From your friends at ATCMonitor.com.  © 2010 - Reproduction without permission is prohibited.
Last updated May 2010

What frequencies are being monitored on this site?
The enroute center frequency is 121.35 Mhz, Atlanta's northeast low altitude sector
The Atlanta TRACON frequency is north final approach, 127.25 Mhz, Atlanta's north final arrival sector
The Atlanta Tower frequency north tower, 119.1 and 125.32 Mhz


What center sector is this?
The controllers who work this sector named it LOGEN although they may have changed that name recently due to the decommissioning of the Macey arrival name earlier in 2006.  LOGEN is Atlanta's northeast low altitude sector handling all arrival aircraft from the northeast between 11,000 feet up to 23,000 feet.  LOGEN is one of the top 5 busiest arrival corridors in the world and it is the busiest arrival corridor for one of the world's top busiest airports, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International.  LOGEN is run by highly skilled controllers from the Atlanta Air Route Traffic Control Center located in Hampton, Georgia USA.


Why don't you monitor Atlanta initial north approach on 126.90?
We do not monitor 126.9 because the more intense action is on final approach.  We could scan between the two frequencies but then you would miss conversations on both frequencies.


Is this really live?
Practically, yes.  Radar screen and audio is delayed about 5 minutes in accordance with Federal regulations.


Where is the Atlanta Airport on the center radar view? 
When viewing the center radar, the Atlanta Airport is in the lower left corner usually surrounded by quite a few white (arriving) and light blue (departing) aircraft.  Sometimes it is difficult to see during heavy traffic but look for what we are displaying in this image to the left.  That orange hexagon is the Atlanta VOR, a ground based navigational aid.

Why is only Microsoft Windows Media supported?  Why can't you guys offer other audio formats?
Due to our agreement with the FAA, we are required for security reasons to delay the audio and video on this site a few minutes.  This is in accordance with federal regulations which we have agreed to.  The delay (and sync of audio and video) is complicated to make happen and at this time, we are only aware of one media format that will support such a delay:  Microsoft Windows Media.  If you are a software/internet developer with knowledge of other audio formats that support significant delay capabilities, contact us. 


Do I have to register to hear the TRACON and TOWER frequencies?
Because this site is free, we ask that you register - registration is FREE.  However, registration is not required.  It takes less than a minute to register.  When you register, you help us understand who are users are, and that information then allows us to optimize our advertising so that we can maintain profitability and insure this site stays online for your free use.


Will you sell or give out my email address or other personal information?
No, Nada, Never.  We have a strict privacy policy and will not sell or give away your email address or other information.


Which way is North on the radar screen?
The screen is oriented 'naturally'; the top of the screen is north, the right is to the east, the bottom is south and to the left is west.


How do I interpret the datatag?
CALLSIGN
ALTITUDE / SPEED
ORIGINATION / DESTINATION
AIRCRAFT TYPE / ETA (estimated time of arrival in ZULU time)


What format is the time displayed on the radar screen?  
In the top left corner of the radar screen, the time is displayed in zulu time (also called Coordinated Universal Time or UTC) indicating the time at when the weather overlay was most recently updated.  Time's are displayed in 24 hour format, ie, 2pm is shown as 14:00.

In the lower right corner of each aircraft datatag, the Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) for that aircraft is displayed in zulu time.  Zulu time, also called Coordinated Universal Time or UTC.  Atlanta is 4 hours behind UTC/Zulu time when on daylight savings time, or 5 hours behind when Atlanta is on eastern standard time.  Example:  10am in Atlanta = 2pm UTC/Zulu or 14:00 when converted to 24 hour display.  Time's are displayed in 24 hour format to save space (AM or PM not required).  To learn more about time conversions, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu_time.


How do I interpret the aircraft target colors?
White targets are ATL arrivals, light blue targets are ATL departures.
Yellow targets are PDK (Peachtree Dekalb GA) arrivals and departures.
Orange targets are FTY (Fulton County GA) arrivals and departures.
Purple targets are GVL (Gainesville GA) arrivals and departures.
Red targets are LZU (Lawrenceville GA)  arrivals and departures.
Light red targets are CLT (Charlotte NC) arrivals and departures.
Lime green targets are RYY (Kennesaw GA)  arrivals and departures.
Dark Green targets are unfiltered overflights, or aircraft that we have simply not filtered.

The software is configured to filter flights arriving or departing at fields in the monitoring area.  Unfiltered flights show up as dark green targets.
 

What does the "C" mean following the altitude?  What do the arrows mean?
"C" means Mode C (a type of transponder).  The arrow up means climbing and the arrow down means descending.


Why do some callsigns appear as BLOCKED? Are they military?
Security sensitive flights that are military, or who carry high ranking officials such as the president don't even show on our screen. The target is removed entirely from the feed.

Targets that you see marked BLOCKED are general aviation aircraft carrying celebrities or other VIPs who have made a special request to not have their callsign published. It's a good system to protect important people so that someone cannot use Flight Explorer or our website to stalk a celebrity or VIP.  If you listen carefully and watch aircraft type information, you can sometimes hear the N number callsign of a blocked aircraft.  The N number can then be looked up to determine ownership.


Why do I hear dead air (silence) sometimes?
Occasionally, you will hear dead air and it will seem the audio is not working.  It is normal not to hear anything sometimes, especially during the overnight hours.  If the audio controls indicates "playing", then the stream is functioning properly.


How long does it take for the audio to connect and start streaming?
It can take up to a 60 seconds for your browser to connect with the audio streaming server.  There is a monitor just below the audio controls to your left and it will tell you when it is opening, connecting, buffering, and playing.  Watch the monitor to see what is happening.  If you see PLAYING in the monitor, you are connected!

If you are unable to connect, reload this site.  If you are still unable to connect, close all browser windows and try again (this resets any cache problems).  If the audio still appears not to be working, you can contact us via http://atcmonitor.com/contacts.html  and we will restore the feed as soon as possible.  Please do not email us unless you have tried unsuccessfully for over 10 minutes.  Sometimes the audio server might be working fine, but the connectivity between your ISP and the audio server could be having difficulties.


I am unable to connect to the audio.  I am having audio connection problems.
Click here for audio connection assistance. 


An audio stream appears to be down.  How do I notify ATCMonitor.com staff of the outage?
Please first refresh your browser.  If the audio does not show "playing", you may contact us via http://atcmonitor.com/contacts.html 


Can I listen while I work on other things?  
Of course.  Monitor the audio while working in the background by minimizing this browser window to your task bar.  If you close it or click the stop button, the audio will stop.


Sometimes, especially late at night, why can I only hear the controller - and not the pilot?
At night, controllers work multiple frequencies at one time.  For example, the radio that is monitoring the northeast arrival frequency 121.35 is only monitoring that frequency, and because we are only monitoring that one frequency, you won't hear pilots talking to the controller on other frequencies.  This occurs typically during overnight hours when controllers work multiple frequencies, but the controllers do make adjustments for traffic loads so it may happen during the day, although unlikely.


Every now and then I can hear the pilot but not the controller.  Why is this?
This is because the controller has switched transmitters.  Due to geographic physical limitations, we only stream audio from the main transmitter that services the sector and frequencies we are monitoring.


What is the AWSON Arrival?
The AWSON Arrival is a Standard Terminal Arrival procedure published by the FAA which provides a route into Atlanta for smaller turbojet aircraft that service satellite airports into Atlanta including PDK (Peachtree Dekalb Airport), FTY (Fulton County Airport), and LZU (Gwinnett Briscoe Field).  

Many of the small business jet aircraft headed to PDK or FTY use this arrival and it can be transitioned to through the LOGEN sector airspace that we are monitoring - thus the reason you will hear clearances for the AWSON arrival..  

Click here to see the FAA AWSON Arrival plate.  Click here for page two.  


What airports are serviced by this controller?
A whole bunch including ATL, PDK, FTY, GVL, AVL, RYY, AND, & AHN..


How is this site produced?
This site is very complicated to produce and many of our methods are proprietary by nature and are kept private.  However, we do now publish a listing of credits and this can provide insight as to the products we utilize to make this site a reality. 


How do I make a suggestion for a stream I would like to hear monitored on ATCMonitor.com?  
We ask that you post stream or audio program suggestions to the discussion forum so others can comment on your suggestion.  We will be happy to respond to your questions via the forum.


Is it legal to broadcast this audio online?
It is not illegal to broadcast public aviation frequencies online.  Dozens of other websites also broadcast air traffic frequencies online (other sites broadcast tower or TRACON frequencies).

The FAA is aware of this site and has granted us permission to rebroadcast this frequency and the screenshot.  It is our policy to adhere to and abide by all Federal Regulations. 


Have a question not answered here?  Contact us via http://atcmonitor.com/contacts.html and we will do our best to answer promptly.