Live Flight Tracking
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Manchester, UK
Age: 40
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Live Flight Tracking
How accurate is the live flight tracking websites? I'm currently on flight radar24.com and after just seeing an aircraft pass over my house (I live on the north wales coast) I can't seem to find it on the flight tracker, there is one on the tracker over Liverpool, however, given the south easterly direction in which the A/C passed over my house, it doesn't seem likley that it was that AC, also I could clearly see the red and green nav lights on the wings, this plane didn't look like it was at 39,000 feet and going 480knots as what flight radar24.com had for this A/C over Liverpool, which seemed to be the nearest A/C to me. What would be flying over at this time of the morning? I say it was about 10,000 feet maybe or even lower.
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Wales
Age: 52
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Although all airliners are now obliged to carry ADS-B (Mode S) equipment they are not obliged to transmit their position. Some aircraft, such as bizjets seldom appear on the positional display. Also smaller aircraft like FlyBE Q400s and E190s do not plot. They are poften seen in the skies over the north wales coast flying to and from Belfast.
Regards
Steve
Regards
Steve
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
Age: 79
Posts: 8,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The information on the on-line "radar" sites is often delayed by 5 minutes or more so you'll rarely see something which is supposed to be overhead. The only accurate system is SBS or similar which provides a "radar" picture on a PC displaying real-time information. However, as Steve Wilson points out, a significant number of aircraft do not transmit their positions.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: reading uk
Age: 77
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
live tracking
Hi guys,
I am in my den in the loft watching the aeroplanes, as you do. I live about a mile south west of Woodley.
I am watching flightradar24 and listening to "Heathrow Director".
The aeroplanes seem to be refreshing pretty well. They appear on the`radar` pretty much where they actually are.
Incidentally I use Firefox when using flightradar 24. It seems to screw up IE8 but I think this is widely known. Too memory intensive I have been told.
Dave
I am in my den in the loft watching the aeroplanes, as you do. I live about a mile south west of Woodley.
I am watching flightradar24 and listening to "Heathrow Director".
The aeroplanes seem to be refreshing pretty well. They appear on the`radar` pretty much where they actually are.
Incidentally I use Firefox when using flightradar 24. It seems to screw up IE8 but I think this is widely known. Too memory intensive I have been told.
Dave
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: up up up
Posts: 384
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I don't think there is a delay any more. My understanding is that the amount of aircraft you see depends entirely on where the people with the 'trackers' themselves live and how their aerials are positioned.
Sometimes the clock on your device computer/iphone etc can have an influence on how accurate the positions are.
Sometimes the clock on your device computer/iphone etc can have an influence on how accurate the positions are.
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: england
Age: 80
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
sbs delays
there has to be a delay because of thse anti terrorism legislation, a bloke got nicked about two years ago by the police, think he was in the midlands, what I find annoying is that the web sites; ie virtual radar; only include airliners bigger that a319s, probably a privacy issue arises here, it is all to do with data protection, radio telegahy act, privacy and anti-terrosism so the only sure way to resolve all this is to buy an ADSB reciever. I do know that some a/c transmit no location data in the transmissions, just hex code, c/s and flight level in feet, it is transmitted on 1090mhz in RTTY/acars.
life is to hectic for all that
life is to hectic for all that
20-odd-years ago when I was but a small boy, I was already a keen spotter. I used to while away hours in the back garden with my trusty Argos 20x50 binoculars and a notepad. I can clearly remember fantasising about having my very own ATC terminal so I could identify anything going over.
As I got older my plane-spotting hobby fell by the wayside and I pretty much forgot about that sort of thing. Just recently, and now with my own little boy, I have started to get back into it. And what a pleasant surprise these live aircraft-tracking websites have been! Every time I use one I cannot help but marvel, "If only this was around when I was a little lad!"
Granted, the technology is still young and not without its problems, but it is still a significant leap forward. If somebody had suggested home live aircraft tracking 20 years ago, they would have been laughed at. Yet a great many of us now frequent these fantastic, and FREE, websites daily.
At the moment the technology relies on generous individuals uploading their SBS data to be shared with the rest of us, and this is why the technology is susceptible to Internet connection issues. Sometimes there may not even be any shares online to provide enough data for a functional service.
Personally I find that I pick up more on flightradar24 than on say, radarvirtuel. I tend to get most of the high-up stuff in near-real time. However stuff going into my local airport (MAN) is very hit-and-miss.
If you were really serious about tracking aircraft movements, you could invest in your own SBS box (or whatever is the current trend, I am not up-to-date) and then you wouldn't miss a thing. However, as has already been said, a great many aircraft, private and military in particular, do not transmit their position.
As I got older my plane-spotting hobby fell by the wayside and I pretty much forgot about that sort of thing. Just recently, and now with my own little boy, I have started to get back into it. And what a pleasant surprise these live aircraft-tracking websites have been! Every time I use one I cannot help but marvel, "If only this was around when I was a little lad!"
Granted, the technology is still young and not without its problems, but it is still a significant leap forward. If somebody had suggested home live aircraft tracking 20 years ago, they would have been laughed at. Yet a great many of us now frequent these fantastic, and FREE, websites daily.
At the moment the technology relies on generous individuals uploading their SBS data to be shared with the rest of us, and this is why the technology is susceptible to Internet connection issues. Sometimes there may not even be any shares online to provide enough data for a functional service.
Personally I find that I pick up more on flightradar24 than on say, radarvirtuel. I tend to get most of the high-up stuff in near-real time. However stuff going into my local airport (MAN) is very hit-and-miss.
If you were really serious about tracking aircraft movements, you could invest in your own SBS box (or whatever is the current trend, I am not up-to-date) and then you wouldn't miss a thing. However, as has already been said, a great many aircraft, private and military in particular, do not transmit their position.
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Berkshire, UK
Age: 79
Posts: 8,268
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Obnoxious..... I'm afraid you need to read up a bit more about the subject. ADS-B is not transmitted on RTTY/ACARS. ADS-B transmissions are similar to secondary radar and use the band around 1089mHz whereas ACARS signals are trasnmitted in the Air VHF band around 130 mHz.
It's not that the various web sites only include aircraft "bigger than A319s", it's largely because some aircraft - business jets, prop aircraft, military, light aircraft, etc., do not transmit ADS-B. In the UK it is not mandatory so it's down to the crew if they use it. However, just about all aircraft operating in certain classes of controlled airspace transmit Mode S and SBS provides a list of all aircraft so doing.
It's not that the various web sites only include aircraft "bigger than A319s", it's largely because some aircraft - business jets, prop aircraft, military, light aircraft, etc., do not transmit ADS-B. In the UK it is not mandatory so it's down to the crew if they use it. However, just about all aircraft operating in certain classes of controlled airspace transmit Mode S and SBS provides a list of all aircraft so doing.
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Wales
Age: 52
Posts: 49
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If you are frustrated by some aircraft not plotting then have a google search for planeplotter. This is not free, although the one off fee is small I believe. It uses a bot of wizadry called multilateration. Its nigh on rocket science how it works (or so it seems to me) but it results in non-plotting aircraft plotting. I believe it does this by comparing time differences between receiving stations and doing some thingimajikery to calculate an aircrafts position.
Regards
Steve
Regards
Steve
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: UK
Age: 62
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I live in the North of Scotland and use flightradar24.com and there is certainly no delay on it,an excellent site - not as good as SBS obviously,but it's all I need and it's free.
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: reading uk
Age: 77
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
thingymajickarey
It`s called radar... that`s how it works.
Primary times the return passively, Secondary does the same actively, to which information can be added.
Dave
Primary times the return passively, Secondary does the same actively, to which information can be added.
Dave
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Eas Anglia
Age: 64
Posts: 812
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Im just curious !
If only certain aircraft actually transmit of what benefit is the information ?
Surely it has to be all or nothing to be meaningful ?
I assumed there was a discretion period but then it would become mandatory for all civil types !
If only certain aircraft actually transmit of what benefit is the information ?
Surely it has to be all or nothing to be meaningful ?
I assumed there was a discretion period but then it would become mandatory for all civil types !
