// CALCULATOR
Enter the data rate written to the medium, or build it from your channel list, then the capacity of the medium and the flights you plan. The calculator gives the recording time and the storage the flights need, in decimal units: 1 GB is 10⁹ bytes, the way storage makers count.
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Recording time on the medium
9 h 06 min
512 GB at 125 Mbit/s
Storage for 1 flight
219.4 GB
Fits: 43% of the medium
| Data rate | 125 Mbit/s |
|---|---|
| In bytes | 15.63 MB/s · 56.25 GB per hour |
| One flight of 3 h | 168.8 GB |
| With the 30% reserve | 219.4 GB |
| Whole flights per medium, reserve included | 2 flights |
| Medium used by 1 flight | 43% |
Check the highlighted field: every box needs a valid number.
HOW IT IS COMPUTED
Nothing here depends on a product: the same lines hold for any recorder and any medium.
R = Σ (channels × sample rate × bits per sample) × (1 + overhead)
Each group contributes its channels times its sample rate times its bits per sample. The overhead covers what the format adds around the samples: sync patterns, headers, time stamps, filling.
T = C × 8 / R
C is the capacity in bytes, 8 bits to the byte, R the data rate in bit/s. The time is rounded down to the minute.
S = R × t / 8 × N × (1 + reserve)
For N flights of t seconds. The whole flights the medium holds are C divided by the storage of one flight with its reserve, rounded down.
1 GB = 10⁹ bytes · 1 TB = 10¹² bytes
Storage makers count in powers of ten. An operating system that counts in powers of two (1 GiB = 2³⁰ bytes) shows a 512 GB medium as about 477 “GB”: the same bytes, in another unit.
Enter the usable capacity if the recorder or its file system keeps part of the medium for itself.
Further reading
Send us your parameter list or your link geometry: an engineer works through the numbers with you.
Write to an engineer →Type at least two letters. Enter opens the first result.
