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Recommendation for airport app plz.

Z

Zik43

Lurker
Hi,

New to forum, new to Android world. Im an old guy who never thought Id want or enjoy a smartphone. I dont have the patience or desire to try something new (or so I thought).

My girlfriend got a new phone. They was offering BOGO so she got me one as well. My goodness I LOVE this thing. My only regret is not getting one a LONG time ago! Ok now to my question.

I have an Optimus C. I live near the San Antonio Airport. There are planes taking off/landing all the time. Planes have always fascinated me.

Any apps out there to know where these places are coming from/taking off and going to? Maybe even hearing pilot/control tower conversations? That would be cool as can be.

THANKS! Don P.
 
Flightradar24

Its a flight tracker, that makes it possible to view airplane traffic, in real time, on a Google Map.
 
sitlet said:
Nope. Those are digitally secured signals.
Click to expand...

Incorrect actually. Airband is VHF analogue radio, amplitude modulated(AM). Anyone can buy a cheap airband radio and tune-in to what pilots and ATC are saying to each other. Airband Radios

There are moves towards digital aircraft radios, but it would need international co-operation on a common standard. Something AFAIK has not happened yet.

sitlet said:
That's a national security risk if people could hear that.
Click to expand...

No more than just watching planes landing and taking off at an airport, or viewing an airport arrivals/departures board on the internet, or the many websites which track aircraft in flight. There's even a plug-in for Google Earth for this. They're much more concerned about what passengers do or the things passengers take on board aircraft than if someone is going to shoot them down or something.

TBH most airband radio traffic can actually be quite boring, weather reports, atmospheric pressures, taxiing instructions, runways, altitudes, vectors, approaches, clearances....mostly numbers and letters. All very standard stuff. Only time it might get exciting is if there was 'Mayday!'.

To the OP in Texas, 'There is an app for that.' https://market.android.com/details?id=net.liveatc.liveatc_app If you want to hear your local airport goings on, just buy an airband radio. Your local airport might have their arrivals/departures boards on the internet, many airports do this now.

Footnote:
http://www.airbandradios.com/choosing_an_airband_radio.html
"For travellers, be aware that although it is perfectly legal in the US to own and listen to an airband radio, that is not always the case in some foreign countries. Although listening to ATC-to-pilot chat may be a harmless pastime, it's definitely not recommendable to take a scanning radio outside of the US on your travels." ... that certainly includes China.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/1953654.stm
"How did plane-spotters end up as spies?"
"Plane-spotting is almost unheard of outside Britain, and Greece is particularly nervous about spying due to tensions with its neighbour Turkey."
 
Good points. I didn't know air bands were still analog. I figured since most police and fire departments went digital, that air did too. I guess they are a little behind on the times.
 
sitlet said:
Good points. I didn't know air bands were still analog. I figured since most police and fire departments went digital, that air did too. I guess they are a little behind on the times.
Click to expand...

Yes because of international ICAO considerations. It's not like your local police or fire department buying a new trunked digital radio system, things are supposed to be standard the world over with aviation. Pilots do have a secure way of communicating with ATC though, but I believe it's a text messaging system rather like SMS, which works internationally.

There may actually be resistance from various aviation organisations about adopting a digital aircraft radio system. There is one major difference between analogue(AM) and digital radio. With analogue(AM) it degrades gracefully at the extent of the range and poor signal conditions. With digital it either works or it dosen't, nothing in between.. That could actually make a difference between an emergency Mayday!/SOS call been heard or not heard. Rather like the difference between analogue and digital TV. Analogue TV will still give a picture over long distances, albiet a snowy picture. Digital TV usually does not work at all when signal is poor. Shipping maritime radio is still very much analogue as well, although they finally stopped using Morse Code recently.

BTW everything I've discussed has been about civil aviation. The air force and other military organisations will most likely have their own secure digital ways of communicating, because of national security, not been heard by the enemy, etc.
 
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