As far as I can tell from a quick Google;
You need a receiver to to able to pickup the VHF signals for ACARS. You then need to decode said signals using a software application. So for each station that transmits a D-ATIS you'd need a receiver/decoder setup within range? Or to be able to query the ACARS system?
But how can we use ACARS onboard to access D-ATIS/ACARS messages from long range? Is the ACARS system onboard querying another system?