Apparently, the dedicated frequency for Flightwatch will no longer be responsive to calls after October 1st. You'll have to contact the appropriate FSS frequency.

On October 1, 2015, the FAA will consolidate Flight Watch services into routine flight services inflight frequencies to eliminate unnecessary duplication of service and provide greater convenience for pilots. These services provide inflight weather information to pilots. After that date, these services will be available on the same frequencies that pilots use to open and close flight plans and to receive updates on NOTAMs or Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs). Dedicated Flight Watch frequencies will be decommissioned.

http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/service_units/systemops/fs/changes/

I'm slightly torn on this. Many times in my past I have called 122.0 while enroute to talk to a briefer when things on the horizon didn't look as I expected. In this modern era of XM weather, cellular data, ADS-B wx, etc I can see how these guys are probably spending their days reading magazines. I still call them occasionally though. It's nice to always know what frequency to use instead of having to look up the FSS frequency.

I call often. Especially to give pireps

Don't call them often but have in the past. Last time they were really helpful was a couple years ago when heading out to JC. I and another pilot close by were relying on them heavily. Because I could hear the other pilot I was able to get an idea of the weather where he was relative to where I was and that helped influence where I decided to divert.

Actually, I often tune to 122.0 just to hear what other pilots around are reporting or requesting. Tuning to a local FSS won't offer that same broad coverage. Maybe a lot of pilots have XM weather or ADS-B weather but a significant number (probably majority) do not. Seems reasonable they should wait until most pilots have ADS-B capabilities.

It seems like it would be safer to have one frequency to turn to when things get bad rather than trying to search for the nearest FSS station from whereever one happens to be.

The only advantage, that I can see, is that when several people call in at the same time, the service station will be able to respond faster from an FSS frequency than on the shared 122.0 frequency.

As long as FSS is still giving weather updates, 122.0 is a convenience I can do without. I've found that I call for updates to distant destinations more frequently because ADS-B weather doesn't give me what I need out to the 100 mile range or more.

Around the mountain west region, flight watch is pretty much useless below about 10,000 feet anyway as radio coverage at lower altitudes was very sparse. I always get a chuckle out of "contact flight watch on 122.0 for advisories" or whatever the phrase is. Not going to happen where I fly. I asked FSS about that many times and always got "we know you won't be able to reach them on your route, but we're required to say contact Flightwatch". They were always helpful on the rare occasions I could reach them, maybe once every 300 x-country hours or so. I'm certainly not shedding any tears.

GroundLooper wrote:...........It seems like it would be safer to have one frequency to turn to when things get bad rather than trying to search for the nearest FSS station from whereever one happens to be.
.........

As I understand it, they're still gonna have flightwatch type service & people to provide it- but now you'll have to figure out which freq instead of having just 122.0 to remember. Seems like a poor decision that will degrade the level of service, yet won't save them much if any money. A lose / lose IMHO.

X2 on having a single "go to" frequency. For the other Luddites among us that don't have all the electronic gee gaws on board being able to dial in a single frequency and say " Flight Watch flying brick N1234 over Lower East Nowhere...." and get the info you need seems like the best deal.

I also saw today that Lockheed is divesting itself of "information technology services to the government" with the purchase of Sikorsky.

See: http://digital.olivesoftware.com/Olive/ ... w=ZW50aXR5

Does this mean they are getting out of the FSS and DUATS business ?

Seeing as how Lockheed recently got the contract and DTC/DUAT.com did not I wouldn't think they would be getting out of the business anytime soon. While flight briefing isn't what it used to be the Lockheed AFSS flight planning site is heads and tails above what duat.com and duats.com ever provided in my opinion. And they show a little ambition by integrating Delorme, Spidertracks, and now Spot satellite trackers.

I'd be interested in how much, if any, eliminating 122.0 saves. It seems like you would basically need nearly the same amount of radio infrastructure out there, maybe one less receiver at the RCO site? I've always wondered how they pipe the radio back to centralized facilities.

Sure is nice not to have to try multiple frequencies, after of course finding the individual freq's in the first place. I too often listen to 122.0 just to see what's going on; There are times listening is indeed helpful.

Though I often fly in the mountains, and yes do have many times where I'm not high enough to reach someone, again at least I don't have to fiddle with the map/radio to try some alternate site that I may or may not be able to reach. For instance, I was recently on a flight calling 122.0 over the Continental Divide; I couldn't hear them replying but they could hear me--they (nicely) kept trying to reach me and I did finally get to a location where I heard them. Had I changed frequencies to try several other options I might not have ever got a hold of anyone.

The RCO sites are allegedly hard wired via land line phone lines.