the podium card for the top three;
- in the header of the station's own page;
- on the picture you get when you share a station link in Discord,
Telegram or anywhere else that shows a preview.
The badge names the band. An aircraft receiver reads Founding #7 in gold, and a ship receiver reads Founding AIS #2 in teal. The two programmes are separate: ADS-B #2 and AIS #2 are different stations, often run by different people.
The number belongs to the receiver, not to its owner, so it shows even on a station whose owner has turned off "Credit me for this station". The owner's name stays hidden. Only the fact that this antenna was early is shown.
The title goes on by itself
Founding owners get a title: Founding Feeder for aircraft, Founding Ship Feeder for ships. Until today it went into your wardrobe and stayed there, so most people never knew they had it.
Now, when the title is granted and you aren't wearing any title, we put it on for you. It then shows after your handle on your profile, on your name plate in the sky and on the leaderboards. If you already wear a title you picked, we leave it alone. If you take the Founding title off in the Exchange, it stays off: we do this once per grant and never again. Early Supporters get the same treatment for their title.
How many ship places are left
The AIS network page now has a line saying how many of the twenty-five Founding AIS places are taken and how many are still open. When we launched, four ship receivers were feeding us, so most of the places are still free. If you have an AIS antenna, or a spare dongle and a window with a view of the water, connecting it now puts your station in that group for good.
Nothing about payouts changed. The rates, the 80% uptime rule and the five-day Tridents are exactly as described in this morning's post. This update only makes visible what the programme already knew.