ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
A question that seems to be repeated over and over again is how to hear the Hurricane Hunters; and while the freq list I've mentioned several times is one step, the next step is to know when to listen.
The document that contains this information is found on the Tropical Cyclone Plan of the Day (TCPOD). It's available in several places, including:
http://www.hwn.org/home/recondata.html
I always kinda guessed as to how to read the data, but I wanted better answers, so I asked Hugh Stegman of MT about this. Here's the key to reading the data. Note that each item is either numbered or has a capitol letter:
1. Name, if any, of tropical feature under investigation, or "negative
recon." Flight 1, flight 2 are if multiple aircraft are tasked in the TCPOD
valid time period.
A. UTC date/time of fixes desired. Aircraft on 12-hour missions in 6-hourly
schedules take two fixes. Specifies resources-permitting if applicable.
B. Mission descriptor: Aircraft (xxx=not specified) Mission # Feature
C. Location (if relevant) and UTC date/time of departure
D. Forecast position of feature
E. Time on station
F. Altitude on station (sfc-10,000 is a dropsonde mission)
(via the WUN).
As a side note; Al Stern of Florida noted in the WUN that the Hunters have also been using the GHFS/SCOPE command freqs of 11175 and 8992
along with the MWARA frequencies of 11300 and 11396. The Eastern Test Range/GHFS backup freq of 10780 has also been used recently. Of course, there's no guarantee that the Hunters will repeat this usage, but it does suggest that you can't count them out on any Aero/mil frequency.
FYI for those that are watching Jeanne spin her wheels out in the Atlantic
:wink:
73s Mike
The document that contains this information is found on the Tropical Cyclone Plan of the Day (TCPOD). It's available in several places, including:
http://www.hwn.org/home/recondata.html
I always kinda guessed as to how to read the data, but I wanted better answers, so I asked Hugh Stegman of MT about this. Here's the key to reading the data. Note that each item is either numbered or has a capitol letter:
1. Name, if any, of tropical feature under investigation, or "negative
recon." Flight 1, flight 2 are if multiple aircraft are tasked in the TCPOD
valid time period.
A. UTC date/time of fixes desired. Aircraft on 12-hour missions in 6-hourly
schedules take two fixes. Specifies resources-permitting if applicable.
B. Mission descriptor: Aircraft (xxx=not specified) Mission # Feature
C. Location (if relevant) and UTC date/time of departure
D. Forecast position of feature
E. Time on station
F. Altitude on station (sfc-10,000 is a dropsonde mission)
(via the WUN).
As a side note; Al Stern of Florida noted in the WUN that the Hunters have also been using the GHFS/SCOPE command freqs of 11175 and 8992
along with the MWARA frequencies of 11300 and 11396. The Eastern Test Range/GHFS backup freq of 10780 has also been used recently. Of course, there's no guarantee that the Hunters will repeat this usage, but it does suggest that you can't count them out on any Aero/mil frequency.
FYI for those that are watching Jeanne spin her wheels out in the Atlantic
:wink:
73s Mike
