OnCourse Software

I also suggest that after you have set everything up, you also open the PFE Display utility. See section 12 of the manual. This is very handy as it will not only remind you of all the radio frequencies, but will also tell you what requests are available for the current phase of flight you are in.

Peter

...Start FS9, select your flight, and position your aircraft. Then start PFE and load the flight plan you have compiled according to Dave L.'s video. (Click the "Select New ADV" button and select your flight plan; it should be listed after you have compiled it.) After you load the flight plan in PFE, the "Connect to FS" button will light up. Click it to connect PFE to FS.

Thanks Dan. That was what I was doing, so so far, so good. The problem I guess was simply that I had the FS9 ATC window open. However...

The problem I have now is that I can't see the COM frequencies.:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v68/m ... ot_007.jpg

You can see that half the numbers are missing. I fly Full Screen, but the same in windowed mode. My screen resolution is 1920x1200. Hope one of the Daves can help me to correct this..

I am also, it must be said I'm afraid, a bit disappointed with the pilot voices I have heard so far, even though the overall programme is extremely impressive. Although the voices themselves don't sound in the least computer generated, individual words are often cut together in a very unrealistic way and numbers in particular are 'punched out' individually with great emphasis on every syllable: the whole effect is as a result very much of a computer talking. (The ATC replies are more realistic for some reason). I had thought that I was going to get voices that sounded totally authentic, like in FDC. Maybe some pilot voices work better than others?? Any recommendations?

Martin

OK.. I think I have fixed the info banner problem by changing FSUIPC options!

Now another oddity surfaces. When I tune to Clearance and press 0, I am given clearance but the programme then goes on automatically, retuning the radio (fine) and saying 'Ready for Taxi' (when I am nowhere near ready). Is that how it should be? From the commands page I'd have thought that I would need to press the 0 twice, first for Clearance and second time for Ground, when I am ready to taxi.

I had better watch the rest of Dave's videos...

Regarding the pilot voices, experiment with different voices by changing the setting at the top of the Options #1 screen in PFE. (I assume you did purchase the Voice Set Expansion Pack along with PFE; if not, I definitely recommend it.)

Regarding ATC carrying on automatically, this is because you are using CP mode 2. IF you wish, change to CP mode 1 and you will need to "roger" the commands yourself and then initiate the next communication, though the frequency changes will be handled for you. Experiment with the settings and set them to your preferences, but you've got it working!

[I should mention here that if you do choose to use CP mode 1 consistently, there is one thing to keep in mind: when you are on final approach to your destination airport, the frequency change from approach to arrival tower sometimes occurs late or not at all, so some users have found they need to make that frequency change manually before contacting tower for landing clearance. Just keep it in mind if you encounter that matter in the future.]

Dan

Thanks again for taking the time to advise Dan.

I think I am getting the hang of this now. I realised the Virtual Co-Pilot settings were why Clearance to taxi was happening automatically. I can either change to CP Mode 1, or, as I did on my last experiment, just switch the radio frequency away from Ground as soon as PFE in Mode 2 changes it, then back again when I am ready (I then need to press 0 again of course).

I'll see if any of the voices are any better than the very juddery ones I have selected at the moment. As I say, the voices are so smooth and natural in FDC that PFE is a disappointment to me from that point of view. But that is the only thing I have found so far, the programme overall is amazing (as I said, I never had ProFlight Emulator when I had FS2000, all those years ago, so this is all very new to me). Oh, yes, I did buy the addon from Aerosoft, and downloaded the 700MB file of extras from the OnCourse site too.

There are still some things I can't get to work (for instance some of the HotKeys: Ctrl+Shift+= doesn't get ATC to repeat what they have said if I missed it), but I will keep practising - and post back if I really get stuck!

Martin

OK, progress report!

I am flying EGBB to EBCI in the a/c I know best (PMDG 737NG) and everything PFE is working! The only thing I have which I is different (apart from the voices issue) is that when I am approaching my flight path and ready to start LNAV, ATC, instead of turning me to join the flight path I am going to follow, directs me almost directly towards it, so that I am at about 75degs to the flight path. To see what happens, I followed their instructions and a minute or two after I crossed the flight path I was directed back towards it. (I didn't programme any SIDs). Maybe that's more realistic?

Also, my TGS has already stopped working! I get the oral directions, but the gauge in the cockpit no longer shows anything at all. It was OK this morning. Maybe just a temporary glitch?

M.

Better I keep this same thread for problems, rather than start new ones each time?

OK, my TGS gauge seems not to work now. It did for the first flight but since then, I get voice directions, but nothing in the cockpit gauge. Am I supposed to reload the aircraft? Flying my PSS Airbus, that's not really an option as the aircraft reloads 'cold and dark'... Maybe it works better installed as a separate window rather than a fixed gauge??

Next (!!), I don't understand why ATC always wants me to turn away from my flight path, once I have engaged LNAV and am en route. At the moment, I am flying EBBR to EIDW and am heading north-west, established on my flight path. ATC keeps telling me to turn right heading five-zero. The flight plan (adv) was good and shows the correct waypoints, so why am I being told to turn in the wrong direction? If I turn to heading 50, ATC then tells me something about four miles off the airway (but the ATC voice is very hard to understand, I really am not sure what exactly I am being told). It's getting a bit frustrating to be honest, I've had to abort my last two flights....

Finally (for now), ATC refers (for instance) to EIDW as Echo-India-Delta-Whisky. Doesn't PFE use the proper airport names (here, Dublin), as FS9 ATC did?

M.

Hi Martin,
do you have a dual monitor setup?
If yes...then download Dave M's tgs gauge which is standalone and far better than the gauge that ships with PFE.
Also you can have radiostack and displayer on view and remote text...

If you are getting told to turn ???? it sounds like you have missed a WP,when creating a FP it's best not to include SID/STAR aswell as this can cause this type of annoying message..

Also never load PSS Airbus with it's pre-programmed setup ie:Cold and Dark,it's always advisable to start your aircraft with stock aircraft first,ten your aircraft....if so save your flight with PSS in a cold and dark setup name it PSS Airbus Cold and Dark or whatever you prefer...

With regards to ATC voices you can alter the tone etc on options#1,have you downloaded the enhancements pack (free) from this website which makes the voices more realistic..

Hi. That's a coincidence as, searching the PFE forum for TGS problems I just this minute found a mention by Dave M. of the gauge:

Unfortunately I gave up on the gauge years ago. I'm not a gauge programmer and had someone else do it for me but they were never able to iron out all the issue. That's why I wrote the standalone app but that's only useful if you have two monitors.

and came here (as I do use a dual-monitor setup) to ask where I can get it (I'll search the site, will doubtless find it after I post this). I'll give it a try, certainly. Also you can have radiostack and displayer on view and remote text... How do I get 'remote text' (I assume you mean ATC text on the 2nd. monitor)? What do you mean by 'displayer'? I don't much like running messages or whatever on my main monitor, but if I can get them onto the 2nd. screen ... (Can this be set up as the default or do I have to undock windows every time to achieve this?). I don't want to run anything on a different PC, by the way, just on the second monitor. Trying to find instructions for setting up the stand-alone TGS gauge...

As for the other points...

Voices: some are much better than others (though some are really weird sounding IMHO - the aural equivalent of a letter written by pasting individual letters cut from newspapers onto a sheet of paper - if you see what I mean!); it'll be a case of finding the best and using those each time.

Odd vectoring: My current flight (Aberdeen to Liverpool) had no such problem. I'll see how things go (though all the waypoints for my flight were nowhere near the point to which ATC was directing me and, as I said, I had no SIDs programmed). I also found by the way that ATC wasn't vectoring me to the final and let me fly on way past the airport, so I changed back to VC Mode 2 (from 1), which also means it doesn't matter so much if I don't understand what ATC is saying - I get it when I, er, the pilot (!), repeats it!

Thanks, as ever..

Martin

Martin

re vectoring....PFE I believe uses the departure/approaches that are built in to FS9/FSX.

If you opt for a vectored departure what will happen is:
you will get told to fly runway or another heading after takeoff. You will then receive further vectors which may include more than one heading change, until you have been vectored to your first WAYPOINT on the flightplan. That waypoint obviously should be some distance from the airport (min 30 miles?). If you are using a waypoint too close to the airport you will experience problems.
once you are at your first waypoint you should hear the instruction to "continue own navigation". In short, vectoring is not to get you parallel to your flightplan, it is to get you to the first waypoint.

You said you did not get vectored to your arrival runway. What exactly happened. Did you get passed over from centre to approach? Did you get assigned a landing runway? What was the last message from ATC? You can find these in the debug monitor log in the PFE logs folder.

Peter