Help - I canna see anyone...

[Guest]

Well not fully the truth - I can see ATC Controllers (some) but none of the ones which should be close to me, and even those I do see don't seem to communicate with me.What happens is when I look at the ATC Directory I get UNICOM - and usually nothing else. Then I might see a couple of _OBS which I believe is Observers...I usually never see any active ATC controllers - and usually those that are close to my position never appear either.I'm using Whazzup - so I know there are controllers on - but I never see them in my ATC Directory.Just noticed that I don't appear on Whazzup either - so I can see all the other pilots but my Plane ID never appears... Anyone able to help - - - I wanna fly friendly skies... :)WiNC

[Guest ielchitz]

WincIf you can see anyone with an "OBS" callsign then you are certainly connected. (and yes OBS generally is for controllers observing and NOT controlling).If you do not see any active controllers, then chances are that there are none plugged in near your area. Where are you connected? What time (zulu) is it? If you plugged into Los Angeles at 0400 AM Pacific Time you might not see anyone connected there . For some other places, you might not see anyone connected there.. ever.If you are connected and someone is in range, then you should be able to see them in your ATC directory. If you are in doubt whether or not you are actually connected, try looking on servinfo or whazzap and then connect in an area where there is lots of ATC (remember not to connect on a runway - causes major problems) and see if you can see them.There are many reasons why you might not appear in the various lists. My suggestion is to connect to the network, then right click on Squawk Box and select "RESEND FLIGHTPLAN", wait 5 minutes, and then check whazzap or servinfo.Hope this helps - please let us know how things turn out.Ian Elchitz CYWG

[Guest]

Thank you Ian,I know I am connecting to a area which has people - especially since that is what Whazzap says (unless that software is wrong)I will also sometimes see other pilots in my chat window - but none of them seem to hear me (or they are ignoring me - but lets not thing bad of people :()I left Whazzap open in the background last time and still nothing happened.Now I am starting to wonder if it is something I am doing wrong with my Flight Plan - so maybe I need to work on that. Does anyone know of any good Flight Plan software/tutorials for Squawk? I have looked at Flight Nav - um - nice software but is there anything free? :) Especially since FLight Nav doesn't seem to export to Squawk files - even though I read that it does (might be a full option which is disabled in the free/demo version)I am connecting any time of the time spectrum - and sometimes there are LOTS of planes and ATC people on - while other times there is only a few. But it matters little, I can never see any ATC people even though I am within the area that Whazzup says they are active (IE, anywhere within that Green section - even at the Airport they are controlling).I have uninstalled FS2002, and am going to install FS2002, an Squark - just to make sure that nothing I have installed has caused any problems (You know how it is - new software - must download everything :()Thanks - WiNCNZ1073

[Guest ielchitz]

Winc,If pilots are near you, but you can not connect to ATC and the other pilots can not "hear" you (assuming you are on the same frequency) then it could be an FSUIPC problem.http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmlDownload and install the latest.Read the directions - takes a bit of time but this file is key.Let us know how it goes.. we will get it all sorted out eventually.Ian Elchitz

[shermank 170]

I have also noticed that from time to time, when I first click on the atc directory, I'll only show unicom. but, if I close the window and bring it up again, the whole list of available controllers shows up...just a suggestion, but try a second time...sherman kaplanHighland Park IL

[Guest]

Yeah Ian - I have the latest it appears...I think I have found the problem - but I'm not sure because sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.Yesterday after full reinstall I installed:Squawkbox 2.3.0.5Then used the updated Squawkbox to 2.3... hold on?When I download squawkbox there was a update to 2.2 which is the zip file that has only License.txtSB23MSFReleseNotes.rtfsquawkbox.exe 601KBHowever the install exe I downloaded for squawkbox appears to already be 2.3 (Even though it is in a zip file saying it is 2.2) and is beta version 5 of 2.3SOOOO :) I think I have found one of my problems...However - I'm still not showing up on whazzup.Maybe I am doing something wrong in the Flight Plan - since I have noticed that Whazzup only shows aircraft which have a Flight Plan.I am still having problems getting access to all ATC controllers in my region. Example... last night there was whole heap of controllers around the MMGL airport, including MMEX_CTR, a few approach and a number of Departures. I could not see any of them in my ATC Directory list - only Unicom.Could different version of Squawk be causing this - ie - some people using one version while others using something else? The strange thing is - sometimes I can see some ATC controllers, but then they disappear. Is as if something is turning on/off my radio all the time - sometimes I see people, sometimes I don't, then sometimes I will see them again, then they will disappear again. And this is just sitting on the airport :(I did manage to get it working once however - had a really cool flight with someone who sounded American - he helped a lot with my first flight on SB. I just can't understand why that is the only time it has ever worked, and now (once again) it isn't working again.I'm trying right now to get SBRF - where according to Whazzup there is the following ATC:SBRE_CTRSBWF_APPSBFZ_TWRSBWZ_APPand I can see none of them... nor any of the other plans connected...sighWiNC

[Guest]

Oh boy - I figured out what I was doing one... Who would have thought there is a network option in Whazzup *blush*oh boy... now I can see people :) Weeeee :)Thanks everyoneWiNC

[barryward12345 0]

>Oh boy - I figured out what I was doing one... >>Who would have thought there is a network option in Whazzup >*blush* >>oh boy... now I can see people :) Weeeee :) >>Thanks everyone >>WiNC YOU BEAT ME TO IT!!! :) I was just going to tell you what I accidently discovered for myself -- I couldn't understand why the controllers and pilots showing up in Wazzup didn't coincide with those you could see in the ATC applet at the VATSIM website -- thn discoveed that when I was starting Wazzup, I had the wrong network selected and was actually seeing the IVAO network.Barry