Norm Hare 907837 Posted February 5, 2006 at 12:57 PM Posted February 5, 2006 at 12:57 PM I have been mulling this over for some time now, and thought I would go ahead and post this question. Recently I have had some free time away from RW chores and such and (it isn't really free..I will have to pay for it at sometime in the near future) made some short VFR flights on VATSIM. As per SOP, I have dialed in the UNICOM frequency when there have been no controllers available. As I am flying along, the familiar DING DONG (I use FSINN) rings out occasionally and I check the chat window to see what's what. Many times it is someone in some far off land or state (I am flying in ZDC and ZNY mostly) annoncing his intentions. In fact, more times than not, it is someone many thousands of miles away from me...that quite frankly I could care less (not being nasty..I just don't need to know some guy in London is making his approach to airport EXYZ) what he is doing. This brings me back to my point. Wouldn't it make more sense to dial in the frequency of the local ARTCC and announce intentions there when no controllers are available? That way anyone flying through the area recieves the transmission and we aren't bothering the rest of the world with useless "DING DONGs". If I am way off base here, please set me straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuel Hernandez 923212 Posted February 5, 2006 at 02:19 PM Posted February 5, 2006 at 02:19 PM I agree with you. However I don't get the "ding dongs" like you do. I guess I really don't pay that much attention unless I read that it is nearby. Manuel Hernandez DVA2569 [Mod - Happy Thoughts]t Director of Human Resources Delta Virtual Airlines www.deltava.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan Naslund Posted February 6, 2006 at 01:18 PM Posted February 6, 2006 at 01:18 PM Hi, I am not entierly sure but i think that if you are flying in the states you should not see pilots in the UK stating their intentions on unicom. I think there is a limiting range for unicom in the server software but i am not sure what the range is. Personally i miss the good old days when there was more chit-chat on unicom. Sitting there cruising with the autopilot doing all the work it was fun to see all the messages between pilots. Some stuff was just hilarious!!! I also got helped and could help others as well quite often. It ws also fun to listen to unicom when we had the voice servers running unicom channels. These were not official channels but still, lots of people used it and it was great to listen to this stuff. Pilots clearing themselves for takeoff, landing, got lost and asking all kinds of questions. Great fun!!! Nowadays i hardly see anything on unicom anymore except traffic information messages. I find it completely boring and i feel that some of the fun has gone lost a bit. MORE chit-chat on unicom!!!! Cheers / Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cornell Lloyd 952716 Posted February 6, 2006 at 02:08 PM Posted February 6, 2006 at 02:08 PM Jan, Exactly my point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Hare 907837 Posted February 6, 2006 at 09:59 PM Author Posted February 6, 2006 at 09:59 PM I may be incorrect on the "hearing London" part. I guess the simple question is, why not use the local center frequencie instead of unicom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffery Williams 849847 Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:01 PM Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:01 PM The only traffic you're going to hear on Unicom is other aircraft within normal VHF reception range of where you are. I don't know the exact number, but it isn't more than a few hundred miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Moulton Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:17 PM Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:17 PM The only traffic you're going to hear on Unicom is other aircraft within normal VHF reception range of where you are. I don't know the exact number, but it isn't more than a few hundred miles. Are you talking real world, present VATSIM , or future VATSIM? In the real world, depending upon your altitude, VHF is line of site, so it's not going to have a real great range in the traffic pattern. If you are talking present VATSIM, if you are over LAX and another pilot is over Moscow and you are both on the same voice server with the same room name (be it a frequency or name), you are going to hear one another. If you are talking about future VATSIM...one can only hope! Fly Safe! Have Fun! Craig Moulton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffery Williams 849847 Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:25 PM Posted February 6, 2006 at 10:25 PM I am speaking in terms of present VATSIM using text communications on 122.8. The voice unicom is no longer in existence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Moulton Posted February 7, 2006 at 12:04 AM Posted February 7, 2006 at 12:04 AM Use of the word "hear" threw me off. Sorry. Fly Safe! Have Fun! Craig Moulton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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