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Can D-ATIS be obtained using and what is the primary difference between

  1. D-ATIS (Frequency given in Airport diagram(jeppesen)) ?.
  2. 2.Using AOC function and obtaining D-ATIS using DSP (SITA or ARINC))?.

1.Example: if you look at EDDF (Frankfurt Main) D-ATIS Departure Frequency is 118.730Mhz, should we enter this frequency in RMP3 of Airbus A320 and obtain D-ATIS message using MCDU ?.(I haven't been able to find any videos of pilots obtaining messages using this method)

2.ACARS is a network that is made possible by 2 Major DSP (Datalink Service Provider) SITA and ARINC and Airline partners with either of the 2 to provide them with services, one of them being Weather. SRC: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rJOaZ8_2sxQ SRC: https://www.aviationmatters.co/what-is-acars/ ->DSP Frequencies.

Edit: VHHH (Hong Kong International Airport), Airport Diagram from Jeppesen include D-ATIS frequency and as well as under ACARS: D-ATIS, PDC, DCL can be obtained. Which one to use to obtain D-ATIS ?.

The advantage of using ACARS D-ATIS rather than using D-ATIS Frequency(From jeppesen chart) is because we can obtain D-ATIS of destination aerodrome before even we are in the VHF coverage of the aerodrome because we will be in contact with frequency(either VHF if flying over ground or SATCOM if flying over oceanic area) of our DSP and DSP will fetch D-ATIS of our Destination.

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For a small airport without digital ATIS, the Jeppesen chart will show "ATIS" and the frequency that you tune in a VHF comm radio to hear the ATIS information that was recorded and plays over & over. You'll hear a controller's voice, reading the winds, temperature, sky cover, active runway, and so forth.

For an airport with digital ATIS, the Jepp chart will show "D-ATIS" and the VHF frequency. Tune that frequency into a comm radio, and you'll hear a computer voice speaking the ATIS information. Same info; the notable change is that it's a computer voice rather than a human voice.

If you want to receive the text of that digital ATIS, you'll use ACARS to request it, and if the network connections are all good, then you can get the text of that airport information back as an ACARS message from basically anywhere. There's no need for any VHF line-of-sight with the destination airport, and they're not transmitting it digitally over any datalink setup anyway. They're sending it over a network so that it's available via ACARS.

The "D-ATIS" notation on the Jepp chart is there so that pilots can know if the ATIS at that field is available digitally, or if we'll have to wait until we're within range of the VHF comm radio & copy the ATIS manually by listening to it. It has nothing to do with what's being transmitted from that airport (other than, computer voice vs human voice).

Tuning the published D-ATIS frequency into the VHF-3 radio wouldn't accomplish any good purpose, and would remove the ability for ACARS to use that radio to communicate with the network for all its send/receive functions.

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  • $\begingroup$ If you check VHHH (Hong Kong Intl) D-ATIS freq for departure is given and also next column says ACARS: D-ATIS,PDC,DCL. If you are saying D-ATIS means you can obtain D-ATIS messages using ACARS, then why mention it separately in 2 different columns and also why have the distinction (D-ATIS Departure and ACARS:D-ATIS) ?. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 1, 2023 at 4:30
  • $\begingroup$ That next column probably lists everything available for that airport over ACARS, with the decision made to accept the redundancy of stating D-ATIS twice rather than to make that a column of "everything available over ACARS besides Digital ATIS". $\endgroup$
    – Ralph J
    Commented Aug 1, 2023 at 13:05

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