A quick summary of what JSTARS does for those that are interested - at least as far as I understand :-)
- JSTARS reads the live AIR and ID messages from RB port 30003 (and these are live, not delayed even in the latest RB software)
- JSTARS then compares the received hex code against its own database and fills in the aircraft registration and owner details.
- JSTARS comes with 3 databases - Global (everything), Military or Custom. If you just want to use the Global and Military databases, the author updates these regularly and they are available for download from the JSTARS website.
- The Custom database is initially empty, but you can edit this with any txt editor to include what you like. The fields are separated with the'|' symbol. See a small section of my Custom data file below.
000017|J-064|F16|Netherland Air Force
000022|K2661|IL76|Indian Air Force
0000CC|FA|F-16AM|Belgium Air Force
0000DC|FA|F-16AM|Belgium Air Force
000A11|165158|C130T|US Navy
0070C8|--|F15|US Air Force
0070C9|--|F15|US Air Force
008C75|ZS-ESA|GLEX|Rwanda Government
01006B|SU-AYD|FA20|Egypt Government
01006C|SU-AZJ|FA20|Egypt Government
01006D|SU-AXN|FA20|Egypt Government
01006E|SU-BGU|GLF3|Egypt Government
01006F|SU-BGV|GLF3|Egypt Government
010070|SU-BGM|GLF4|Egyptian Air Force
01007D|1280/SU-BAL|C130H|Egypt Air Force
01007E|1281/SU-BAM|C130|Egyptian Air Force
010081|1284/SU-BAQ|C130|Egyptian Air Force
010085|1288/SU-BAU|C130|Egyptian Air Force
010086|1289/SU-BAV|C130|Egyptian Air Force
If you register, then you can also use the JSTARS data editor to make changes to the file.
- JSTARS allows you to select one on the 3 data files for use when logging aircraft, so my Custom file is a mixture of Military aircraft and those others I'm interested in, like the A380's
OK, those are the basics. There is an auto email option in the registered version, a data editor and viewer, a screen capture and FTP upload function (haven't tried this) and a few other bits and pieces. It's a small, clean, efficient (and very cheap) program that might not do everything that you want, but what it does, it does very well. I'm sure that the author would be receptive to any requests for development if anybody has any good ideas.
No, I'm not on a percentage here, I just like this program and want to encourage the author to keep developing it ;-)