Finding an active flight

[searay]

I give up. I can not figure out how to locate an active flight. I can be watching a flight in progress, leave the computer for a while (I paid for the premium account) when I come back to the computer the flight track is gone, entering the flight number in the search for flight or airport, all I get is the history of the flight. I paid for a year of the premium membership because it said the website would not shutdown. What am I missing here?? The premium membership is of NO use to me if the flight I am tracking disappears and I can't get it back.

[Oblivian]

Did you actually read the FAQ? It sounds to me the aircraft is simply now over oceans, or outside the coverage area.

Depending on your area if the plane goes out of range of any of the ground receivers, it will stop tracking online. It doesn't 'guess' tracks of aircraft between oceans or radar sites on the ground. If the data stream is interupted, so will your flight selection be.

Premium will not log you out and give you the 'session timeout' message. But it certainly wont magically make planes trackable for the entire duration if it wasn't beforehand.

[searay]

yes I did read the FAQ

I give up. I can not figure out how to locate an active flight. I can be watching a flight in progress, leave the computer for a while (I paid for the premium account) when I come back to the computer the flight track is gone, entering the flight number in the search for flight or airport, all I get is the history of the flight. I paid for a year of the premium membership because it said the website would not shutdown. What am I missing here?? The premium membership is of NO use to me if the flight I am tracking disappears and I can't get it back.

Sorry to upset you, I did read the FAQ but I must have missed the part where it would not track if the plane was over an ocean. I thought the transponder radio would reach what ever tracks it no matter where it was.

[fungus]

Sorry to upset you, I did read the FAQ but I must have missed the part where it would not track if the plane was over an ocean. I thought the transponder radio would reach what ever tracks it no matter where it was.

Searay

Perhaps you didnt understand or misunderstood the information in the FAQ. It's made pretty clear in the FAQ from the following two sections alone that at this point in time we only have coverage due to the many hundreds (perhaps thousands these days) of uploaders around the world and also goes on to discuss the FAA feed;

"Why don't you have coverage in my area?

Flightradar24 only have coverage in areas where someone has installed an ADS-B receiver and feeds his/her data into Flightradar24. If there are no connected ABS-B receivers in an area, then there is no coverage in that area.

How can I increase coverage in my area?

Coverage on Flightradar24.com is dependent of flight data from private ADS-B receivers around the world. If you want to improve coverage in your area, you have to buy an ADS-B receiver. If you already have an ADS-B receiver you can share your flight data with Flightradar24.com"

It also explains the difference between FAA data and the uploaded data from the receivers around the world. There are no uploaders in rowboats on the oceans of the world (although I have been asked to volunteer but up until now have declined). Any limitaion in the continually increasing world coverage is due to our receivers' set-up and their locations, not in the transmissions from the aircraft. As Oblivian has also pointed out to you the receivers are 'ground based.'

The map and information under "coverage" in the "About"/"how it works" section also bear this out.

The Premium service is a great addition that gives access to many enhanced features including, as you have (I think) eluded to, the fact that you dont need to continually refresh the map display and FR24 are continually improving all aspects of the system/s for our (and your) enjoyment and as uploaders we are committed (some say I should have been committed years ago ) to improving our set-ups for everyone who uses the site.

Hope this helps you to understand the site.
Regards,
Gregg (radar T-YSSY4)

[searay]

Thanks Gregg.
I guess I am still in the dark here. The flight I was tracking was in fact over the Atlantic. However, I could see numerous other planes in the very same area, and even farther out to sea, but the one I was tracking disappeared.

[SoCalBrian]

we only have coverage due to the many hundreds (perhaps thousands these days) of uploaders around the world

Looks like on Friday, there were around 1,000 (-/+ 50) feeders online uploading to FR24.

[fungus]

Looks like on Friday, there were around 1,000 (-/+ 50) feeders online uploading to FR24.

Brian,
thanks for correcting me on that mate, I wrote that very late last night and wasnt 100% certain (or accurate, it would seem).

Regards,
Gregg

[SoCalBrian]

Recount: Feeders Radar Codes seen from Friday to Sunday.
265 - F-xxxx feeders
51 - N-xxxx Feeders
975 - T-xxxx Feeders
1 - NET2
-------------------
Total: 1292

[Mike]

Thanks Gregg.
I guess I am still in the dark here. The flight I was tracking was in fact over the Atlantic. However, I could see numerous other planes in the very same area, and even farther out to sea, but the one I was tracking disappeared.

There is a very good description on what can be found on FR24

http://www.flightradar24.com/how-it-works

and

http://www.flightradar24.com/faq

and the best summary of the two pages is

If an aircraft you are looking for is not visible on Flightradar24 it either does not have correct transponder or it's out of Flightradar24 coverage.

[Mike]

Recount: Feeders Radar Codes seen from Friday to Sunday.
265 - F-xxxx feeders
51 - N-xxxx Feeders
975 - T-xxxx Feeders
1 - NET2
-------------------
Total: 1292

1292? That is nothing compared to RB24, they have 10,000 according to their ads.

[Birdie]

1292? That is nothing compared to RB24, they have 10,000 according to their ads.

If you believe RB24 have 10,000 feeders, then please believe me when I say "Pig can fly"

pigs-will-fly_980531i.jpg

[SoCalBrian]

Just counted again tonight with updated info.

Recount: Feeders Radar Codes seen from Friday to Monday.
268 - F-xxxx feeders
52 - N-xxxx Feeders
1015 - T-xxxx Feeders
1 - NET2
-------------------
Total: 1336