Determining COM Frequencies

[skypilotYTS]

Good evening foum,

As I use Pilot2ATC or fly on VATSIM I do not have the frequencies that I should be on shown to me, or changed to automatically.

I know this can be turned on, I just choose not to for realism.

This leads to my question, I can find most of the frequencies via the Navigraph charts within the airport info.

But there are a couple that I regularly do not see such as departure (which is given to me when I get my clearance, but is it documented somewhere ahead of time?).

Also for my destination I am given approach en route, can I find this ahead of time?

Lastly, During flights I am regularly handed over to different centers. How would I determine which centers I’d be handed over to and their frequiencies?

I like to fill out a sheet I keep on my knee board to make it easier and I also tune my radios ahead of time so I am not constantly trying to adjust as instructions are given, I can just flip actives or change the radio im on.

Side note on that, there is an issue with Pilot2ATC where you cannot monitor the second radio which is a bit of a pain as you aren’t supposed to leave frequencies without permission however the developer has stated adding this functionality is part of the plan so thats good!

Thanks in advance.

[jayk47shawty506]

I just look at a program like vatspy that shows you all the controllers frequencies.
You can also look right in vPilot, assuming that’s what you use.

[TomMariusNGX]

Vatsim is tricky because it doesn’t neceassrily use the same freq as on the chart (which uses real world data).

However, for the purpose of the question, on the top right hand side of the chart in your pic you can see the departure frequency. 124.375. whether this would be the same in VATSIM I do not know.

[skypilotYTS]

Let’s take VATSIM out of the equation as it’s not always an accurate 1:1.

Using Pilot2ATC 9/10 uses the published frequencies.

So even during flight when I get handed over from center to center, is there a way to determine ahead of time what center I will encounter along the route?

[CasualClick]

The sectionals have sector frequencies listed. You can pull sections down from the FAA. Note the boxes with frequencies listed.

Here’s a very good AOPA article from a while back - unfortunately while good technical information, the real problem is that the sim does not have an FSS capability.

Frequent Frequencies

[Fmgc320]

Good question. Here are some additional thoughts. I am also a VATSIM controller and IRL pilot so sharing from that perspective.

En-Route - To get a feel for en-route center frequencies, check out the VATSIM websites for the center area you are interested in. Look in the “controllers” section as they will usually have pdf downloads of the sector areas and frequencies used which often match real-world data (I can speak for ZAB where I control) Here is an example from ZLA, Los Angeles Center: SOPs & LOAs - Los Angeles ARTCC.

The FAA also publishes ARTCC facility guides for all US centers which list center sectors and frequencies. Again, an example from ZLA: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/ZLA-ARTCC.pdf

Note that center frequencies can vary based on altitude, even in the same geographic area hence the reason why these are simply assigned to you rather than you having to look them up.

For IFR, the Low altitude en-route, or the hi altitude en-route charts also have frequencies listed. Most STARs do not list approach frequencies on the plate since they would normally be provided to you from the center controller.

As another reference, departure and approach frequencies are provided in the US on the AF/D - Airport Facility Directory. You can search these here: https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/dafd/search/

This is an example at KPHX where the communication frequencies are listed by direction:

Hope this provides some additional context.

[Maki152]

Outside of events It can be an issue at times. If after all the searching I can’t find the answer I simply call up a frequency with my position and if it’s the wrong one they will give me the correct one.