Which airport file to choose?

[Soartech]

I am looking at the files available for download on soaringweb.org. Specifically these for central Florida: http://soaringweb.org/TP/Seminole
I use XCsoar/Top Hat and I want to download the file that will show me an airport's radio frequency when I touch the airport symbol on the map. In the past I have been out on course getting low and looking at an airport and the info file did not show the frequency. So which of the many files here should I pick? Thanks!

[[email protected]]

On Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 4:37:40 PM UTC-4, Soartech wrote:
> I am looking at the files available for download on soaringweb.org. Specifically these for central Florida: http://soaringweb.org/TP/Seminole
> I use XCsoar/Top Hat and I want to download the file that will show me an airport's radio frequency when I touch the airport symbol on the map. In the past I have been out on course getting low and looking at an airport and the info file did not show the frequency. So which of the many files here should I pick? Thanks!

For Tophat I use the SeeYou (.cup) file format. I assume the same would work for XCsoar. It is a plain text file and you can view it (and edit it) in any text editor (such as Wordpad on a Windows PC). You can see it in text form right in your browser here: http://soaringweb.org/TP/Seminole/seminl9a.cup.txt
(You can then save it and rename seminl9a.cup - and then you can still ask Wordpad to open it.)

If you look inside that file you will see entries like this:

"Seminole Lake","6FL0",US,2824.100N,08150.300W,120ft,2,180,3000ft,,"Turn Point, #34, Private, 6FL0, 18/36 Turf, RW width: 200"

- the last field is for comments. (That is what's following the last comma, "Turn Point... - the quotes are optional but you need them if there are commas inside the field as in this case.) You can put anything you want there, including the radio frequency, but keep the whole comment short (what's in the example above is fairly long) because some glide-computer software will only show that much of it.

Furthermore, there is a field specifically for the radio frequency, and your glide-computer software may show it in a dedicated slot in the display of the waypoint details. E.g., from the same file:

"Plant City","PCM",US,2800.000N,08209.900W,153ft,5,099,3950ft,123.05 0,"PCM, 10/28 Paved, RW width: 75, UNICOM: 123.05, Fuel: 100LL"

- the radio frequency (123.050) follows the runway length (3950ft). (In this case it is ALSO entered as part of the comments field.) Missing entries show as consecutive commas, e.g., in the Seminole Lake entry quoted above, there are two commas after the runway length of 3000ft. You can add the frequency yourself between those commas.

Yes this means manual touching up of the data. It's convenient to download a pre-made file, but I maintain my own copy, since I eventually learn that so-and-so airstrip is now a strip-mall, or is too narrow for gliders, etc. So I delete some points, add comments to others, etc. I also add new waypoints that help me define my own tasks.

[Ron Gleason]

On Thursday, 28 March 2019 14:37:40 UTC-6, Soartech wrote:
> I am looking at the files available for download on soaringweb.org. Specifically these for central Florida: http://soaringweb.org/TP/Seminole
> I use XCsoar/Top Hat and I want to download the file that will show me an airport's radio frequency when I touch the airport symbol on the map. In the past I have been out on course getting low and looking at an airport and the info file did not show the frequency. So which of the many files here should I pick? Thanks!

Check out Lynn Alley's great site for building flight computer databases, including radio frequencies

http://soaringdata.info

[2KA]

Hi Moshe,

You don't even have to edit the file manually to add the frequency data in the right field. Just upload it to my website at http://www.soaringdata.info and it will fill in all the radio frequencies for you, using current FAA data. It will also update any other info, like runway dimensions.

Lynn Alley
"2KA"

[[email protected]]

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 11:32:34 AM UTC-4, 2KA wrote:
> Hi Moshe,
>
> You don't even have to edit the file manually to add the frequency data in the right field. Just upload it to my website at http://www.soaringdata.info and it will fill in all the radio frequencies for you, using current FAA data. It will also update any other info, like runway dimensions.
>
> Lynn Alley
> "2KA"

Thanks Lynn. Does it match them up by the airport ID? Note that the IDs of some small airstrips around here have changed in recent years, so an old turnpoints file may not match all of them up. OTOH such small airstrips don't generally have their own frequencies different from the default. Also your website function will add the airports with new IDs as if they are missing in the original?

[2KA]

It matches by airport ID, and then verifies by location. Any discrepancies are noted in an accompanying log file. If an ID changes, it will be automatically updated. Yes, new airstrips will be added and closed ones deleted (actually changed to type "Unknown"). Enable that by selecting the option to compute a bounding polygon for adding airports.

The radio frequency will be the one listed in the official FAA data for the airport, whatever that is. Many private airports don't have one, but most public ones do.

Give it a shot. Just follow the link from the airports tab on my site, and upload your file using the Browse button on row 2 of the form. Type "Soar" in the box on row 5, and then submit. That's all there is to it, although you can play with options to get different levels of comment detail, do translations to other formats, get companion airspace files, etc, etc. Like everything on my site, it is all free.

L.

[[email protected]]

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 2:10:31 PM UTC-4, 2KA wrote:
> It matches by airport ID, and then verifies by location. Any discrepancies are noted in an accompanying log file. If an ID changes, it will be automatically updated. Yes, new airstrips will be added and closed ones deleted (actually changed to type "Unknown"). Enable that by selecting the option to compute a bounding polygon for adding airports.
>
> The radio frequency will be the one listed in the official FAA data for the airport, whatever that is. Many private airports don't have one, but most public ones do.
>
> Give it a shot. Just follow the link from the airports tab on my site, and upload your file using the Browse button on row 2 of the form. Type "Soar" in the box on row 5, and then submit. That's all there is to it, although you can play with options to get different levels of comment detail, do translations to other formats, get companion airspace files, etc, etc. Like everything on my site, it is all free.
>
> L.

You offer a great free service, Lynn. Thanks. In the case of the airports list though, if I delete an airstrip from my file (for example because I've learned that it's only mowed 25 feet wide), can I prevent it from being re-entered by your site from the FAA data? It may be a fine airstrip for airplanes but not safe for gliders.

[JS[_5_]]

On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 11:20:51 AM UTC-7, wrote:
> On Friday, March 29, 2019 at 2:10:31 PM UTC-4, 2KA wrote:
> > It matches by airport ID, and then verifies by location. Any discrepancies are noted in an accompanying log file. If an ID changes, it will be automatically updated. Yes, new airstrips will be added and closed ones deleted (actually changed to type "Unknown"). Enable that by selecting the option to compute a bounding polygon for adding airports.
> >
> > The radio frequency will be the one listed in the official FAA data for the airport, whatever that is. Many private airports don't have one, but most public ones do.
> >
> > Give it a shot. Just follow the link from the airports tab on my site, and upload your file using the Browse button on row 2 of the form. Type "Soar" in the box on row 5, and then submit. That's all there is to it, although you can play with options to get different levels of comment detail, do translations to other formats, get companion airspace files, etc, etc. Like everything on my site, it is all free.
> >
> > L.
>
> You offer a great free service, Lynn. Thanks. In the case of the airports list though, if I delete an airstrip from my file (for example because I've learned that it's only mowed 25 feet wide), can I prevent it from being re-entered by your site from the FAA data? It may be a fine airstrip for airplanes but not safe for gliders.

Yes. Choose "do not add other airports..."
Make sure that anything that is labeled airport is in the FAA database, therwise it can change designation. Easiest way is to review the log file after downloading, and look for errors or remarks.
While you're at it get the KML file to view on Google Earth, a great overview of the database.
Jim

[JS[_5_]]

Feel free to click the link called Donate.
A great resource.
Jim

[2KA]

Moshe,

There are actually a couple of ways of doing this. If you don't want airports ever added at all, you can do as JS suggests, and select the option for "Do not add other airports..."

You can also mark the airport as unlandable instead of deleting it. This is what I would recommend. If you are using SeeYou simply edit the airport and change its style to "Unknown". This will make the airport no longer show up in your glide computer's list of landable places. Soaringdata.info will preserve that style whenever you process the file.

If you use a text editor to maintain the file, you will find the style field right after the airport elevation. Change the value (usually 2, 4, or 5 for airports) to a 0 instead.

L.

[Soartech]

Thanks everyone for pointing out Lynn's useful site: http://soaringdata.info
I am trying to get it to work. It generates an error from the soaring turnpoint .CUP file that I recently downloaded from http://soaringweb.org/TP/Seminole and I have contacted him to see why.