AirNav Systems Forum
AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com => AirNav RadarBox and RadarBox24.com Discussion => Topic started by: merlinflyer on September 04, 2008, 06:14:39 PM
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anyone picking up the vulcan she is over cambridgeshire at the moment
got her on radio but not on radar box
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what freq you got her on?
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was on 297.8 and then 134.0500
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this is what pickrd up
* 40109F G-VLCN ... Untitled 2008/09/04 18:33:21
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this is what pickrd up
* 40109F G-VLCN ... Untitled 2008/09/04 18:33:21
I picked it up again today - last seen 17:57:40
I can only assume your database needs updating as I get it displayed as
40109F G-VLCN VLCN Avro 698 Vulcan B2 Vulcan To The Sky Trust
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i thought that i was automatic updated when it logs an aircraft or am i wrong
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It only looks up and adds to the database for any ModeS code that you don't already have. This is to prevent changes that you've made being overwritten.
It also prevents AirNav's servers being hammered from requests for every aircraft we ever pick up :)
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just updated and now i should get the Silhouettes of the vulcan
thanks for the info testmonkey
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Does this update need to be done for every aircraft manually or is there an automatic method ?
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It's all manual I'm afraid.
The closest you can get to an automated process within RB is to delete any 'non-complete' entries from your database. Next time the ModeS code is detected by your box RB will perform a lookup on the AirNav server. If you're lucky they'll have updated information for it. If not you're back to square one.
The alternative is to do your editing in an external SQLite application. This way you can export all of the records you need to change and do them in a single session. I tend to do mine by hand but I'm sure others will be along to tell you where / how you may be able to query an online resource in a batch process.
If you look in your Aircraft table you'll find a vast number (~36k) of ModeS codes that don't have any other details which are in the database by default. I removed them from mine so that on the off chance I do ever track them they'll hopefully retrieve more details but there's a possibility they are now defunct old codes. They may get re-assigned at some point though.
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There is a complicated way of doing batches of <100 corrections using an empty Basestation database, GAS RePopulate, and SQLite Maestro. Described on this thread (http://www.airnavsystems.com/forum/index.php?topic=1279.msg9511#msg9511)
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Testmonkey - thanks for the reply - will try the delete method as that suggested in the other thread is way beyond my knowledge.
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Hi all, new user alert so be gentle if this sounds stupid. I am getting to grips with the database and how everything is refreshed and/or updated and have a query about how registrations are kept up to date. I had G-OHAJ recently going into EMA. On checking, this is not a current reg but i think should be G-TOYM (same frame but different reg). I am assuming from the previous posts that some form of database maintenance is essential? I have a database product that is well supported update wise so have a little faith i can use their lookup tool to get accurate code tie ups, but presume i need to be careful with the airnav database? Any further guidance on this subject would be appreciated.
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Hi all, new user alert so be gentle if this sounds stupid. I am getting to grips with the database and how everything is refreshed and/or updated and have a query about how registrations are kept up to date. I had G-OHAJ recently going into EMA. On checking, this is not a current reg but i think should be G-TOYM (same frame but different reg). I am assuming from the previous posts that some form of database maintenance is essential? I have a database product that is well supported update wise so have a little faith i can use their lookup tool to get accurate code tie ups, but presume i need to be careful with the airnav database? Any further guidance on this subject would be appreciated.
The databases for both RadarBox and the competition are designed on the assumption that the relationship between airframe, registration and hex code doesn't change.
Unfortunately it does, so yes, regular database maintenance is essential.
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Thanks for clarifying that Dave
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Testmonkey
so if I remove those incomplete mode s codes and then pick up the same code it should fill in the details if the server has them. Does this apply to networked aircraft as well or only the ones picked up by my own box? I am taking the box away with me shortly and doubt I will be able to connect to the net so I assume that this update via the Airnav server will not take place.
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Testmonkey
so if I remove those incomplete mode s codes and then pick up the same code it should fill in the details if the server has them.
Correct
Does this apply to networked aircraft as well or only the ones picked up by my own box?
For network traffic you have to click on the aircraft in the list for an update to take place. If you order the list by Registration all of the aircraft you don't have in your database will be grouped together either top or bottom with no registration. You can then highlight each of them easily and any that are on the server will get added to your database. Obviously any that remain the same in the list aren't on the server.
I am taking the box away with me shortly and doubt I will be able to connect to the net so I assume that this update via the Airnav server will not take place.
Correct again.
I take my RB out and about with me and I use the network traffic as a way of populating my database with aircraft I may see on my travels but wouldn't locally. I just connect the network traffic for a few minutes several times a day and click on any with missing registrations to try and obtain the information from the server. Any that don't get updated I search for on the web and add those I can confirm manually.
Hope this helps.
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Yes - many thanks but it does not seem to work for me for some reason. I am currently tracking SX-DVO with a mode S code of 4692CF - it is in the GAS database as I looked it up earlier yet it does not want to fill in the details.
Also I have yet to find many mode s codes with nothing else filled in ? I have got load that have mode s/reg/type - are these the ones that should be removed
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Yes - many thanks but it does not seem to work for me for some reason. I am currently tracking SX-DVO with a mode S code of 4692CF - it is in the GAS database as I looked it up earlier yet it does not want to fill in the details.
Also I have yet to find many mode s codes with nothing else filled in ? I have got load that have mode s/reg/type - are these the ones that should be removed
Paul, is this a network track, or a live track you are picking up with your antenna?
If it was a Network track, did you click on the aircraft in the aircraft list.
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yes - it is a network track. Yes I tried a click on each of the columns with no joy - any suggestions much appreciated - am slowly putting in some of these manually but surely if in the GAS database they should appear?
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Yes - many thanks but it does not seem to work for me for some reason. I am currently tracking SX-DVO with a mode S code of 4692CF - it is in the GAS database as I looked it up earlier yet it does not want to fill in the details.
Also I have yet to find many mode s codes with nothing else filled in ? I have got load that have mode s/reg/type - are these the ones that should be removed
Those are the ones I removed from my database purely on the basis that the thought of trying to manually update all 36k or so of them wasn't a prospect I fancied. This way I can add the others details a few at a time if and when they get added back to the database. I do daily searches for aircraft added to my database that have either blank or '...' values in any field or 'untitled' within the AC field. I then update as necessary if I can find the missing information. It's a never ending task so I'll leave it to you to decide which records you want to remove / which details you feel you need.
As regards the apparent issue with details that are on the GAS database but not downloaded I've noticed the same thing. You'll also notice that sometimes the AC and CN fields are switched or the AT field shows '...' even though the correct details are on the GAS database. I can only assume that either AirNav only take periodic updates or (considering the AT '...' issue) that there is an issue with the query process that AirNav are using. It's not consistent though so hard to say. You may also want to query airframes.org for ModeS codes that aren't resolved. Many of the ones that don't update within RB are on there or they have additional information such as the company that GAS doesn't have. It's a bit of a pain but once each ones added you won't keep seeing it in the list of network flights as 'unknown' so worth doing.
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Many thanks for the reply - I have a bit of 'housekeeping' to do!
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Many thanks for the reply - I have a bit of 'housekeeping' to do!
Indeed!
Here's a list of things I check for in the aircraft database:
AC contains 'null', '...', is blank or contains a number (for where AC and CN are switched)
AT contains 'null', '...' or is blank
AR contains 'null' or is blank
AN contains 'null', 'tie-in' (to cover GAS database 'tie-in from country' issue - these are usually on airframes.org) or is blank
I also go through and set airline names to uniform values for easier searching of logs i.e Easyjet, Easyjet Airlines and Easyjet Airline Company are all set to just Easyjet as they should be. If you check your daily logs you'll soon see which names need looking at.
Don't want to worry you but there are about 12k records in the database with AC set to just 'untitled'. I'm working through mine bit by bit and so far have found details for around 70% of the ones I've checked.
One last thing to consider. When I check mine I enter '?' in any fields that I can't find details for. This helps to prevent me from re-checking for details I've previously checked for. I'll then periodically focus on those records to check if new information has become available. It means I don't need to delete them from the database in the hope they'll auto update that way as well.