Listening/watching it all

[Jordan D]

(Mods - if in the wrong place, apologies and please move as appropriate!).

A question here - have spent today tracking the BAW285 (LHR-SFO) as a family member was on it. Was using 3 sites to see how good they compared to one another and as one site lost the aircraft as it transited Greenland.

The question is - when the aircraft arrived at SFO why is that all three sites gave different arrival times?

Further, same family member is returning later this week ... can anyone recommend a flight tracker? (Apologies - I know this question has been asked before, but the search button isn't being friendly).

Thanks in advance

Jordan

[fly mayday airlines]

I understand that flight trackers are restricted by law from displaying accurate times for security reasons. Some of them even state this on their website.

[tallseabird]

What sites were you using?

[rej]

I noticed in a recent magazine that a real-time virtual radar is for sale ion the market at £500. Apparently it uses mode S and the base station plugs into your PC using a USB port. It looks guite interesting but I'm not sure of the quality of the imaging and, an not sure if it picks up data from all transponder fitted ac (not really familiar with Mode S. I don't want to p1$$ of any mods by stating the manufacturer and model but if you want more info the PM me. (no I don't work for the company!!!)

[BMI701EGCC]

Evening,

im pulling my hair out here trying to think of the company who produces the software for tracking aircraft. You are able to tune you local airport and watch the approach path etc on you pc screen, it uses MODE-S signals i think,

any one know what the company is called??


cheers


scott waterworth

[bagpuss lives]

Kinetic Avionic Products.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Hi Scott. You don't "tune in" to your local airport as ground stations are not involved with this device; the equipment receives Mode S transmissions from aircraft, decodes them and plots them on a PC monitor. The result is representative of a basic radar display and it is very effective, especially now that more aircraft are Mode S equipped. Depending on the sighting of your house and the type of antenna you might use, aircraft from considerably further away than your local airport could be seen.

[BMI701EGCC]

yes ive just been to the kinetic avionics site, i live in Atherton, about 20miles from EGCC, Im also under the path from MIRSI to 24, so i think this equipment would be very effective.


thanks for the replies guys



scott waterworth

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I suppose the only other comment one could make is that the use of such equipment must be illegal in the UK because it involves the reception of radio signals for which Joe Public cannot obtain authorisation. However, one imagines that this technicality will not prevent the sale and use of thousands of them!!

In these days of paranoia, when a friend of mine was handed a ticket by the Police suggesting he might be a terrorist when he was simply looking at aircraft on an airfield from a public road, one wonders what the official line might be if the Police found one using such a device near an airport?

[dusk2dawn]

Well, the entire mode-S protocol has been known to the public for years so it is hardly a surprising development.

[Gulf4uk]

Evening,
im pulling my hair out here trying to think of the company who produces the software for tracking aircraft. You are able to tune you local airport and watch the approach path etc on you pc screen, it uses MODE-S signals i think,
any one know what the company is called??
cheers
scott waterworth

hi
i have sent you an EMAIL with advise where to go to get more information
and advise but this system is in use by spotters UK and Europe with
great Success

Tony
EGLF

[chevvron]

Bear in mind the equipment is ONLY capable of showing those aircraft with a FUNCTIONING Mode S transponder. It will NOT show you an aircraft with a mode A/C transponder, or aircraft with no transponder. I would suggest you save your money until 2008, when all aircraft (supposedly) will be required to carry mode S.

[Dr Illitout]

Heathrow Director. My thoughts almost exactly. Are these things leagal?

Rgds Dr I

[Curious Pax]

Would seem that they are at least tolerated until users stream live images to the web. A number of people seem to have acquired them around Christmas, and were streaming them by January. However all the UK-based ones have rapidly disappeared, seemingly due to Ofcom warning them off. NL-based ones are still functioning though (of the ones I know about). Interesting to watch (for a short time!) but it immediately becomes apparent that either not all aircraft are using s-mode, or the receivers in use aren't picking up everything. No doubt a combination of both, but I believe that as it relies on line of sight then having your aerial in a ground floor flat won't produce the quality of results that access to your own church tower in the country might!

[kedz]

Transair pilot shop are flogging this type of kit for £499 so I am sure its all legal and above board..go to thier web site and have a look

kedz

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

kedz. The fact that Transair markets the equipment does not mean it is legal. They also sell receivers and transceivers for the airband, which may not legally be used except in the course of duty.
I'm not preaching; merely detailing the facts and I am certain that the reception of Mode S, or any radar signal, is not permitted to the general public.

[Gonzo]

At the risk of repeating thrads from only last month, Transair also sell airband scanners that are illegal to use in the UK.

[mattcarus]

I suspect that these fall into the same catagory as scanners, speed trap detectors etc;
They're legal to buy, legal to sell and legal to own, but illegal to use. Figure that one out...

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

mattcarus. Got it in one. It should have been sorted yonks ago.. and the "sticky" on PPrune quoting ofcom shows what a mess it is. For ofcom to suggest that because air show organisers publish frequencies that can be taken as authority to listen in is simply ludicrous. Personally, I have no objection to someone listening to ATC so long as they use the information sensibly. Unfortunately, experience shows that there will always be the loony who spouts off about something he hears..

[mocoman]

HD,

you may have hit the nail on the head.

who spouts off

Two offences;

i:/
Listening/Monitoring

ii:/
Passing-on or abusing access to such information.

Therefore, would you agree that it should be of no concern if a suggestion were to be made moving the offence of listening/monitoring restricted broadcasts off the statute books; while retaining the full weight of law to be concentrated on those that pass-on or use such information for personal financial gain or other nefarious purposes?

(Transmission on said frequencies being punishable, as is the current case, to the extreme extent of the law.)

NB: I am talking about formalising legal direct local reception of MODE-S or ATC RT traffic and NOT legalising the re-transmission of specific details, including streaming over the internet, to other media.

:D

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

mocoman. I see no problem with that, although I doubt you'd achieve it in a million years in this country.

[chevvron]

Curious Pax: if you'd read my thread of 30 Jan you'd already know that not all aircraft carry Mode S

[Curious Pax]

I did read it Chevvron - my comments were reiterating yours, not ignoring them!:confused:

[mocoman]

I doubt you'd achieve it in a million years in this country.

Doh!; guess I'd better go to bed early this evening then........;)

:8

[mocoman]

I ended up buying one......:E

nice to see and hear all the action:)

Of course I don't use either the SBS-1 or my scanner to listen/monitor ATC....

Farcical.

:E

[bagpuss lives]

See I'd be sorely tempted to own one of these things if the price wasn't so damned high.

If only the company were to send some freebies out to dedicated, highly skilled and professional air traffic personnel so that they may spread the word throughout their respective units and companies.

I think that's an excellent idea? ;)

[mocoman]

niteflite01,

I think that's a great idea!:O

However, OFCOM don't like you listening or monitoring if not on duty so I'm afraid that it's unlikely that the company in question would be able to supply 'demo' units to be used for illegal activity......:E

[bagpuss lives]

Good point, well made :E

[ZeeDoktor]

Hi all,

this might be of interest to most of you: http://www.openatc.com is to my knowledge the only site that lets you track flights in european airspace.

Seems to be based on an open network of ADS-B receivers.

Cheers!

[ContIgnt]

Well call me stupid, but I can't find any of my company flights either by registration or call sign ....

[the dean]

i can't get it to work either...though i did get up google earth...

maybe its finger trouble..??:{

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I tried a few Heathrow inbounds on it last night and it wouldn't list any when I used the full flight number. However, if you just feed in the numbers, ie "123" for "BA123" it comes up with everything with 123 in it's flight number, then you can just choose. I tried several of the graphics features but they locked up my PC so bad I had to re-boot!!

Interesting though.. but I doubt if it is strictly UK-legal if it's information is derived from Mode S..

[EGLD]

Works fantastic, thank you

Have a look at this screenshot I took, I had to reduce significantly in quality

http://img87.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image1nf6.jpg

And a few minutes later

http://img245.imageshack.us/my.php?image=image2nd2.jpg

[747-436]

Just tried it, looks good initially. Will have to look some more when I have time.

It is a shame Eurocontrol et al in Europe don't open up their data so much as the FAA do. If you want to use flight tracking for aircraft in the USA it is so much easier. Security wise I would have thought it would be the US who don't want to release data but seems the other way round.
For those of us in the Airlines it would be a very useful tool.

[ZeeDoktor]

You must use ICAO callsigns, i.e. BAW for british airways, not BA

Also, the data is based on ADS-B, so airplanes that don't transmit ADS-B position information are not in the system.

Cheers

[EGLD]

Also, I've noticed oddities like searching for 2027 didn't show up BAW2027 but searching on 27 did

I believe it relies on volunteers capturing data, so it isnt worldwide coverage

So it has a few quirks, but its a very early product

Would be nice to get all the Flight Explorer data into Google Earth for this kind of tracking, but useless without European data....

[ZeeDoktor]

openATC does rely on volunteers contributing data from their ADS-B receivers. So far, coverage appears to have been fairly consistent, but many more contributors are needed. If you care to make a difference, and live in an area where sparse or no data is on openATC, here's how you can contribute:

1. You require a ADSL/cable internet connection that is always on and can manage about 250 MB a month in outbound traffic (that amounts to about 100 bytes per second on average... not much at all!)

2. Purchase a ADS-B (SBS-1) receiver from Kinetic Avionics. Costs about £500 all inclusive.

3. Download their beta version of Basestation, the software that's used to interface their receiver (link in their forums under Beta category)

4. Download the openATC feeder (link under "share your data" on the openatc site) and install on same computer as basestation.

5. fire it all up and keep it running 24/7!

I think Eurocontrol is giving a great example on how the euro bureaucracy really works: It sucks up all the money and leaves you with little in return, apart from laws and regulations. Thus, amateurs to the rescue!

Cheers

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<Costs about £400 all inclusive.>>

Best price I've ever seen is £499.95... or do you know something I don't? I see they also charge well over £100 for an outdoor antenna.

[ZeeDoktor]

Sorry, you're right. I did a mental currency conversion from $1200 aussie dollars, but the pound seems weaker these days. sorry! I changed that the original post.

You don't need the external antenna. In fact, the best setup you can possibly have is to set up the SBS-1 in a box on your roof, use the supplied magmount antenna (mount it to your tv antenna for instance, vertically of course) and run a 12m USB cable to the box from your computer. I don't know how long the USB cable can get, but there are extenders that run USB over ethernet cable, and I've heard they can be very long. I'm running 12m without any problems (and without additional power supply, just USB).

I'm getting excellent range with that setup. You can also add a £75 preamp to make things even better.

Cheers

[747-436]

I am using it again, got aircraft coming into to LHR being picked up over Germany. As people have said it would be nice if Eurocontrol released this data officially!!
We live in hope.

[Gulf4uk]

hi

Read and tryed this out and like SBS i am wondering at
why if you want to get Live info FREE or Nearly free
(registration) why dont you Use ACARS set up
currently WACARS \and this http://www.acarsd.org/
are Free and http://www.airnavsystems.com
with a Reciever and Antenne you can expect to
recieve over 1000 flights per day over most of europe
if you want Heathrow stuff you will be well pleased
A lot of spotters bought SBS stuff use it very succesfully
And ACARS , YAHOOGROUPS\GOOGLEGROUPS have
many Lists that cover these subjects for those that
need help and information . Again £500 + Seems a lot
for what you can get FREE If its the registrations you
are after .

Tony

[ZeeDoktor]

I understand openATC is not about collecting registrations, it's about tracking flights.

Cheers

[Gulf4uk]

I understand openATC is not about collecting registrations, it's about tracking flights.

Cheers


hi

Sorry youve lost me ? the ultimate aim being the Route and Frame on
that flight ? am i right like this VT-JWA 20061004 2211 9W0117 (A340 JAI) (EGLL-VABB) if not what exactly are you after .

Tony:confused:

[ZeeDoktor]

As far as I know ACARS only gives you position updates every 30 minutes or so. In addition, it's not an operational requirement to have ACARS. ADS-B on the other hand is on its way to become (and already has become in certain areas here in Oz) radar replacement in many locations, so most airplanes will be equipped in the near future.

Cheers

[Gulf4uk]

hi

Yes i see the dIfferant Approach there in OZ to GB . Dot Spotting is
the name used here for High altitude Flights most Spotters into that
use Acars logs and SBS Logs to tieup civil and mil overflights and
Airport Arrivals . 99 pecent of requests are for Registrations for
a flight seen maybe miles high this seems to fit the bill ok.
Some of us are watching for new Frames biz and civil-liners and
getting Rare some of the older Series .one seen first time by me
this Morning on ACARS F-WXXL A380 002 . The high cost of
SBS eguipment here £500 TO 600 if you get properly installed
seems very high unless your a real Enthusiest and try to keep
databases and groups updated sadly a lot Dont . anyway will
have another longer look at Website when i have time see
if in any way i can help with updates

thanks your response

Tony
uk-acars enthusiest list owner

[767 Super]

I always enjoy listening to channel 9 when I fly UAL and wondered why noone else offered it. Monday nite on a trip LAX-SFO I started listening to it as we taxied out from our gate at LAX. There was a conversation from another UAL plane that had evidently taxied past a point that the controller wanted to hold him. I think he stated, the tower told him to continue to further point, at which point the present controller said he'd have to come back. CLICK....that was the end of channel 9 for our trip! I imagine our pilot didn't want us listening to this situation, although I was curious. I can now see that although some passengers like to listen to it, pilots must consider it an invasion of their privacey and prefer not to have it.

[Seloco]

I have been an avid listener to UA channel 9 for many years and was pleasantly surprised when it was not removed post 11/9. I have developed a huge respect for ATCers everywhere as a result of listening to their efforts, particularly at times of traffic challenges.

I have however also seen the downside (for UA) of this open approach. On one memorable occasion I was at JFK on a 767 flight to London which was delayed departing by an engine problem. As we waited at the gate the engineers were called to lift the cowling and try to fix the problem. The captain was giving soothing words over the PA about how minor the problem was and how soon it would be fixed. Unfortunately for him, "someone" had also, presumably unwittingly, switched Ch9 away from ATC and on to the company channel, so those of us listening were priviledged to hear the exchanges between flight deck and the engineers. These exchanges were telling a very different tale relative to the nature of the problem! As time wore on the poor captain's tortured updates on the PA were getting increasingly baffling to all except those of us receiving the real blow-by-blow account on Ch9.

It took more than two hours to fix and test the problem, by which time I had learned a lot about UA's approach to crisis engineering - which appeared extremely professional, if a little harassed at times!

[myrtleman]

Hi everyone

I wonder if anyone could suggest a better free internet flight tracker for the UK than flytecom? I'm currently using this for arrivals into LHR (mainly to match up callsigns with flight numbers etc.) but it's not always accurate and completely omits a number of arrivals. Anyone got a better site up their sleeves?

What I do like about flytecom is the way it gives the ATC Callsign and provenance of flights.

As ever, MM

[Selfloading]

Not quite real time, about 5 minute delay, but very good.
http://www.openatc.com/

[gingernut]

'scuse the daft question, but isn't it possible to read the reg from the underwing anymore?

[Gulf4uk]

HI

Yes suppose you still can on some Stuff with a decent pair of bins
but at 37000 IT Isnt so easy and many Frames have Very small lettering
and colours " low vis they call it " Mil frames its vertualy impossible
on many of them " ok save you all the truouble You should all have gone to
SPECSAV--S ":rolleyes: :8

[berax]

Hi guys. I´m looking for any good page at internet where I can listen ATC, tower, aproach,etc live transmissions.
Can someone help me with that?

Thanks in advance :ok:

[PIGDOG]

To make it ever more interesting try listening to the Boston Tower while watching this

http://www4.passur.com/bos.html

Just be aware that it has a ten minute delay. Still interesting though.

[berax]

Thanks a lot guys!!!

[Aussie]

Anyone else having trouble gettin that Passur website working?

[PIGDOG]

Now that you mention it, I did have trouble with it on some other computers. It just doesn't seem to load. I never did find a solution.

And for those of you that it does work for:

LaGuardia: http://www4.passur.com/lga.html
Newark: http://www4.passur.com/ewr.html
JFK: http://www4.passur.com/jfk.html
St Petersburg/Clearwater (Tampa): http://www4.passur.com/pie.html

Hope it works.

[Blues&twos]

You could also try

http://www.openatc.com/

for related info.

[alberto86]

Hi ,

does anybody know any website where to find live ATIS transmissions? Thanks

[bri1980]

For anywhere in particular?

Try www.liveatc.net. I know they have feeds for ground/approach control, not sure about ATIS though.

B

[mark147]

You can look them up here:

http://www.airlinecodes.co.uk/airlcodesearch.asp

Nothing found for 'jennings' though.

M.

[IO540]

There are many "pretend airline" operators who use made-up callsigns like that. There are a few at my airfield; the flying schools seem to like it because it makes them sound more "proper" :)

[Capt Chambo]

Possibly "Channex" which I believe is the callsign for Jet2. ;)

[surely not]

What ever happened to clear and concise speech? Channex gets to sound like Jennings, now that is a big difference!!

[Maude Charlee]

Channel Express was the airline from which Jet2 was born, hence the callsign.

As for the 'Speedbird' crew, I think you'll find the BA callsigns into NCL are 'Shuttle'. I stand to be corrected however, as my anorak is not yet back from the drycleaners.

:}

[Aquarius Lad]

Maude Charlee - you are indeed correct.

Your anorak has been cleaned, pressed and dutifully returned to its owner...!! ;);)

[Aquarius Lad]

Adam

BA currently only operate NCL-LHR LHR-NCL

Hopefully they may take back the LGW service which ceased in March (now operated by Jet 2)

Keep the questions coming Adam, they're are many people on pprune willing to answer them.

[RingwaySam]

"BA use the 'Shuttle' callsign on all their flights throughout the world."

:E No they don't. Shuttle flights are LHR/LGW - EDI/GLA/NCL/MAN etc - There European/Worldwide callsign is SpeedBird. Not sure if they still use British after BA Connect was taken over by FlyBe...

Sam

[K.Whyjelly]

Adam, the BACON EMB145's and baby Dash8's are still in BA colours at the moment but the crew operate on a 'Jersey' call sign. I guess it takes time and money to paint the airframes in the correct company logo :ok:

[Fried_Chicken]

I guess it takes time and money to paint the airframes in the correct company logo

Take a look at:-

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1210128/M/

it looks a bit 'tacky' but was presumably 'done on the cheap'

FC

[Maude Charlee]

I think it is unlikely that the 'new' livery will ever be more than painting out the BA logos and slapping on a Flybe as in the pic. Some of the ex-BACON fleet will be gone in a matter of months, and the remainder phased out over 3 years max. Doesn't really make economic sense to go through a costly repainting programme for such a short period of time in service.

It might not be terribly aesthetically pleasing, or good marketing, but Flybe management sure do keep a tight hold on their cash. They won't part with a penny if they don't have to.

[Big mustache]

Can anyone please explain to me what "with Victor, with Mike, with Hotel" etc. mean? Thanks in advance.

[makeapullup]

I only talk to the guys "with whiskey"!

[PaperTiger]

Crew is telling the controller which weather briefing they have received via the ATIS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Terminal_Information_Service) broadcast.

[Big mustache]

Thanks for the reply and link. Very helpful.:)

[SkyTrax2]

hear a lot of saltaire or soltyre who/what are they?

[chiglet]

Saltire [sp] is a small Scottish charter outfit. It's named after the Scots flag
watp,iktch

[LysanderV8]

I frequently hear Blackadder used as a callsign in the Bournemouth area. Always intriques me. Has Rowan Atkinson got his PPL?

[Fried_Chicken]

Perhaps a link for everybody to add to their favorites, the official Eurocontrol ICAO callsign directory. It's fully searchable using spoken callsign, operator or the ICAO designator.

http://www.eurocontrol.int/icaoref/icao_8585_aircraft_operators_browse.jsp

Typing in "Blackadder" in the callsign (Telephony) box reveals it's allocated to:

Bournemouth Commercial Flight Training Centre & they have the ICAO designator BLD

FC

[clifftop]

Saw a BA embraer take off from EGGP today.

Callsign 'Jersey'

wosarallabout?:confused:

[LysanderV8]

Thanks Fried Chicken re Blackadder.

Clifftop - I think you will find that since FlyBe took ober BA Connect, all flights use FlyBe's Jersey callsign. It was probably operating the schedule to Southampton.

[west lakes]

Channex gets to sound like Jennings,

interestingly enough I heard this guy sunday. northbound towards scotland in the Talla region. his first call was very clearly Channex but his acknowledgment to ATC was more jennings. Wonder if he's from my area and pining for the local beer - or just :mad: about!!

[Charley B]

Hi
Hi ,
Can anyone let me know which airline has prefix TST ---apparently a few flights with that prefix have gone out of LGW today-is this a new route?
Thanks!

[Jes]

Why not do it yourself?


http://www.eurocontrol.int/icaoref/icao_8585_aircraft_operators_browse.jsp

[19F]

Local (near Stansted) newspaper has today an article about a new service from BAA - Webtrak.
View arrivals and departures from previous day through the last 3 months.
http://stn.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html
LHR and LGW are available too:
http://lhr.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html
http://lgw.webtrak-lochard.com/template/index.html
Cheers

[eamo k]

morning gentlemen,i am an aviation radio enthusiast mainly but last week i downloaded the acars D program and i noticed on a lot of the destinations on the acars messages it says in the text nordireland,il give you an example,,dublin ireland-heathrow airport,london uk and nordireland.can anyone tell me what exactly nordireland is or means.also for anyone looking for aviation frequencies in ireland may i recommend an excelent site called frequencydb.com,its a radio scanning enthusiast site mainly but it has loads of aviation frequencies in it,from hf to vhf and some uk military uhf and civil vhf frequencies also,but almost all frequencies are irish as its an irish site.anyway if anyone can answer the above for me id be very grateful..also im not trying to hijak anyone of this site to frequencydb.com i just think some other enthusiasts might find it useful with there hobby thats all.cheers lads :ok::ok:

[KiloMIke]

Erm maybe I have misread your post but you are from Dublin, Ireland and you are wondering what 'nordireland' might mean.

I shall have an incredibly wild guess at Nothern Ireland.

Slainte!

[eamo k]

yes i think you have misread my question,if you read it again without been a smartarse then you might see that in acars if your familiar with the program the word nordireland comes up in flights going nowhere near northern ireland.of course i know that in norwegian nord means north.why do you think i have posted the question here cause it dosent mean the obvious.

[perkin]

Are you aware that the official title of the UK is actually the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? Does that perhaps then give you "heathrow airport, london, uk and nordireland"? Just a thought :rolleyes:

[DOUGALD]

Can anyone give me the atc frequencies for Palma.
Thanks

[chrisellio]

Try this link:-
http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/pmi/pmispinfo.htm
Chris

[brs planespotter]

can someone shed some light on this please,tomsonfly 757 departing brs,runway 09 for ibz,after a few miles should turn right,on this occasion turned left and headed north.same a/c arrived bang on time!any ideas?regards brs planespotter

[Fried_Chicken]

can someone shed some light on this please,tomsonfly 757 departing brs,runway 09 for ibz,after a few miles should turn right,on this occasion turned left and headed north.same a/c arrived bang on time!any ideas?regards brs planespotter

possibly for weather avoidance?

FC

[brs planespotter]

thats the strange thing,it was a very calm lovely morning!

[AlphaWhiskyRomeo]

Special noise restriction?

Police aircraft in the area?


Just a couple of crazy ideas.

[Maufe]

GOM I suppose I must accept but after reading the above posts can I ask if brs planespotter and eamo k went to the same school (and perhaps not too long ago)?. Personally I found them to be almost incomprehensible due to the total lack of capital letters and other punctuation? Not to mention spacing! I’ll ignore spelling of basic words such as doesn’t and “you’re”.

Suppose I’m just going to be just contemptuously dismissed as a smartarse, but unlike your posts I reckon you can at least understand the point I am making in one reading!

[BOAC]

If it gets too bad we normally advise the poster and ultimately bar them from the forum if there is no improvement. We have 'eliminated' a few over the years.:)

At the moment if it is bothering you I suggest you use the 'ignore' function available at the bottom of your 'User CP' list and then you will not see them. It is a hazard of this forum where semi-literate or very young people tend to post.

[Maufe]

I'm not bothered to the extent of putting them on an 'ignore' list, once interpreted the gentlemen's posts are perfectly reasonable. However if (and I appreciate this sounds somewhat pompous) no-one puts their head above the parapet and comments then the posters concerned will not even realise that they have a problem.

[boguing]

Can anybody tell me what height (approx) inbound aircraft would be when coming from the South to join the (Eastgoing) downwind leg? It's just that the turn is more-or-less over my house, and for the last few weeks it would have been a useful guide to cloudbase.

[BOAC]

Depends on arrival direction - where is chez boguing roughly?

[boguing]

Chez boguing is in South Holmwood. The turn from Northbound to Eastbound is more or less over here/Beare Green. Both on the A24 South of Dorking.

[BOAC]

Not too sure what you are seeing there - 98% of the inbound traffic to LGW is vectored to the south of the field where the two holds 'Willo' and 'Timba' are, and off these holds the traffic is turned Eastbound, normally south of the field. You might just be seeing traffic inbound to LHR routing to the Biggin Hill hold, in which case it would probably be about 8-9000'? Maybe a Director person could chip in here? I don't remember ever being routed north of LGW from the south, although I have occasionally 'squeezed' such from a kind controller on a northern arrival.

[boguing]

I'm about 4 miles North of the extended runways. Definitely going to Gatwick, staying South of the Reigate/Redhill mountain range. If they're landing to the West I get one every 5/10 minutes.

Not complaining, just love watching the different turn/slow down/lose height soon handling. Used to live in Wandsworth under Heathrow approach (again we were a waypoint) and loved being able to tell which Country's carrier was deploying flaps at max speed (shriek/whoosh). Same one as has gear down and lights on when it crosses a coastline.

[BOAC]

I still think they must be arrivals for LHR, since I have never (in 20 years) been vectored north of LGW from a south arrival as that routing interferes with the Biggin Hold and also clashes with the R26 departures and would restrict climb. Anyway, without an ATC input, we can progress no further.

[uk20]

So guys with this SBS-1 gadget. How good is it? Being in the LHR area will I get a good range and if anyone is in this area and has one how well does it work...how far can you see?

[HPPILOT]

Curious Pax, the Kenitic SBS-1 one users who used to feed to a dutch site appeared to have defected to an american site owned by a company called Air Nav systems. they now sale a a S mode receiver called an Air Nav Radar Box which produces a radar screen on your PC. It costs £40 less than Kenetics and they appear to have far many more users who are streaming.

I have been informed that the axact location and time above a point is not perfect to stop the stinger pointing baddies from using it to shoot down aircraft. The system looks good for general use, though I suspect that if you live near an airport or airways junction then you may find it in accurate on purpose.

[uk20]

No advertising! Link removed

Also can you tune in to ATC through this?

If not what is the best scanner for listening in terms of range. I guess it will be down to the antenna...anyone have any ideas on the best antennas?

[HPPILOT]

It seems that the SBS kit has suddenly come down £100, is it because they are trying to off load them now. It will not pick up ATC only the signal from the s-mode transponder which is a location device for ATC to pin point aircraft. S mode is used by all aircraft on airways but it is not required by GA aircraft until at least 2008.

By the way the SBS kit is like a VHF receiver in as much as it only picks up signals line of sight so if you live in a valley then you will only pick signals in the emmidiate area.

Good luck

[Gulf4uk]

when the Said company brought out AIRNAV 2 Acars decoder there was
the option to use the Streams on WWW Provided by variuos users after
a while that died a death I suppose its becuase the Various Telcoms
authouritys clamped down on it . Lately a few Sites mainly USA \Canada
were still working . Poss live Streams on MODE S May go the same way
Possibly best to leave it a while see what comes on or Not

T
Farnborough

[jabberwok]

I probably can't post a screenshot here but here's the link:
SBS Display (http://homepages.mcb.net/bones/WebPost/ZZZX.gif)

I can pick aircraft up out to 270nm but only because I have a clear horizon - signals are very much line of sight.

[Dirkou]

I've bought AirNav RadarBox and for the first time I was able to track almost Europe for free. None of the other sites offers european tracking.

[HH6702]

Hi
I was woundering if anybody can help me. need to know what the following flights used as i flight code. They are all from mid september and are flights to FAO

EZY6005 BRS-FAO
EZY2017 LTN-FAO
JAF2943 BRU-FAO
GSM317/505
EZY3289
RYR7032


Thanks for your help
hh6702

[dc9-32]

Does anyone know of any websites available to allow subscribed users web access to track their flights in real time other than via the CFMU. I know this is quite a big thing in the US, but in UK, it appears elusive !

Any ideas ? :ok:

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

I know of no on-line system which does not have a built in delay. This site isn't bad if you have Google Earth: http://www.fboweb.com/fb40/s/tr/qt.aspx

Of course you could always lash out on SBS and watch them real-time!

[rich_g85]

My partner is flying from Marseille (MRS) to LGW on Easyjet this afternoon.

I was wondering whether anybody could speculate on what the route is likely to be?

Also, if the flight number is EZY5326, is that then the aircraft's callsign? eg 'echo zulu yankee 5-3-2-6' (seems rather a mouthful!)

Thanks for any help..
Richard

[chevvron]

Try 'Easy 5326'

[Avman]

May even have an alphanumeric ATC c/s which won't resemble the airline's flight number.

[The SSK]

http://radar.zhaw.ch/

Click on the aircraft for type and registration

(apologies if this is old news)

[oldlag53]

You are a bit behind the times, young sir...us trendy geeky spotters (ahem) are glued to our SBS-1s, which do precisely this in the comfort of our own homes. Check out the Kinetic Avionics website for more juicy info...

[The SSK]

You are a bit behind the times, young sir...us trendy geeky spotters (ahem) are glued to our SBS-1s, which do precisely this in the comfort of our own homes. Check out the Kinetic Avionics website for more juicy info...

OK, it was binoculars, a notebook and a marmite sandwich in my day. We used to regard with contempt anybody with a radio.

[StainesFS]

I know from other posts that some members use SBS-1 receivers. One may be about to go on my list for Father Christmas and my question to PPRUNE members is as follows:

From a search I have identified two receivers. These are the Kinetic Aviation Products SBS-1 and the AirNav Radar Box. Could members give me the benefit of their experience with these two products please? Even better, if anyone has experience of using both products, which would they recommend and why?

Many thanks.

SFS

[Sam-MAN]

Well i have a SBS-1 and love it! Haven't tried a Air Nav Radar Box so i can't give my opinion on it.

I couldn't live without my SBS, i just love it! Real time aircraft on the display, easy to view, love it!

Sam :)

[magpienja]

Hi guys alawys have my scanner on at work dinner times, today on 121.5 heard somthing along the lines of "HM gov command you to divert and land at valley"

Nothing heard on the news????

Nick.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Nick.... Use a bit of savvy. It's illegal to monitor the air bands... and illegal to publish what you hear. What's that knocking sound..............?

[Random Electron]

Any truth in the rumour that the Mytravel rout of Thomas Cook is complete now that they have killed off the "Topjet" callsign? Have heard that Thomas Cook is to be changed to "Kestrel".

[Seven Fifty Seven]

They were using both in GLA today.

[SM82]

As it stands.................

Currently still using MYT and TCX flight numbers during winter and from May 1st 2008 all flights will be on TCX flight numbers. A number of TCX aircraft (B757's) have transfered to the MYT AOC in the last few weeks the last being transfered in Feb.

Once all is complete the MYT AOC will then become the TCX AOC (all confusing i know but there are reasons behind it)

From what i can gather the "Topjet" callsign will remain however i have also heard a rumour that there maybe a new callsign so who knows?????

[perkin]

Anyone got any idea who was operating (was it a charter perhaps?) a flight indicated as destined for Liverpool on an X3 flight number? I've had a search and cant find any info on this flight, but the code seems to belong to TuiFly, but they dont advertise LPL as a destination...puzzling! Was on one of the F gates which seem to be reserved for heavies too...any info appreciated :)

[BYALPHAINDIA]

Could be Arke Fly 763 Sub Charter??

[Mr @ Spotty M]

I guess it would have been a Football Charter, the other Liverpool team were playing last night.:ok:

[perkin]

Yup, I found out by accident by looking on the bbc website and noticed Everton were playing FC Alkmaar the other day... :)

[roscoe777]

16:40 hrs Loud jet noise over SOLIHULL - put on SBS Unit and saw EZ-A014 (Turkmentistan) weaving on my screen making an s shape print out on the SBS ...first right then left ....i.e. showing a ZIG ZAG on the SBS and was as low as 1,900ft.(Alt displayed on SBS) it then turned back on itself and climbed to 3,000 (Alt displayed on SBS) back towards HON.......noticed that it intercepted glide path on 33 and eventually landed......Anyone shed any light on what happened ???????? -

Further info Person listening to 131.0 (B'ham Director) - The pilot of the a/craft though he was on the ILS but was 2 miles off track.........he was told to tune to 131.0 (B'ham Director) - the Pilot had left the mic open and 'heavy breathing' was heard...eventually vectored onto 33 and landed

Further info : The SBS doesnt account for QNH and due to the QNH yesterday being 1035 at the time, this equates to a 660ft difference from the standard pressure of 1013 (which is what the SBS calculates altitudes from) which actually puts the aircraft at 2500ft. 1900+660ft = 2560ft -

whilst it answers the question of the readout on the SBS - there may be a few more unanswered questions regarding the track and the missed approach...........Given the fact the Pilot was over Birmingham City Centre

[RingwaySam]

Im not a pilot but by the sounds of it he was making the S turns to try and waste some time for an aircraft on the runway? Then eventually going around by the sounds of it.

I've not seen it happen for a while, but it's deffinatly a method they use to waste some time for the aircraft infront.

[roscoe777]

Many thanks for your observation but there was no a/c in front...in fact the Turmenistan 757 made a u turn back on itself to line up for the 33 approach.....it also does not account for the frequemcy that it was on.....the sequence at BHX is 118.05 Radar...then 131.0 for the Director if needed...then 118.3 for the tower and 121.8 Ground - the only one that was being used by the ATC Controller was 131.0 until the a/craft landed - If you can recall there was an incident no so long back near to the HON beacon when an a/c from the same part of the world had set a wrong QNH
Couple with my SBS observation there was also a friend monitoring the 131,0 freq and heard 'heavy breathing' coming from the cockpit due to the mic being left open..............MAKES YOU THINK EH ????????:D

[Gulf4uk]

hi
The comment About passing on information received brings to mind a few years ago while watching the Farnborough display a group of youngsters listening to ATC within earshot of a policeman no problem at all until he was receiving a message on his radio when One of them decides to retune his radio to see what was going on at Full volume . A Right Nasty glare as a very unfriendly chat followed so there is always the lunatic fringe that could spoil things .
The Police now have digital technology so listening in is not I understand easy but these days you can Never Tell
Tony

[Sam-MAN]

Hello all.

I was wondering if there is a site about that hosts live ATC from Manchester?

Despite only being 6 miles away i get a crap signal and cannot listen to it (only planes on approach). I would of thought as MAN has a huge number of spotters it may have been hosted somewhere.

I checked http://www.liveatc.net/ but with no luck.

If not, has anyone thought about doing it?

If so, it'd be highly appreciated http://www.kinetic-avionics.co.uk/forums/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Sam

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Your posting is extremely unwise. The Wireless telegraphy Act prohibits the monitoring of air band transmissions. The publication of any messages which may be heard by illegal monitors is also illegal. Check the "sticky" at the top of the ATC section: http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=206063

[Sam-MAN]

Ahhhh right thanks! Didn't realize there was such a law.

With the paranoid yanks allowing it i'd expect the British to allow it :}

Ah well, i'll stick with my SBS!

Sam

[Visual06]

Your posting is extremely unwise. The Wireless telegraphy Act prohibits the monitoring of air band transmissions.The publication of any messages which may be heard by illegal monitors is also illegal.

It is illegal to drive over 70mph on motorways in the UK, yet it happens, (infact its hard to find anyone going under 70mph)

It is illegal to go over 30mph in built up area in the UK, yet it happens

It is illegal for a taxi (Hansen cab) to drive over London Bridge without a bail of hay in the boot, yet it still happens!

Of course you are quite right in saying its illegal (as with all the crimes listed above) but will the authorities ever enforce the law?

[Diaz]

It is illegal to drive over 70mph on motorways in the UK, yet it happens, (infact its hard to find anyone going under 70mph)

It is illegal to go over 30mph in built up area in the UK, yet it happens

It is illegal for a taxi (Hansen cab) to drive over London Bridge without a bail of hay in the boot, yet it still happens!

Of course you are quite right in saying its illegal (as with all the crimes listed above) but will the authorities ever enforce the law?They will enforce the law if you flout it openly infront of 'them'- they don't care as long as you don't publish it and/or scream it from the rooftops.

[Visual06]

They will enforce the law if you flout it openly infront of 'them'

The comment About passing on information received brings to mind a few years ago while watching the Farnborough display a group of youngsters listening to ATC within earshot of a policeman no problem at all until he was receiving a message on his radio when One of them decides to retune his radio to see what was going on at Full volume . A Right Nasty glare as a very unfriendly chat followed so there is always the lunatic fringe that could spoil things

obviously not :)

[Sam-MAN]

God i love proon, a simple question turns into a legal boffins argument :}

[Visual06]

God i love proon, a simple question turns into a legal boffins argument :}


LOL http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m267/Rampvan/other/fencing.gif

[Tonic Please]

Hi. Not sure where this goes exactly, so I'll leave it to the mods.

I am trying to track a Pluna flight. I found flightstats website, since that is what montevideo airport directs you to (just as madrid does). I tried following the MAD/MVD flight, (following = making sure it got off and landed alright), and only see it took off 20 mins late. Well, I don't know if it's landed, I'm sure it has, at Carrasco, and now I'm trying to find the flight from MVD to Buenos Aires, Pluna 153, and it says no info avail, just like the other did.

What is it with Pluna? Is anyone in the region able to confirm the Pluna 803 arrived ok from Madrid at 835 this morning (08 Jan 08), and that 153 is all ok for a departure about 1115 local time.

Thanks in advance

Dan

[Voldermort]

Pluna flight 153 arrived at Buenos Aires Aeroparque at 1024 local (11 mins early):ok:
Dont know about the MAD/MVD flight though.

[Tonic Please]

Thank you. It seems too early for her to have been able to get this flight. I wonder if I can call and they will speak English, to check on the whereabouts of my partner? The email I have (the flight confirmations) say PL153, but that leaves earlier than the 1115 that the email says. I'm thus confused.

[Voldermort]

Hi Remember that there is a 1 hour time difference between Uraguay and Argentina :ok:

[Tonic Please]

Wow. Good point. I'll expect her online soon once home then :) Thanks for your input.

[malagajohn]

Carrasco - MVD and Aeroparque - BA arrivals can also be tracked at these pages

http://www.aic.com.uy/arribos.php?tip=A

Pluna ex Mad arr 09.00 local

http://www.aa2000.com.ar/index.php - Just select ARG arrival airport

[Eagle179]

the other day i picked up a message on what i thought was Fairford ops 129.7. but it sounded more like a civilian message with some stuff about so many passengers and so on like an ordinary message that you would recieve on a civil frequency. can anyone adivise as to what i had recieved and whether i have got the right frequency ( i have the uhf frequencies but didnt know if that was the right vhf frequency) please.
Kind Regards

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Nudge... nudge. You have broken the law listening and broken it again publishing what you have heard - Wireless telegraphy Act. Extremely unwise to post on here.

[BOAC]

OK - let's end this discussion of 'legality', or we will spiral into oblivion. Further posts on this will be deleted. Enough has been said, and HD has quite correctly outlined the 'law'. Whether it is enforced or not is of of no matter to us, but be warned - if approached by the authorities we would be legally bound to pass on what information we have on an illegal act and the poster involved.

[BOAC]

Local news tonight tells me that Bournemouth airport now has the flight tracking option via 'WebTrak'.

[Eagle179]

Sorry about that didnt realise it was illegal to publish what i had heard, tahnks for your help,

Kind Regards.

[ACARS]

Currently listening on http://www.liveatc.net Its very quiet, just heard someone taking off with very little clearance information.


http://www.dublinairport.com arrivals shows lots of delays.

[Put1992]

I can hear a strange sound on frequency....

I heard talking, and now constant distortion

[ACARS]

Someone call ya man in Dublin and tell him to turn his squelch up!

[Put1992]

There back!

Edit: Or are they?

[Hooligan Bill]

I'm not preaching; merely detailing the facts and I am certain that the reception of Mode S, or any radar signal, is not permitted to the general public.

HD,

That means there were a lot of people in the Blackpool area breaking the law right up until the late 90's when the two 264A radars were operating at St Anne's. Apparently they operated in the UHF channel 36 frequency, hence the lovely white lines you used to get on your screen every 15 seconds or so. :8

[daelight]

Just monitoring the skies tonight... noticed VS001 is flying westbound over SW Ireland now, departed Shannon about 20 mins ago. Any news as to why she diverted to Shannon? It's G-VROC.

Thank you