I stepped on somebody!

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n485u
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:57 am

I stepped on somebody!

Post by n485u »

...like I was the only airplane in the sky!

I think I discovered a little quirk in the audio feed: when you switch to a new frequency, I don't think you pick up a transmission that's in progress. Yesterday, I got a handoff, switched to the new frequency, waited for a couple of seconds to make sure nobody was transmitting, then I checked in. The next thing I heard was a controller acknowledging somebody else...I waited and didn't hear him ack me, so I checked in again. I assumed that the other guy and I had just keyed our mics at exactly the same time--as can happen sometimes--but when I listened to the recording today, I got to hear what really happened: the other guy had been transmitting for about 3-4 seconds before I keyed my mic, but I didn't hear that transmission after changing frequencies. It seems like you only hear transmissions that begin after you switch frequencies, and not any that may be in progress at the time you switch. Not a big deal, and maybe this is a known issues...In the future, I'll just wait a bit longer before transmitting. It does, however, clear up why I occasionally hear such blatant cases of people popping up on a frequency and checking in over top of a transmission in progress! Before yesterday, I just assumed that they weren't listening before checking in...now, it seems like the more likely explanation is that they never heard the in-progress transmission and assumed the frequency was clear.

EDIT: you can hear it here: http://assets.pilotedge.net/recordings/ ... _17510.mp3 starting @ 12:57
PPL-ASEL IA CMP, HP
Livermore, CA (KLVK)
Keith Smith
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Re: I stepped on somebody!

Post by Keith Smith »

There's a delay before the freq change occurs (this is by design). What might've happened is that you gave it a second after switching (not knowing that it hadn't yet switched) and then transmitted just as the switch actually took place.

The intentional delay is around half a second.

I've switched many times and caught transmissions in mid-sentence.
n485u
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2015 10:57 am

Re: I stepped on somebody!

Post by n485u »

hmmm. I know I waited about 3-4 seconds before transmitting. My framerate was kind of slow, so maybe the plugin was slow too...I was on a Windows box...maybe I should just stick to my Linux box!
PPL-ASEL IA CMP, HP
Livermore, CA (KLVK)
Pieces
Posts: 342
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 8:25 pm
Location: Ely, IA (KCID)

Re: I stepped on somebody!

Post by Pieces »

It's also possible the other pilot was on a different frequency.
Reece Heinlein, PPL - IR, KMZZ
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