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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Owners Q&AiFly Owners Q&AAny indicator of how old NEXRAD picture is?Any indicator of how old NEXRAD picture is?
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9/23/2015 2:57 PM
 

I presume this question applies to all flavors of iFly. But since I fly the Android version, this question here.

I know that iFly shows a "time stamp" of sorts on the NEXRAD data, in that is tells us how long ago the last update came. (Eg. "0 min.")

But I presume that is an indicator of when iFly downloaded the data, as opposed to how old the actual RADAR picture is.

METAR info tells us how long ago the METAR was reported. Does NEXRAD data come with an internal time stamp and if so, does iFly tell us how old the actual RADAR image was assembled?

I ask because I read an article the other day in GA News warning about getting suckered into a TRW because XM Radio or other RADAR data could be 15 minutes old. If the RADAR picture can be old, then I can see the potential for iFly users to misunderstand that an update that is "0 mins" old might not mean that the RADAR image is 0 minutes old.

 
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9/23/2015 4:22 PM
 

All ADS-B users need to understand how the nexrad data works and how old it can be. There are potential delays throughout the system. My understanding is it can be as old as 20 minutes. There are numerous warnings not to use ADS-B nexrad images for other than flight planning. It should not be used as you would use on-board weather radar.

 
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9/24/2015 8:39 AM
 

Even when the data is fresh, it's not necessarily accurate. I've flown through "clean air" while getting wet and I've come out the other side of green & yellow stuff still as dry as a bone. ADS-B is a great in-flight tool for avoiding heavy stuff, but it's not going to replace eyeballs-out-the-window any time soon. If it looks ugly ahead, I animate the returns and estimate where they'll be in 15 minutes, and use that as my fudge factor.


Jeff Nokomis Clark, Mooney M20G, iFly app on ASUS ZenPad Z8s, ASUS ZenFone AR, ASUS Windows 10 tablet, Stratux ADS-B w AHRS
 
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9/25/2015 10:03 AM
 

Well stated Jeff.

ADS-B and XM radar is going to be about 5-15 minutes old in most cases. ADS-B sends it out every 5 minutes, but the image is in 10 minute increments, to my understanding it's basically a initial and backup image in the event you did not receive the first completely due to interference, etc.

It's really intended for estimation and avoidance planning. It's not that same as Stormscope and Active Onboard Radar, which is really what you need to skirt, or fly through weather more precisely.


Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.
 
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9/25/2015 11:12 AM
 

Yes, I understand that the images are old. But back to my original question: Is there any data in the stream that gives a time stamp for the images themselves, and if yes, can iFly present that info?

 
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HomeHomeDiscussionsDiscussionsiFly Owners Q&AiFly Owners Q&AAny indicator of how old NEXRAD picture is?Any indicator of how old NEXRAD picture is?