Weather info by mobile phone?
 

Looking at all the horrible weather we've been having recently, and all the comments about cancellation of QXC's, I was thinking about how mobile telephones might assist in planning.

Although I haven't got one, aren't there mobiles out there (the new 3G phones) with web access on which can be displayed weather maps (with animations etc) which can be used in the absence of a desk PC? I am thinking of the following sites:

http://www.met-office.gov.uk/weather/europe/uk/radar/
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/

Also what about in-flight use? Is it possible to receive a mobile phone signal at 3000ft? Is it illegal?

In-flight availability of this animated weather data (not quite real-time) might prevent some of those weather-related accidents we hear of.

What about tying it in to moving-map GPS?

Any thoughts?

I'm working as a telecoms engineer at the moment (for a company which shares it's hue with easyjet) and there are no
3rd generation providers in the uk yet, so that kind of access by mobile is a little bit further into the future.

All the main mobile companies are building networks to support this kind of thing, but they probably won't launch until next year and the coverage will be pretty sketchy for some time....

(Just in case somebody from our corporate security works out who I am..... We have the best company and will be providing this service faster with higher quality than anybody else etc etc blah blah)

Hopefully, I'll be flying full time by then so won't be able to afford a phone anymore.......

AnywhereWX is a system that overlays WX images onto your moving map in the cockpit. The data is transmitted near real time from the ground. Only available in the US at the moment, but you never know, it may appear here.

You can get TAF's and METAR's on a WAP mobile handset, from people like Avbrief....

Cheers
EA;)

TAFs and METARs are available from the Met Office on 09063 800 400. Not quite the maps that you get on the Internet, but useful enough to make a go/no-go decision when deciding whether you'll be getting the train home from an unfamiliar field... There's also a spoken version of Metform 215 available on the phone, but I don't have the number to hand.

FFF
-----------------

There are services that will send a TAF/METAR text direct to an ordinary mobile - if you can't dial DialMet on your mobile. You have to subscribe to them though, its about £15 for 100 texts. E-mail me if you need to know the link.

I'm not sure whether it is illegal to use a mobile phone at 3000ft, but certainly it is unwise. (I’ve heard it illegal, but I can’t tell you which part of the ANO it’s actually stated. Just for interest, if anyone does know it is illegal, could they state where it says it, please). I would not except in very unusual circumstances.

In the UK, we have no method of getting a radar map of the current rainfall - I don't think that even ATC can get an up-to-date rainfall map. I think the most up-to-date rainfall is delayed by about 1 hour. It would appear that in the States things are better. This is a site which I found recently:-

http://www.rap.ucar.edu/staff/pneilley/nids_map.html

As far as in-flight rainfall, there are moves in the States towards getting this (it's called FIS-B - there are other protocols called TIS-B and ADS-B which act to provide you with a display of the traffic around you, similar to that displayed to the ATC). The plans in the states are based on UAT (Universal Access Transceiver) working at 978MHz.

For more information look at http://www.faa.gov/asd/

Is it illegal to use mobiles at 3000ft
 

Yup it is I'm afraid.

Quoted from the Air Pilots Manual - Aviation Law:

"Not only is there an adverse effect on safety, but the use of mobile telephones on an aircraft is a breach of the telephone user's licence - See AIC 62/1999 (Pink 196)"

Don't mobiles effect navigational systems?

If mobiles could EFFECT navigation systems they would be a bargain compared with a GPS!!

If you mean AFFECT navigation systems then, yes, there have been reports of mobiles and laptops etc adversely affecting the systems of some aircraft, particularly the 'glass cockpit' variety. That's why most airlines insist they are turned off during most, if not all, of the flight.

Using a mobile may well have an affect of nav systems, but this is unlikely to be a problem when flying VFR in a Cessna. The main point is that the PIC is aware of, and gives permission for, the use of the phone. There are, however, a couple of practical problems that I can see. Firstly, it's almost impossible to hold a conversation above the ambient noise present in a light aircraft. Secondly. it is possible that using a phone aloft will confuse the network. The phone will "see" too many base stations and can easily roam between geographically dispersed base stations in an unpredictable manner. This may lead to the network concluding that the phone has been cloned and therefore barring it.

Having said that, hasn't there been a number of cases where mobiles have been used to establish contact with ATC following radio failures? I keep the number of my local tower programed into my phone just in case.

Worked pretty well for those poor people on Sept. 11th.

QDM