Hiya folks,
1st post so here goes..
Quick question if i may on this topic..
Does AirNav still have an active contract with GAS ? and do you use GAS as a database populate option ?, Eg. a lookup validation confirmation ?
Thanks in advance,
Smudger.
Welcome Smudger,
I use amongst others the following sites:
www.airframes.org
www.libhomeradar.org
Thanks EK01 for the welcome..
I was thinking more inline with the ANRB database.. like you i use those and GAS as well..
Smudger98,
GAS has been working with us for awhile. At present the feed is temporarily turned off to allow the database updaters to update records which need updating. Otherwise it would start overwriting there work in some cases.
Once the database is in a good working order we will allow the GAS link to work again (though the mechanism for this needs to be worked out, we don't want it overwrite correct data)
Hope that explains things.
Hi Folks..
Many thanks for the prompt response.
It would be great to see a database that gives a good picture of whats really out there and a tie up that you can reply on. As a spotter for many years - the holy grail to me is one that i can rely to be right.
Good luck in your efforts, There is a lot of 50% - 75% - 90% correct ones. to get 95-98% is an admirable target.
Any chance of that with or without the buy in from other resourses.
Anything is better than 0% which is what you get with any other system - not sure if you are a SBS user relying on third party addons that do - or don't work and be discontinued at anytime (no aircraft database provided at all in any other Virtual Radar System).
Anyway and to make it clear our team of database updaters is doing a very reliable job and RadarBox is the only Virtual Radar system provided with integrated aircraft database information - over 70K records now.
Smudger et al,
GAS never had a formal 'contract' with Airnav but did have a non-financial 'gentleman's agreement'. As a result, Airnav used our input until April this year when we had a dialogue about a number of impending changes at GAS.
This coincided with Airnav's idea of forming their own team with which you are familiar. At the end of April we were informed that the new updating team had taken over.
The information we were given is that Airnav directly queried our server only when data was needed (approximately every 15 days).
We have not directly supplied any data since then but lookups are always available from our website.
In the meantime we have made significant technical changes to our DB and access which will be used in some forthcoming updates.
As far as data accuracy is concerned, we strive to maintain quality, currency and coverage but anyone who has been in any way involved in the aircraft data game will know the workload and churn involved, not to mention the lack of, and inaccuracy of, some 'official' data.
It is not unusual for us to update 10000 records per month and our DB holds in excess of 1 million aircraft records.
I am afraid completeness and accuracy will always remain a goal but one that will never be achieved (and that applies to all DBs BTW) so we don't make claims which we cannot substantiate.
And remember, just when you have got it complete, you have to go back and start all over again :-)
Gary
Hi All,
I'm a bit confused with this.
Where is the information currently uploaded onto my database from?
I have Real Time Network access, so when a new aircraft appears with just Mode S code , I click on empty space , and aircraft details and photo appears.
Am I right in thinking that these details are just coming from Airliners.net , or from Air Nav's database which is currently being updated by the Database Updating team.
Regards
Phil
It comes from the database that the team is working on. The pictures come from airliners.net.
No
Quote from: AirNav Support on October 26, 2010, 04:41:37 PM
It comes from the database that the team is working on. The pictures come from airliners.net.
Now I'm getting confused as well. You say "aircraft details" (to quote Phil) come from the database that the team is working on."
I thought that the database team were unable to pass on their data to the average user? Are you saying that in fact we're actually getting the latest data the team is working on?
bratters,
It gets confusing here. Basically if you do not have any aircraft details in your local database of lets say G-BOAF, it will look it up in our online database. The team has been working through this database and if they have checked this record you will get the correct details back.
However if its already in your local database you may have a incorrect record or if the record in the online database hasn't been checked it may be incorrect. Visa versa your local database on your machine might already be correct.
Well at least we agree that it's confusing :) but then I am both computer illiterate and old so confusion is only to be expected.
Looking at your statement
"basically if you do not have any aircraft details in your local database of lets say G-BOAF, it will look it up in our online database. The team has been working through this database and if they have checked this record you will get the correct details back"
OK I think I've got that. So, would I be correct in thinking therefore that if I have no aircaft in my local database, everything that comes along will be updated?
And if so, would it therefore be possible to simply delete my local database and start afresh?
As far as I can see it is the existence of a picture of the aircraft in your data/photo directory
So if you have no info for G-BOAF but have a picture then nothing will happen. Go in and delete the picture and click on that aircraft and the info will refresh from the network. So - if you want all info to refresh - delete the contents of data/photo
Thanks Chris - that I can cope with. Let's see what happens.
I do it on a selective basis. If something about the flight looks wrong, eg if the Flight ID does not tie up with the Company name or the picture of the aircraft shows a King Air and the aircraft is a C25B then I will go and delete the pictures of that specific aircraft and let it repopulate from the server. It is a bit of a pain in the butt but after doing it for about 3 weeks I now have very few aircraft that look out of line. This is for all aircraft on the network, not just my local aircraft.
Hi Chris,
Please can you explain how you are deleting the photos, is it by going in to programme files until you get to Data/photos or can they be accessed through some other way.
Keith
If it's any help Keith, I simply moved the existing folder to a different location and the let the things take their course.
Didn't take long for a new folder to self-start and get up to speed. Having satisfied myself all was working well, I have now deleted the old folder.
Keith
Another way of getting to the photos folder is to open MyLog, click on the All Photos tab at the top, then click the Explore Photo Folder button.
HTH
Rod
Quote from: Northern Watch on October 27, 2010, 11:24:45 AM
Hi Chris,
Please can you explain how you are deleting the photos, is it by going in to programme files until you get to Data/photos or can they be accessed through some other way.
Keith
Yes it is a deletion of the thumbnail picture in the data/photo folder which is a JPG file named by aircraft registration. This will cause your system to re-search Airliners.Net for a replacement photo (which may well be exactly the same as the one you just deleted). At the same time this also forces your system to interrogate the updaters database, resulting in the information for this aircraft changing with the data we have updated. Us updaters recommend currently you are selective with the photos you delete, because you will also get the corruption to the ICAO code, which has been well documented and which Airnav are investigating.
Bratters, Rod, ACW367,
Thanks guys for the speedy response. I have done a lot of updating myself and until the ICAO code problem is resolved I will be selective on what photos I delete.
Once again thanks for the valuable information.
Keith
Some fleets that have undergone major changes and standardisation and which we recommend refreshing to get up to date information.
All aircraft for bmi, Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines FedEx Express and all their regional partners. Also any regional aircraft with JAL, ANA feeder companies and any that currently show as Delta Airlines instead of Delta Air Lines.
ACW367
When you say "refreshing to get up to date information" what is the best way of doing this?
Keith
Quote from: Northern Watch on October 27, 2010, 12:42:37 PM
ACW367
When you say "refreshing to get up to date information" what is the best way of doing this?
Keith
By deleting any photos from the file as and then clicking on airframes from those companies as you see them on the network or myflights. There is no way to bulk trigger the transfer of new data, it can only be done as aircraft appear on your box.
Regards
ACW367
OK I'm officially confused. If I click on an empty space for a new mode s code it doesn't appear in the table. I don't use photos at all. How come the frame isn't populating?
Quote from: phil zech on October 26, 2010, 12:07:40 PM
I have Real Time Network access, so when a new aircraft appears with just Mode S code , I click on empty space , and aircraft details and photo appears.
Regards
Phil
Quote from: Northern Watch on October 27, 2010, 11:24:45 AM
Hi Chris,
Please can you explain how you are deleting the photos, is it by going in to programme files until you get to Data/photos or can they be accessed through some other way.
Keith
Apologies for late reply but I was out of town. I have Win 7. Windows explorer has a handy little search window in the top left so I keep Windows explorer open in the data/photo directory. When I want a refresh I right click the registration and select "Copy selected field into clipboard". I then go to explorer and paste into the search window which brings up the pictures that need to be deleted.
Quote from: flybhx on October 27, 2010, 11:34:58 PM
Quote from: phil zech on October 26, 2010, 12:07:40 PM
I have Real Time Network access, so when a new aircraft appears with just Mode S code , I click on empty space , and aircraft details and photo appears.
Regards
Phil
OK I'm officially confused. If I click on an empty space for a new mode s code it doesn't appear in the table. I don't use photos at all. How come the frame isn't populating?
Sorry FlyBHX
Not sure how the system works when you don't request photos.
Airnav Support - Any suggestions???
I shouldnt imagine that having photgraphs or not would make any difference otherwise new aircraft on delivery where no photograph exists wouldnt populate.
If the data exists on the server for the aircraft in question it should popoulate where no data is held by the user. If some data is held on the users database no update is done to avoid over writting of the data held and a manual update is required.
If an aircraft shows with hex only and doesnt populate, the data isnt in the server and an update is required.
Alan
If you don't have photos on, it won't check the online database if the Mode-S Hex code is in the local database.
Chris11, ACW367
Thanks for you replies, sorry I could not get back straight away. I have tried deleting a small quantity of photos and will try and re-populate once my grandaughter lets me have some free time.
Rgds
Keith
Just as an aside, I have found that Firefox's SQLite manager add-on is a handy tool to update entried in my local db. It allows editing of all the entries in an aircraft listing before updating.