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A Utility for On-Line Flyers and Controllers | |||||
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Why are some controllers and pilots names missing from the displays?
This information (names) is only sent once to the data servers, when the pilot or controller logs in and is not resent in subsequent updates of the data.
So, if a problem occurs in the transfer of this information between servers the name will remain blank for all the period the pilot or controller is logged
to the network.
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In the flight details window why is the closest airport not displayed for some flights?
The closest airport is displayed only when an airport is found in a range of 100nm from the aircrafts current position
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When I press the join button in the Voice Servers display I get a message saying joining is not allowed. Why?
Believe it or not, there are some troublemakers that would join a voice channel and will annoy with silly acts the users of that channel. For that reason the ability to join a
channel in a particular voice server is remotely controlled by the servers administrators.
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I keep getting a message saying that the data I try to download are X hours old, but I know they are current
This is a problem with the UTC and local time difference. Last data update time is read as UTC (Zulu) time and then converted to local time and compared with your
systems time. The UTC/Local time difference is derived from the Windows settings. So make sure your system time is set to the correct time zone :
From the control panel open the "Date/Time" settings and check that the time zone in the drop down list is set OK (i.e. GMT + or - whatever time
difference you actually have from UTC at your location)
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I keep getting a message saying that the data I try to download are 6 minutes old, probably there is a difference in
the server's and my computer's clocks, what can I do about it?
The outdated data warning is shown when there is a time difference of more than 5 minutes. This is the default value but you can change it to
10min or more, or even completely disable it, from the "Options->Connection Parameters" menu.
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What is the ipaddr.txt file and how can I use it?
The ipaddr.txt is a text file that contains the servers IP addresses that show in the drop-down list when you are connecting to the network from the SquawkBox (SB)
or the ProController (PC) programs. The ipaddr.txt file that ServInfo produces includes also the servers ids and if placed in the SB or PC directory the next time you
will launch SB or PC and try to connect the exported severs IP addresses along with their ids (i.e. USA-S or IVNABE) will show in the connection drop-down list.
The path you saved the ipaddr.txt is remembered by ServInfo so you can override the ipaddr.txt in the SB or PC directory each time before you connect. Note
however, that the ipaddr.txt file obtained from ServInfo will contain either the VATSIM or the IVAO servers only. The servers IP addresses do not change very often,
so you might want to can keep a renamed copy for each network for reference.
For SquawkBox the above apply to the versions 2.x. In the new SquawkBox 3 there is no need for an ipaddr.txt file, since it will retreive by it's own an updated list
of servers each time it is launched.
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Pinging a particular server always results in "lost" indications in all boxes, but I know
this server is on-line and running OK
This doesn't necessarily means that the server is down, or that it's response time is above the time-out limit. It might also be the case where pinging is
blocked by a firewall at that server. This can only be changed by the administrator of this server.
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What could possibly be the use of saving the data into a file?
The save option was added during the development of ServInfo for testing and debugging purposes and since it was there I decided to leave it in the final product.
Possible uses I can think of are:
Saved data include flight plans information. If you are wondering what route (airways, navaids, fixes and possibly SIDs/STARs) you should file for specific flights
you could check what other people usually do.
During events, like fly-ins you could save data at regular intervals and later produce some statistics about the traffic in the event area.
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The name of an airport or control is incorrect - A valid control position shows as "unidentified callsign" - A
valid airport ICAO callsign is not recognized. Can these things be corrected?
Yes they can. Open the servinfo.dat file, located in the directory where you installed ServInfo, with a text editor or WordPad. There are detailed instructions on the
format of the data included in this file and how you can make modifications and additions. Make sure you understand these instructions and before changing
anything make a back-up copy of the file.
Database updates prepared by various Servinfo users can be found in the AVSIM File Library (do a quick search for "servinfo").
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Is it possible to break down an FIR to more than one _CTR positions (sectors),
or to assign more then one airports to a single _APP position?
In short the answer is no. This is why:
The way the ServInfo database is currently structured in regard to airspace data poses certain
limitations. As it is now a _CTR position can be associated with one and only one FIR.
This means it is impossible to split an FIR to several sectors and have ServInfo correctly
recognize which airports lie within which sector, draw the sector boundaries on the map etc.
I have tried to overcome this problem by allowing in the servinfo.dat file to define a sector 4 letter
code to be associated with an FIR, and you can also use aliases. But these are just "tricks"
that will not really solve the problem, they could help in some cases to correctly identify
control position names but still no airports can be assigned to FIR sectors.
A similar problem exists with _APP positions as these are again associated with
one and only one airport. So you cannot have an _APP position covering an area that
includes more than one airports (as is the case with New York, Rome etc.)
Also note that "center" parts of callsigns (like EGLL_N_APP) are simply ignored by ServInfo.
The only way to solve these problems would be to change the hierarchical structure of the database and have a:
Country->FIR->CTR->APP->(airport) structure instead of the existing:
Country->FIR->(Airport) structure.
This is out of question as it would require to rewrite a very large part of the ServInfo code. Even if
this could be done, there will still be some problems because the different networks divide some FIRs
to different sectors, but the ServInfo database is unique for all networks.
So in conclusion, I am afraid that nothing can be done to solve this for good. Have a look at the
servinfo.dat file (there is a detailed description of the format/structure used within the file)
and if you can find a way for a compromising solution (playing with the 3 codes that can be used
in an entry of the [Controls] section), that will not affect display of positions in other networks,
let me know and I will try to include it in subsequent database updates.
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How can I copy METAR/TAF reports from the metars display window to the clipboard?
Select the row that contains a report and right click. A pop-up menu appears with options to copy or append to the clipboard the selected report
or all displayed reports. You can also press Ctr-C instead to copy a sigle report
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I cannot get any data. I click the button and I get an error message
If you get the error for all networks (VATSIM, IVAO, FPI etc.)then check if your internet connection uses a proxy. In this case you should set the
proxy address and port from the Options-Connection Parameters menu in ServInfo. If you use ServInfo version 2.02 or earlier and the error message you
get says something about an error code #0, apply the recommendations of the next FAQ.
If you can get data from one network only and for the other networks data come OK, then probably it is a problem of this particular network's server and
not of ServInfo. Try later
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I cannot get any data from any network.
I cannot get any data from any network. I click the button, then the red flashing "Loading" indication goes on
forever and I get no error message.
This could be problem that has been reported to me by quite a few users and is caused by a virus infection (a trojan type).
Search for a system file named "protocol" (NOT protocol.ini, just protocol with NO EXTENSION - if you have set windows explorer
to hide known extensions you might confuse these two files). It is located at the "C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc" directory for
WinXP.
If you find that this file is missing from this directory then you are probably not infected but that's causing the problem to ServInfo.
Mail me and I will send you this file.
If the file is there then check that the above location has not been altered in the windows registry (that's one of the things
this virous would do). To do this open the registry editor:
Start -> Run -> REGEDIT
navigate (or seach) to this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
(could also instead of "CurrentControlSet" be two keys with ControlSet001 and ControlSet002, or something similar)
and see if the value is :
"DataBasePath"="%SystemRoot%\System32\drivers\etc"
If it is instead anything else (e.g "DataBasePath"="%SystemRoot%\help") then you have been infected from this virus.
Restoring this entry to the correct value will make ServInfo work again. However, you should use your antivirus software to
check for the infection.
A long time ago I have found these links for a virus that does this thing:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/trojan.qhosts.html
http://us.mcafee.com/virusInfo/default.asp?id=description&virus_k=100719
but there might be other new viruses that could do the same, since I still get reports from users with this problem.
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| Page last updated 12 September 2007 |
© 2001-2007 Michael Frantzeskakis |
