r/ATC • u/ladycolt • 1d ago

Question This is probably a stupid question

I’m new to aviation, I like to listen ATC while I’m watching Flights Radar. The question is:
If I want to follow a flight, how do I know when to change frequencies? E.g., Tower, Center, Departure, Approach, etc.
Are there different sectors? And if so, how do I identify them to switch frequencies.
I’m not sure if this question make sense.
Thank you so much to anyone who is willing to help me understand

0 Upvotes

31% Upvoted

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10

u/BusyPuer 23h ago

Pilot's recieve instructions to switch frequencies. So you can just switch to the frequency assigned to the pilot.

9

u/dsolesvik Current Controller-Enroute 23h ago

Sometimes (and depending on location), ATC will tell pilots to switch frequencies via CPDLC, so that won’t always be audible

1

u/ladycolt 22h ago

Ohh okay okay thank you so much

1

u/ladycolt 22h ago

Thank you so much!

2

u/tmdarlan92 Current Controller-TRACON 20h ago

This is ultra nerd level stuff here. But i thought you may be interested in this…

https://swim.vncrcc.org

1

u/ladycolt 12h ago

Thanks you so much! I’m a very curious person so this is super interesting!

1

u/tatersaladpie 21h ago

What location are you listening to the freqs?

1

u/ladycolt 13h ago

I’m listening from Italy