Guest Chainsaw Posted January 26, 2011 Posted January 26, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.4.4 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit the old PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Changes in this version Colour coding by altitude You can now customise aircraft symbol colours plotted on the chart according to altitude. In Options..Chart..Options, if you click on one of the FL altitude band buttons, you can now choose a symbol colour as well as the range of altitudes. Note that the user-defined colour is over-ridden by any source-specific symbols colours. Thus ACARS plots will still be red, HFDL plots will still be magenta, plots that are timing out will still be orange. Only if the symbol was otherwise going to be the default Mode-S yellow, will the user-defined colour for that altitude band be used instead. Alert on share code There is an additional option in the Alert on..Match dialog to generate an alert on a specified share code. Unlike the other options in this dialog, wildcards are not permitted (because it would hardly be useful in this context and because of confusion with the "own code" asterisk). The match with the specified share code is sought in the sharer string. Note that since only the most recent five sharers are listed in the sharer string, if an aircraft is being received by more than five users, alerts may not be generated for such aircraft. Rotatable charts, maps, images and outlines In response to overwhelming public demand (9 posts in favour, 6 neutral posts, 2685 expressing no preference at all, making a massive 0.33% demand amongst users), I have implemented the option to rotate charts, maps, satellite images and outlines by a user-defined angle. In fact, it was Dave R's comment about Spatial Orientation Deficiency Syndrome (no acronym) that tipped the balance in favour of adding the feature. As the Help file notes, COAA accepts no responsibility for any adverse reaction, such as nausea, provoked by viewing familar landforms at an unfamiliar angle. There are some considerations to bear in mind. The rotation algorithm produces a new image that encloses the entire original image after rotation. It is therefore larger than the original. As a result, when the angle of rotation is close to 45, 135, 225 or 315 degrees, the dimensions of a square image, for example, become root-two larger on each side, making the number of pixels double the original number. If you try to rotate a large chart by any angle near to those values, it may then exceed the memory capacity of your machine or provoke sluggish behaviour. If this happens, use a smaller chart or stick to rotations that are multiples of 90 degrees, such as zero. Charts (including OSM maps) are rotated intact as images. Therefore any annotations on the chart will be rotated accordingly becoming difficult to read. Obviously, if you rotate a chart, you will also have great difficulty in conceptualising monitored ATC instructions for an aircraft to take up a particular heading, for example. My recommendation is to stick with North Up charts and to press F11 if you want to match your outside sky view with the PlanePlotter display. Other changes in this version PP now remembers the last chart coordinates between sessions, even if PP is closed (and subsequently re-opened) in MySky and View..Aircraft screens. This means that sharing will resume with the same notional geographical boundaries when PP restarts. Mlat processing has been modified to remove a potential vulnerability to changing the designated aircraft during the final stages of the Mlat analysis. A bug whereby repeated loading of charts using polynomial calibration caused a progressive creep in viewing position, has been fixed. Thanks to David T for suggesting a kludge to facilitate backward compatibilty with this change. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.4.8 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Changes in version 5.5.4.7 (not publicised) Adds peer-to-peer output in PGR/AVR reception. Fixes a handle leak in multiple GPX overlay plotting. Changes in version 5.5.4.8 (this release) New feature - built-in flight deck view This version introduces to ability to view the currently selected chart from the perspective of the flight deck of a selected aircraft. This is somewhat similar to the existing Google-Earth flight deck view but uses the current chart as the base map and does not require G-E to be installed and connected to the Internet. To use the feature, right click on the chosen aircraft, enable Flight Deck View in the pop up dialog, and then on the main menu bar, select View..Flight Deck View. You can also press keys "f" and "c" to switch between the flight deck view and the chart view. There are a couple of caveats. The flight deck view is computationally rather expensive. If you have plenty of CPU power to spare, it will work smoothly. If not, it may produce sluggish behaviour or even lock up completely. To reduce the load, use a small chart (eg, OSM rather than Ctrl-OSM) or even reduce the size of the PP window before you press OSM to get an even smaller chart. Small chart = less processing. The foreground in the perspective view is relatively close to the aircraft, especially if it is on final approach. Normally you might view a chart as if it was seen from hundreds of km above the ground. From the flight deck on finals, it will only be a few hundred metres away. A typical chart will therefore look very pixellated in the perspective view - especially on approach. The solution is to use a chart covering a much smaller area than you might normally use, (eg an airfield diagram) so that there is plenty of fine detail when seen from close up. Bear in mind that the perspective view is that of the current chart, you can change or create (OSM) charts that are most suitable for the view from the current aircraft of interest. For example, if you are in range of landing aircraft, you might want to use a chart that shows only the immediate environs of the runway to give you maximum detail. Additional accelerator keys As noted the "f" key displays the flight deck view if you have ticked that option for a particular aircraft. The "c" button shows the current chart. The "o" button generates a new outline for the current display area. The "i" key shows only the "Interested" aircraft on the current chart. Bug fixes This version fixes a bug in the position decoding from receivers with a low level interface (PGR, AVR, SSRx) when an aircraft transitions from airborne position reports to surface position reports. This version renders the registration number extension feature, proof against the ABCD buttons. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted February 21, 2011 Posted February 21, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.4.9 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com Warning: Read all of this before installing. ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Changes in version 5.5.4.9 Quick Charts label colours Each Quick Chart button now stores its own settings for the "own" and "shared" chart label colours. This means that you can have a dark coloured label for charts with light backgrounds and light coloured labels for outlines with a dark background. Warning: When you install this version, all ten Quick buttons will initially default to black labelling until you redefine each one with the colours of your choice. This is a chore but there is no way to guess what is the right label colour for each chart or outline. Once you have done it, you will not have to do it again - unless, of course, you make injudicious use of the ABCD buttons. Accelerator keys "i" is now "Chart Interested only" (was Chart Alerts in error) "l" (lima) is now "Chart Alerts only" Flight Deck View The viewing altitude in Flight Deck View is now corrected by the QNH if you have set an appropriate Transition Level. Bugs fixes The callsign field in the BS-style log file from PGR/AVR/RxC/SSRx now records the flight number instead of the registration. Flight deck views of outlines now work as intended. A bug on switching from outline to flight deck to chart has been fixed. The Lite versions' menus will now be displayed as intended. Regards Bev COAA
john roe Posted February 22, 2011 Posted February 22, 2011 V 5.5.4.9a ,...cheers --------------------------
Guest Chainsaw Posted March 4, 2011 Posted March 4, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.5 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Auto Sort The only new feature is the Auto Sort option in the View menu pulldown. If enabled, this repeats the last sorting option at regular intervals. Please note that can be very processor intensive, especially if you have lots of active aircraft. If you find that the program becomes sluggish or stalls altogether, disable this option. The other changes in this version are mainly bug fixes. The flight deck view now correctly handles views based on charts that were originally rotated (not having North at the top). Previously, there was an implicit assumption that all charts had North at the top. The "i" key (india) now toggles the display of "Interested" aircraft in either the View..Chart screen or the View..Aircraft screen. Previously it only affected the Chart View. Mlat hex code sensitivity This version fixes a long standing bug in which certain hex codes gave unpredictable results when they were the subject of multilateration. ***It is highly recommended that all Ground Stations and Master Users adopt this version, to end erratic Mlats on some hex codes.*** Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted March 4, 2011 Posted March 4, 2011 Hi, There are a couple of useful hints and tips to pass on in relation to the Flight Deck View feature. As already mentioned, the effective viewing height of a chart seen from the flight deck is very much less than the normal view that you would have in Chart View, which is more "ISS view" than "Bird´s eye view". Accordingly, to avoid a very pixellated screen, charts used as the basis of the Flight Deck View should be created to cover a much smaller area than you would expect to employ for normal chart use. The manipulation of the chart into the Flight Deck perspective is very processor intensive. If you find that selecting this view makes your machine run sluggishly, try using a smaller chart area. You can create smaller OSM maps and satellite images by reducing the overall size of the PlanePlotter main window before you generate the maps/images. If you are interested in the Flight Deck View on approach and landing (my personal favourite), then unless the airport in question is close to sea-level, you will get the best results by setting the "QNH" value in Options..Chart..Options to the current QFE for the airport, so that the display height is above ground level and not altitude above the ISA datum. You will also need to ensure that the Transition Level in Options..Chart..Options is high enough for the pressure correction to be applied. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.5.2 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- New in this version View..Vignette window From the Help file: The vignette window is a small sample of the main chart or outline display which is superimposed on the main window. View..Vignette window..Toggle vignette window This option toggles the vignette window. The keyboard shortcut 'v' (lower case victor) has the same effect. The first time that you invoke this option, it will capture the area of the current chart that underlies the present position of the window. Thereafter the option simply opens and closes the window with the same sample of the main window. Initially, the window is placed near the centre of the current chart. You can drag it and resize it as required. Once the vignette has captured the underlying chart or outline, you can then change the primary chart and the vignette window will continue to display the selected area. View..Vignette window..Define vignette window This option captures a new area of the current underlying chart or outline. The keyboard shortcut 'V' (uppercase Victor) has the same effect. To redefine the area and appearance (chart or outline) shown within the vignette window, firstly adjust the main window to show the area required, position the vignette window over the area of interest and then press 'V'. The vignette window will capture the area of the main chart or outline underlying the vignette window. Once that is done, you can move the vignette window around and you are free to change the main display as required. Notes: A typical application for the vignette is to display a larger scale view of some congested area within the main chart/outline. The main chart/outline and the vignette can be of different types (chart or outline) and at different scales. Adjust your main display to show the area required for the vignette, drag the vignette window over the required area and then press 'V' to close and reopen the vignette with the new area. Once you have created the vignette, you are free to change the main display subject to the following constraints. Traffic on the vignette is only updated if it is received locally or if the vignette area forms part of the primary chart or outline. Data from the sharing system only covers the area of the primary chart/outline and so if the area of the vignette is not part of the primary display (or received locally), it will not be refreshed. The vignette does not show contrails, range rings, gpx overlays or permanent trails; its content cannot be dragged or zoomed; it does not respoind to mouse-over clicks. Be aware that adding an extra window to the display inevitably increases the processor load to a significant extent. If you find that it overloads your processing resources (eg. sluggish beahviour), then close the vignette window. Support upload To try to reduce the amount of time spent asking for more details in order to fix users' problems, PP now has the ability for users to upload their settings to the server. Please only use this feature when asked. The option uploads screen grabs of the I/O settings dialog, the Sharing Setup dialog, the Chart Options dialog and a list of PlanePlotter directories that you have defined and IP addresses for data access. Before the screen grabs are taken, PP is maximised so nothing else on your desktop is captured. It also uploads a catalogue of chart files in the defined chart directory to help to resolve outline issues. It does not upload any other information and you can see all the information sent, including the screen grabs, in the log files directory. Once again, please only use this feature when asked. It is to assist in resolving problems without recourse to TeamViewer etc. If you dislike the idea of using the feature, simply avoid Help..Upload settings. Bug fix The criterion for displaying only alerted aircraft on the Chart and Aircraft screens has been changed to prevent non-alerted aircraft from appearing if they happen to share some of an alerted aircraft's attributes. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Glenn Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Now I have my new laptop, looks like I will have to put PP on it. Will have a look later if I get time
Uncle Chop Chop Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Great NEWS Chainy! I'll download it straight away!
Guest Chainsaw Posted March 29, 2011 Posted March 29, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.5.4 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com This is the first version to be simultaneously released in English and French versions. Thanks to François F5ANN for his near real-time translation. ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- New in this version (From the Help file) View..Profile window The profile window shows the vertical history (profile) of any current aircraft with the Interested flag set. This option toggles the profile window. The keyboard shortcut 'p' (lower case papa) has the same effect. Initially, the window is placed near the centre of the current chart. You can drag it and resize it as required. The window shows the vertical history from ground level to FL200 vertically and over the last ten minutes horizontally. The window plots the vertical component of the contrail history. Accordingly, the resolution of the horizontal axis depends on the time span and number of data points in the contrail history defined in Options..Chart..Options. The optimum settings for this purpose would be a length of 600 seconds (ten minutes) and 50 steps (the maximum). Note that this feature will work with any Mode-S aircraft, regardless of whether it is full ADS-B, provided that it is being interrogated for altitude. The windows only shows aircraft with the Interested flag set. To see a particular aircraft, or set of aircraft, control right click on the aircraft in the Aircraft View list, in the Airrep dialog select Edit and in the pop up dialog, check the "Interested" option. Click OK; click OK and the aircraft's profile will be displayed. A typical application for this feature is to display the progress of a parachuting aircraft (as shown above [in the Help file]) as it repeatedly climbs and descends. Other changes The three optional windows ("a", "v", "p") now have an optional Z order. For each one, you can specify whether or not they stay on top of all other windows or whether they are subject to the normal window Z ordering. Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted April 13, 2011 Posted April 13, 2011 Hi, Version 5.5.5.5 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com This version is released simultaneously in English and French versions. Thanks to François F5ANN for his near real-time translation. ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- There are a number of minor additions in this release. A brief summary follows. Further details are to be found in the Help file. A new menu option under Options..Script to download the latest sharerlocations.txt file. The accelerator key "d" has the same effect. The file is used in the Circles method. If you have a personalised copy of this file, avoid the "d" key as it will overwrite the file without asking for confirmation. Note that as the file is saved in the application directory, the option will fail if you have installed the program in the C:\Program files\ path and you are using Vista or Win7. A new menu option under Options..Script to download the latest nattracks.gpx file. The accelerator key "t" has the same effect. The file is a GPX overlay showing the daily North Atlantic Tracks and is mainly of interest to HFDL users. You need separately to enable the GPX file in order for it to be displayed on your chart or outline. Options..Chart..GPX. The Auto Sort option now continues to sort the aircraft "a" list even if the main window is showing a chart or outline. This change will increase the processor load if you have a chart and the "a" window open togteher and also enable Auto Sort. If your processor is struggling, turn of Auto Sort. You can now select from up to 50 soundcards for ACARS, DF or Selcal decoding, rather than the previous maximum of four. The position of the Alert window is now preserved from session to session. This version notifies the server if you are displaying a chart with the F10 (Mlat only) filter selected. In that case, it downloads only Mlats and candidate "position-less" aircraft. This cuts down on the downloaded data volume saving you bandwidth and also reduces the chance of you getting snared by the data throttling when downloading a large area. This version relaxes the criteria for a successful Auto Mlat when the "Suspend 5km rule" has been applied in Options..Sharing..Setup. This version adds provision for possible future Mode-A/C support. At this stage there is nothing to see for this feature. Bev COAA
Guest Darren Masters Posted April 14, 2011 Posted April 14, 2011 Chainy, I am using mine with my Micro-ADSB reciever I bought. Best thing I ever bought, well, apart from Plane Plotter. Here are some screen shots. That and running ACARSD and I have it well and truly covered!
Guest Chainsaw Posted April 27, 2011 Posted April 27, 2011 Version 5.5.5.6 of PlanePlotter is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com This version is released simultaneously in English and French versions. Thanks to François F5ANN for his near real-time translation. ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. If you don't like this version, you have no cause for complaint, simply go back to the version that you did like. It is still on the web site. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version. You can install the new version over the old one but you must close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- New features Support for microADSB This version sets the mode of a microADSB to deliver time tags suitable for being a Ground Station, even with version 6 of the firmware. Anxieties about the time tag have been allayed. The microADSB gives good raw data with this version of PP. Satellites in MySky after dark This version adds the ability to plot Earth satellites on the MySky screen after sunset. You need a TLE file of satellite elements and there is an option to download the "visual.txt" file from Dr Kelso's Celestrak site under Options..Chart..Satellites. Because orbits change, you need to update the file regularly. Read the Help file for full details. Wind window Pressing "W" (Big W) opens a window in which the upper wind is estimated based on the observed ground speeds of aircraft going in different directions. Read the Help file for detailed information on how to optimise and interpret this information. HFDL extras If you are displaying HFDL plots with a local HF receiver, PP will now display, on the chart, the HFDL base stations, the current frequencies and the current station being monitored. There are subtleties associated with the pchfdl.txt file that PC-HFDL uses to name the base stations. Read the Help file to get this right. Colour changes The ring around a Designated aircraft now uses the colour specified for a Routepoint, to distinguish it from any alerted aircraft, which are ringed with the colour specified for Waypoints. Both colours are user defined. Report SQB changes There is a new option in Files..Report..Setup which allows you to specify that only locally received aircraft are recorded in the first/last database and in the regular text reports. Alert zone - logical AND option There is a new option under Options..Alert..Zone called "Exclusive". This changes the way that the Alert Zone works. Normally zone penetration causes an alert in addition to any alerts provoked by other settings. If you enable "Exclusive", the Alert zone is now logical-ANDed with the other alert such that the other alerts will only trigger if the target is also inside the alert zone. Be aware that non-position aircraft will obviously always fail to alert if the Exclusive option is checked. Editorial change There is more space for the designated aircraft information on the status bar. I hope that users with low resolution screens will not lose the UTC time display as a result. Bug fix Manual edits via the Airrep dialog of aircraft that were not previosuly in the SQB database are now inserted into the database. Previously, they were not. Other comments Users who precociously downloaded this version, will find that all new aircraft (local and shared) are inserted into the SQB database. The released version on the web site now, does not do this. Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted July 22, 2011 Posted July 22, 2011 Hi, Version 6.1.1.4 is on the web site now in both English and French. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PP page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Further Mlat improvements This version changes the way local data is handled when performing an Mlat. Increasing use of the high performance receivers in high traffic areas caused popular GSs to be so busy responding to data requests that there was insufficient time left to handle their own data for Mlats. That conflict is now resolved so the number of fix curves should be much higher for those busy GSs. If you are a "popular" GS, please use the new version as soon as possible. microADSB This version should resolve the formatting problem that caused some microADSB users to fail the "Check GS/MU status" test. If you are using the microADSB, please upgrade to this version as soone as possible. Window title In response to a good idea suggested here a few days ago, the PP window title now tells you what aircraft list or chart filtering options are currently applied. This should help to explain the occasional unexpected absence of plots. For example, if you select View..Chart display options..Chart designated aircraft only, it will show that in the title bar in case you forgot what you had selected. It is a cosmetic change but it may be useful is you use the display filtering options. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted August 10, 2011 Posted August 10, 2011 Hi, Version 6.1.1.5 is on the web site now in both English and French. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PP page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- This upgrade contains a few bug fixes and some minor improvements and there are some things to make user support easier but there are no major new features. If you are interested in the Beamfinder feature, the "b" screen now shows "snowflakes" without requiring an entry in radar.txt. This may help in researching the location of Mode-S radar sites. If you are interested in the Beamfinder Plus feature, this version now suspends recalculation of ping rates when logging ping rates. The previous version created ping log files that were a chimera if the loggind period was very long and the ping rates were recalculated. This obviously sabotaged efforts to locate the Mode-A/C radar site with such file. A bug in the title display after using Quick charts, has been fixed. If a designated aircraft has no known registration then the hex code is displayed in the status bar in place of the unhelpful ".NO-REG". The Help...About box now tells you the installation serial number and there is now a "Copy" button so that if I ask for the contents of the Help..About box, it will require almost no effort to provide all the required information. The ABCD buttons that cause such grief now tell you what is about to happen to all your settings - to give you a chance to think better of it. Specifically it reminds you when the restore point was saved, so that you can bear in mind changes that have happened since and are about to be discarded. SBS1 users using the UDP peer-to-peer feature should now see teh squawk codes on the client machine. Alerts now respect the altitude filters in Options..Chart..Options. The only new feature is that there is an option in the above dialog to display the User tag for each aircraft - if there is one - in the chart labels. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted September 2, 2011 Posted September 2, 2011 Hi, Version 6.1.1.7 is on the web site now in both English and French. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PP page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- microADSB microADSB users who are not configured as Ground Stations should find that the startup ritual with SW4 is no longer required. Beamfinder sharing A new checkbox in Options..Sharing..Setup allows Master Users to download Beamfinder/Beamfinder Plus fixes from other users, where these are available. Please bear in mind the caveats regarding the relative accuracy of Beamfinder fixes compared with other methods. Status bar change An extra box (visible if you have a wide enough screen) shows the current display filters and options for chart/outline and aircraft views. The appropriate shortcut key is shown, so that if you have inadvertently restricted the display in some way, it tells you which keys to press to remove the restriction. New accelerator keys Several new accelerator keys have been added: F12 toggles display of Beamfinder beams on chart P aircraft view with positions only U aircraft view without position only M aircraft view with Mlat possible only N aircraft view with Interested not set only F aircraft view with flags only A aircraft view show all aircraft Help file updates The Help file has been edited to reflect the new capability of the SBS1 regarding Mlat and, in the case of the SBS1e/er, regarding Beamfinder. Bug fix For those so inclined(*), Beamfinder beams are now correctly oriented when the a chart or outline is rotated with respect to North. Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted October 23, 2011 Posted October 23, 2011 Version 6.2.2 is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PlanePlotter web page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Signal strength For receivers yielding signal strength (currently only the Beast with the latest firmware), the signal strength value is now displayed for both Mode-S and Mode-A/C pings. A new parameter in the OLE/COM interface yields the signal strength where this is available. Beamfinder The Beamfinder beams are now reset if the designated aircraft is changed by OLE/COM. Previously they were only reset if the designated aircraft was changed manually. This means that it is now feasible to run an automated script to locate any suitable aircraft using Beamfinder without manual intervention. I will upload an example script in due course. A new parameter in the OLE/COM interface yields the radar site identifier where this is available. SQL access I have changed the way PP interfaces with the SQL databases in the hope that it will work around some coexistence issues with AD. Recover lost windows A new option Files..Recover lost windows will restore pop up windows that have been lost "off screen". Overlength registrations If PP finds registrations in the SQL database that are longer than the field allows, it will first remove decorations and space, then hyphens and finally if the length is still too great, it will trunctate the registration to fit. Previously, it ignored them. Additional audible warning PP will now use the same sound that you define for a failed Mlat, if a manual Mlat cannot even start due to lack of sufficient GS or lack of recent data. Remote control A basic remote control feature has been added to try to meet the need for an upstairs-downstairs installation without duplicating server access. This feature is intended to help with the situation where you might have a machine running PP in the attic, near to the receiver and antenna, that runs as a GS round the clock and another, more accessible installation downstairs that only runs from time to time when required. It allows you to interact with the upstairs installation including selecting displays, initiating Mlats, changing settings, etc. To get the most out of this new feature, you need to be familiar with shared folders. The feature may eventually be adapted to assist with remote support. Full details of the possibilities and limitations are to be found in the Help file but be aware that this feature is not by any means a substitute for VNC, TV etc.
Guest Chainsaw Posted December 2, 2011 Posted December 2, 2011 Hi, Version 6.2.3 is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PlanePlotter web page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Major new feature - Conditional expressions Options..Conditional expressions gives you the ability to determine which aircraft are shown on a chart or outline, which aircraft are listed on the View..aircraft or "a" window, which aircraft are sent to a log file, and which aircraft give rise an alert. You can define separate conditional expressions for each of those functions. Examples: As a topical example, if you define the chart/outline display conditional expression and the aircraft list condition expression both to be : report type not equal to 11 then the troublesome DF18 message types will simply disappear. If you want to be notified of any Hercules aircraft passing close enought to see, then you might want to set the alert conditional expression to be : range less than 10 and altitude less than 10000 and type code equal to "C130" Note that the numeric values are not enclosed in parentheses and that the text strings used for comparison must be enclosed in parentheses. A simple leading and trailing wildcard ability is supported using the symbol "%". For example, this conditional expression applied to charts/outlines will make the skies over the UK much less cluttered : flight number not equal to "EZY%" and flight number not equal to "RYR%" The "%" means that anything can follow the "EZY" or "RYR" for a match. You might want to display only traffic inbound to Manchester. Assuming that you have a well populated flightroute.sqb database using the ICAO designators for the airports, then this expression would be the answer: route equal to "%EGCC" In this case, the "%" means that anything can precede the "EGCC" in the route field but it must end with "EGCC" (the last landing point). Technical stuff The interpreter recognises the following keywords representing the corresponding parameter for each aircraft. ICAO hex code, registration, flight number, latitude, longitude, altitude, course, speed, report time, report type, share code, squawk, route, type code, vertical speed, interested, user tag, aircraft category, interrogator ID, signal strength, range, now The help file also lists three letter abbreviations for these parameters, if you want to make the expressions more compact. Some of the parameters are only available if you have a suitable receiver (vrate, signal strength). The interpreter also recognises the following operators to combine the parameters. and, or, less than, less than or equal to, greater than, greater than or equal to, not equal to, equal to, plus, minus The conventional symbols can also be used for these operators. You can use parentheses in the expressions to force the evaluation sequence. Note that comparisons must only be performed on values of the same type (numeric type equal to, less than, etc. numeric type, or text type equal to etc. text type). The Help file tells you which parameters are which. Round parentheses "( )" can be used to force the order that an expression is evaluated. Although the example conditional expressions look somewhat like plain language, don't be deceived; the syntax is just as pedantic as any other programming language. The program cannot guess what you want. You need to tell it in the right way. For example, do not include units or symbols for the comparison values. Eg "altitude less than 25000" and not "altitude less than 25000' (or ft)". The "report time" and "now" values are most conveniently used in conditions like "report time greater than now minus 300" - meaning any reports less than five minutes old. This, combined with the report type parameter now allows you to omit ACARS messages after, say, half an hour and Mode-S messages after, say, five minutes. Beware of the instinctive tendancy tacitly to assume repetition of the parameter being compared. Eg "altitude less than 20000 and more than 10000" will fail; it must be written "altitude less than 20000 and altitude more than 10000". Pedantic, isn't it? Text strings for comparison must be enclosed in double quotes and must not contain a space and must not contain the wildcard symbol "%" except intentionally at the start or end of the string as described above. The Interested tag has the value 0 for "Not interested" and the value 1 for "Interested" so you might want to use "..... and interested equal to 1" to display or alert each interest aircraft. Full details of the syntax are contained in the Help file. Most people will need to spend some time studying the documentation in order to use this feature. If you are intimidated by the technical stuff, you may find another, more technical, user could draft a suitable expression for you. Ba aware that this new feature includes a massive amount of new code and it is certain that there will be bugs in it. Please report them gently. Other new features SQB database extra Under Options..SQB database options you can now specify that any new aircraft that is added to the database, is marked with the Interested tag or with the User tag set to "new". This means that any aircraft that is new to you (that is to say, new to your database) will be identified in one of two ways that can be used to trigger alerts or to special display treatment. Vignette with GPX When you define a vignette, the stored vignette will now include the current GPX overlay. If you do not want a GPX overlay on your vignette, turn off the overlay (F8) before you define the vignette (capital V). Dockable toolbar The toolbar docking state is now stored and restored between sessions. "a" window setup The setup dialog for the "a" window (View..Aircraft data window..Setup) is now less than 600 pixels to help those with vertically challenged screen. Purely cosmetic items with no functional merit If you have your sharing set to upload only, you will not see the "No data downloaded" message in the status bar. The file name of the ping log file now contains the pulse interval for ease of identification during the analysis. Bev E&OE
Guest Chainsaw Posted December 13, 2011 Posted December 13, 2011 Hi, Version 6.2.3.5 is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PlanePlotter web page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- New feature New conditional expression for Reports "Options..Conditional expressions..Report conditional expression" allows you to compose specific conditions under which the text report and the report database, set up in Files..Report..Setup, will record aircraft data. Note that the conditions are cumulative. You must turn on the report of your choice and the data sent to the file or database will then be subject to the conditions that you specify in both the Files..Report..Setup and (that is logical and) in Options..Conditional expressions..Report conditional expression. Note that the former can, if you wish, constrain the data to refer only to local data, in which case the conditional expression will only be tested for local origin regardless of any tests that you apply to the share code parameter in the latter. Squawk code displayed in the Alert box The aircraft squawk code is now displayed in the Alert box and in the dynamic alert file that can be emailed or sent by SMS text message when an alert is triggered. Non ICAO hex codes in lower case Any hex codes obtained from DF18 messages, which are not ICAO hex codes, are now displayed in lower case. Bug fixes The "share code" parameter in conditional expressions now works as intended. Previously it was inoperative. Algorithmic conversion of Russian hex codes to their associated registrations now stops at RA-99999. Hex codes beyond RA-99999 will not be converted. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 6, 2012 Posted January 6, 2012 Hi, PlanePlotter Version 6.2.4 is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PlanePlotter web page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Summary of changes since the last general release version 6.2.3.5 (for further details see below) Support for Mode-S Beast firmware version 132 Support for Ethernet-connected Bullion Mode-S receiver Improved Message Rate window graphics Workaround for Gulfstream transponder problems Alert window customisation Conditional Expressions for MySky Chart display of ping log file contents Assorted cosmetic improvements and bug fixes Support for Mode-S Beast firmware version 132 The latest firmware for the Mode-S Beast receiver includes provision for external control of the switch settings. This version of PP supports that feature. Provided that you set the physical switches appropriately to start with, PP can now override the switch settings. "Options..Mode-S receiver..Beast..Setup initialisation" allows you to define the virtual switch settings. They are applied once only when processing starts. For full details of the significance of the switch settings, see the manufacturer's web site. Note that if you turn on FEC (SW9), PP will inhibit sharing. I think I am right in saying that if you set the receiver to binary mode (recommended), either using the physical switches or using the program, you will not be able to use the program to change the switch settings thereafter, without powering off the receiver and/or changing SW3 as appropriate. Support for Ethernet-connected Bullion Mode-S receiver A new option under "Options..Mode-S..AVR receiver..Setup TCP client" allows you to define the IP address and port of the new Ethernet-connected Bullion receiver. Improved Message Rate window graphics The Message Rate window ("m") now shows the indicator needles and the text values in different colours to make it easier to distinguish Mode-S message rates and Mode-A/C message rates. Workaround for Gulfstream transponder problems PP now ignores CPR values with all zeroes. Although these values are legitimate coordinate codes, decoding is supressed to eliminate the false plots that arise from some Gulfstream aircraft with disfunctional transponders. Alert window customisation You can now define what information is displayed in an Alert box using "Options..Alert..Alert fields". The information will be displayed in the alert pop up window and also in the alertmessage.txt file that can be emailed or sent by SMS if you use the Alert Shell feature. You can also define the font used by the pop-up window using "Options..Fonts..Alert window text". Using a fixed-pitch font such as "Courier New" or "Lucinda Console" will ensure that the columns line up making it easier to read and interpret. The window also now shows (in square brackets before the time tag) a short code identifying the origin of the alert. The tags should be self explanatory (eg "hex", "reg", "flt", etc.). Conditional Expressions for MySky A new condition expression under "Options..Conditional expressions..My Sky" allows you to customise which aircraft are displayed on the My Sky screen. For example, you might specify a condex that only shows aircraft within a certain radius of your location. Display of ping log file contents "Tools..Radar site analysis..Display ping log file" allows you to visualise the area coverage of the data stored in the optional ping log fies. This may help you to infer the location of the radar sites and is an alternative to setting permanent trails for each IID or ping interval. Expandable "u" and "Shift-C" windows Left clicking on the "u" or "Shift-C" windows toggles between their regular size and an expanded range up to 28000 us in the case of the "u" window and 65000 feet in the case of the "Shift-C" window. The processing and display of ping intervals can now handle intervals up to 28000 us. Assorted cosmetic improvements and bug fixes The "u" and "Shift-C" windows are cleared on opening so you no longer see the pattern from an earlier display. The "Shift-C" window displays the Mode-C dots more conspicuously in situations of low traffic or few pings. The report type is refreshed every message to avoid the previous situation where a TIS-B target became a regular ADS-B target but retained its TIS-B type code. PP no longer attempts a hex-to-registration conversion for messages where the hex code is defined as being non-ICAO. If enabled, the radar site IID is only displayed for aircraft that are currently being received locally. If aircraft move out of range, but are still displayed via sharing, they will not persist in displaying the former IID. A bug whereby non-ICAO TIS-B reports (lower case hex codes) failed to work correctly when the Flags feature was in use, has been fixed. The "Options..Font..View aircraft list" option has been restored. The log file recording for the Mode-S Beast has been made more efficient. Previously, at very high message rates, the recording caused PP to become sluggish or hang. The new recording method should allow recordings to be made at much higher message rates. PP will now save a binary log file if the Mode-S Beast is put into binary mode and log saving is enabled. Previously no file was written with that combination. Finally, at the request of several users, the order of some of the longer drop-down menus has been made alphabetical. I know from painful experience that PP users hate change as much as "nature abhors a vacuum" (reportedly) so any displeasure at this particular change should be directed at those who requested it and not at me. There have been many code changes in this version so it is certain that some new bugs will have crept in. Feel free to report them gently. If you dislike this version, the old one is still on the web site. Regards Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Hi, PlanePlotter Version 6.2.4.2 is on the web site now. http://www.planeplotter.com ---Usual boilerplate--- Updates are free to registered users. You may need to exercise your browser Refresh function to force it to show you the new version of the PlanePlotter web page. You can install the new version over the old one but you *must* close/exit PlanePlotter before installing the new one. Your settings will be preserved. If you have a version-specific firewall (eg Zone Alarm), you may have to reassure it that the new version is permitted to access the Internet. ----------- Photographic background for MySky You can use a JPG or BMP photograph of your actual sky view as the background to the MySky display. Study the Help file to learn how to use a photograph or panorama in this way. Conditional expression quick keys The keyboard keys '1' to '9' and '0' can be used to invoke one of ten predefined conditional expressions, which you compose in a simple text file called 'condex.txt'. The ten numeric keys retrieve the condex contained in the corresponding line of the text file ('0' = 10th line). Study the Help file to understand how to tell PP which function eack quick key applies to. AVI recording You can now define the frame interval and the frame rate for AVI recordings of the PP window. Options..Graphics output..AVI..Setup. Beast/AVR file replay The file that is captured if you enable Log Mode-S(bin) when using the Beast or other AVR receiver, can now be replayed under the Review menu. It works with either the AVR format or the full binary format from the Beast. Multiple GPX overlays In addition to the existing options of a single GPX or all GPX files in the chart directory, you can now selectively enable multiple GPX files as an overlay on the chart or outline display. OLE/COM additions The various OLE/COM methods that retrieve parameters can now accept the parameter value 98, which returns all of the parameters for the selected aircraft in one long string. Note that the content of this string may change if further items are added. Assorted bugs and cosmetic changes Show check mark against Tools..Analyse..Display ping log file, when that option is enabled. Options..Alert..Fields now includes the time tag so you can choose to omit that information from the Alert window. Alert window now expresses the altitude (if enabled) in conformity with the specified Transition level (feet below and FL above). The two needles on the message rate meter have changed colour again. The Files..Report..Setup now includes the "Interested", "User-tag", "Category" and "Signal" as additional options for inclusion in the text report. Bev COAA
Guest Chainsaw Posted January 13, 2012 Posted January 13, 2012 Gday CFI, Trust you are well. It does work fine. I've been using it for years. All the other sharers around Oz have no issue either. Is it a prob you have with setup or something you have heard?
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