7.0 and en-route ATC Freqs

[rdowens]

Great job on the en-route frequency. I had asked for that on this forum close to two years ago and the reply was that the data didn't exist anywhere and so it would never be added to Skyview. I'm glad you found the data somewhere.

Now, as a follow-on: I live in So Cal where So Cal Approach is a way of life below 10,000'. The frequencies in Skyview are LA Center. This is great up high or outside the So Cal basin, but in our congested airspace, having the So Cal Approach freqs would be awesome.

Could those be added to the list of ATC frequencies?

If they are there and I didn't figure it out, please forgive me for that and point me in the right direction.

Thanks for the help and for a wonderful, constantly improving product!

-Randy

 

[TRCsmith]

And a phone directory for me. When I fly through the LA area I'd like to look-up my relatives and give them a call. ;D

When I depart I contact departure and they feed me that info as I move through the different air space. I'm in the SFO area.

 

[rdowens]

I suppose that works well at a towered airport (no tower where I am or the places I frequent). And, it has happened more than once that I can't recall exactly what So Cal Freq I need for the location I find myself.

The charts don't have all the frequencies, either (and the point is to sort of reduce the need for them with the fancy stuff in the panel).

I'm not sure how the phone directory plays into it, but I thought it a reasonable question to ask that if a control area has more than one ATC facility, we might be able to see the freqs for all the ATC facilities. If we have a feature, let's fill it out to 100% if possible. It's a great addition!

-Randy

 

[preid]

Randy;
Funny you should post this, I flew out to Nevada, Utah and back into so cal and I thought the same way. I got dep and they handed me over along the way, the funny thing is I tried to predict what I would get along the way ( since there is nothing blue in between) and the ATC freqs told me where they were located but they never corresponded with where I was or the next freqs. I planned to ask Dynon next weekend at aircraft spruce why the ATC is there since I don't know how to benefit from it.

TRSmith has a relative in SoCal who is ATC, but keeps losing his number to find out what the freqs are, hence his need for the phone book

 

[TRCsmith]

I'm not at a tower either. But fly around  the Bay area all the time. and have the frq's.
How did pilots fly before Dynon?? There is an FAR that states something like.....

PIC responsibility Paragraph 91.103 of the federal aviation regulations says this under the heading of Preflight Action:

"Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight. This information must include: You can look up the rest under 91.103

 

[preid]

I think you miss the point of having the technology available.
Before Dynon we didnt have that information, now we are asking for it so we can meet the FAR's. Until than, you are correct, we'll need to know what the center freqs are manually. If we can get that information from the Skyview all the better.

 

[rdowens]

I don't think I said anything like, "I have no idea how to contact ATC...help me be a pilot..." I think I could fly around the county in a Cub with a compass, fuel gauge, alt, and airspeed and do just fine. However, SKyview is beautiful, reduces the workload, and really adds to my enjoyment while flying. That's the reason I bought it.

I still can't see why anyone would be critical of an honest question about having multiple ATC frequencies in the tables when controlling agencies overlap....

Hopefully Dynon has a look at this question and gives it kind consideration. Thanks, Dynon.

-Randy

 

[dynonsupport]

The usefulness of the ATC and FSS list is in getting a hold of ATC for the first contact, not as you travel along your route. If you are in a random spot and want to call center, we have faith that our list will get you to center quickly, efficiently, and using the frequency that a sectional would have pointed you to in that area.

However, there are actually multiple VHF frequencies for almost every location, which aren't on a sectional. These are the ones they usually hand you to in order to leave the "primary" frequencies less busy. This is why it feels like you can't predict which frequency they will hand you to as you fly, since they are secondary frequencies. We actually have these in the database as well, but we couldn't figure out how they would be useful to a normal pilot enroute, so they aren't displayed. It would just be clutter on the screen.

As for SoCal and NorCal approach, I looked all through the databases we have, and I can't find any records that look like this at all. It's a unique environment, and it doesn't fit into the structure of the data we have well. If you know of any GPS units that do show these frequencies, it would be helpful in us figuring out how to do it and where the data might come from.

Now, what we do have is SoCal approach attached to the airports that use it. See below, where the approach frequency for Burbank is 120.400, which is actually SoCal approach as shown on the sectional. So if you use the approach frequencies shown for each airport, you will be using the right frequencies.

And of course, when we do sectionals, then you can just look on the sectional

 

[preid]

great explanation of how to use the feature and it's goal when developed.
Thx

 

[preid]

Any way to add a waypoint that would include the ATC freq and allow one to put CNTR as a Ident.
the example would be as I move over a area not covered by Dynon for LA center, I could create a waypoint, put in a freq that I am using and allow it to label it as CNTR for future reference.

 

[Dynon]

You can't augment the official database records, but you could create user waypoints with additional long text descriptions to at least get the info you want into the system (see the Pilot's User Guide for more information here). Unfortunately, there isn't a way to attach official frequencies to those waypoints that can be sent over to the radio.

 

[swatson999]

The usefulness of the ATC and FSS list is in getting a hold of ATC for the first contact, not as you travel along your route. If you are in a random spot and want to call center, we have faith that our list will get you to center quickly, efficiently, and using the frequency that a sectional would have pointed you to in that area.

However, there are actually multiple VHF frequencies for almost every location, which aren't on a sectional. These are the ones they usually hand you to in order to leave the "primary" frequencies less busy. This is why it feels like you can't predict which frequency they will hand you to as you fly, since they are secondary frequencies. We actually have these in the database as well, but we couldn't figure out how they would be useful to a normal pilot enroute, so they aren't displayed. It would just be clutter on the screen.

As for SoCal and NorCal approach, I looked all through the databases we have, and I can't find any records that look like this at all. It's a unique environment, and it doesn't fit into the structure of the data we have well. If you know of any GPS units that do show these frequencies, it would be helpful in us figuring out how to do it and where the data might come from.

Now, what we do have is SoCal approach attached to the airports that use it. See below, where the approach frequency for Burbank is 120.400, which is actually SoCal approach as shown on the sectional. So if you use the approach frequencies shown for each airport, you will be using the right frequencies.

And of course, when we do sectionals, then you can just look on the sectional

I looked at the list of ARTCC frequencies a couple of flights ago, and it was just as un-useful as it was 15 or more years ago when we first looked at them to put into aviation GPS units - not because of anything Dynon has or hasn't done, but because for the en route centers, mostly it's a list of names (which aren't on any charts) and frequencies, so you have no way of knowing which one to use! The list I saw, north of L.A., was something like a dozen placenames and frequencies, none of which bore any resemblance to anything on an aviation chart (VFR or IFR).

I suppose you could start picking them at random and calling them to see what you get...

Don't get me wrong, thanks to Dynon for adding it! I just find it hard to believe that after all these years, the database hasn't improved at all (assuming they're using the same one we did, the ARINC record-based files).