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Flight tracker

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Lew Gallagher

Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 402
Location: Greenville , SC

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 10:46 am Post subject: Flight tracker

Hey Guys,



Wes will be flying the -10 down to JAX Florida this week to pick up his son.  I think I've seen reference here about following the flight online in real time.  Is that FlightAware, or is there something better for us here at home to monitor his progress?



Thanks, - Lew

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_________________
non-pilot
crazy about building
NOW OFICIALLY BUILDER #40549
Fly off completed !

jesse(at)saintaviation.co
Guest

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:15 am Post subject: Flight tracker

www.flightaware.com and put in the N-number and it might track them.  If they are IFR then you will get the tracking.  If they are VFR with flight following, then you might get it.  If they are VFR and not using any radar services, then it will not be tracked.  You can see the flight today on N256H on that website to see how it looks/works.



Jesse Saint

Saint Aviation, Inc.

jesse(at)saintaviation.com

C: 352-427-0285

F: 815-377-3694



On Aug 9, 2010, at 2:46 PM, Lew Gallagher wrote:



 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Hey Guys,

 

 Wes will be flying the -10 down to JAX Florida this week to pick up his son.  I think I've seen reference here about following the flight online in real time.  Is that FlightAware, or is there something better for us here at home to monitor his progress?

 

 Thanks, - Lew

 

 --------

 non-pilot

 crazy about building

 NOW OFICIALLY BUILDER #40549

 Fly off completed !

 

 

 

 

 Read this topic online here:

 

 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=308088#308088

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dlm46007(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 11:46 am Post subject: Flight tracker

depends. If he will be IFR or flight following, flight aware will work. Or 

he may be using APRS which can be tracked on the internet under any 

circumstances.

---

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Lew Gallagher

Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 402
Location: Greenville , SC

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:20 am Post subject: Re: Flight tracker

Thanks for the responses.



I am tracking him at this moment on FlightAware (9:20 AM, arrival 11:22AM).  N620EB



I am just refreshing every few minutes, is that the only way to get "live" tracking?



Later, - Lew

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NOW OFICIALLY BUILDER #40549
Fly off completed !

brenthumphreys

Joined: 17 Aug 2008
Posts: 21

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:36 am Post subject: Flight tracker

On my browser flightaware will refresh every few minutes on its own.



--

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AirMike

Joined: 27 Feb 2007
Posts: 514
Location: Nevada

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:23 am Post subject: Flight tracker - spot 2

I brought by Spot2 along with me to OSH and back to ease the anxiety of my wife. It is quite cool. Costs $150 for the unit and $100-150 for the bells and whistles annually. Anyway you have different options to use including breadcrumb tracking and "hi - here I am and I am ok". It sends an e-mail/instant message (with a 1 minute or so delay) to any e-mail enabled cel phone. She was able to see my exact position all the way across the west in near real-time. I just pushed the, "I am ok" button every 10-20 minutes. It is velcro fixed to the top of the panel. Since I only have a 121.5 ELT, it provides a nice back-up emergency system. It has pretty much world wide coverage. If someone in back had carried one on the Ted Stevens plane the EMS guys might have been on the scene more quickly. See Findmespot.com. there have also been several write-ups recently in the aviation press about the Spot.

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dlm46007(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:46 am Post subject: Flight tracker

Several alternatives.



http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4063257



use of APRS trackers by hams; track appears on the internet. using RTG from 

www.byonics.com KE7TPH



no monthly or annual fees. I too have only the 121.5 ELT.

---

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Lew Gallagher

Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 402
Location: Greenville , SC

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 10:35 am Post subject: Flight tracker

Thanks for the additional resources, I'll check into it.



After Brent's comment, I surfed FlightAware's site further and found that if 

I registered and logged in, I too get automatic refreshes.



Probably that is good enough for me, but the other tracking methods may be 

of interest to Wes's wife.  This is the first real trip he's made so she is 

torn between wanting to know everything is going OK vs. being too scared to 

watch!



I, on the other hand, was so excited watching his progress that I'm 

considering doping up my motion sickness so I can go with him on the next 

one!



By the way, he says it is very hot and humid in Florida and he will be 

filling up the ice chest a/c for the trip back.



Later, - Lew

---

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_________________
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crazy about building
NOW OFICIALLY BUILDER #40549
Fly off completed !

Tim Olson

Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2871

Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 11:10 am Post subject: Flight tracker

SPOT is great for some situations or preferences.  It's one of

the only few ways you can get coverage when not anywhere near

ground stations, so for Bahamas flying, or low-altitude or

sometimes (not many times) mountainous flying, it would be great.

It comes at a few costs though....one being the annual subscription

price.  Another is that the updates are only 10 minute intervals.

That's enough to watch friends travel across the country,

but, it's not enough to get some cool track detail.

Also, the SPOT website is slow to access and isn't friendly

for mobile devices.  Then, although it may in fact be

preferable in cases where you crash and are conscious and can

activate it, it's also going to be less useful if you're

unconscious and don't have a view of the sky anymore....because

now you could be 30 miles at RV-10 speeds from your last

update.  Also, you have to have that thing sitting on your

glareshield or somewhere in the way, for it to have a sky view,

so that's a down side.  That isn't to say it's a bad system.

It's just a preference thing.  I myself wish I'd have had one

for the Bahamas trips...but I find that APRS is much nicer for

me on all my other trips.



APRS is cheap, an easy install, has no annual fees, and you can

set your update rate as needed, even 1 minute or less updates.

It makes for a nice smooth track. It also can be programmed

to monitor the GPS track and if you turn X degrees, it'll do

an update.  See the attached .jpg from yesterday's flight.

It tracked me on the ground, and tracked me as I circled to

climb above some build-ups and get to 10.5K for an X/C flight.

The update rate quickened as I turned, so the curve is nice.

Being free, I like an awful lot. Also, the google maps

interface at http://aprs.fi (great guy that supports that site)

is much nicer for me and especially mobile users to use.  The

APRS track history is kept on his site for a long time too,

so I can easily look back and check back on previous flights

if I want for logging purposes.  SPOT's site lately seems to

dump all track data that is more than maybe 10 days old...of

the few people I check on that have SPOT messengers, currently

NO tracks are available for me to see...and some were from

after OSH. APRS can actually also be used to send emails and

messages, and can have a dual-format of output so you can

do different things if you're OK vs not OK, if you want to

get into some details on it and become an APRS geek beyond

my depth.  Also, it can be fed from a remote GPS, or you

can install it with it's own dedicated GPS, and completely

hide the system in a wingtip if you wish, so it doesn't need

to sit on your glareshield, and you can have it activate

with some other switch, such as nav lights or strobe, so

that it's on whenever you want it on....just tie it to

something that you can switch at will.  Because of this,

it also doesn't require batteries, something that SPOT does.



I also own a 406 mhz PLB, and have actually already ordered

my ACK E-04 406Mhz GPS integrated ELT, so those are for my

emergency use only.  That makes my need for SPOT's emergency

functions non-required....which makes APRS a perfect match

for me.  I could probably always borrow a friends SPOT if

I needed for a Bahamas trip....IF that mattered to me. For

now, I'll just keep my PLB clipped to my vest on those trips.



So like anything, there is good and bad about both methods.

APRS does require ground station reception, and although I

often transmit over 100 miles with my 300mW radio, that

isn't enough for some of the far offshore stuff I've done.

But, for many people, taking the time to get your Technicians

license (a real simple thing that is so cheap it's unbelievable)

can be well worth the effort.

Tim Olson - RV-10 N104CD

do not archive

On 8/11/2010 11:45 AM, DLM wrote:

[quote] 



 Several alternatives.



 http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4063257



 use of APRS trackers by hams; track appears on the internet. using RTG

 from www.byonics.com KE7TPH



 no monthly or annual fees. I too have only the 121.5 ELT.

 ---

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