GENERAL HELP CONTENTS (part 2)

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Getting Started with NOTAM Tracker
• Setting up a DUATS account
• The Main Menu
• The Setup Screen
• Getting current NOTAM information
• The Dyncorp Area Briefing Screen
• The Dyncorp Route Briefing Screen
• The Briefing Collection Screen
• The Briefing Output Screen
• Uploading Coordinates to your GPS
• Exporting Briefing to your PocketPC
• Registering your Systems

The Dyncorp Route Briefing Screen

The Route Briefing function only works with DynCorp DUATS. You can get a route briefing from DTC DUATS, but you will need to navigate on your own to collect the briefing.

The route briefing screen collects a Low-Altitude Route briefing from Dyncorp DUATS.

• User ID: This is the Access Code supplied to you by DynCorp (the same one you use at www.duats.com).
• Password: This is the Password supplied to you by DynCorp.
• Departure point: This is the FAA identifier for the airport for which you want the area briefing. If you don't know the identifier, you can press the "Lookup" button to search for it.
• Destination point: This is the FAA identifier for your destination.
• Alternate Dest: (Optional) This is FAA identifier for an alternate airport destination.
• Lookup button: This will bring up a window accessing www.AirNav.com, which will allow you to lookup the identifier (or other information) for your airport.
• Route: (Optional) Enter your route here, as you would in DUATS.
• Route Width: Enter the width for which you wish to receive weather and NOTAMs along your route (in nm). Must be 10-100 nm.
• Winds Aloft Width: Enter the width for which you wish to receive Winds Aloft information along your route (in nm). Must be 150-600 nm.
• Aircraft: This is the tail number of the aircraft making the flight. Most DUATS services log this as proof that you received a briefing. It can also be used for search-and-rescue operations.
• Departure Time: You may enter a time in UTC, local, or any other US time zone.
• Flight Duration: Enter the expected duration of your flight in hours:minutes.
• Altitude: Enter your cruising altitude here. You may enter in feet or hundreds of feet.
• NOTAMS: You may select which NOTAMs you wish to receive here.

The Briefing Collection Screen

This screen is displayed after you select Area Briefing, Route Briefing, or Generic web access. If you have selected Area or Route Briefing, NOTAM Tracker will automatically navigate the DynCorp Web page to get to your briefing. If you have selected Generic Web accesss, you will need to navigate, just as you would with a web browser, until the briefing is displayed on the screen. Then press the "Process Data" button.

• Address edit box: You can type in any web address in this space, and then press the "Go" button to navigate directly to that page.
• These are the Back, Stop, Forward and Refresh buttons commonly found on web browsers. You can use these to navigate along the web.
• Process Data button: Once the DUATS briefing you wish to have processed is on the screen, press this button to have NOTAM Tracker analyze and format it. If you have selected Area or Route briefing, it is not necessary to press this button - NOTAM Tracker will automatically analyze the briefing when it is done loading.
• FDC NOTAM status processing check box: Select this box to have NOTAM Tracker process FDC Notams (the default).
• Local NOTAM status processing check box: Select this box to have NOTAM Tracker process local (non-FDC) Notams (the default).
• Cancel button: Closes this window and returns you to the main NOTAM Tracker menu.

The Briefing Output Screen

This screen is displays the results of NOTAM Tracker's analysis. NOTAMs that are new since the last time you ran NOTAM Tracker will be highlighted in green. NOTAM's you've already seen, as well as the weather briefing from DUATS, will be in blue. NOTAMs that have been deleted will be shown in struck-out in brown. An index of all new notams, deleted notams, TFRs, obstructions and waypoint coordinates found in the briefing is displayed at the bottom of the screen, allowing quick review of any changes.

• Save As button: Press this to save the briefing as a Rich Text or Plain Text file.
• Open button: You can load a previously saved briefing with this button.
• Print button: Prints the current briefing.
• Find button: Searches the briefing text for a given phrase
• Find Next button: Searches for the next occurance of the phrase given above.
• Export Data button: Used to upload coordinates to your GPS, and/or briefings to your PDA.
• Close button: Closes this window and returns to the NOTAM Tracker main window.

At the bottom of this window is an index of all of the waypoints, TFRs, coordinates, new local NOTAMs, new FDC notams, and deleted (dead) NOTAMs Tracker has found in your briefing. You can click on any of them to automatically scroll to that location in the briefing. Once you have clicked on a TFR/coordinate or obstruction, the top of the screen will show the lat/lon, radius, altitude and comment information NOTAM Tracker has extracted for the that item. Since their is not fixed format for NOTAMs, it is possible NOTAM Tracker will not be able to accurately transcribe every coordinate/altitude/radius. It is your responsiblity to quickly compare the briefing coordinates with NOTAM Tracker's coordinates.

You can also delete individual items by clicking to select them and then pressing the delete key.

Uploading Coordinates to your GPS

Currently only Garmin portable GPS units are supported. To upload coordinates to your GPS, you will need a serial communications cable connecting the GPS to your computer (this is the same cable you'll use to update the firmware/database on your GPS).

First make sure that the communications port that your GPS is connected to is selected on the Setup Screen. On this same screen, make sure that "Coordinate Export Format" is selected to "Upload to Garmin GPS".

Now collect your briefing in the normal manner. To start the uploading, press the "Export Data" button from the Briefing Output screen. Make sure "Upload Coordinate Data" box is selected, your GPS is turned on and connected, and press "Go".

Note that Garmin does not provide a way to remotely delete user waypoints, so there is no way for NOTAM Tracker to remove old TFR's and coordinates. It is recommended that you manually delete these from your GPS as they become obsolete. (You can always just delete all of them - Garmin provides a Delete by Symbol option - since NOTAM Tracker will restore any TFR's that are still in effect anyways).

Note that NOTAM Tracker will overwrite any waypoints with names of TFRnn, CRDnn, or OBSnn where nn is a two-digit number.

Exporting Briefing to your PocketPC

The easiest way to export a briefing to your PocketPC is to go the the Setup Screen and make sure "Briefing Export Format" is set to Rich Text. Then, after collecting a briefing, press the "Export Data" button on the Briefing Output screen. Now press the "..." button to browse for your destination folder. If you look in the My Documents folder you will find a folder labelled something like "PocketPC My Documents". If you set the export directory to this directory (or a subfolder), and have "File Synchronization" turned on in MicroSoft's ActiveSync program, then ActiveSync will automatically transfer the new briefing to your PDA every time you press the Export Data button.

Registering your Systems

White Antelope Systems relies on your registration money to develop programs like NOTAM Tracker. If you think NOTAM Tracker is worth the money, please register it!

Registration is easy. To register your software, click here and following the instructions. Remember, if you ever have any problem with NOTAM Tracker please check our Frequently-Asked-Questions page. If you answer isn't there, email us at custserv@WhiteAntelopeSoftare.com for a prompt resolution. Thanks!

LEGAL NOTICES: DTC, or Data Transformation Corporation, the provider of DUATS service at www.duat.com, is in no way affiliated with White Antelope Systems. DynCorp Information Services LLC, the provider of DUATS service at www.duats.com, is in no way affiliated with White Antelope Systems. NOTAM Tracker acts as a web browser to collect information from these, or other, services. White Antelope Systems and NOTAM Tracker do not provide, and are not responsible for, any information. NOTAM Tracker merely reformats the data provided for more convenient viewing. While NOTAM Tracker attempts to track notams, and search for coordinates within the briefing, the accuracy of such coordinates, radii, and altitudes cannot be gauranteed. It is the pilot's responsibility to review the briefing for completeness, and to check the accuracy of the coordinate translations. Microsoft, ActiveSync, and Windows are registered trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.