June 25, 201213 yr Hi! One of the websites I really like is LiveATC.net. As well as listening to my local London Heathrow and Gatwick when I'm out my favourite frequency has to be KJFK ground/tower online. I just like listening to the American airlines' callsigns and flight numbers and looking them up on Flightaware. What those controllers can do with so many aircraft really is quite impressive. So anyone else like listening to ATC online or on a scanner? What is your favourite freq. if you have one? Many thanks, Pierre
June 25, 201213 yr I like listening to PHNL app and dep to make fun of coworkers when they screw up. Or when they get blocked by another coworker when the controller issues a squawk code. Chris Miller
June 25, 201213 yr It would be nice to be able to listen to EGKK approach and tower as it's so near but no chance of that in the UK over the web.
June 25, 201213 yr Hi! It would be nice to be able to listen to EGKK approach and tower as it's so near but no chance of that in the UK over the web. Two places where I like to listen to EGKK atc is from Reigate Hill near the M25. With a scanner and binoculars (just cheap ones are fine) you can see aircraft on final and landing and taking off and listen to the tower. Another place I quite like is in a small driveway next to the Russ Hill Hotel in Charlwood. It looks down on the airport from an elevated postion and is quite a cool place to listen to a scanner and watch aircraft movements. Only problem is it's a bit of a conspicuous place and people might think a guy like me a bit strange standing over a fence looking into the distance with a scanner in his hand! Many thanks, Pierre
June 26, 201213 yr My office is just to the west of the M23 so I get a very good view of short finals when 26L is in use :) If it's an 08R day and I'm bored at lunchtime I'll sometimes go over to Lowfield Heath Road and stand right under the localiser with a coffee for half an hour!
June 26, 201213 yr It is generally illegal in the UK to listen in on ATC communications between ATC and pilots. Gerry Howard
June 26, 201213 yr Moderator Since I live in Dallas I like to listen to KDFW. Sometimes I will listen while I am doing a sim flight out of KDFW and then will tune the destination airport on LiveATC and listen to it once I am on arrival. It's kind of cool since the departure and destination info your listening to will match up if your flying using real world weather. Avsim Board of Directors | Avsim Forums Moderator
June 26, 201213 yr I listen to Shannon Control (High) between the hours of 11-17:00. I probably get around 20-30 aircraft flying over my house everyday on their way to the states, and It is very satisfying to listen to ATC, Look at the plane on the Flight Radar app for iPad/iPhone and look at it with binoculars. Sometimes the Emirates A380 will fly over, During sunset and Its just a beautiful sight with the red sun up against the Whale like fuselage...
June 26, 201213 yr It is generally illegal in the UK to listen in on ATC communications between ATC and pilots. Same here, and I can't for the life of me understand why. The cops also love to turn up when you're taking photos, and confiscate your camera. There's very little understanding of aviation enthusiasts outside the world of aviation enthusiasts. One day they decided to arrest someone for using a scanner, and the court case dragged on for months simply because the powers that be can't imagine how someone would do that for fun. Anyone with a scanner is clearly a terrorist you know.
June 26, 201213 yr Kind of related: My LiveATC app on my phone allows me to listen in without my transceiver when I go plane spotting. Maybe it's lazy that I hate lugging my transceiver out of my flight bag and recharging it after use, but I love the app. Any iPhone/Android users that regularly go plane spotting should check the app out, as it's much less expensive than a transceiver. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Zachary Waddell -- Caravan Driver -- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zwaddell Avsim ToS Avsim Screenshot Rules
June 26, 201213 yr Related to this, I am amazed that the technology for voice transmission between ATC and aircraft has been the same for decades. I bought a scanner 20 years ago to listen to ATC. I don't use it these days given the ATC web feeds that they have. But the scanner still works. I bought a short wave radio to listen to Oceanic communications, which I can usually pick up in the early evening. I don't do listen as much as I used to, but I am surprised the same equipment still works today. I would have expected voice communications to be digital now, handled by satellite,making scanners and SW radios obsolete. John
June 26, 201213 yr Hi! Many thanks for the replies. Lots of cool info. I listen to Shannon Control (High) between the hours of 11-17:00. I probably get around 20-30 aircraft flying over my house everyday on their way to the states, and It is very satisfying to listen to ATC, Look at the plane on the Flight Radar app for iPad/iPhone and look at it with binoculars. Sometimes the Emirates A380 will fly over, During sunset and Its just a beautiful sight with the red sun up against the Whale like fuselage... I actually used to fly Ryanair from Gatwick to Shannon when they used to have two flights a day and have dinner in the airport and fly back. The first time I flew there I was sitting next to a guy who saw me looking at my atlas map and we started talking. Turns out he worked Shannon Oceanic ATC. I probably really annoyed him for the next 15 minutes asking him all sorts of questions but it was a great seatmate to have! Many thanks, Pierre
June 26, 201213 yr I actually used to fly Ryanair from Gatwick to Shannon when they used to have two flights a day and have dinner in the airport and fly back. The first time I flew there I was sitting next to a guy who saw me looking at my atlas map and we started talking. Turns out he worked Shannon Oceanic ATC. I probably really annoyed him for the next 15 minutes asking him all sorts of questions but it was a great seatmate to have! Many thanks, Pierre You do meet some interesting people at Airports :P... I too have had my fair share. I used to fly to Heathrow through Stansted from Cork to go Plane Spotting. Now as I said earlier I mainly spend my 'Plane Spotting' days running through the house to spot that next Transatlantic flight go over ^_^. Shannon isn't great for plane spotting anymore, but If you go between the hours of 5-9am You will spot the Transatlantics come in. Sometimes on Flight Radar I see the odd Middle eastern jets come in dont ask me what they are coming to Shannon for refuelling!? I was in Shannon a few months ago when the Chinese government dude came in and to take pictures of the abandoned Malev and Spanair planes... Ended up sitting there for 1 hour 30 waiting for the Air China 747 to turn up, Then were checked out by a Police Officer, we left shortly after that... 'Never Saw the damn plane'
June 27, 201213 yr Related to this, I am amazed that the technology for voice transmission between ATC and aircraft has been the same for decades. I bought a scanner 20 years ago to listen to ATC. I don't use it these days given the ATC web feeds that they have. But the scanner still works. I bought a short wave radio to listen to Oceanic communications, which I can usually pick up in the early evening. I don't do listen as much as I used to, but I am surprised the same equipment still works today. I would have expected voice communications to be digital now, handled by satellite,making scanners and SW radios obsolete. John Well oceanic they have SELCAL which alerts the crew for messages much like text messages on phones. It's funny though a lot of the old guys don't like using it and some still choose to transmit on the HF. Chris Miller
June 27, 201213 yr Well oceanic they have SELCAL which alerts the crew for messages much like text messages on phones. It's funny though a lot of the old guys don't like using it and some still choose to transmit on the HF. SELCAL simply alerts the crew that someone on HF wishes to speak to them, and they must turn the volume up. They turn the volume down because of the high background noise on HF frequencies. SELCAL itself is just an identifier for the aircraft, they send an alert, the aircraft recognizes it and alerts the crew. SELCAL by itself cannot transmit a message, be it voice or text. You still need the HF radio to transmit actual messages. There are other text-message systems, ACARS etc, but SELCAL is not one of them. SELCAL = Selective Calling.
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