"LiveATC feeds are provided by both LiveATC and a large and growing group of volunteers near airports around the world. New feeds are being added constantly, but feeds can disappear for several reasons (feed volunteer moved, feed is down for an extended period of time because it is being moved, volunteer is no longer able to provide the service, etc.). In many cases we try very hard to recruit a new volunteer and we take pride in maintaining high uptime and high quality reception. We aren't perfect, but we do strive for constant improvement."
This stoppage in service is disheartening to many plane spotters as this was a huge part of their excursions. Many of us relied on LiveATC in order to be ready to photograph or even just watch the aircraft land. It allowed us to hear which runway a plane was arriving/departing, when a departing aircraft was leaving the gates, and even how far away an incoming aircraft was. The best part of LiveATC though, was the fact that it was both convenient and of course, FREE!
While the convenience of LiveATC may no longer available, we are still able to hear Winnipeg ATC through the use of short wave radios.Yes, we know short wave radios are not free... BUT, they are a fantastic investment to any plane spotter! The audio clarity from a decent short wave radio will be much better than that of LiveATC. Plus, you have the freedom to pick and choose which frequencies you wish to hear and eliminate those you don't. For example, if you only want to hear the arrivals frequency because you are awaiting an inbound flight, you can tune in to only that on frequency and ignore transmissions on other frequencies (deaprtures, ground, etc.). Often times with Live ATC, radio transmissions would be cut off or muffled due to competing frequencies on a single online feed. With a quality short wave radio, that will not be an issue.
Below is a chart of the frequencies used by pilots at or near James Richardson International Airport. Plug these frequencies into your short wave radio, and get back to spotting!
The loss of the CYWG feed on LiveATC is unfortunate. Spotters will just need to do a little more work and invest a bit more time and money in order to hear ATC transmissions while spotting. Hopefully in the near future Live ATC will again cover the CYWG area. In the mean time keep on spotting and don't let this small inconvenience turn you away from going to watch the planes.
Keep your eyes on the skies!
