Anyone know of a good ATC Addon?

[Rocky Jet]

This default one I been using for years because i thought if I got a good ATC add on my performance would drastically change. This is not the case anymore because I run FSX SE at 60 plus frames now. This ATC really is bad in terms of realistic and procedure. Thanks. I dont mind spending a good amount either. I saved up for it.

[Morag]

There's two worth looking at imo;

a lot of people rate ProATCx
http://www.pointsoftware.de/proatcx_e/index.html

I use VoxATC and really like it
http://voxatc.com/
there's a 7 day demo.

Look up some reviews and see which suits you best.

[RyanGA]

I use Radar Contact and love it personally. Not very robotic except for obscure airports with no verbal names prerecorded.

[Rocky Jet]

Thank you very much to the both of you Ill check them out!

[ScruffyDuck]

I have just run some comparisons between Radar Contact 4, ProATCX and PFE (ProFlight 2000 Emulator)

I am sure there are folks with a much better understanding of these utilities than me so please treat this as newbie comments

I think ProATCX has a lot of potential but I had problems with it losing me after contacting Approach before landing. On the plus side the in sim display is clear and comprehensive and the virtual co-pilot support it good. It seems targetted at larger planes and the sort of flights they do rather than general aviation which is what I prefer. It does provide for flight planning so there is no need for a separate flight planner. I did not find their support forum responsive.

PFE looked very interesting in terms of what it could deliver but to be honest I could not get ot to work reliably in Sim. The key commands did not work reliably. The developer was very helpful.
It requires that you input flight plans created by an external flight planning tool (or FSX itself) and the process is a bit contorted. I think it would work well for commercial and general aviation flights, It is also has an awful lot of options that I found a bit daunting

I used an early version of Radar Contact some years ago. Again it requires that you create a flight plan with a separate flight planner and load it into RC when you fly. It handles commercial and general aviation situations. It worked well for me including forcimg me to go around when I was late getting the gear down on short final..

I think they are all capable of providing realistic ATC. They all have the ability to generate ATC from AI traffic and also to include real ATC chatter.

In the end I decided on Radar Contact 4 because it is pretty simple to use, seemed to suit my needs for GA support and worked reliably.

Now flight planners is a whole other thing and I went through some pain in selecting one of those 9-)

Jon
ScruffyDuck Software
Microsoft MVP

[RyanGA]

To add to what Scruffy said about Radar Contact (can't speak for the others), you can load the game's own flight plans into it. You don't have to use a 3rd party flight plan generator if you don't wish.

For me, I also enjoy the virtual co-pilot who can handle radios, fly the plane for you (not landings or take offs and not complex planes like PMDG), ability to use SIDs and STARs, and can handle emergency situations such as declaring and landing at alternate airports.

[Eriol_Mits]

Not tried ProATCX but I am a fan of Radar Contact 4, got it about 2 years ago and havn't flown without it, until recently I lost my backup exe so can't install it on my new sim system -.-;. Radar Contact 4 with My Traffic 2013 is just amazing for giving you a realstic experience busy skies with lots of ATC around. Would recommend that program.

[Morag]

VoxATC just picks up your flight plan in FSX too. I really enjoy the immersion of using voice to control ATC and it's very easy to set up and use but it's not right for everyone.

Got a good review from Mutley's Hangar
http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/jack/vatc/vatc.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlNG2GTHehk

[N Quarter]

On the VoxATC News Page, it says that the FSX: SE will be available soon [Posted 16th Feb]. Can anyone confirm that it works without any Modifications? Don't really want to try and Install it to try it for 7 days if it's not going to work, hence me not getting the chance to test it out later.

[Morag]

I don't think I had to do anything special to get it to work

[HawgDawg4life]

go to fsx-mp.com. log into their teamspeak. In their teamspeak is a program that you can download called FSRadar 1.9 by Geoff. Its the best damned radar replacement for default FSX that I have ever seen and its free.

[ScruffyDuck]

HawgDawg4life a écrit :

go to fsx-mp.com. log into their teamspeak. In their teamspeak is a program that you can download called FSRadar 1.9 by Geoff. Its the best damned radar replacement for default FSX that I have ever seen and its free.

Thanks but the OP is asking about an ATC Addon. Radar Contact is an ATC addon not a radar addon.

Morag MacRae a écrit :

VoxATC just picks up your flight plan in FSX too. I really enjoy the immersion of using voice to control ATC and it's very easy to set up and use but it's not right for everyone.

Got a good review from Mutley's Hangar
http://www.mutleyshangar.com/reviews/jack/vatc/vatc.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlNG2GTHehk

I did not try VoxATC yet. I must admit to being put off a bit by the voice control. Having said that I have heard it is very good so I should take a look :)

Jon
ScruffyDuck Software
Microsoft MVP

[szabosala]

Simple listen liveatc.net ! Thats it!

[Morag]

ScruffyDuck a écrit :

I did not try VoxATC yet. I must admit to being put off a bit by the voice control. Having said that I have heard it is very good so I should take a look :)

There's a few things that put me off too before I took the plunge.

First I thought the voice recognition wouldn't be reliable enough, but it is - and if it isn't then ATC just ask you to repeat. Every time they ask me to repeat now it's because I mumbled.

Like all voice recog programs you need to train it - there's a simple trainer app you can run where the app gets you to read out various things "alpha bravo charlie" etc. That works well enough, but if you need to you can run the flight plan trainer which loads up an FSX flight plan file and then generates specific things for you to say for that actual flight (frequencies, waypoints etc.).

To pull some figures out of my rear end, I reckon if you spend 5-10 mins using the basic voice trainer then it'll work 95% of the time. Spend another half hour reading out some flight plans and you probably won't need to train it any more than that. That's been my experience.

I have a USB headset which is a different sound device to my sound card so I can have the engines and environment coming through the speakers and VoxATC on my headset - you can do this with default ATC too ofc but you can't talk to it via the headset. Any voice recognition app will prefer a headset type mic.

The other thing that bothered me was, eheh, knowing what to say. Everything on the VoxATC site says how real it is and I thought I might get bogged down or confused not knowing what was expected of me.

But, no, it was fine. VoxATC needs to be installed into each aircraft you want to use it on as a *.GAU file, this is the little black text window you see in the vid I posted. That window shows you exactly what to say next and if you press 0 key there's a menu comes up with a list of other options, not unlike the default ATC window. You select the one you want and the program then shows you the right phrases fow what you selected.

This way it trains you the right things to say to ATC - but you don't have to use the menu and you use it less and less over time. In the options for VoxATC there's an expert mode where it doesn't show you anything to say and you have to do everything with voice - and remember it all. But Ironman mode is optional too. It's really cool to, for example, request an altitude change by just reaching out, pressing space bar and asking for it :)

But then - I suppose the other thing that might put people off is feeling a bit stupid talking to the PC or flying when it wouldn't be practical to do so and that's why I say it's not for everyone.

HTH

[ScruffyDuck]

That's great - you pretty much covered all the things that made me nervous!

[RyanGA]

Does VoxATC have a virtual co pilot who can work the radios? This was my biggest pet peeve with default ATC and why I like Radar Contact presently. I tend to fly several hour flights and with my pc in the corner of the living room I use a headset to not disturb everyone else watching TV but I also am constantly coming and going from the desk during cruise. Once away from the desk I cannot hear anything coming through the headset.

Handing the virtual co-pilot the radios allows me to come and go without risk of not answering a ATC call and having my flight plan cancelled. My ADD is fierce and there's no way I can sit still wearing a headset listening out for ATC for 5-10 hours at a time.