Talk:ACARS

Untitled

I would like to add some more information on the uses of ACARS, including for air traffic services, and some references to specifications that define the ACARS protocols. 68.35.80.120 14:04, 11 September 2005 (UTC) Aarky

I'm not real happy about pointing to the ARINC store for references to Standards and Characteristics. This is not a commercial site, but they do charge for copies of the documents. I'm not aware of a link to the contents of these standards. At least on the ARINC page you can see the titles of the various standards. Aarky 16:27, 11 September 2005 (UTC)Aarky

Technical details

It would be interesting and I think highly appropriate for a Wikipedia article, to have some technical details regarding the physical layer of the data links - data modes, frequencies, how links are negotiated (especially on HF), network of ground stations, etc. Right now I think the article sounds a bit like a sales brochure, rather than a reference. Comments? --Dsandlund (talk) 09:20, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

I agree, I came to this page expecting to find frequencies used, but there is not a single word mentioned about it. Jahibadkaret (talk) 20:19, 7 July 2017 (UTC)

Example messages etc

Further discussion regarding ACARS, along with example messages, software reviews etc is available at ACARS Online

Link appears to be dead. --Dsandlund (talk) 09:21, 4 May 2011 (UTC)

The 1960s

The novel "Airport" by Arthur Hailey (1967) makes reference to a SELCAL system (depicted in the 1970 movie to show the alert about Mrs. Quonsett and then a second alert about D.O. Guerrero), that allows an individual aircraft to be signalled so that a private message can be transmitted without other aircraft being allowed. Is this a precursor to the ACARS system? I assume it used some of the same technology as VHF mobile telephone selective call signalling systems: the aircraft's "phone number" was dialed on a frequency, and the aircraft compared the incoming number to the one in its own memory circuit; if it matched, it signaled with a bell or other such device, and presumably signaled the ground that it was aware of the page.

Did each airline have its own frequency, or was it a common frequency that protocol did not allow an airliner to listen into unless it was signalled to listen? GBC (talk) 11:48, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

My memory of how it worked before they installed ACARS, was that the company could call us anytime during a flight, by triggering our cellcall (like a ringing phone, except it was a two tone chime, matched with a light on the radio panel). Each airplane had its own unique cellcall number (the tail registration number), so that no other planes would hear their cellcalls ring too.

When we received a cellcall, we then consulted our navigation maps to find the proper ARINC frequency for our area, dialed that in on the #2 Comm Radio and then transmitted to the ARINC operator, that we were standing by for their message. Pretty much the same overwater, except that it would all be done on our HF radios, instead of the VHF radios used overland.

Any other plane could listen in to hear our transmission to ARINC, as well as to any message that ARINC gave us, if they had their radios tuned to the same frequency at that time. If we forgot to give ARINC our "off report" (The time we blocked out, the time of takeoff and the block fuel), we would soon receive a cellcall from ARINC, and the operator would ask us for that information, after we responded to that cellcall.

After they installed the ACARS units, those off and on reports were transmitted automatically to ARINC, without any pilot action being required. EditorASC (talk) 08:10, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Too Technical?

I disagree that the article should be labeled "too technical" under improvements needed. ACARS is a highly specialized aviation system and requires a technical writeup of at least this amount of detail. The first sentence summarizes the article nicely enough for the non-technical reader.

If anything, I would like to see it more clearly stated what frequency the ACARS system is using, and its relationship to ADS/B. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.244.11.5 (talk) 12:27, 11 March 2014 (UTC)

History of ACARS

This statement is not true: "Prior to the introduction of datalink in aviation, all communication between the aircraft and ground personnel was performed by the flight crew using voice communication, using either VHF or HF voice radios".

Morse code was used for communication between aircraft and ground personnel in the early years of aviation; e.g., "In aviation, Morse code in radio systems started to be used on a regular basis in the 1920s" (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morse_code#Development_and_history). 173.10.74.81 (talk) 08:54, 30 December 2014 (UTC)

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which lead to three emergency landings??????

Come on people. The plane did not perform a three emergency landings. YOU ARE WRONG.

please try again & do it right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Claustro123 (talk • contribs) 18:32, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

The reference given in the article ( http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/egyptair-ms804-doomed-plane-made-3-emergency-landings-day-before-crash-reports-france-3-tv-1563285 ) disagrees with you. In 3 separate instances in the 24 hours before the crash, the plane had to make an emergency landing. Each time the plane was given the go ahead to proceed to the next destination. You will need to given some evidence of your view if you want us to take you seriously.  Stepho  talk  23:52, 30 January 2017 (UTC)

What does the example message mean?

May somebody knowledgeable in aviation add a piece-by-piece clarification of "/KLAX.TI2/024KLAXA91A1" to the article? KLAX is all that I could parse from it. @Ke6jjj, do you happen to know? Ursus arctos californicus (talk) 01:07, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi, @Ursus arctos californicus! It will take me a while to research this. I do have one of the ARINC specifications for the protocol, but I'm not sure it's the right one for this question. I'm excited to look into it, though. Ke6jjj (talk) 05:20, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

The first step in decoding this message is recognizing that the message label -- "B9" -- is a "Request ATIS information" message. In less formal speak, that means that the pilots of the aircraft in question (B-18722) appear to be sending a request for the most recent weather observations at an airport. Given that we see "KLAX" in the message body, I think it's safe to assume that they're requesting the most recent observation at KLAX, which is more colloquially known as "LAX", the Los Angeles International Airport. Ke6jjj (talk) 05:26, 19 June 2024 (UTC)

Aha. As for "TI2/024" and "A91A1": do they have to do with the aircraft's most recent information? Wild guess. Ursus arctos californicus (talk) 19:33, 19 June 2024 (UTC)