Transmitter
Transmitter is a small Windows application we developed that transmits your position in Microsoft Flight Simulator to an online database where your last reported position is held for 5 minutes. The website then produces a "whazzup" formatted file that can be used by LittleNavMap to plot aircraft positions live on a map, and onto a live map on the VirtualFlight.Online website - "Who is Online?"
Download Transmitter
Click the link to download the application:
After downloading, just unzip, and run the EXE to install. Please read the rest of this page to discover how the program works, and how to configure LittleNavMap to see everybody.
My Virus Killer says Transmitter is unsafe!
When you try to download the Transmitter installer or try to run it, Microsoft Defender might tell you it is unsafe - this is a "false positive" identification (Defender is wrong!). You can visit the "Virus and Threat Protection" section of Windows to fix this:
Click on the Start icon in Windows, and type "virus" - it will show you a link to "Virus & Threat Protection" - click it.
Within the Virus & Threat Protection screen, click on the "Protection history" link.
You can then select the blocked threat - click on it, and you will be able to override it.
Why do we need Transmitter?
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 Virtual Flight Online Transmitter application addresses that.
How Transmitter 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 callsign and name, and sends it to a server on the internet.
The server then provides a URL that outputs all aircraft that have been 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 Virtual Flight Online Transmitter
Fill out the text boxes for your callsign, pilot name, and group name.
Click Connect
After clicking connect, the application will begin broadcasting your location within the simulator to the database on the internet once a second.
LittleNavMap
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 (if you copy and paste it, make sure there are no spaces!)
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
While looking at LittleNavMap, make sure you have the "Show Multiplayer Aircraft" icon highlighted in the toolbar above the map.
Group Filters with LittleNavMap
To only pull back aircraft broadcasting a given group name in LittleNavMap, modify the URL in the Online Flying dialog within LittleNavMap to have ?group=xyz (use your group name) on the end of it - which implements the filter.
e.g. https://virtualflight.online/whazzup_ivao?group=xyz
Finding Out Who is Online
If you would like to see who is online without running LittleNavMap, visit the Who is Online? page (linked at the top of this page too).
Who is Online?
As mentioned above, there is a great interactive page in the website that shows everybody currently running Transmitter:
Just visit https://virtualflight.online/who to see who's online right now!