Volmets

[Danny]

Anyone else come to the conclusion that the German authorities have taken a retrograde step with regards to Frankfurt Volmet? In its previous incarnation it was always a pleasure to tune in and get the required metars in an extremely clear and precise fashion. Then someone comes along and flogs them a new system that is only just about as bad as the one the mafia flogged the Italians. :\

Who are the decision makers that decide on the acceptance of something that is so obviously worse than the original system that they are allowed to waste such lare amounts of money? First we get rid of Concorde and next we have the Germans replacing a perfectly good Volmet with a computerised voice that sounds like a strangled cat and is almost as frustratingly slow as the Mickey Mouse Italian system.

Give us a break... please! :{

PS. CAA, please take note... don't try and change the UK Volmet with one of those voice replacement systems. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[Notso Fantastic]

The departures/arrivals announcement voice in Spain is a very good male computerised voice. I only realised it from thinking how clever of the same chap to go running around all over Spain making these announcements. What gave him away was the way he pronounces 'Palma de MaJorca' in a way the Spanish would never say it. Is it typed in? If so, why don't they type MaYorka?

(Bring back that bird on Geneva Volmet. Always woke us up first thing after flogging across the Sahara.)

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

It is a shockingly retorgrade step. Very very slow and laboured.

I think Volmets should have national accents.

Cheers

WWW

[CrashDive]

Without doubt some of the Italian Volmet’s purgatory to listen to, i.e. terribly slow; That the Germans have seemingly gone down the same route just beggars belief.

Of course at the other extreme you've got the Balkan states ( to say nothing of Athens ) who use plain voice recordings but wherein they seem to take some sort of delight in speaking as fast as possible...... and, furthermore, the airports they report are often not as per the published order.

Now remind me again what we pay for EuroControl charges ?!

[fireflybob]

Perhaps we could get our own back at them by talking on the RT at the same rate and timbre as the VOLMET broadcasts!

I agree, Danny, why on earth did they need to change it?

[CR2]

Probably hired a bunch of consultants, had endless meetings in expensive hotels. That would have taken care of the annual VOLMET budget, requiring a quick and dirty fix....

[Wing Commander Fowler]

I once took the time to email the met office at the CAA to ask them why some countries provide information in such a painful way ( zero, zero, zero........ zero knots) and often include useless information such as wind variations at like 3 knots...... Wasted me time - never got a reply! Even our own guys don't have an interest in the system!

C'est la guerre mes ami.....

I know, I know - I have to get a life! :eek:

[Farty Flaps]

dont bother with em myself anymore.
acars is the way forward. flat rates for the whole fleet per annum, twice as fast , fwd overview on you route insantly . no unnecessary diversions off rt.
Its a peculiar thing to the uk to write down weather you already have in you wx pack , when you can see all over europe, there is no impending need to get wx for a diversion , or emergency.throwback to the days of abacus and sextant. Bit like circle tick cross on waypoints on tango 16. Its been a while since nav systems could only store 9 waypoints.

Some dinosaurs never change their spots :}

[toon]

on the subject why on earth when you tune into london main does it trawl through half of europe before getting to london ?

if i wanted amsterdam i would get amsterdam, likewise i think all other volmets start with the home countries main airports !

[Airbubba]

>>Its a peculiar thing to the uk to write down weather you already have in you wx pack , when you can see all over europe, there is no impending need to get wx for a diversion , or emergency.throwback to the days of abacus and sextant.<<

Yep, with ACARS, D-ATIS and HF-DL does anyone really still use volmet? Must be tradition...

[Panama Jack]

Well that's a first, that in the UK they put all of Europe ahead of London :E

The ATIS recordings in the US sound like they were recorded by some severly constipated guy. The US may be a leader in aviation technology, but no, not on WX recordings. Even Canada warps ahead of them.

The VOLMET recordings in Saudi Arabia are an extremely cute sounding female voice. :ooh: I imagine some nice girl with pretty eyes wearing an abaya. :)

[Arkroyal]

And the new Dublin ATIS?

CDG ATIS that takes an entire channel crossing to copy?

The only good system is old 'Metal Mickey' on the majority of UK ATIS broadcasts.

[one four sick]

Then you have "CONTROLLERS ON THE JOB" as well!

[Robert Vesco]

I agree, the FRA VOLMET sounds terrible these days.

The only good system is old 'Metal Mickey' on the majority of UK ATIS broadcasts.

PS. CAA, please take note... don't try and change the UK Volmet with one of those voice replacement systems. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Little bit off topic: the UK VOLMETS sound ok, but why does ATC (and the ATIS) in the UK sound like I’m talking to somebody using 2 empty beer cans and a piece of string? The quality is lousy and needs urgent fixing!

BTW, some voice replacement systems sound great, like the Spanish systems! Clear and at a good pace! :ok:

[Fright Level]

Delhi is one of the worst. Local accent, manual recording but with the guy trying to beat the world record for speed talking. How someone whose first language isn't English can understand it beats me.

[Spitoon]

WngCo Fowler, maybe you didn't get a reply because there isn't a met office in the CAA....

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Hmm... interesting point! T'was a good few years ago so maybe there was at that time? Not sure but remember it all originating from the "met office aviation" website (.met-office.gov.uk/aviation/) and utilising the "contact us" link..... anyhow whoever I didn't contact didn't reply hehe! :p

[Danny]

For those not familiar with Italian or Greek Volmet, here are two example extracts:

Italian, laborious computer assembled, female human voice VOLMET example: (Note: Each station takes an average of three to five minutes to copy)

Milan Linate........ Wind..... zero... zero... zero...... zero... zero... knots....... Vi.. si.. bi.. li.. ty... miss... ing........... Cloud....... miss... ing...... Caaa... vokay....... Tem... pe... ra... tura..... two... five................. Dew... point... one... zero............. Quebec...... November..... Hotel.......... one..... zero.... two..... five........

Rome...... Fiumicino......... Wind..... two... three.... zero............. three.... knots.... vary... ing.... two.... zero.... zero.... to... two..... seven.... zero...... Vi... si... bi... li... ty... one... tou... sand... meters... Run... way... one... six...... left.... R... V... R... greater... than... one... tou... sand... five... hundred... meters..... Run... way... three... four...... right.... R... V... R... greater... than... one... tou... sand... five... hundred... meters..... Run... way... one... six...... right.... R... V... R... greater... than... one... tou... sand... five... hundred... meters..... Run... way... three... four...... left.... R... V... R... greater... than... one... tou... sand... five... hundred... meters......... Moderate mist....... light... drizzle...... moderate... rain...... cloud... broken... zero... zero... five... hundred... feet....... cloud.... broken... one... tousand... two... hundred... feet...... cloud..... over... cast... one... tousand... seven... hundred... feet....... Tem... pe... ra... tura..... one... zero.... Dew..... point.... one... zero........ Quebec...... November..... Hotel.......... one..... zero.... two..... four........ Tempo....... Vi... si... bi... li... ty... one... tou... sand... eight... hundred... meters.


Greek, human generated male voice reading in a heavy accent as fast as is possible VOLMET example: (Note: Each station takes an average of five seconds to copy... if you can keep up)

RodosDiagorasTooOneTreeZero TooSefenZeroOneTreeKnotsCAaaVOKTemperatureTooTreeDewpointNin eQNHOneZeroOneSefen
IraklionNeoKazantzakisTooZeroZeroZero TooFifeZeroOneForKnotsTenKilometerSscatteredFourTousandFeetT emperatureTooSefenDewpointOneZeroQNHOneZeroTooFife
KerkiraKapodistriasTooZeroTreeZero TreeOneZeroOneFifeKnotsCAaaaVOKTemperatureTooEightDewpointOn eZeroQNHOneZeroTooFour


Best 5 European VOLMETS, in my opinion:

1. Portugese
2. Spanish
3. French
4. UK
5. Swiss

Worst 5 European VOLMETS:

1. Italian
2. Greek
3. Bulgarian
4. Yugoslavian
5. German

What do you think? :eek:

[Robert Vesco]

ZRH VOLMET is OK, but the GVA is sounds like a heartless dyslectic woman reading her first poem: "Twooooo.............four...........zero degrees...................four....................knots"

The French VOLMETS are ok, but why can´t they stick to the ICAO format of giving cloud bases? "Broken, three eight zero zero feet, Overcast twenty four thousand feet" It´s crap if you want to write it down in standard TAF/METAR format like B/038 and OVC/240.

Is it really so hard to stick to ONE format!?!?! :{

[Wing Commander Fowler]

Whoa - Danny, you got too much time on ya hands... how long did it take ya to type that one hehe....?

Robert - you just reminded me...... why DO they have to give you the cloudbase at twenty three thousand feet??? That's one HIGH circuit man!! :}

[Wino]

Get acars and be done with it.
Relagate it to other skills like star sightings....

I suspect the new system is to goad you in that direction.

Cheers
Wino

[Eff Oh]

I have to agree Malaga's "Controllers on the job" always makes me chuckle!!! :D Personally I think the should get back to the controlling, but hey it is the 21st century! Could be worse, could be "pilot's on the job" ;) :p

[Human Factor]

It's always nice to know that Professor Steven Hawking has another job on the side ..... :D

[pjdj777]

And the way that woman in Brindisi (and other places) says "QNH"

Always makes me giggle, sounds like she had something in her mouth at the time.

I have to agree with the earlier poster about CDG ATIS, how many taxiways do you need to talk about before getting to the WX?

[Random Electron]

But what about the Turkish Volmets?

Don't get me wrong, I reckon the Turks can show us all a thing or two about running a CAA, but just what the hell is that all about after each station's weather? eg:-

Reemark, Ankara , two four zeero zeero zeero metera zeero zeero zeero four five zeero zeero etc, etc, etc, etc etc.

What are they saying? I don't know, and I never have!

[PPRuNe Radar]

Get acars and be done with it.

Wino, you are so right. How else could we contact pilots who have a prolonged loss of communications and get them back on the right frequency ... just before they get shot down :ok: :E

In spite of what happened on 9/11 (or 11/9 for UK folks), US carriers still remain the worst offenders in UK airspace. France and Italy ain't too far behind :hmm: Our defence forces (rightly so IMHO) are very twitchy of such events now. Three calls and no answer then you might be out !!!

Occasionally it seems to be a tech problem. But mostly it is finger trouble. In which case, pilots need to be aware of the interception procedures ;)

[Techman]

Hell, if I can get a greek or turkish VOLMET in the first go, then so can everybody else.

Let's not fall into the lazy trap, shall we.

I rather think that the problem is that we speak aviation english and you speak the queens english.

[toon]

acars, if only, i will recommend to my management that we get it retro-fitted by the end of the week !!!

get real.

[Shannon volmet]

Oi! Leave it out, I'm quite happy as I am thank you! I don't know, you turn your back for five minutes........what was that? Oh yes, finals, three greens...... ( shuffles off into the ether muttering )

[Heatseeker]

There was a clasic cartoon which appeared in the Nigel's Friday fire starter (company newspaper) that depicted the radio services of a certain country (country named withheld as I don't want to end up singing soprano)

It showed the vhf radio station as a bunch of peole with buckets over their heads talking into their microphones. The hf radio station was the same people standing IN the buckets.

Heat

[HOMER SIMPSONS LOVECHILD]

Sofia! Always so welcoming and "Cave,,,,,okiiy":)

[max nightstop]

surely one of the most bizarre is the frenchman doing liverpool atis. Now Gerard Houllier has been fired who are they going to use?

I do agree with the absurdly long CDG atis comments, how many taxyways? if only they could find a method of promulgating notices to airmen in advance.

finally i do think the lady who does the london volmets has a delightfully welcoming voice at the end of a long day...

[squibbler]

Not a frenchman, he's South African. His name is 'Basil'.

[fireflybob]

Whilst I agree that the copying of weather enroute from Volmet can be overdone (especially in today's ATC environment) and nothwithstanding that "the whole of Europe" may appear to be CAVOK, you do not, of course, know what the surface wind is by looking out of the window (vis a vis crosswind limits) or indeed whether an airport is out due to fog.

Agree with all the comments about verbose and incomprehensible Volmets though. For this reason I started, quite a while ago. copying ATIS broadcasts which means not having to wait for the Volmet "carousel" to go round and also they tend to be more current.

[Simtech]

Years ago I did a fam trip LTN-NAP-LTN on the jump-seat of a 737. I was intrigued to hear the Italian VOLMET being delivered in a very cultured British voice (the same voice that used to recite London VOLMET and can still be heard delivering Shannon VOLMET on HF). AFAIK the voice belonged to an ex Army officer who was a marketing executive at Marconi Space and Defence Systems, who manufactured the system.

[Ali Ronn]

I was just saying to Mikey the other night... The Germans need a new Dalek - I can't understand a single QNH!

And what about the new woman at MAN that insists on reading the ATIS as if she's doing a love scene?

[BOAC]

fireflybob - snap! I've never seen much point in knowing that the wind at XXXX is 240/15 and then finding out they are on 03:eek:

[Vansin]

The female artificial voice pronounces the word "Right" as
"Left", so you never really know which parallel runway you will be landing on! Previous ATIS far better.

[dusk2dawn]

I suggest that ICAO implement a worldwide standard voice: the lady that did the Rio Intl. pax anouncements. That'll make the boys listen !

[Vansin]

Improved greatly with new female voice.
Clear and unambiguous.
Comments please.

[dixi188]

Yes better, but why is the cloud given as "SCT 005, Cloud BKN 025" etc. And the pronunciation of Dusseldorf is most unusual.
Happy New Year.

[Green Guard]

Hey Capt

It was good observation.

I just wander how would yo feel if confronted with any Japlish or Yank accent.

To solve the problem, may I suggest , spend some holidays in those "unaccepted countries"

[DC10RealMan]

Just out of interest. I call London Information on their published freqs, they have all the European TAFs and Actuals on a computer database in front of them, it takes approx 10-15 seconds to copy each airfield and therefore I am "out of the loop" for less than a minute. One further thing it is read by a human being as well for an added bonus!