What is "Virtual Flight Online Transmitter" ?
It is a small Windows application that transmits your position in Microsoft Flight Simulator to an online database. Anybody running Transmitter can then be plotted live in LittleNavMap, and on a map at https://virtualflight.online/who.
Why?
If you and your friends want to see each other on mapping software such as LittleNavMap to run your own air traffic control sessions for group flights, you will no doubt have discovered that Microsoft Flight Simulator only communicates AI aircraft to external mapping applications such as LittleNavMap - not users. The VirtualFlight.Online Transmitter application addresses that.
How It Works
The desktop application connects to a running copy of Microsoft Flight Simulator via the SimConnect interface, and reads your aircraft's type, latitude, longitude, altitude, and airspeed. It combines the data with your keyed callsign and name, and sends it to a server on the internet.
The server then provides access to data that has updated in the last 5 minutes in "whazzup" format - a data format commonly used with the likes of VATSIM and IVAO - and crucially LittleNavMap. The URL of the server can be used to configure LittleNavMap to show you and your friends aircraft on the map.
Running the Program
- Launch Microsoft Flight Simulator.
- Run "VirtualFlight.Online Transmitter".
- Fill out the text boxes for your callsign, aircraft type, name, group name, and server URL.
- Click Connect
After clicking connect, the application will broadcast your location within the simulator to the internet once a second.
My Antivirus says Transmitter is unsafe!
Your antivirus is wrong. It's a "false positive". Depending on your antivirus solution, you might need to white-list Transmitter. In Windows defender you can do this by:
1. Visiting "Virus and Threat Protection" in Windows
2. Click on "Protection History"
3. Look in "Recent Threats", and allow Transmitter (or the installer) to run.
Configuring LittleNavMap
If you would like to see everybody broadcasting their position with Virtual Flight Online Transmitter, follow these steps in LittleNavMap:
- Click on the Tools menu
- Click on Options
- Select the Online Flying section within the Options panel
- Choose the radio button for "Custom" within the Online Flying section
- Fill the URL https://virtualflight.online/whazzup_ivao into the URL field (and make sure you have no spaces in the URL)
- Set the update rate to something sensible (e.g. 5 seconds)
- Make sure IVAO is chosen in the format drop-down
- Click Apply, and OK
Who is online?
You can find out who is online at any time by visiting the following URL:
Help Support Transmitter
If you are able to assist with the operating costs and continued development of Transmitter, please consider joining the patreon - for the price of a cup of coffee each month, you'll be helping the entire community.
3 days ago
TN3101
Thanks Jonathan!
18 days ago
ErnieBall
1 months ago
abie
4 months ago
padster8543
The settings appear to be stored in transmitter.exe.config, perhaps have a "local" config file separate to the other system settings (e.g. SQLite stuff) would make this easier as it wouldn't be replaced each time an upgrade happens.
5 months ago
5 months ago
jonbeckett
TOPGB
Just installed this and love it! One very minor suggestion: As-is, you either have to disable LittleNavMap's user aircraft overlay or you get a ghost of your own plane and its variables on the map, and you also have to reduce your plane's update rate to the same as that used for other aircraft.
It would be really nice if you could disable display of your own plane's position in the map while retaining everyone else so that you could have the best of both worlds: Your own aircraft update quickly by LittleNavMap, and everyone else's online aircraft at a reduced rate using VirtualFlight Online Transmitter.
I get that the whazzup_ivao map is shared between everyone and there's no possibility to filter out a specific user from it in LittleNavMap. A suggestion, though: Could you please consider adding an environment variable option to the URL and allow users to pass their own ID to it, eg: https://virtualflight.online/whazzup_ivao?mycallsignhere and then do the filtering of that user on the server side instead?
Many thanks both for the extremely useful addon and for taking the time to read and consider this request!
7 months ago
5 months ago
jonbeckett
tiltedracer
Just installed the latest version and can't see anybody nor my own red plane on Navmap ?
7 months ago
5 months ago
jonbeckett
AVCORP
If your antivirus software says Transmitter is a virus, it is wrong. It's a "false positive". Depending on your antivirus solution, you might need to white-list Transmitter.
In Windows defender you can do this by:
1. Visiting "Virus and Threat Protection" in Windows
2. Click on "Protection History"
3. Look in "Recent Threats", and allow Transmitter (or the installer) to run.
8 months ago
jonbeckett
Sorry I didn't see coments below
8 months ago
blb
8 months ago
Same
8 months ago
FractalSystems
blb
hello, since few days, VFT does not function ???
11 months ago
Did you read any of the news over the last couple of months both in the app, and on the virtualflight.online website and discord server about the URL changing?
In littlenavmap the URL needs to be:
https://virtualflight.online/whazzup_ivao
10 months ago
jonbeckett
blb
NEW LNM URL (Effective Jan. 4, 2023 >> Whazzup File URL must read: https://virtualflight.online/whazzup_ivao
11 months ago
nbrich1
My antivirus is saying that this contains a Trojan?
11 months ago
It's a false positive then :)
10 months ago
jonbeckett
Grimbo
Looks like a perfect program. But.. it will not connect to the MSFS. Is there another setting within MSFS that I am not aware of. ?
12 months ago
It should just connect?! I suppose you might have antivirus software that is blocking it? It just reads simconnect data.
10 months ago
jonbeckett
wiersma.mc
Hi, I have been using online transmitter for sometime now and wonder if there is a problem since SU11 as I have had several times when LNM loses simconnect connection. And today after it happend again on the second leg of a flight. I shut down the sim and restarted the flight I had been doing without using online transmitter and so far there has been no problem with LNM. Has anyone else reported the same experiance?
1 years ago
No other reports like this - it may have coincided with me upgrading the servers.
10 months ago
jonbeckett
antonvs_AU