iPhone ‘App’ Of The Week : LiveATC.net
Web: www.stevenfrischling.com — E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com
9/07/2009 – iPhone ‘App’ Of The Week : LiveATC.net
So there you are, sitting at the gate listening to the an announcing that your flight’s departure has been delayed while watching other planes push back from their gates. As you watch the plane one gate over push back you find yourself wondering, “I wish I knew what was going on here!” You know this has happened to you a few times on the road.
…now that you have recalled this irritating moment in your travelling experience, let me introduce you to this week’s iPhone App of the Week, that may help shed some light on your delay. This week’s iPhone App of the Week is LiveATC.net.
LiveATC.net is an iPhone App of one of my favourite web sites, also named LiveATC.net. What LiveATC.net does is simple, it rebroadcasts Air Traffic Control tower radio transmissions, as well as some airports ground operations, clearance & delivery radio transmissions and at some airports ‘company’ radio traffic. By listening to these radio transmissions travellers can have a more informed understanding of the delays they are experiencing.
Aside from gathering immediate information it is also a lot of fun to just kick back and watch the planes comes and go while listening to the pilots and the tower.
Many people claim to have a ‘sound track of their life,’ well for me while working and trying to concentrate on work the sound track of my life is frequently “KSFO Ground.” KSFO Ground is more commonly know as San Francisco International Airport’s Ground Operations Frequency (121.8mhz).
LiveATC.net offers users access to an extensive number of airports not only in the United States but internationally as well. Using LiveATC.net with wifi allows for real-time radio traffic; using it with an iPhone 3G while on a 3G network is close to real-time and transmissions; on an iPhone outside of a 3G network does cause some delay (I have an original iPhone), but overall this App is fantastic for following the world around you while in the airport.
A feature of LiveATC.net’s iPhone App that I really enjoy is the “Favorites” option. Don’t waste time finding airports or frequencies you monitor frequently, add them to your favourites and go straight to them for easy listening.
Below are eight screen shots of the LiveATC.net App from my iPhone.
Happy Flying!
Once on board, don’t forget twitting to @eezeer to give your opinion on the flight or send photos.
eezeer.com “NOW reviews from travelers”
I buy this app for my iphone 10 minutes ago, I am in the sburbs of NYC, I go to see if the airport near me is listed and low and behold no listing,they have airports like Republic AND Westchester but a major airport like Stewert international NO LISTING, you have to be kidding. Next problem I press JFK Ground, UNAVAILABLE,JFK Final, UNAVAILABLE, JFK Tower, UNAVAILABLE. You must be kidding with this app, got to call AT&T and get my $2.99 back with this rip off, thanks for nothing.
Interesting, I use LiveATC.net for JFK no problem on the iPhone. Sometimes when a tower is Unavailable it is temporary due to a relay problem. When a tower becomes unavailable it is also unavailable on LiveATC’s web site. The availability of a tower is somehow out of their control having to do with feed issues.
That said, I used JFK about 2 weeks ago while in New York with my kids with absolutely no problems what so ever. We tracked approach, departure, ground, as well as clearance and delivery for JFK.
Also, I would not call Stewart a ‘major international airport.’ Currently Stewart Airport is only serviced commercially by Delta Connection; US Airways Express; Northwest (until it is full folded into Delta) and JetBlue. The total number of airports services from Stewart is five, by four airlines (technically 3 airlines as DL & NW are one airline), with JetBlue servicing both Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando.
Happy Flying!
-Fish
Stewart also services the Army National guard, which sends out C5s to Iracq, it has the second largest runway in the country, no doubt because of the C5s, even though it does not have many commercial carriers, it has been taken over by the Port authority of NY and NJ to attract more commercial traffic. And it is certainly doing its part of the cargo for our service men and women in the middle east, so that being said, what is the criteria for the streamming of Republic and Westchester fame, what are they sending out that makes them more palatable to offer than Stewart. And as you quoted, I would say that Westchester or Republic are certainly NOT international airports as well, but offered for streamming for sure, no logic at all in this decision.