View Full Version : TAFs and METARs via SMS?
Are there still sites which offer this?
I know there used to be sites where you tested the ICAO code(s) and the stuff came back via another text, but I wonder how they were funded because there is no way to send free SMS (not on a volume basis, anyway).
Maybe one could do it by making the number to text a premium rate number, on which the site makes money.
dublinpilot
6th Jul 2010, 14:42
I believe that there used to be (perhaps still is) a premium rate text number for metar/tafs. the figure of £1 per text comes to mind.
Plenty of better ways of getting Metar/taf's from mobile phones. Even the very basic ones do limited internet browsing for the past few years.
dp
BackPacker
6th Jul 2010, 15:26
MeteoConsult, a Dutch company, provides METAR and TAF via SMS. I just checked and the TAF works allright but the METAR gives me something else.
Details here (in Dutch): Weer: Het Weer via SMS (http://www.weer.nl/nl/home/weer/producten-en-diensten/sms-mobiel-iphone/het-weer-via-sms.html)
Short version: Simply text METAR <ICAO> or TAF <ICAO> to 5454 and you'll receive the info in a few seconds.
I don't know if this works with foreign (non-Dutch) subscriptions though.
(Edit: Just filled in the form on their contact page to alert them to the fact that METAR doesn't work properly.)
Sure, I use my Nokia E51 and the super YAWS (http://yaws.mobi/) site to get tafs and metars.
However, SMS works at (reasonable) altitudes during flight, say up to a few k feet, whereas you have zero chance of getting GPRS/3G to work (IME). So it might be a useful tool... I am doing an article on mobile connectivity for pilots and thought it might be useful.
There used to be (maybe still are) WAP sites for tafs and metars. WAP may nowadays run over GPRS/3G but in the goode olde days when a Nokia 6310i was state of the art ;) WAP ran over a 9.6k GSM dial-up and that, I have found way back, used to work at altitude too.
fuzzy6988
6th Jul 2010, 16:35
TAFs and METARs via SMS?
If it's METARs for something nearby, can't we simply tune into the ATIS?
If its TAFs and METARs for something much further away (out of VHF coverage), I would have hoped a Flight Service Station, or en-route ATC unit might be able to provide the info?
FSS? This isn't America you know :)
ATC "should" be able to give you weather but often they are too busy, or they say they will get back and don't. You can't really rely on this. Also, ATC in much of southern Europe is sometimes barely able to speak English, get by on the few standard phrases, and reading off a Metar in anything resembling ICAO Level 0 English is beyond them.
Normally I use a Thuraya 7100 satellite phone (for an internet connection) to get weather, on long flights, but not everybody has one of those. However, one can use such a phone for SMS and that would be another useful tool because it does often fail to connect to the internet.
Slopey
6th Jul 2010, 18:17
There are a few available:
TAFs and METARs - Welcome (http://www.tafsandmetars.co.uk)
WXSupport - Get TAF, METAR and airport information as SMS message (http://www.wxsupport.com) (although it finishes on 1/1/11)
And several US based ones.
If those disappeared it'd be relatively trivial to set one up using one of the SMS handling companies.
Yes, all you need is a GSM radio with a serial port (the modems are now well below £100) but you would need a prepay account function, to fund the outgoing messages.
Both the above sites seem to be prepay sites. The 2nd one should make good money, at 30 euro cents per message...
I think that a number of people looked into this, a few years ago before every half decent phone could browse the internet, and gave up on it for various reasons. I even "worked out" a way to transmit weather radar images using several text messages... Almost nobody in GA will pay for anything which they can get free elsewhere.
Slopey
6th Jul 2010, 20:27
Indeed, that's likely why one of them is closing.
You don't even need a modem these days - you can use a web based provider who'll do the whole thing for you, forward the message to your own web pages as a POST, and you can reply with the data which they'll send on. Simples!