airtraffic

Author Topic: En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace  (Read 8762 times)

Offline Stuabroad

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En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace
« on: September 03, 2014, 11:15:48 PM »
Is it possible to track the comms of aircraft en-route over your local area (high-altitude/non-local)?

I understand this may not be possible via LiveATC, wasn't sure.

If anyone can help on how to listen to flights en-route over Alberta, Canada, would really appreciate it.

Cheers



Offline JetScan1

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Re: En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace
« Reply #1 on: September 04, 2014, 12:51:15 AM »
There is a LiveATC feed covering high altitude airspace to the south and east of Calgary.

http://www.liveatc.net/search/?icao=ybp

However for the last few weeks it seems to be stuck on a dead frequency and all you can hear is static.

Offline Stuabroad

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Re: En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace
« Reply #2 on: September 04, 2014, 01:25:04 AM »
Nice one, will have a look thx

Offline RonR

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Re:
« Reply #3 on: September 04, 2014, 09:18:03 AM »
If the area you want to listen to isn't covered by liveatc, you can get a scanner radio that can receive the air band. You may not hear most of the comms from ATC, that would depend on how close you are to a transmitter site, but you would be able to hear the aircraft without any trouble.

Offline JetScan1

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Re: En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace
« Reply #4 on: September 04, 2014, 10:39:24 AM »
Hi Ron,

Are you guys in contact with the operator of this radio (CYBP - Brooks) ? From what I can tell it appears the radio has been stuck (open squelch) on a dead frequency since around August 11.

When it was working there was good coverage of high altitude airspace to the east of Calgary and depending on the time of day and sector configuration good coverage to the north and south as well. On the overnight midnight shift all the low and high sectors combined to give complete coverage of Alberta airspace.

Offline Stuabroad

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Re:
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2014, 03:36:57 PM »
If the area you want to listen to isn't covered by liveatc, you can get a scanner radio that can receive the air band. You may not hear most of the comms from ATC, that would depend on how close you are to a transmitter site, but you would be able to hear the aircraft without any trouble.

Tried that link and appears to be silence as JetScan1 said below.  I only have my handheld VHF scanner, so would only be able to hear one-way aircraft traffic since i'm so far away from CYBP...if i read  you correctly.  Is CYBP where all the en-route traffic is handled for this area of airspace.  Apologies if my terminology is incorrect, i know enough to be dangerous right now (aka VatSim) :)

Offline JetScan1

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Re: En-Route High Altitude Comms in Canadian Airspace
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2014, 05:16:40 PM »
Quote
Is CYBP where all the en-route traffic is handled for this area of airspace.

No, they have remote transmitters located all over Alberta. If you live in the general vicinity of any of the following locations you should be able to hear the Edmonton ARTCC controllers on the following frequencies (and the general area the sector covers).

Calgary - 133.300 (low altitude, west of Calgary)
Brooks - 132.650 (low altitude SE of Calgary), 125.050 (high altitude, east of Calgary)
Edmonton - 132.775 (low altitude, east of Edmonton), 134.900 (high altitude, east of Edmonton)
Lethbridge - 132.750 (low altitude, south of Calgary), 135.750 (high altitude, south of Calgary)
Red Deer - 132.850 (low altitude, between Calgary and Edmonton), 135.125 (high altitude, west of Calgary)
Whitecourt - 135.600 (high altitude, west of Edmonton) , 132.050 (low altitude, NW of Edmonton)
Rocky Mountain House - 134.300 (low altitude, SW of Edmonton)
Delia - 124.450 (low altitude, east of Calgary)
Flatbush - 134.700 (low, altitude, north of Edmonton)
Lloydminster - 133.450 (low altitude, east of Edmonton)
Grand Prairie - 134.500 (low altitude)

Edmonton Center low altitude airspace extends up to FL280, high altitude airspace is FL290 and above.

It is common for them to combine sectors, this is where one controller will work mutiple frequencies and areas at the same time.

All Edmonton frequencies have cross-coupling capabilities, this means that if a controller is working more than one frequency the transmissions from the aircraft are rebroadcast on all the frequencies the controller is working. This allows pilots to hear the transmissions from other aircraft even though they are on a different frequency.

Same thing for someone monitoring on the ground, if you live near one of these locations and can hear the controller you can potentially hear aicraft transmitting on a different frequency hundreds of miles away. This is the case with the two frequencies on the Brooks LiveATC site (when it's working), as they are often linked together with other frequencies.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2014, 10:22:20 PM by JetScan1 »