OnCourse Software

Welcome to our Product Support Forums

Very Disappointed

PLEASE NOTE:

If you are reporting an issue with PF3 please remember to Zip and attach the Debug_Monitor.log file from your PF3\Logs folder. Thank you.

Post Reply   Page 1 of 1  [ 9 posts ]
Author Message
benbo
Post subject: Very Disappointed
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 6:52 pm
Offline
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:19 am
 
Hi Guys,
Looking for a little help or advice because i must be doing something wrong.After using RC4 for a good few years,i heard about PF3 and decided to purchase it today,well im rather disappointed with it to be fair.first off RC4 cant read all your altitudes in the flight plan,Via SID and StARS.with this i have to put them in myself.So i thought i would give it a go anyway after reading the manual i set a flight up from EDDF to EGLL,I started the flight and thats where the issues started,first off i could tune to the ATIS so i had to guess it was 7C for departure due to the winds,i started the programme by pressing 0 and it had me taxing to the runway before i could even switch the aircrafts power on,contact ground when ready to taxi,well i wasnt but the co pilot just kept asking for the next step.I set the aircrart up and made my way to 7C for departure at the holding point i didnt recieve a single message to enter the runway so i pressed 0 again and it told me to continue taxi,this happened 5 times with no acknowledgement that i was at the holding point,at that stage i turned it off and restarted the flight RC4,i hope i am doing something with regards to reading the SIDS and STARS being input manually and why i am getting all the instructions to taxi etc when im not ready,got a feeling this will be going back in the box and i will go back to trusty RC4,hope you guy can highlight where i am going wrong.

With Thanks
Gary.


Top
Profile Quote
Dave March
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:38 pm
Site Admin
Offline
 
Posts: 6093
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 6:22 pm
Location: Sawtry, Cambridgeshire. UK
Contact: Website
 
You can configure PF3 so your VCP will not step through to the next stage when interacting with ATC to allow you to do whatever checks and preparation you wish.

Other than that there's not much more I can help you with as you didn't include the debug monitor file as requested in very large red letters above.

_________________

Cheers

Dave March

Email: dmarch@oncourse-software.co.uk

I don't know if my memory is getting worse as I get older...
...I just can't remember how it used to be!

[ img ]


Top
Profile Quote
benbo
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:13 am
Offline
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:19 am
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks for taking your time to get back to me,sorry about not posting the logs,i was so annoyed that i had just spent £34.99 on a product
that in my opinion is not as good as RC4.Before i put it down as a bad purchase and return to RC4 could you answer me a few questions,if
you have to manually enter the altitudes etc on your STAR what happens on a long haul flight with the wind changes etc.How do a stop the
co pilot running through the stages like he wants to go the toilet.Is there a control panel anywhere in flight with options etc.Sorry to sound a liitle
off but im upset i just wasted that money.

Thanks

Gary


Top
Profile Quote
johnhinson
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:41 am
Offline
 
Posts: 256
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:54 pm
 
Gary, don't be put off too quickly.

PF3 is highly configurable which will allow you to configure everything to work the way you want it to. We all like to do things differently and the configurability enables us all to use it the way we want. There is a huge manual to absorb, but it is well worth going through it.

Even if both PF3 and Radar Contact claim to be like the real thing, they are not the same! My advice is to switch off any RC or default FS ATC mindset and start from there. PF3 has been through many, many years of development and has grown into an extremely rugged and reliable product. It just takes a little while to get the hang of!

John

_________________

My co-pilot is called Sid and he's a real Star!


Top
Profile Quote
Dan77
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:16 am
Offline
 
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun May 05, 2013 2:22 am
 
Good advice from John. Take some time to try the program and experiment with the features. One of the big advantages of PF3 over RC4 (in my opinion) are the voices. ATC voices are indexed to the geographical region where you are flying, and AI pilot voices are indexed to the AI airline name, which really adds to the immersion. Nothing destroys the immersion for me faster than hearing U.S. controllers in Europe or Asia. There is no canned chatter; all chatter is responsive to AI activity in the sim.

PF3 uses a standard descent profile but you can adjust the waypoint altitudes on the PF3 waypoint page before the flight. Usually it is best to leave the altitudes for the climb phase unchanged because PF3 will step you up to cruise altitude and it will be a bit different each time. For the descent it is true you will likely not know the active landing runway in advance. If you think you may be doing a near-side approach you may want to set the altitudes to the lower end of the range just in case. ATC will descend you according to the crossing altitudes you have set on the waypoint page. You can also request clearance to specific altitudes using the H and L key combinations (see the manual).

Your last waypoint should be no closer than about 20 miles from the destination airport. When you reach the last waypoint PF3 will issue vectors to the active runway, or you can request clearance at pilot's discretion if you want to complete the approach yourself without vectors (I think this is similar to the 'Request IAP' option in RC4).

_________________

Dan

[ img ]


Top
Profile Quote
Dave March
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:04 am
Site Admin
Offline
 
Posts: 6093
Joined: Mon May 18, 2009 6:22 pm
Location: Sawtry, Cambridgeshire. UK
Contact: Website
 
Gary,
Sorry you're feeling so upset about your purchase. This is why we highly recommend trying the free demo before purchase.

There's a very good section (20.5) on SIDs/STARs in the User Guide

As for configuring the PF3 VCP to 'slow down' please see the following, which is accessed via Options #1 and then Advanced Options and Tweaks
[ attachment ]
2021-04-24_105813.jpg (469.25 KiB) Viewed 1853 times

_________________

Cheers

Dave March

Email: dmarch@oncourse-software.co.uk

I don't know if my memory is getting worse as I get older...
...I just can't remember how it used to be!

[ img ]


Top
Profile Quote
benbo
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 11:32 am
Offline
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Aug 30, 2019 9:19 am
 
Thanks for the advice guys,really appreciated,i have read through the manuals,i will stick with for a little longer,one problem i had yesterday that i couldnt hear the ATIS
even though it was tuned in the radios,also why did ATC not acknowledge i was at the holding point for the runway and kept telling me to continue taxi,it was at that stage
i turned it off.

Gary.


Top
Profile Quote
johnhinson
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 1:20 pm
Offline
 
Posts: 256
Joined: Fri Dec 03, 2010 2:54 pm
 
Dave is the only person who can really answer why things haven't worked the way they should, but he needs a copy of the log to analyse why.

The only thing I can think of for your second question is that if you are at an airport where there is no separate ground/tower frequency, you won't get handed off at the runway because you are already in communication with the tower. Instead, you need to press key 6 to request permission to take off.

John

_________________

My co-pilot is called Sid and he's a real Star!


Top
Profile Quote
Nestoche
Post subject: Re: Very Disappointed
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 3:56 am
Offline
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Dec 25, 2019 12:23 am
 
benbo wrote: *  Fri Apr 23, 2021 6:52 pm
Hi Guys,
Looking for a little help or advice because i must be doing something wrong.After using RC4 for a good few years,i heard about PF3 and decided to purchase it today,well im rather disappointed with it to be fair.first off RC4 cant read all your altitudes in the flight plan,Via SID and StARS.with this i have to put them in myself.So i thought i would give it a go anyway after reading the manual i set a flight up from EDDF to EGLL,I started the flight and thats where the issues started,first off i could tune to the ATIS so i had to guess it was 7C for departure due to the winds,i started the programme by pressing 0 and it had me taxing to the runway before i could even switch the aircrafts power on,contact ground when ready to taxi,well i wasnt but the co pilot just kept asking for the next step.I set the aircrart up and made my way to 7C for departure at the holding point i didnt recieve a single message to enter the runway so i pressed 0 again and it told me to continue taxi,this happened 5 times with no acknowledgement that i was at the holding point,at that stage i turned it off and restarted the flight RC4,i hope i am doing something with regards to reading the SIDS and STARS being input manually and why i am getting all the instructions to taxi etc when im not ready,got a feeling this will be going back in the box and i will go back to trusty RC4,hope you guy can highlight where i am going wrong.

With Thanks
Gary.
Check out this German Youtuber, He's really good at PF3 and explains how to configure SIDS and STARS as well...Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTBm4T4 ... nnelDeluxe


Top
Profile Quote
Display: Sort by: Direction:
Post Reply   Page 1 of 1  [ 9 posts ]
Return to “PF3-ATC at its best”
Jump to: