Voice recognition with FSX ATC

[Wilson 2]

I have searched with no luck for a simple solution to communicating via voice with FSX ATC.I tried MultiCrew Experience, but ran out of trial flights before I ever got it working, although voice recognition worked well. Even if I purchased it, it seems like overkill for what I want to accomplish.I tried It's Your Plane with absolutely no success. In fact, in reading through the manual, the only reference to "SimpleATC" that I could find had nothing to do with explaining how to communicate with ATC. Besides, I found the program to be extremely flaky. The trial version would work fine sometimes and not at other times. This is the only program that gave me problems with communications. No flames, please. If it works for you, I am happy for you.Besides, I do not need the "horsepower" of either of these programs, even if IYP worked well. I fly general aviation aircraft. I don't need anyone to lower flaps, landing gear or anything else for me. That is what I want to do. What I would like is a way to not have to use my mouse to communicate with ATC.Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.Wilson

[vc10man 732]

I too had tried IYP and had issues besides finding it so complicated to set up and use,I gave up.I reckon there would be a problem interfacing via voice software with the built-in ATC hard code but like you wonder if a developer has undertaken this project.

[sargeski 16]

You can give Vox ATC a try for free for 7 days.http://www.voxatc.com/Home.aspxUnfortunately I know of no "simple" way to interact with ATC. You will have to learn proper phraseology no matter what program you choose.Regards,Bob

[simba_nl 34]

You can give Vox ATC a try for free for 7 days.http://www.voxatc.com/Home.aspxUnfortunately I know of no "simple" way to interact with ATC. You will have to learn proper phraseology no matter what program you choose.Regards,Bob

I agree with Bob, learning proper phraseology is key and you can learn that your self with Vox-ATC. It is also very important to "learn" your windows version your voice so take your time for doing the speech training and be sure to have a good headset/mic.I'm very familiar with the phraseology and played a couple of years ago with Vox-ATC and can recommend it. From that learning curve. it will be a small step to the online VATSIM/IVAO world where you can communicate with real controllers.Happy landings...

[Avcomware 1]

Hi.Look for SpeechBuddy2, here at AVSIM. It may take some adjusting, but it may work. Post here if you need help. TV

[Wilson 2]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will give them a try.My problem is not phraseology, Bob. In real life, I have flown from a Cessna 120 (first plane that I owned) to a Cessna 421. And, I started flight simming at the beginning of PCs. Not being arrogant, but I think that I understand the phraseology. I did all of the speech recognition training, and the system has no problem recognizing my pronunciation and enunciation. Also, I was using the IYP quick start instructions, so I was using the phrases printed in the instructions (whether I would have said it that way in real life or not). It is the interface with FX ATC, itself, that I can't seem to figure out. As I mentioned, MultiCrew worked, from a voice recognition standpoint. It lowered flaps, raised flaps, lowered gear, raised gear, turned on landing lights, etc., etc. IYP seems to start from an overly complex website and go downhill from there.I guess that I am not making myself clear. The question is, how do you get FSX ATC to understand voice recognition? I could never figure out how to make it work with IYP, and there were no instructions in the manual that I could find. With voice recognition, when you get an instruction from ATC, do you repeat the instruction back, or do you say "One", if the choice is #1 on the interface menu? And, what software will accomplish that? If I install Vox ATC, for example, what do I say when FSX ATC says to contact Approach? "552, Roger. Contacting Approach on . . ." or, do I say "One" (the menu selection).See what I mean?I'll give Vox ATC and SpeechBuddy2 a try.Wilson

[Guest jahman]

...With voice recognition, when you get an instruction from ATC, do you repeat the instruction back, or do you say "One", if the choice is #1 on the interface menu? And, what software will accomplish that?...

There you have it: Program W7 Voice Recognition to map phrases to keys and use FSUIPC4 to map the keys to FSX Actions:Phrase "ATC Open" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to open the ATC menu window,Phrase "Option 1" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to select Option 1 from the ATC menu window,Phrase "ATC Close" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to open the ATC menu window.Would of course also work without FSUIPC, using FSX key assignments.Cheers,- jahman.

[flilotUK 0]

I guess that I am not making myself clear. The question is, how do you get FSX ATC to understand voice recognition? I could never figure out how to make it work with IYP, and there were no instructions in the manual that I could find. With voice recognition, when you get an instruction from ATC, do you repeat the instruction back, or do you say "One", if the choice is #1 on the interface menu? And, what software will accomplish that? If I install Vox ATC, for example, what do I say when FSX ATC says to contact Approach? "552, Roger. Contacting Approach on . . ." or, do I say "One" (the menu selection).See what I mean?I'll give Vox ATC and SpeechBuddy2 a try.Wilson

VOX ATC replaces the default FSX ATC. You read back what is presented to you in the VOX ATC window. For example it would say to you "Shamrock265 contact Manchester Centre on 121.850" then present you with a window for you to read back, something like "121.850, Shamrock265". The default FSX ATC window is never used or appears, because you have to disable it. I've had it for a while now and would never go back to the default FSX ATC ever again.

[Fenric 0]

I use Multi Crew Experience for everything except for IFR ATC. For that I tend to use VoxATC. Both products do work well together, FWIW. (I tried IYP less than five times and never made it to the holding point to takeoff.)VoxATC employs a gauge that you can have onscreen which will give you the expected readbacks at any point in your flight. You can vary the phrases somewhat, but it's pretty particular in what it wants to hear. (You can also specify how many times you'll have to repeat certain items before the speech engine will "assume" that you've responded correctly. By default it's a low threshold, but I turned mine up to encourage myself to work with it better.)What VoxATC's "approach controllers" expect to hear depends on the situation you're in. I pulled two of my recent initial approach calls from my log... one inbound on a STAR, one not:

• norcal approach castle air three one three three with you on big sur two request Full I L S runway two eight right approach.
• cascade approach castle air three zero eight four with you leaving one four thousand two hundred descending niner thousand request Full I L S runway one six right approach

VoxATC replaces the FSX AI system. I see great promise in it, in that given time AI aircraft can be made to function better than what we've been accustomed to with MS AI. (For instance VoxATC AI aircraft will fly SIDs and STARs when on IFR - not just you.)If after trying VoxATC and finding it doesn't strike your fancy, if you still have your Multi Crew Experience documents available, check its ATC guide for a good 'flow' look at the different phrases and clauses that can be used for different commands.Essentially MCE knows what ATC menu is visible and what commands are operable, and will try to listen to you and "press the keys" for you. :( (FSX ATC will never "understand" speech. Its control structure is limited by the menus we've all used over and over again.) It was only last summer when I began to make more IFR flights than VFR. I was working well with MCE's ATC module initally as a simple "press 1" "press 2" replacement and had a few of the phrase / clause commands memorized when I got hooked on VoxATC and started to rely on it more and more. Even now if I want to make a US VFR flight I'll likely use FSX ATC with MCE controlling just to keep things different.

[tf51d 284]

There you have it: Program W7 Voice Recognition to map phrases to keys and use FSUIPC4 to map the keys to FSX Actions:Phrase "ATC Open" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to open the ATC menu window,Phrase "Option 1" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to select Option 1 from the ATC menu window,Phrase "ATC Close" voice-mapped to a key that is FSUIPC-mapped to open the ATC menu window.Would of course also work without FSUIPC, using FSX key assignments.Cheers,- jahman.

I think he wants to say the phrase itself, and have ATC recognize it and give the appropriate response. That gives me an idea, that you may be able to simulate Voice recognition, but before I go further I want to test it out first, as it's a little hard to explain on the fly.Edit: Ok what I wanted to do didn't work, but an alternative (Admitted not the best) You can turn off the pilots voice in the general tab, and when you select the ATC option (You can program it to a joystick button with FSUIPC) you can say the response. In most cases you will have enough time to respond before the next instruction occurs. It's not actual voice rec, but done right it will be in sync. (Like I said it's not the best solution!

[DickB 6]

I use MCE only for ATC (I turn all the other options off) and it's great. You can dial your frequencies using the VC radios or hardware radio module controller (e.g. GoFlight) and it will connect to the required transmitter. You can then talk to FSX ATC and get the responses you're already used to.I also looked at VoxATC, but that was way overkill for me (I only fly VFR, mainly GA and WW2 a/c, no airliners). I also didn't like how restrictive it was in phraseology - it seemed you ended up just reading a script off the screen,whereas MCE gives you a lot more latitude. Plus, as you will have seen mentioned elsewhere on the forum, the support from the MCE folks (via email) is second to none.

[tf51d 284]

I use MCE only for ATC (I turn all the other options off) and it's great. You can dial your frequencies using the VC radios or hardware radio module controller (e.g. GoFlight) and it will connect to the required transmitter. You can then talk to FSX ATC and get the responses you're already used to.I also looked at VoxATC, but that was way overkill for me (I only fly VFR, mainly GA and WW2 a/c, no airliners). I also didn't like how restrictive it was in phraseology - it seemed you ended up just reading a script off the screen,whereas MCE gives you a lot more latitude. Plus, as you will have seen mentioned elsewhere on the forum, the support from the MCE folks (via email) is second to none.

Watching some videos using MCE I get a kick out of some of the slang used in the responses. Is there an option though to turn that off? After all I don't think is too realistic to have exchanges such as this example.Pilot: Change to Tower FrequencyMCE: Yeah it it's my duty - Changing to 121.8

[DickB 6]

Watching some videos using MCE I get a kick out of some of the slang used in the responses. Is there an option though to turn that off? After all I don't think is too realistic to have exchanges such as this example.Pilot: Change to Tower FrequencyMCE: Yeah it it's my duty - Changing to 121.8

I believe the co-pilot can be a bit chatty, but I think you can configure him (or her) to be more professional. As above, I only use MCE for ATC, so I don't use a co-pilot. I talk to ATC myself.

[darem 84]

It's worth mentioning that MCE will not only work with FSX ATC, but also with Radard Contact. Like one of the other participants here, I use MCE exclusively for ATC communication, and FS2Crew Voice edition for crew interaction (at the same time, of course). This gives me the best immersion.

[FS++ 707]

I have searched with no luck for a simple solution to communicating via voice with FSX ATC.I tried MultiCrew Experience, but ran out of trial flights before I ever got it working, although voice recognition worked well. Even if I purchased it, it seems like overkill for what I want to accomplish.I tried It's Your Plane with absolutely no success. In fact, in reading through the manual, the only reference to "SimpleATC" that I could find had nothing to do with explaining how to communicate with ATC. Besides, I found the program to be extremely flaky. The trial version would work fine sometimes and not at other times. This is the only program that gave me problems with communications. No flames, please. If it works for you, I am happy for you.Besides, I do not need the "horsepower" of either of these programs, even if IYP worked well. I fly general aviation aircraft. I don't need anyone to lower flaps, landing gear or anything else for me. That is what I want to do. What I would like is a way to not have to use my mouse to communicate with ATC.Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.Wilson

Sorry that you missed out on the Demo.If you are interested, please get in touch and we will send you a link to download extended trial package.This offer extends to anyone eager to try MCE, and finds himself unable to do so due to time constraints.Cheers.Gerald.http://www.multicrewxp.com