Various Aircraft Identification Fields

[Ray McKeown]

Hi All,
Just installed an ATOM station at EGAD  and we're confused as to  how/why  some information is missing from one particular aircraft!  What are the sources of the various  Reg-id, Flight-id, Tail no, Call sign fields as depicted in the picture.  Any help much appreciated. Are any of these synonyms? (Asking for a friend  )

Thanks, Ray

[PaulSS]

Something to ponder until somebody that knows what they're talking about comes along (adjusted attachment below).

[Ray McKeown]

Thanks @PaulSS for your suggestion. Documentation  indicates that if the DISPLAY TRAFFIC  INFO field  is set to ALTERNATE then  "Reg-ID" and "Flight-ID"   are shown alternating beween the 2 on the EFB (of another aircraft).  In this case while the aircraft  symbol at the correct position is shown on the other aircraft's  EFB (Skydemon) there is no associated Reg-ID  or Flight-ID  shown!  Still waiting on some other suggestions..... hopefully after the holidays.  Happy New Year to you!!   

[exfirepro]

Hi Ray,

Happy New Year to you and all our followers.

My initial answer to your screenshot was that the aircraft display option* is obviously set to show Reg ID, Callsign/ Flight ID and Altitude, and as G-CMON is GA, it doesn’t transmit a ‘Callsign’ hence why that field is blank. Unfortunately, this isn’t the full explanation as on closer examination there are several other (non-commercial) aircraft which are displaying their ‘Reg’ in both rows.

(*You can easily change the aircraft display details from the Options Menu)

It is important to understand that aircraft details are determined from the actual aircraft transmissions by comparison with an inbuilt database in the ATOM software. Unfortunately, these databases, whilst comprehensive, don’t contain all data for all aircraft. It is also important to be aware that individual aircraft do not transmit the complete set of details in every data packet, but spread this across several transmissions, which means that we have to try to combine these within the software - which isn’t always possible, and in some cases certain data isn’t transmitted at all, hence why part(s) of the data can be ‘missing’ at any point in time.

You should also be aware that we have very limited influence on the database and software used by VRS - which is an independent company on whose software the ATOM display is based.

The ‘Display Traffic’ field in PilotAware itself only influences the detail passed to your EFB by PilotAware for display in flight and has no effect on what is received or displayed by ATOM Ground Stations or other aircraft. The principle benefit of using the ‘Alternating’ display in PilotAware is that the display on aircraft ‘labels’ on your EFB will alternate between the Aircraft Reg and Flight ID/Callsign (for commercials), Aircraft Reg and ‘M’ (for Rebroadcast MLAT Traffic) and between the Aircraft Reg (or FLARM ID) and ‘G’ for Rebroadcast FLARM/OGN Traffic (n.b. in SkyDemon, you need to ensure that ‘Show Callsigns’ is enabled in ‘Navigation Options’ as this is OFF by default).

Hope this helps clarify the position.

Best Regards
Peter

[Admin]

Hi Ray,

I just tried this by setting my Rosetta to output this code, and this is what I see on my ATOM station

its possible, it only recently got added to the database

Thx
Lee

[Ray McKeown]

Many thanks Peter and Lee for  your feedback; this certainly helps plug some of our knowledge gaps involving PAW/ATOM/GRID information displays. Once the weather improves, we'll  be keen  to see if G-CMON is now displaying more information.  Since installing our ATOM station  and promoting its benefits amongst  the local flying community we're keen to be able to anticipate  and hopefully answer accurately some of the many queries.  These include:-

>Instances of local MLAT Mode S traffic visible on FlightAware  but not on VRS.
>Instances of some (but not all) MLAT Mode S traffic not being visible to nearby PAW equipped aircraft.

This involves checking individual PAW configuration (particularly  Mode-S/3D) and EFB settings  as well as confirmation of what actual transponders are fitted in certain aircraft.  There is also  the usual installation optimisation problems to minimise RX/TX obscuration issues. Not everyone's settings match what they thought they had !!   

Many thanks for your help and Happy New Year.

Ray   

[exfirepro]

Hi Ray,

Please keep us posted on developments and get in touch if you need any further assistance.

Best Regards
Peter