Why can't I share?
Registered version is required
Access to the shared server requires that you register Plane Plotter.
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, or you may get aircraft in the text list but not on the chart display. The acceptable tolerance is 15 seconds. Errors larger than this will prompt a reminder to alert you to the fact that the performance of the sharing system is being prejudiced by the clock error.
Time Settings required for your PC
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 users in the UK, UTC will be the same as wall clock time in the winter, and one hour behind wall clock time in the summer.
For correct operation use one of the following methods:
- 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.
- Set your PC to the correct time zone, correct local time, and correct daylight savings time enable. This way, the PC will run in 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. To clarify, for a UK user this means setting the time zone to "Greenwich Mean Time - Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London", checking the box which says "Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes", and then ensuring that the PC shows the same time as the wall clock.
You may wish to use software like NTP to keep your PC's time accurately synced. Click here to download NTP. Click here for how to install NTP.
Is my NTP working?
Obtain a command prompt (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt; or Windows-key-R, cmd), and enter an ntpq -p command after ntp has been running for a few minutes. Note that a space is required between the "ntpq" and the "-p". If the "reach" field is 377 for each listed server, ntp is working correctly, and the "offset" values will give you the milliseconds offset between your PC and each remote server. Here's an example showing just three servers. You can see that the PC is within 10 milliseconds of each of the servers. The "*" (asterisk) against one of the servers (the first in the list below) means that NTP is synchronised to that server, and is probably working perfectly. You should have at least one server with an asterisk against it.
There is more information about the output here: http://www.meinberg.de/english/info/ntp.htm#ntp_status
C:\>ntpq -p
remote refid st t when poll reach delay offset jitter
==============================================================================
*utserv.mcc.ac.u 193.62.22.98 2 u 570 1024 377 28.200 6.514 1.506
-linnaeus.inf.ed 129.215.64.232 3 u 855 1024 377 31.690 4.212 0.769
+mallard.zanker. 249.240.53.144 2 u 974 1024 377 35.814 0.989 0.876
Note that ntp has a maximum clock error it will correct of 500ppm (43.2 seconds per day, or 1.8s per hour), so if you see the offset gradually increasing by more than this rate you know that your PC's clock is too inaccurate to disciplined by 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 a number ways to check:
- You can see a real-time plot of UK sharers here: http://www.coaa.co.uk/pp-user-charts.htm. If you are sharing but not on that map, be sure to update to the most recent version of PlanePlotter here => Download PlanePlotter.
- 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. Your serial number is what you submitted when you registered, and is also in your registration e-mail from COAA.
- You can see what versions people are using here: http://coaa.co.uk/ppuserversions.php - be sure to use the latest version!
-
Why isn't all my data shared? From Plane Plotter V4.5 onwards, there is a new facility to share data without positions, so you should ensure that in Options, Sharing Setup you have the Upload positionless data box checked. This will help others who can use the data with add-ons such as MyCircles.
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.
- No area defined. If you have not opened a chart or outline and are displaying the View..Aircraft screen, PlanePlotter will not know your area of interest. Switch to your chart or outline and the sharing will then retrieve the data that you want to see. Then you can switch back to View..Aircraft, if you wish.
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?
Please note that with recent versions of the Plane Plotter sharing system, you cannot change your share code, so some of the informaton here is of historical interest only.
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.
Note regarding new installations (text extracted from a message from Bev).
A new installation now generates a random second sharing letter (chosen from 0-9, a-z, A-Z) to reduce the inevitability of collisions, even if users do not act to change the default code. This only affects a new installation. An existing installation will retain the code you have chosen
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
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).
Why can't I see registrations with Plane Plotter?
Since the aircraft registration does not feature in ADS-B messages, there is no registration information in the system by default.
Registration information has to be added somewhere and the final responsibility for doing that is yours, as the end user of the data. If you see NO-REG, it means that you have not done the necessary to populate a database (by importing it from a friend or from the files area, or by making 'look-up' enquiries for yourself).
If you are lucky, some of the contributors of the data that you enjoy, may have added on registration data from their own sources but the final responsibility is yours. You are the one who can fix it.
If you copy someone else's basestation.sqb, make sure that you know where you put it and tell PP where to look for it, using Options..Directories..SBS1.
Otherwise, you need an empty version of basestation.sqb (ask in the Yahoo group; as the file, even when zipped, is too big to fit into the files area) and put that somewhere suitable and tell PP where, using Options..Directories..SBS1. Once you have done that, all your registration look-ups will be saved if you check Options..Mode-S..Kinetic..Update registrations.
In both cases, if you are using Vista, make sure that the place you choose is writeable by PP. Directories in the C:\Program files\ root cannot be written although Vista may deceive you into thinking that you can by virtualising the directory.
Taken fron Bev's message to the Plane Plotter Yahoo group: message 24041
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.
Why do I download so few planes, or fewer planes than before?
It may be that in the area you have specified for the chart, there are few planes broadcasting position data - it is not equally used in all parts of the world. It may also be that you are downloading positionless data (see: Options, Sharing, Setup), and this will count against your download quota on the server. Either uncheck "Download positionless" if you don't need the data, or wait a little longer for the server to send you all the aircraft visible in your selected region. Please note: uploading positionless data costs you nothing, and is very helpful to others. Please don't switch off positionless uploads.
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