Aircraft-to-satellite log on table

 This blog tries to explain the 'logon' table located here: https://tbg.airframes.io/dashboard/logon

Intro

Before an aircraft can send any messages through any of the usual Inmarsat satellites, it has to initiate a log on handshake. A sort of formal introduction.
This table, and the Node-RED low-code behind it, attempts to catch those introductions and records the time it takes place and via which satellite.
I then add to this 'logon ping' message a lookup on the aircraft HEX used for the log on and see if we have any callsigns or past ACARS for the handshake ICAO.

ICAO HEX

Did you read those last 6 words carefully? Go back and read them again. Did it sink in? Did a dark light come on?
avgeeks using this table along with the other tables on my site have found that when the aircraft logs on to the satellite, more often than not it logs on with its 'real' HEX.
Once the connection is approved, the aircraft will sometimes switch to its TACHEX (Tactical or dynamic or random HEX).

Past ACARS

This possible HEX change between the log on and run of the mill ACARS it might send during its flight / mission can result in my site not finding any past ACARS from the aircraft.
I may well have caught some, but they have been recorded with the TACHEX it was using at the time. Not much we can do about that. It's a common issue, well understood and frustrating for everyone.
I've written two blogs on the topic. First TACHEX using the E6 aircraft as the example.
Second, just a general slightly unhinged rant about how I can't track if an aircraft switches HEX's or has the wrong one assigned in the community database. But you might be able to.

No Record

Another reason I may not have any past ACARS from that ICAO is because they log on and then switch modes or go fully encrypted (but they can't log on using encryption).

But where _exactly_ is the aircraft?

I can hear the Twitter Randos yelling.... "Unless the aircraft is on a map, it does not exist"... Well Ok, perhaps not THE twitter randos, but the other randos for sure....

Ok, yeah, if that is your tracking limit, then this table is not for you. No problem. Just treat it like every other page on this site, ignore it and just stick with the ones you like.
It is not your usual quick fix 'first post!' sort of table. This is the sort of slow connect-the-dots twice a day check in table.
I don't know beyond what part of the world is covered by the satellite the aircraft logs onto.
The actual raw ACARS message for the log on is very very very sparse.

Here is the coverage map (from the site home page if you have not scrolled down on that page and seen it before).

Duplicates

No, I don't plan to filter out the duplicates of the same ICAO. Why? If I do, we won't be able to tell when the aircraft first reached out to log on and when it stopped pinging the satellite.
Knowing when the aircraft was active and in what part of the planet will help connect the dots.
Think about if it pings a different satellite over the course of a few hours....

I can hear some say, well, just keep the first and the last ping... I'm sorry, I'm one guy doing a TON of stuff across the site, I have to try and figure out if the juice is worth the squeeze for every single demand on my time - if the dupes bother you _that_ much, you are welcome to quicky spin up a global network of satcom receivers (funded out of your own pocket most of the time - some of which will be stolen), get them to feed to a single ingest aggregator that de-duplicates around 1/2 a million messages per day and put them on a live webpage that will be scraped by bots and ridiculed endlessly for having the wrong registration code attached to the wrong ICAO.
Clearly, I had some feedback from early users of this table and they all complained about the dupes....

tl;dr

I don't use my site much, but enough to know there is some REALLY interesting stuff showing up on this table.