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Aggravating default FS ATC |
DVA8917
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on August 10 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Piston Prop Professional
US Capital Club
Long Beach 500 Club
Stock Car Racing Club
Millennium Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Greenville, SC
1,106 legs, 2,061.5 hours
14 legs,
23.5 hours online
1,100 legs,
2,050.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
12.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
April 04 2011 21:46 ET by Ronald Pearson
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I have FS 2004 and don't mind the default ATC, except for the very annoying vector changes when I begin to come in for an approach. Does anyone have any ideas why it does this? If I ignore the instructions it will end all ATC communications.
I've read other posts that many here don't like to use the default ATC, but I don't care for the silence, as I mostly fly offline.
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DVA9589
First Officer, A320
Joined on March 14 2011
50 State Club
US Coastal Club
Commuter Conquest
Millennium Club
US Mountaineer Club
Globetrotter
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Everett 500 Club
Stuart, IA USA
1,495 legs, 2,393.1 hours
45 legs,
90.3 hours online
1,480 legs,
2,370.6 hours ACARS
4 legs,
8.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
April 04 2011 21:59 ET by Randy Donnelly
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Default ATC people missed a few too many training classes and there is no fixing them  My suggestion, Aside from VATSIM, is an aftermarket ATC such as Radar Contact or Pro Flight Emulator and even they are far from perfect! But considerably better!!!
Randy DonnellyFirst Officer, A320
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DVA6827
First Officer, A320
OLP
Joined on January 02 2007
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"Gravity is a myth,earth just sucks"
Cleveland, OH
186 legs, 574.1 hours
72 legs,
238.7 hours online
183 legs,
552.1 hours ACARS
13 legs,
51.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
April 05 2011 00:26 ET by Russell Homan
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I enjoy Radar Contact it works fairly well for me, not perfect but much more enjoyable than the default.
Russell HomanFirst Officer, A320
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DVA238
Senior Captain, B737-800
Joined on August 15 2001
Online Double Century Club
B757 100 Club
Millennium Club
Million Mile Club
Everett Millennium Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
"Repainters, "Get Ready""
Comer, GA
1,485 legs, 3,437.6 hours
235 legs,
435.3 hours online
1,124 legs,
2,800.8 hours ACARS
1 legs dispatched, 1.8
hours
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Posted onPost created on
April 05 2011 11:37 ET by Brittany Sventon
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Radar Contact is fun, but it is not flexible about reroutes and changing your SIDS and STARS.
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DVA8917
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on August 10 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Piston Prop Professional
US Capital Club
Long Beach 500 Club
Stock Car Racing Club
Millennium Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Greenville, SC
1,106 legs, 2,061.5 hours
14 legs,
23.5 hours online
1,100 legs,
2,050.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
12.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
April 05 2011 18:40 ET by Ronald Pearson
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Thanks, all. Maybe I'll have to look into one of them.
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DVA4863
First Officer, B727-200
Joined on August 12 2007
Mesa, AZ USA
36 legs, 74.4 hours
11 legs,
22.3 hours online
35 legs,
72.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
13.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 13:50 ET by Chris Shepard
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I didn't want to start a whole new thread on the subject, but this was the latest one I could find regarding offline ATC.
I've been reviewing both RC4 and PFE, and I've been leaning towards PFE since I'm familiar with it back in the ProFlight 98 days and also for the many regional ATC voices that it has, VFR, and Ground Handling.
As much as I'd like to try RC4, there are two major things that have turned me off:
1) No word has been made regarding RC5 and the new features that users have been asking for.
2) I don't like how I have to email the publisher to get a code to install the game. (And that code changes every time you have to do a new install for whatever reason.) If it were a one-time code, I would feel differently but I don't like how a $50 purchase is dependent on the publisher to send a code to allow you to install it. I've had to reinstall my OS a few times over the years, so this is not very convenient.
Naturally, I think Vatsim is much better, however, it is nice to have something offline that covers the globe or at times I may not be able to fly online.
Basically, I'd like to hear from fellow DVA pilots on what they think between the two programs and what they like/dislike about them. Since I'm on the verge of buying PFE, I wanted to get some opinions before I make the final purchase.
Chris ShepardFirst Officer, B727-200
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DVA3931
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP, COMM
Joined on January 19 2007
50 State Club
Tri-Jet Triumph
Million Mile Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
Flying Colonel
Globetrotter
Burbank 500 Club
Eurocap Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"De oppresso liber"
Surry, ME
1,882 legs, 3,806.7 hours
478 legs,
767.8 hours online
1,107 legs,
1,674.5 hours ACARS
55 legs,
114.8 hours event
195 legs dispatched, 134.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 15:46 ET by Andrew Kaufmann
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I love RC4. If I'm not online, I'm using it - while it is far from perfect and it does have issues that still have not been fixed - it is a great program to use, easy to maneuver and you can also set your own voice to it - which I did several years ago. PFE is a good program as well - and like RC4 has it's pros and cons - it really boils down to the interface and what you feel more comfortable with. Bottom line is that the default ATC on both FS9 and FSX are bad at best and the add-ons make it more realistic that that.
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DVA4863
First Officer, B727-200
Joined on August 12 2007
Mesa, AZ USA
36 legs, 74.4 hours
11 legs,
22.3 hours online
35 legs,
72.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
13.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 16:50 ET by Chris Shepard
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For a few years, I seriously considered RC4 because I didn't think there was anything else. I had also seen some YouTube videos of RC4, and I wasn't overly impressed by the ATC voice. I was hoping that RC5 would've come out by now, but it hasn't. And with Microsoft Flight on the horizon, who knows? Maybe they'll get ATC right this time?
Default ATC isn't all that bad. It's limited, but it isn't horrible. I still program SIDs and STARs into my flight plan and just ignore what ATC tells me to do during that part. It's just nice to hear some kind of voice communicating with me, giving me clearance, and directing me to the gate. It doesn't always work the best, and at times I wind up doing a VFR flight with the default ATC while flying an IFR plan. But I agree, third party programs can do it better.
I'd love to hear some more opinions, though. I'll let you know what I end up purchasing and my thoughts, so that others who are looking for offline ATC can benefit.
Chris ShepardFirst Officer, B727-200
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AFV230
Senior Captain, A380-800
OLP, PPL
DISPATCHER
Joined on March 14 2008
50 State Club
Pushing Tin Club
Online Five Hundred Club
Imperial Qin Shi Huang Tour
100% Globe Trotter
Historical Double Millenium Club
Skyteam Supremacist
GVA 15 Year Anniversary
250 Tour Club
Sextuple Millenium
Six Million Mile Club
"Every Drop Shapes The Stone"
Georgetown, TX
6,147 legs, 16,498.4 hours
614 legs,
1,045.2 hours online
5,375 legs,
14,024.9 hours ACARS
42 legs,
241.5 hours event
6,433 legs, 17,335.9 hours total
366 legs dispatched, 328.7
hours
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Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 17:32 ET by Brian Hankey
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I've found that what helps for me is that I "ignore" the default FS ATC until I start my descent and then when I am assigned an approach, I choose a Visual or RNAV Approach and follow it in to the gate.
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DVA10030
Captain, B727-200
OLP
Joined on August 04 2011
50 State Club
Online Double Century Club
Triple Century Club
"Inertial Navigation System Fan "
Milano, Lombardia Italia
323 legs, 812.4 hours
229 legs,
553.7 hours online
308 legs,
767.2 hours ACARS
27 legs,
52.7 hours event
1,410 legs, 2,961.0 hours total
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Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 21:15 ET by Luca Di Biase
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fly online men, all atc are really unuseful! Too far from reality.
I agree that rc4 is better, but not so flexible as an atc should be, expecially, as some of u just said, in sid and star.
In my experience rc4 disappears before approach and remembers me only on short final (sometimes lol).
Another nasty thing: no taxi atc service, so on ground u are completely alone!!!
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DVA4863
First Officer, B727-200
Joined on August 12 2007
Mesa, AZ USA
36 legs, 74.4 hours
11 legs,
22.3 hours online
35 legs,
72.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
13.9 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
August 19 2011 23:01 ET by Chris Shepard
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Luca Di Biase wrote:
Another nasty thing: no taxi atc service, so on ground u are completely alone!!!
From what I've read, this is where Proflight Emulator shines. The other good thing is that they are making updates to the program and have been improving it since its release. I understand there is a lot of pre-planning to do with the program when it comes to your Flight Plan, but then any pilot should be spending the time planning their flight. So the time spent balances out.
I think when PFE first came out, it was... eh, okay... based on the reviews that I read. More people liked RC4 better. But then the developers of PFE made updates and improvements, and now it's a lot better than what it was. RC4 has been stagnant.
And yeah, online is much better. Sometimes you can't always be online, though.
Chris ShepardFirst Officer, B727-200
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DVA4863
First Officer, B727-200
Joined on August 12 2007
Mesa, AZ USA
36 legs, 74.4 hours
11 legs,
22.3 hours online
35 legs,
72.6 hours ACARS
6 legs,
13.9 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
August 27 2011 11:23 ET by Chris Shepard
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I wanted to give some updates regarding my use of offline ATC.
I didn't get PFE yet, but I did purchase VoxATC-X Deluxe v5.5 for around $30. I haven't dug into it a whole lot, but I've got to say that I really like it so far. It only has two AT&T Natural Voices that it uses to speak, but that's not much different than default ATC which only has a couple of voices. The difference is that you use your headset and "talk" to ATC, which I find is excellent and great practice in between Vatsim sessions. It also has taxi instructions, SID/STARs, Emergencies, Vectoring, and it generates its own AI Traffic which it controls.
There is a v6 out which is even better, because ATC can assign you SIDs and STARs. It is also capable of using more of the "text to speech" voices up to the amount of RAM you have installed, so it will make for nice "varied air chatter". I'll probably upgrade to it, but I want to fool around with what I have and get used to it before moving to the next version.
I've got a relative that is going to buy PFE for me as a gift, so that'll be interesting to check out also. Although, I must admit that I'm liking VoxATC for what it can do.
Chris ShepardFirst Officer, B727-200
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