Info for those that use the Dial Met service.

[HeliAl]

Apparently terminated on the 28th of October.
I did not see any notification of this loss of a good service.
This was operated by NATS .

Now what do we do when away from the fax, email or Carol Kirkwood!

Bummer

[windowseatplease]

You can still talk to someone at the Met Office to get aviation weather, but phoning a sex-line in Thailand is cheaper.

Met Office: Talk to a forecaster - aviation (http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/talkfc/aviation.html)

Maybe getting TAFs/METARS texted to you, or getting an iphone is the answer.

[TiPwEiGhT]

Did it not cost £17 or something daft like that?

TiP

[HOGE]

Direct Dial ATIS phone numbers. I think they're all fairly up to date.

Belfast City 0290 935 124
Benbeccula 01870 604 818
Benson 01491 837 766 ext 7524
Birmingham 0121 780 0910
Blackpool 01253 343 434 ext 8315
Bournemouth 01202 364 151
TAF 01202 364 158
Bristol 01275 473 666
Cardiff 01446 729 319
Carlisle 01228 574 123
Coventry 0870 330 4789
Durham Tees Valley 09012 018 111
East Midlands 01332 852 852 ext 3201
Edinburgh 0131 333 6216
Farnborough 0906 800 400 *282
Glasgow 0141 887 7449
Guernsey 01481 238 957
Humberside 01652 682 020
Inverness 01667 464 255
Jersey 01534 498 073
Kirkwall 01856 878 476
Liverpool 0151 907 2000 ext 5150
London City 0207 646 0224
London Luton 01582 395 204
London Stansted 01279 669 325
Manchester 0161 499 2324
Middle Wallop 01264 784 142
Newcastle 0191 214 3400
Newquay 01637 861 319
Norwich 01603 214 3400
Redhill 01737 822947
Southampton 02380 627 103
Stornoway 01851 707 444
Warton 01772 856 060
Wick 01955 607 596

[Whirlygig]

Norwich 01603 214 3400
Too many digits for a UK number.

It's 01603 420640.

Cheers

Whirls

[ShyTorque]

This explains why, sitting in a foggy field and desperate to get a few METARS, I rang the Dialmet number but got no answer. :(

Why has this sometimes essential service been terminated, especially without notice? Wasn't it making enought profit? :confused:

[Brilliant Stuff]

It was notified, but I can't remember where. FODCOM or GASIL I think but don't quote me on that.

[Torquetalk]

Yes, was in GASIL 9/09. The reason given was a rapid decline in the use of the service.

Not sure about iphone (maybe the simplest solution), but you can get lots of the services of a Blackberry more cheaply with a web & walk service from T-Mobile (10 quid extra a month), together with laptop and bluetooth & surf-capable phone. Hey presto! Net access, e.g. Met Office website, POP3 :ok: Very handy when out in-the-sticks.

TT

NB works with T-Mobile UK, but not necessarily with T-Mobile in other EU countries.

[Flying Bull]

Hi HeliAl, don´t know about the handy online costs in GB, but I guess the same as over here, that is a minute equivelant to a call - if you don´t have a flat rate.
There are plenty of pages online, where you can get metar and taf for free.
Try i.e. Wetter : Vereinigtes Königreich (http://de.allmetsat.com/metar-taf/grossbritannien-irland.php)
Not quite sure, whether the page will be displayed in german (where I copied the link) or in english, but give it a try.
Another source: METAR Data Access (http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/metar.shtml)
and TAF Data Access (http://weather.noaa.gov/weather/taf.shtml)
Cause I´m to lazy, to bookmark all the sites I use, when underway in my country, I set up a linkpage on my homepage Polizeifliegerstaffel.de - Briefing (http://www.polizeifliegerstaffel.de/?Briefing)
Unfortenuatly for you, it´s in German and covers mostly the area of Germany, but maybe this could be an idea for pprune.
Instead of just chatting around and have aviation related links, the moderators could add a briefing page, where you find links to free weather informatin / rain radars and so on.

Greetings Flying Bull

[windowseatplease]

this?

FreeTAF and METAR information on WAP phones (http://www.activitae.com/airbase/DIYphone.htm)

[ShyTorque]

Yes, was in GASIL 9/09. The reason given was a rapid decline in the use of the service.

As I thought then - forget the flight safety issues, not enough profit in it.... :ugh:

[windowseatplease]

If they made it a bit cheaper more people might have used the service.

[Talkdownman]

The ATCU which I work for used DialMet daily to obtain local METARs and TAFs. We were not aware of its withdrawal until it was reported to the Helpline as unobtainable. It is sorely missed. At no time did we see a customer survey or any warning of withdrawal from service. It seems to us that nats did not go to very much trouble to ascertain its importance to customers.

[airborne_artist]

It seems to us that nats accountants went to a lot of trouble to ascertain its profitability, or rather lack of it.

Fixed that for you :E