Avbrief

[Bravo73]

To any AvBrief users,

Is anybody else still having problems logging into AvBrief? (Or is it just me???:uhoh:)

I understand that they have recently been changing their hosting providers but according to their various updates, this process shouldn't have taken much longer than 24hrs.

Here's the text of the most recent update (from 2nd March):

AvBrief Alerts / Notices
(last revised at 02 Mar 2007 - 09:20)


http://info1.avbrief.com/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/starred.gif There has been a break in the ADIMS link to NATS today. We are performing NOTAM checklist processing.
Please cross check NOTAMs with the AIS until this notice is removed.
We appreciate your patience during this time.
http://info1.avbrief.com/twiki/pub/TWiki/TWikiDocGraphics/starred.gif During the next 24 hours AvBrief will be implementing a phased switch between hosting centres
Whilst we hope to make the transition as smooth as possible there may be some restricted functionality as large volumes of data are synchronised and validated.
We appreciate your patience during this phase.


And nope, I've not contacted AvBrief directly yet. I am only a 'free user' so I am more than happy with the excellent service that they provide gratis so don't feel that I am in an position to hassle them.


Thanks in advance,

B73

[eharding]

Same here - was a paid user, am not currently, will probably re-subscribe, but can't log in at the moment.

[Fuji Abound]

I cannot comment on the specific issue but FWIIW as a fully paid up user I have had the very occasional "issue" and their support is excellent.

Email sent and they always reply, and pretty quick too, telling you what they intend to do and (surprisingly) in my expereince do what they say when they say! They even thank you if you are bringing an issue to their attention of which they werent aware!!

[Bravo73]

Did you get a reply, Fuji?

As of today, I still can't log in. :(


B73

[englishal]

It is fine for me......(a paid subscriber)....

[Pianorak]

As a non-subscriber I received the following message on 28 Feb. Nothing since and quite frankly don’t expect any other help which I suppose is fair enough.
<<. . . AvBrief Guest Users (non-subscribers)
While the Support Team will see your request, priority is given to our paying Members and a response may not necessarily be provided. However, do check our Frequently Asked Questions (see http://www.avbrief.com/FAQ.html ) as the answer to your query may be there.
Thank you,
The AvBrief Customer Care team>>
However, Euro.wx.propilots.net is just one of several which has proved to be an acceptable free alternative.

[Bravo73]

Hmmm, still no joy logging in. I've tried multiple PCs with different types of browsers (IE and Mozilla mainly). :{

It won't even let me re-register or subscribe for the paying services. :confused:


I hope that they manage to fix whatever problems that they might be having...

[FullyFlapped]

Bravo73,

I just tried and it works fine for me (paying subscriber).

I notice all your posts are during office hours, and you mention trying from multiple PCs/browsers etc.

Just wondered, is there possibly a firewall or WebMarshall type of issue ? Exactly what happens when you try to "log in" ?

FF :ok:

[Bravo73]

Thanks for the suggestion, FullyFlapped, but I don't think it's a firewall issue. (I'm meant to be running the firewall here and nothing's changed recently). Clearing my cookies didn't seem to help either.

I've also tried it from multiple locations (ie @ home) and no joy on that front. I can't seem to access their WAP service either (which can be a real lifesaver when you're stuck in a muddy field somewhere...)

When I try to log in, it throws up the 'Authentication Box' which asks for my username and password. However, upon entering my details, it just throws up the same box. When I click on the Register or Subscribe links, it just sends me to the alerts page (http://www.avbrief.co.uk/alerts.html).

Thanks for the help though. :ok:

[IO540]

Avbrief was fine today c. 1200. I am a paid subscriber.

[Pianorak]

Bravo 73: You say you are a “free user” (like me). Hence a) please be patient and b) don’t hold your breath. Paid up subscribers take precedence over us freeloaders, obviously! :rolleyes:

[Bravo73]

Thanks for the 'advice', Pianorak.

I am being a) patient (you'll notice that I haven't hassled Avbrief directly. For the very reason that it's a free service and I don't really have a right to). b) I've tried upgrading to subscriber status but it won't let me.

I've just been intrigued if anybody else has been having similar experiences and then answering the subsequent questions.

But thanks again for your valuable input. And here's a smiley of my own: :ugh:

[Three Yellows]

Paid subscriber - works fine for me.....
.... perhaps you guys should cough up and support Avbrief... that way they will be able to continue to provide their excellent service.

[FullyFlapped]

When I try to log in, it throws up the 'Authentication Box' which asks for my username and password. However, upon entering my details, it just throws up the same box. When I click on the Register or Subscribe links, it just sends me to the alerts page.

Bravo, just for my interest, what details does a non-subscriber enter in the authentication box ? I can't remember how this worked before I was a subscriber, so can you tell me how it works as a non-paying user ?

FF :ok:

[Bravo73]

.... perhaps you guys should cough up and support Avbrief...

Thanks for the tip, 3 Yellows, but read my posts above. The site won't currently let you register or subscribe. :rolleyes:


FullyFlapped: It asks you for a Username and Password. In the 'pre-transfer' days, this information was 'cookied' so you didn't have to enter it every time.

[Cusco]

No problems here either for a paid up subscriber (and original beta tester)

Safe flying

edited to say I've no longer any idea what my password is: it comes up automatically when I log in- cookie I suppose. Gawd knows what will happen if my cookie jar gets smashed.

Cusco;)

[Chocks Wahey]

I was going to subscribe but have not been able to access the site all week.

Are there any decent alternatives? And I'm also willing to pay!

[whitebeard]

Bravo 73

Yep, I have the same problem both for the PC and WAP services. Unable to log in at all. I have been a paid subscriber for many years.

[Captain Spam Can]

Cant log on either, im a free subscriber and havnt been able to log on for about a month now:confused: :confused:

[lurker06]

To any avbrief users

An email to [email protected] produced a swift and helpful response explaining that they have just carried out a major server change and this has caused some problems with user authentication on the site. As a result, 'Guest' (free) access will not be available for another couple of days.

Regards

Lurker06

[angelacr]

Theirs not working? Why not use YAWS? Yet Another Weather Service is at http://yaws.mobi or http://activitae.com/pda. It's cost and advert free - always has been and always probably will.
_______________________________________
Angela
If it's not on YAWS it won't be on anyone else's.

[Bravo73]

Thanks, lurker06.

[IO540]

I think Avbrief have modified their user authentication.

I've been using their little PDA URL (http://www.avbrief.com/pda/opmet.html)for a couple of years. This never asked for a login, but now it does.

However, while it asks for it every time on my desktop PC, it doesn't ask for it on my HP4700 PDA.

I am a paying subscriber, so on the desktop PC the login/password are already preconfigured and I just press OK. I am pretty sure I had previously entered the login/pwd into the PDA too, at some stage.

Interesting to note that the same login/pwd pair that gets you into the main site also works on the PDA login.

This suggests that they are now using cookies, or using them in a different way, but TBH I don't know enough about this stuff.

On my desktop, I enable 1st party cookies, block 3rd party cookies, and enable session cookies. On the PDA, the behaviour is whatever the default is; there is just one box called "allow cookies" and that is checked.

[bookworm]

I'm sorry to come to this thread so late. I was hoping to wait until problems have been sorted but sadly that might take another couple of days.

I think Avbrief have modified their user authentication.

We have. In fact we've migrated everything to a completely different set of hardware in a completely different place, and a change to authentication was necessary as part of that move. The consequence was the suspension of guest (non-paying user) access, registration and subscriptions during the transition, and it's taken longer than we had hoped to restore these. Sorry. This was not well communicated in the alert message.

Subscribers should have not noticed a difference, other than a slightly faster site now.

This suggests that they are now using cookies, or using them in a different way.

We don't use cookies. I suspect your PDA may simply be caching the userid/password while your desktop browser asks explicitly each time.

Thanks for your patience

The (AvBrief) worm

[Bravo73]

Many, many thanks for the gen, bookworm.

:ok:

[Bravo73]

Yay. Freebie AvBrief is back up. :D:D:D


New registrations/subscriptions are still not possible but when they are... :ok:

[IO540]

Unfortunately, the authentication which Avbrief now apply to their PDA opmet (http://www.avbrief.com/pda/opmet.html)page has increased the data volume from about 2k to 15-25k :ugh:

This is significant when on GBP 10/MB GPRS and an unreliable/marginal connection to boot. Sadly, it is time for me to look elsewhere for this facility. Does anybody know of a URL where I can type a string of airports e.g.

EGKK EGLL EGMC LGKR LGIR

and get the METARs and TAFs for all of them?

I know there are several sites around but they seem to fail for many European airports.

SMS is no good as text messages are often delayed by days when abroad.

[drauk]

IO540:

http://activitae.com/multi.htm

Low bandwidth, takes multiple idents all at once, formatted for a PDA/smart-phone screen. I don't know how reliable it is for obscure airports across Europe, but it certainly gives decent data for the example you quoted.

[angelacr]

I don't know how reliable it is for obscure airports across Europe, but it certainly gives decent data for the example you quoted.

All YAWS weather data comes from the US National Weather Service - and in my experience of running YAWS at activitae, for more than 4 years, NWS is second to none. YAWS is currently running with a 99.8% uptime.

YAWS Multi presently fetches data from server run by Aviation Digital Data Services using NWS data and accesses mainstream airport data i.e. all that data propagated across world aviation networks. If you want something a little more esoteric, especially French airfileds, such as Abbeville (LFOI) for example - which do not propagate widely, you may need to use the single lookup of YAWS original (http://yaws.mobi). That is coded to seek data from European sources too.

A short URL for your phone is http://yaws.mobi That will take you to the front page of YAWS Original, from where YAWS Multi, YAWS UK etc. may be selected.

Since the very complimentary article by David Broom in the PFA magazine, around Christmas, use of YAWS has risen markedly.

EICK remains the highest searched for airport - not sure why? Something to do with RyanAir perhaps?

I started YAWS for my own use as I couldn't find the kind of data I wanted from existing commercial sources and in the low bandwidth form I wanted. Sadly, I think that still holds true today.

If your phone has only a rudimentary browser but can run small Java programs I highly recommend the use of Opera Mini (http://www.operamini.com/). It is free software.

You are welcome to use YAWS for free.
_______________________________
Angela