ACARS software.

[mersi]

I have decoded Acars on my pc in the past,
Can any one recommend Acars for windows pc.It seems to be old hat now everyone seems to be on FR24/ADSB sites.

[radiostationx]

acarsdeco2 by Sergey Serov (Russia), used it about 2014 when it first came out as acarsdeco, brilliant work by author Sergey who used to answer user questions very quick via email , now there is v2 hence name acarsdeco2, nice clean easy interface !

xdeco.org/?page_id=42

or MultiPSK By Patick in France (You can play with VDL2 plus loads of other interesting data modes as well) a lot going on/a lot of choice in this program so can be a little overwhelming at first but loads of videos on YouTube to help.

f6cte.free.fr/index_anglais.htm

ilt is the NWAN guy to ask what other software is out there and what is best but the above are well worth a try out. Both dont take up much in the way of PC resources.

[ilt]

Old hat...possibly but like AM voice transmissions it has it's place. It carries what I would have thought is far more interesting data. It's old hat in the sense that there is a more modern incarnation which allows even more data but mostly transported in other ways to give wider coverage. On the other hand it is a very robust system and can work efficiently and cheaply. You all use ads-b data because of the position reporting....it doesn't give you anything else.

....anyway......

You didn't say whether you want to use a regular audio input to your PC as you probably did in the past? Also, which version of Windows and why specifically Windows. Do you ONLY want to decode legacy ACARS?

If you want to use an audio input then any of the old soundcard decoders will do the job...as long as they work in whichever flavour of windows you have....some will likley not play with decent modern windows variants

Multipsk is available in two flavours...free and paid for. The difference is the modes it can decode. It has the most hideous GUI of any radio software. For monitoring ACARS it isn't a good choice as you will need to run multiple copies at once....and then even more when you decide you might as well add VDL2 to the pot. It is very capable software and if you had a wider radio monitoring interest perhaps of use (though it doesn't decode anything that can't be done other ways). Audio can be routed from various sources. It is probably the most frequently updated piece of software and the author is very responsive.

Planeplotter can decode ACARS ...horribly bloated software full of features which only three people are likely to use, a pig to get fine-tuned to the way you want it (this may be less true for spamcan lovers or number collectors)....though with the best position amalgamating ability of a single programme. Recently it has been updated so that it can do multi-lateration of Mode A/C (no other hobby software can currently do that...though expect others to follow suit if they can find a sensible way of automating the process). I've been feeding the Planeplotter system with data since day one but the only time I actually look at the software is when I need to stop it and apply an update. I think for ACARS it might be audio input only but I've not looked for years.

Back to acarsdeco - It doesn't work work from a normal audio input. The inbuilt webserver is OK and with a bit of fiddling you can get it to display photos (yours or online) and integrate aircraft and route data. If you want historical data recorded as you monitor then you will need to do some extra work to make it useful.

I would argue that there are significantly better linux-based decoders (you can generally still use your windows PC to display the info from them). Better data storage for your historical record, better error correction and better enhanced decoding of what messages actually mean if that is what you want.


It's not overly complicated or excpensive to make quite an advanced aviation radio monitoring setup these days but to do it well you really need to add some linux into the equation. This need not be with another huge PC sized box box though. One, or better still, a couple of relatively cheap single board computers (raspberry pi being a well known but not necessarily the best example).
ACARS, VDL2, HFDL, Inmarsat Aero, voice comms even - these days you can monitor multiple channels of each (though for Inmarsat Aero the hobby option is somewhat messy) at the same time with relatively little expense. Masses of help available online.

Want your own dedicated NW version of 360RADAR - not too hard to do (hardest part is everyone wants to try and get adsb reception from 300 miles away when really the most useful data is what is within a few miles of each station and at low level)



Mike is wrong - I'm not the best person to ask. My interest doesn't overlap much with that of 'aircraft enthusiasts'.