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awralls

Engine Start and Some General Comments

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Bryan,Congrats on taking a leap into the void! I'm still unsure that VR is where it needs to be yet, so this is quite a risky enterprise. Therefore I think you deserve credit for trying to make it work.First, I have one issue. On calling 'START ENGINE 1/2" I only get a brief flash of the light and then no further spool up - i.e. no increase in N2. I have to start the spool manually. I do have GoFlight buttons configured for engine start but I don't see how that could affect it.The other points are mainly issues with voice recognition. I became concerned as soon as I saw the advice to speak with an American accent! Have you any idea how ridiculous that is to a Brit! <G> Seriously, there do seem to be some areas where recognition is weak. Flaps 2 and Flaps 10 being confused regularly, and try as I might, I cannot get what I call the 'complex' commands to work. Things like the V-speed line or the MCP line. I wonder if these would be better separated into individual elements for now?I've used Game commander extensively in the past and I'm using Voice Buddy with FS9 quite successfully, and their advantages are their flexibility. If a command doesn't work, you can usually come up with an alternate phrase that improves responses. The worry I have with your approach is that everything is hard-coded so if a user (especially an international user) runs into trouble, there's nothing much that can be done (except embarassing attempts to sound American!). Hope that doesn't seem too negative. If I wasn't behind the idea, I wouldn't have supported you by buying it and flying a default aircraft which I absolutely HATE! <g>One other suggestion...disable flap actions until the approach phase commences. I'm getting flaps deployed in cruise from ambient sounds.Any help with the engine start thing would be appreciated. I am using the alternate panel file you recommended, if that's of any relevance. I assume that it has been tested.Take care,Andy

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Hi Andy,Well, sometimes even I can't understand the Yorkshire accent, so God help the computer... :( Seriously, though...Regarding speech recognition: It really varies so much from user to user and setup to setup. We had non-American beta testers, and they reported good results. I personally get over 95 percent accuracy with voice, but then I have a fairly neutral accent (if there is such a thing) and I'm using a good USB headset, which helps. Regarding flaps: We can't just make them active for approach because you still need them for the climb-out and you need to ask the FO to set the flaps during your after start procedure... remember, asking the FO to set flaps it was triggers him to start his After Start flow/procedure.Here's some tips to improve speech recognition:1. Train your voice via the Speech Properties.... that's critically important!!!! Try training your voice again.2. The higher the quality microphone the better.3. Speak clearly and distinctly.4. Ensure minimal ambient background noises.5. Practice. From beta testing we learned that the more people used the system, the better the results they got.6. When in cruise, toggle off Voice Recognition by clicking VOICE as you don't need voice recognition active.Regarding speaking with an American accent: During testing a Dutch tester reported that if a word or phrase wasn't picked up that speaking is a less heavy regional accent would sometimes help -in other words, try speaking like an American from Seattle where MS built the SAPI engine :( At the same time though, another tester from Sweden reported good results with his native Swedish accent.Our Finnish tester reported good results, too.So, with voice, it can be all over the place in terms of your results.Definitely try steps 1 through 6.Regarding Engine Start:1. Make sure the APU is running (check the overhead in 2D panel to make sure it's on)2. We're not using simulated keypresses. We're sending the command for engine start directly to the 737 so there should be no possibility for interference.However, does Go-Flight send a command over and over again regardless of button position, or does it only send the relevent command when the switch or button is moved?That could be it there. Perhaps Go-Flight is over-riding the FS2Crew FO.Let me know.Best,

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Regarding flaps: We can't just make them active for approach because you still need them for the climb-out and you need to ask the FO to set the flaps during your after start procedure... remember, asking the FO to set flaps it was triggers him to start his After Start flow/procedure.Here's some tips to improve speech recognition:1. Train your voice via the Speech Properties.... that's critically important!!!! Try training your voice again.2. The higher the quality microphone the better.3. Speak clearly and distinctly.4. Ensure minimal ambient background noises.5. Practice. From beta testing we learned that the more people used the system, the better the results they got.6. When in cruise, toggle off Voice Recognition by clicking VOICE as you don't need voice recognition active.Regarding Engine Start:1. Make sure the APU is running (check the overhead in 2D panel to make sure it's on)2. We're not using simulated keypresses. We're sending the command for engine start directly to the 737 so there should be no possibility for interference.However, does Go-Flight send a command over and over again regardless of button position, or does it only send the relevent command when the switch or button is moved?That could be it there. Perhaps Go-Flight is over-riding the FS2Crew FO.
OK, points noted. On the flaps thing, I meant to disable commands BETWEEN the after take-off checklist and the approach checklist since there should be no flap action during that time. However, your more obvious suggestion to disable VR is a bit simpler. See, that's why you make money out of this stuff!!As to to your tips, I've run the VR training extensively and many times...remember I said I used VoiceBuddy, and I also use VoxATC when feeling particularly masochistic. My machine and I are on intimate terms....The Go flight buttons sends an engine start command as long as it is pressed. I.E. if you press and then release, nothing will happen. You have to keep it depressed to spool past 20% n2. I should add that I've also been fiddling with the panel to make it vaguely realisitic...added the ISG ND, PFD and FMS for example. However if you're not reading switch positions than that's unlikely to be an issue. I was also running FSpassengers (hence the annoyance over the flaps thing...it cost me $1.5m on a flight from TJSJ to KMIA to fix the shredded flaps after Marvin, my FO decided to see if they'd work at FL380. I fired him).I'll try a flight using a completely default 738 with no mods and no add-ons and see if it's any different.CheersAndy

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OK, points noted. On the flaps thing, I meant to disable commands BETWEEN the after take-off checklist and the approach checklist since there should be no flap action during that time. However, your more obvious suggestion to disable VR is a bit simpler. See, that's why you make money out of this stuff!!As to to your tips, I've run the VR training extensively and many times...remember I said I used VoiceBuddy, and I also use VoxATC when feeling particularly masochistic. My machine and I are on intimate terms....The Go flight buttons sends an engine start command as long as it is pressed. I.E. if you press and then release, nothing will happen. You have to keep it depressed to spool past 20% n2. I should add that I've also been fiddling with the panel to make it vaguely realisitic...added the ISG ND, PFD and FMS for example. However if you're not reading switch positions than that's unlikely to be an issue. I was also running FSpassengers (hence the annoyance over the flaps thing...it cost me $1.5m on a flight from TJSJ to KMIA to fix the shredded flaps after Marvin, my FO decided to see if they'd work at FL380. I fired him).I'll try a flight using a completely default 738 with no mods and no add-ons and see if it's any different.CheersAndy
Hi Andy,In the next update, I'll disable the flaps so they can't work while the Mode displays "Descent"... that basically covers the cruise phase.Regarding complex speech in the checklist:Take a look at the Expanded Checklist in the manual starting on Page 20.Remember if the response has * at the end, the trigger word is the last word.Example:MCP ............... V2___, HDG___, Altitude___*In this case, your phrase should end with "Altitude." "Altitude" is the key word the speech recognition engine is looking for.It must be said clearly and distinctly and separately from the other words.For example, I'd say:"V2 is 150, Heading is 200... and we have 5000 for the.... altitude...."Or, if you don't want to say all that, you could simply say:"NEXT" or "SET" or "CHECKED" for the response to move onto the next checklist item.Also, Voice Buddy and FS2Crew (and I believe Vox ATC too).... we're all using the same Microsoft Speech Engine (SAPI).We're using the same code basically.So your recognition results should be consistent to a large degree.Cheers,

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Bryan,Just a quick note to confirm that disabling the engine start function from the GoFlight pushbutton panel restored the full Fs2Crew 2010 functionality. Something to bare in mind as there's a lot of GoFlight users about.Cheers,Andy

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Bryan,Just a quick note to confirm that disabling the engine start function from the GoFlight pushbutton panel restored the full Fs2Crew 2010 functionality. Something to bare in mind as there's a lot of GoFlight users about.Cheers,Andy
Hi Andy,Thanks for sharing that info!!The Go-Flight system obviously over-rides the FSX engine starter system somehow.Cheers,

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Andy A good tip when using this is to key on trigger words as mentioned by Bryan. I am American and sometimes I speak too quickly and the key word gets missed. When that happens I just say the trigger word and the FO picks up.

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