Monitoring ACARS

[screenersam]

WOW! many thanks!!! big help!

 

[screenersam]

just got 12 hits on 129.35
6 JetBlue 2 Delta 4 Republic

 

[ATCTech]

Happy to help!

You might also try 129.125, 129.525, 130.025, 130.450, 130.825, 131.125, 131.725. Not all of these are active in any one area of course, but they are all confirmed ACARS operational frequencies receivable from here near Toronto and with a couple of exceptions flights seen are in the north-central to northeastern U.S.

Cheers!

 

[Turbo68]

I am intrested in geiing back into acars its been a few years will be using windows can some one point me out which Acarsd and KG-Acars thanks.

Regards Lino.

 

[W4KRR]

If you use a soundcard and line-out or mic connected to the scanner headphone jack, does it matter if the cable is stereo or mono?

 

[screenersam]

Turbo, sorry for delayed response.

I couldn't get ACARSD to work so I use KG-Acars, which has language issues but otherwise okay.
download it (free) on your puter and run.
I get best results using 1/8" line from 'speaker out' to puter 'line in', turn squelch all the way (so you can only monitor one freq at a time), and volume about 1/3; will vary by unit. upper right on the KG-Acars screen will be a blue box with a sort of oscilliscope that indicates sound in. if you see red turn the volume down a bit.
not sure what frequency will be used where you are.

hit the icon on the upper left to open a list of what's caught (will give you option of how long to keep data). only a few will show up on the map so this list will be the main info source.

happy hunting! keep us posted.

 

[screenersam]

If you use a soundcard and line-out or mic connected to the scanner headphone jack, does it matter if the cable is stereo or mono?

as far as I can tell it doesn't matter

 

[Turbo68]

I got KG-Acars working on both laptops thought i had a problem with one of my laptops but turns out volume wasnt high enough..

Regards Lino.

 

[Turbo68]

How do i get KG-Acars to get the alt,temp,wind thanks..

Regards Lino.

 

[ATCTech]

Where is there mention of it using WX information within the program? I've never seen weather data referred to in the documentation nor do I see any evidence of the ability to point it at a particular web site or I.P. address to do so.

Or are you referring to digital ATIS information for specific airports that's sent via ACARS to the requesting aircraft?

Cheers!

 

[Turbo68]

Its on the right side of the map it displays the aircraft but not the rest of the information but i think its got to do with what you are saying atis also how do you get an image of an aircraft..

Regards Lino.

 

[ATCTech]

I see where you're looking now. KG wrote the program with the ability to grab certain information from downlink messages that were sent in formats specific to airlines in his area - Japan and surroundings. There's a certain leeway in those messages from airline to airline so it's probable that the format isn't used by subscribers in your area, or may not exist at all now. The program goes back to 2008 and formatted messages may be completely different than what he used then. I'll run it here for a while and see if any of the fields populate.

Cheers!

 

[Turbo68]

Thats the one i use to have Airnav acars but it wasnt worth the money but i do like using KG-acars i am using a Kinetic SBS-3/Uniden BCT15X for acars..

Regards lino.

 

[ATCTech]

I agree. I've run AirNav, KG-ACARS, ACARS-D and MultiPSK simultaneously from the same radio (via VAC) and it's interesting to see the subtle differences in decoding accuracy and formatting between them. There is no clear winner to be sure!

Cheers!

 

[Turbo68]

Is there any where where i can find frequecies for acars in australia i know the primary is 131.550 but a google search saying the primary is 131.725 in australia.

Regards Lino.

 

[ATCTech]

131.550 is the "global" home frequency for ARINC. I say "global" because there's no way to know for sure. SITA has started using 131.725 in lieu of 136.8 here in North America, and I suspect elsewhere as the move is on to free up space between 136.5 and 136.975 for additional VDL2 capacity. So to answer your question, both should be active there.

Cheers!

 

[ATCTech]

You probably know this, but R/C-ARINC and SITACom are competitors in the data link business, hence both being active pretty much everywhere.

 

[W4KRR]

131.550 is the "global" home frequency for ARINC. I say "global" because there's no way to know for sure. SITA has started using 131.725 in lieu of 136.8 here in North America, and I suspect elsewhere as the move is on to free up space between 136.5 and 136.975 for additional VDL2 capacity. So to answer your question, both should be active there.

Cheers!

131.725 is very busy here in South Florida. 131.550 also. I'm sure there may be others.

 

[bigjed]

Ok chaps I wonder if anyone can help.I'm in the UK and I've been using ACARSD for years now usually on 131.725,the primary EU frequency.Lately,although I haven't changed anything,I'm getting the usual number of hits,but nothing,absolutely nothing is being decoded.Volume is around 11/12,as it's always been,using the mike input as usual and sound is coming thru the speakers but the screen remains blank.I used to average 20-30 hits in the first few minutes.Any ideas what might be wrong?Thanks.

 

[ATCTech]

Without knowing any of your set-up details let's start with the way-too-obvious stuff:

- Squelch fully off

- Radio selected to AM mode (if it's not automatic in VHF air band)

- Volume set to a reasonable but not excessive level (MIC inputs are very sensitive compared to LIne In, by a factor of about 10:1)

- Is this the same computer AND O/S? (Windows 7, 10, XP or ??) as when it was working, no hardware changes?

- Are you familiar enough with Windows to go into Control Panel and Sound settings then burrow into Record Level settings for your MIC input? Depending on your particular Windows installation there can be a "Microphone Boost" tick box there. It will make a huge difference to the audio level the system sees from the external source. I've seen it revert to a default setting after major Windows updates, which it normally "Off", meaning the audio level is way too low for your decoding program. Check the "Input Level" slider in Record Settings too, make sure it's at a reasonable level.

Let us know if any of that makes a difference. If you're hearing lots of ACARS traffic there's no reason to think it's the radio unless it's gone slightly off frequency or has other problems. Legacy ACARS is a very easy data burst to handle in most situations.

Cheers!