Can I look up status of a VOR?

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jan 13, 2010
Messages
20,803
Location
Denton, TX
Display Name
The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Home Airfield
KDTO (Denton Enterprise)
Is there a simple way to look up the status of a VOR (active, in service, out of service, permanently out of service) by inputting the 3 letter identifier and pressing search?

Provide the web link if you know of one.
 
Nope, you can get the current navaids as a datafile, but it could be up to six months out of date. You'll have to search the notams for updates.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Is there a simple way to look up the status of a VOR (active, in service, out of service, permanently out of service) by inputting the 3 letter identifier and pressing search?

Provide the web link if you know of one.
Click to expand...

I tried but had to quit looking.
 
6 years later and I have the same question. Is the answer still the same?
 
Oh I guess that's obvious, never thought to put VOR ID in there.
 
What type of status? NOTAM will give you whether there is a NOTAM currently. The MON database will tell you if it on the retention or decommissioning block. Airnav is easiest if you want to know the last time it was calibrated. Heck, you can even search the Federal Register on whether it's already on the chopping block.
 
You could ask a flight briefer. They are sometimes a wealth of information depending on who you get. Just say you are planning a flight near there and are wondering the current status of the various navaids. It's their job to provide you with all information pertaining to your flight.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
You could ask a flight briefer. They are sometimes a wealth of information depending on who you get. Just say you are planning a flight near there and are wondering the current status of the various navaids. It's their job to provide you with all information pertaining to your flight.
Click to expand...
Semi-sarcastically I find them to be no better than an AI response to a given question. Unlike days of yore, today they seem to just be reading what I get from a 1-800 web brief and/or NOTAM checks, A/FD reviews, etc. Invariably, in my experience when contacting them, it has felt like they’re pausing to go look at the above and don’t offer any new insights - all after some frustrating delays and requests for demographics, etc.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Semi-sarcastically I find them to be no better than an AI response to a given question. Unlike days of yore, today they seem to just be reading what I get from a 1-800 web brief and/or NOTAM checks, A/FD reviews, etc. Invariably, in my experience when contacting them, it has felt like they’re pausing to go look at the above and don’t offer any new insights - all after some frustrating delays and requests for demographics, etc.
Click to expand...

Mostly true. You do get the occasional gem though, maybe once every 10 calls. Wouldn't bank on it now while they're not getting paid though lol.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Semi-sarcastically I find them to be no better than an AI response to a given question. Unlike days of yore, today they seem to just be reading what I get from a 1-800 web brief and/or NOTAM checks, A/FD reviews, etc. Invariably, in my experience when contacting them, it has felt like they’re pausing to go look at the above and don’t offer any new insights - all after some frustrating delays and requests for demographics, etc.
Click to expand...
We kind of lost that in the early days of FSS consolidation when briefers were no longer local.
 
midlifeflyer said:
We kind of lost that in the early days of FSS consolidation when briefers were no longer local.
Click to expand...
…and no longer FAA employees, IMHO. Not sure I’ve sensed much “pride of ownership” when I interact with the current (Leidos?) employees as compared with the past. Contracting stuff out has its pros and cons. That said, the info available to us online that needed to be provided by the FSS over the phone in the past is a huge game-changer, so they were probably getting more and more bored.
 
midlifeflyer said:
What type of status? NOTAM will give you whether there is a NOTAM currently. The MON database will tell you if it on the retention or decommissioning block. Airnav is easiest if you want to know the last time it was calibrated. Heck, you can even search the Federal Register on whether it's already on the chopping block.
Click to expand...

All of the above - thank you for pointing those out!
 

Seems to work. It shows the PAE VOR/DME as "Out of Service" in the "Plain Language" results box but in the header it shows: "Status: Active."
Right hand left hand government thing?

ELN VOR/DME: Header shows: Active.
Plain Language box shows: Not Monitored.

Nearly useless.
 
Last edited:
Domenick said:

Seems to work. It shows the PAE VOR/DME as "Out of Service" in the "Plain Language" results box but in the header it shows: "Status: Active."
Right hand left hand government thing?

ELN VOR/DME: Header shows: Active.
Plain Language box shows: Not Monitored.

Nearly useless.
Click to expand...
Um... the NOTAM is active.
 
Semi sarcastic response as well here:

1) Assume any VOR is out of service
2) Just for kicks, tune in the frequency once in a while and you might be surprised
3) Rinse and repeat for ILS service
 
WDD said:
Semi sarcastic response as well here:

1) Assume any VOR is out of service
2) Just for kicks, tune in the frequency once in a while and you might be surprised
3) Rinse and repeat for ILS service
Click to expand...

Sarcasm not required in my parts. 3 separate VORs NOTAM'd out on the 2/3 training XCs I tried to planned. I realize that's a very small sample size to make any conclusions - actual statistics on downtime would be interesting to know.

Maybe someone who has some more years flying than I do can share how often they generally see VORs NOTAM'd U/S.
 
DCR said:
Sarcasm not required in my parts. 3 separate VORs NOTAM'd out on the 2/3 training XCs I tried to planned. I realize that's a very small sample size to make any conclusions - actual statistics on downtime would be interesting to know.

Maybe someone who has some more years flying than I do can share how often they generally see VORs NOTAM'd U/S.
Click to expand...
It's more prevalent for various reasons. Chief among them are two simultaneous FAA programs. One is MON, which is reducing VOR to a Minimum Operational network. The other is what the FAA considers to be unnecessary, "redundant" approaches (18 VOR approaches were removes this past cycle and it's been going on for several years now).

The result is that an unusable NOTAM can be because (and there may be others):
(a) it's currently out of service and hasn't been repaired yet.
(b) it's currently out of service and is slated for decommissioning anyway, so it won't be repaired.
(c) it's been decommissioned but the charts have not yet been updated to reflect it's removal from the system.
 
Last edited:
I routinely see about 110 VOR U/S at the same time. That is out of an estimated 700 that are still on the books. So I would estimate about 15 to 20 percent aren't in service at the same time.
 
So, not sure the NOTAM idea works 100%. Was out practicing some approaches recently and wanted to do the VOR-A into KLZZ. The VORVAC, AGJ, was/is NOTAM’d for the TACAN azimuth being out but no other comment I could see. The VOR worked fine but the DME appeared to be inop. My receiver was working for another VOR, so it wasn’t that.

That kinda relates to a previous thread about no NOTAM being posted when a VOR approach is unavailable because the VOR is down. I didn’t see anything about the DME or the approach being unavailable. Without DME the approach isn’t doable (without GPS), it would seem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top