Why can't I share? Internet access is required Accurate PC time is required FAQs Can anyone see my data? Why do I not see shared data? What is my share code? Are there any rules or conventions about what the second character may be? Is there a list of existing sharers, so that I can choose a unique ID? How much bandwidth does sharing take? How can I upload positionless data?

Why can't I share?

 

Internet access is required

 

Plane Plotter will require access to the Internet to be able to share.  Therefore you will need to enable the program in your firewall.

 

 

Accurate PC time is required

 

If the clock on your PC isn't correctly set, or if the Time Zone is incorrect, the sharing server may reject your data. 

 

Time Settings required for your PC

 

Draft information, subject to correction.  Please check this!

 

The time shown on Plane Plotter and Ship Plotter (in the bottom right corner) is UTC, which does not alter between summer and winter.  There is nothing to "set" or "unset" when the clocks change.

 

For correct operation use one of the following methods:

1. Set your PC so that is it always works in UTC.  Set the PC time to UTC, and the time zone to Casablanca, Monrovia, Reykjavik using the Control Panel, Regional settings (Clock, Language and Region, Date and Time in Vista).  There is no summer time adjustment required.
2. Set your PC to the correct time zone, correct local time, and correct daylight savings time enable.  This way, the PC will keep UTC internally (both Windows and various other operating systems do this), but PC programs will display the local time to you.  Plane and Ship Plotter will continue to display UTC.

 

You may wish to use software like NTP to keep your PC's time accurately synced.  Click here to download NTP.

 

FAQs

 

Can anyone see my data?

 

People often ask: Is my data getting to the shared server? Even if you set up a second PC to download from the server, there can sometimes be so many plots that yours are difficult to see, particularly if others are covering your area.  There are two ways to check:

 

• Bev has provided a program called PPuser which helps you check this. Download the PPuser.exe file from the Yahoo PP files area.
• Alternatively: access the URL: http://www.coaa.co.uk/planeusers.php?serial=PPnnnn, where nnnn is your Plane Plotter Serial number.

• Why isn't all my data shared?  Only your data which contains positions is shared, so the aircraft list on your Plane Plotter or BaseStation display may contain more entries than the sharing report from the tools above.  Note that from Plane Plotter V4.5 onwards, there is a new facility to share data without positions.

 

Why do I not see shared data?

 

• Not registered.  You must register before you can access the shared server.  This is in part to offset the running costs of the shared server.
• Clock wrong.  The usual reason for failure to see shared traffic is that your PC clock is wrong.  Check the displayed time, the date, the daylight saving setting and the time zone setting.  If your screen is wide enough, check the UTC time display in the bottom right corner of the PlanePlotter window.  Make sure that it shows the current UTC time.
• Wrong chart calibration.  Other possible causes are incorrect chart calibration so that the downloaded data is windowed to some meaningless place.

 

David Taylor notes: Perhaps the best timekeeping software you can get, and it's free, is NTP.  Here is a link to a Windows version, and to how it performs on my PCs.

 

 

What is my share code?

 

This is adapted from a message which was posted to the PlanePlotter Yahoo group by Dick Ware: 

 

Unless you alter it (see Options...sharing...Set-Up), you will see the code *0 when you hover your cursor over your own plots, so as to distinguish them from plots received from other sharers.  Your full code (this is the code that others will see) can be obtained from the "Help, About" menu or by clicking on the yellow question-mark ["ABOUT"] button at the top right of the toolbar, and looking at the extreme right of the top line of the pop-up window.  A typical example would be: 

 

PlanePlotter version 4.5.1 - Registered {12345}j0

 

In this case, j0 is your allocated share code and other sharers will see your traffic 'tagged' with this code.

 

Are there any rules or conventions about what the second character may be?

 

The first character is always a lower case letter.  The second character is, by default, 0 (zero) but you can change it if you wish to a letter or number; e.g jR, jQ, j7 or whatever takes your fancy (Options....sharing...setup...share identifier).  You cannot alter the first character. That is derived from the registration number.  To quote part of a message from Bev:

The registration number depends on the serial number. The serial number is a hash of a number of things that normally stay constant on any one machine but are hopefully different from machine to machine.

 

Is there a list of existing sharers, so that I can choose a unique ID?

 

You can find a list of the present sharing codes here: Yahoo PP group database.  Please note that there are two databases. The Original PP Sharers' Database covers all modes (e.g ACARS, SBS, PC-HFDL), whereas the PP SBS/RadarBox Share Code database is sorted by sharer code, making it easier to find a particular sharer or free share code.  More information in this group message.  Once you have chosen a code, be sure to register it in both databases.

 

You can see a map showing the sharers here:  http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9543/WWWR/planes  (which will need an update when Curt's normal domain is restored).

 

 

How much bandwidth does sharing take?

 

Bev wrote in recent messages on the Plane Plotter Yahoo group (message 3642) (message 6417):

 

One record for one aircraft is 105 bytes.  That corresponds to 4.5Mb per month per aircraft.  The server downloads records for all the aircraft that show on your current chart display.  If you average 10 aircraft on the screen, the monthly download would be around 35Mb.  If you average 100 aircraft, the monthly download would be around 450Mb.  Because of the way the sharing server throttles the data if you are displaying a very large area with lots of aircraft, the total is unlikely to exceed the 450Mb figure.  On the uplink it will always be less than that although I think many ISPs only meter the

downloaded data and not the uploaded data since their capacity problem is always in the downward direction.

 

Of course, if you check the Upload only option, then the download bandwidth would be negligible.

 

How can I upload positionless data?

 

Many Plane Plotter users, particularly those with an interest in General Aviation or military aircraft which may not have ADS-B, get a lot of value from sharing of positionless data, even though those aircraft can't be plotted on the Plane Plotter chart view.  To do this on your system if you are using an SBS-1 or RadarBox, be sure to use the TCP port connection.  In Plane Plotter, Options, Sharing, Setup, ensure that the box Upload positionless data is checked.

 

 

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