Originally Posted by Not Long Now
Not sure about your specific point, sounds fine to me, but your presumption that a centre must have the capability because your smartphone does is way off.
What is a
selcal signal? Basically, a selcal is just a (audible) audio tone of a certain frequency! To send one you need a) an encoder and b) a transmitter.
The encoder: any smartphone can do it with the app! The transmitter: you already have it! So how does it work? Simply tap the selcal code in the app (the selcal is or should be in the RMK section of the flightplan!), hold the microphone close to the smartphone loudspeaker, press the transmit button and the "generate now" button on the app and voilà, there is your Selcal signal! It really is that simple! It doesn't need to be material costing thousands of euro's. Any device able to create tones of the necessary frequency will do! And a selcal warning in our cockpit WILL get our attention!
Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR
Does the aeroplane have SELCAL capability on VHF? Equipping all ATC sectors with SELCAL would cost a huge amount of money which I doubt the bean-counters would justify! At a place I worked 121.5 was removed from ATC positions.
a: Yes, selcal works fine on VHF in our Airbus! I'm not sure about Boeings, but I believe they're capable as well. b: No, it doesn't need to cost a lot: even any smartphone can do it; (even yours: try the app! It works!) c: now that's a shame! But you can use it on any frequency, also the one you're working on.
It really IS that simple: THE solution to get our attention on 121,5 without having us monitoring it all the time, which has become impossible!
Play store selcal encoder
Selcal encoder for iOS