Hi Dave, sure I've done the AIRAC and Scenery database updat and then aligned scenery. I am going to do another flight tomorrow and write down a detailed account of every issue I encounter and contact Mourad by email. Cheers...

 

Hey Jeroen, how the hell are you tolerating this program. I have been using it every day this week and I am still yet to complete a full flight without something not working! So tonight I filed a plan from LIBD to LGKR. Everything works well until I request start up and pushback, then I wait, and I wait and eventually after about 5 minutes they reply. Do they offer a departure runway before taxi, nope, is this normal, surely they should offer a runway at the time I'm inputting a flightplan? Or am I wrong on this? Then once I get pushback, and I contact for clearance for taxi, I wait and I wait and I darn well wait for another 5 minutes. Eventually they tell me to go to the opposite runway than the SID has been filed for. After TO I am receiving vectors to waypoints, but then I am told to increase to FL10,000 before I even get to 5,500, then I'm told to increase height to FL190 before I get to even 7000' ! Then ATC keeps changing the aircraft flight number from Thompson to Turkish!! Once airborn I get no response at any time when I try to check in, and sometimes when I ask ATC to repeat themselves. On approach to LGKR they take me down to 3,500' 50 K's from the airport!!? Is all this common for this program, because I am done with it. When I purchased it I was happpy to accept a few niggles, but the amount of issues I'm encountering is just rediculous. I accept that some of the problems may be me being a newbie or in fact good old finger trouble, but there are many problems which appear to be straightforward bugs in the program. I am extremely unhappy. I know you have persevered Jeroen and so has Mike and I appreciate your hep and advice, but if the newly awaited update doesn't come up to par, I will simply ask for a refund.

 

The problem with being taken down to FAF altitude as far as 50 miles off the airport, happened to me on nearly every single flight. I am pretty sure that they know this issue and that this is one of the things being worked on...

Hey Jeroen, how the hell are you tolerating this program.

 

If everything that has happened to you would have happened to me I would have ditched the addon weeks ago already... The 'problem' is that most things work for me. Yes, I also am told to climb during a descent sometimes (hardly ever but it does happen) but I for instance never have to wait for a controller as long as you do... I do also get instructions to climb or descent to another altitude before I reached the previous one but I don't see a problem there, really, as long as the altitudes are okay, and they usually are. I mean, when I am descending to 5000 and the next restriction is 3000 then I don't mind at all if ATC already clears me to go to 3500 while I am still at someting like 6500...! If they had waited until I was at 5000 that would have killed the smooth flight down.

 

Anyway, give the next update a chance, I'd say, but if that still doesn't work for you, I can imagine you asking for a refund. (Don't know if they do refunds though...)

If everything that has happened to you would have happened to me I would have ditched the addon weeks ago already... The 'problem' is that most things work for me. Yes, I also am told to climb during a descent sometimes (hardly ever but it does happen) but I for instance never have to wait for a controller as long as you do... I do also get instructions to climb or descent to another altitude before I reached the previous one but I don't see a problem there, really, as long as the altitudes are okay, and they usually are. I mean, when I am descending to 5000 and the next restriction is 3000 then I don't mind at all if ATC already clears me to go to 3500 while I am still at someting like 6500...! If they had waited until I was at 5000 that would have killed the smooth flight down.

 

Anyway, give the next update a chance, I'd say, but if that still doesn't work for you, I can imagine you asking for a refund. (Don't know if they do refunds though...)

Hiya, sure. Update I will wait for...

Hi Guys (and Gals?)....it's the Ol' Blackbird - landed for a sec......

 

JvanE....you said....."What you are referring to is the scrolling text at the top of the screen. Howard wants to keep the menu onscreen in which you select your replies or requests"......

 

Ahhhh - sorry - ya, the menu that comes up when you press "1"....yes? That is a bit of a bugger - caused me fits when I was trying to set up VAC (Voice Activated Commands) to use my own voice to talk to ATC (instead of the pre-recorded voices) - I don't care to listen to a "recorded" Pilot and Co- Pilot talk to ATC - I want to. I kind of wish Mourad had programmed that menu the way it is done in RC4. Same with the response keys - when they move around it can be annoying. Good thing VAC is so flexible - I was even able to work around that. Sorry for going off topic......

 

Sorry, Howard, that your experience so far has been a bit of a frustration. Hang in there - (AFAIK), Mourad is supposed to be releasing a big update - maybe this upcoming week. Fingers crossed.

 

BTW - ProATC/X has not been perfect for me, either.....but it's a whole lot better than anything out there (IMHO). Just yesterday, I reinstalled PFE (ProFlight Emulator Deluxe) and its extra voices, etc. - just to compare. Tried it again - you know what? I blew it away - again. ProATC/X is just better. Even with it's teething pains. New software always has them - always will - so many variables. Ya gotta be patient....

 

Ok - I'll get off my soapbox now - thanks for listening (reading). Hope I didn't go too far off the "beaten path".

 

All best,

Ray Landolt (Blackbird)

 

P.S. - I NEVER have to wait for Controller response - they are usually replying to me within about 5 seconds of my call.

Thanks fellas.... well I am truly at a loss with this... I have just landed at Belfast EGAA, after having no ATC contact since TC. No descent instructions, no vectors, nothing, nil, denada, absolute zero! I started the prog with admin rights, followed the procedure to an absolute tee, and set radios to auto configured by FO....

Thanks fellas.... well I am truly at a loss with this... I have just landed at Belfast EGAA, after having no ATC contact since TC. No descent instructions, no vectors, nothing, nil, denada, absolute zero! I started the prog with admin rights, followed the procedure to an absolute tee, and set radios to auto configured by FO....

 

Im at a loss as to why you have this issue. I get nearly immediet response when I make a request. And ATC is with me the whole way. The only way I see it now thats happening is you missed a waypoint somehow. The way to confirm this and to be on the same page as ATC, check your moving map and see the active waypoint and that it is the same as yours on the FMC and LNAV is heading to it. If it is not, then request a "direct to" the particular waypoint.

 

Like I have mentioned and the others here, it is working, and ATC follows me, and while the altitude restrictions are somewhat off, you can still follow it down according to the charts even though they clear you way down to the IAF altitude way too early. Im pretty certain that Mourad will be having these issues under control very soon.

Hi again, Howard.....I have had the same issue as you - at times. I'd like to try an experiment with you - this has worked for me (as in - the ATC controller never "falls asleep" on me!!). I know it's not a permanent solution - but I'd like to see if it will work for you. (You see, we are all trying to help Mourad make this program be the BEST it can be - and he is really trying to use the input that we all send him) - so, if you would give the upcoming suggestion a try - thanks. If it makes the controller(s) stay with you, I'll report this to Mourad. He really does listen. He we go:

 

Start ProATC/X.

Next, click on the OPTIONS Tab on first screen.

Now click the IN-FLIGHT Tab.

Next - left hand side - click (so as to put a check mark) the very first item - Assign waypoint and SIDs/STARs/Waypoints. I think this makes the controller "follow" you more closely, and makes them tell you more directly things like "Turn left, heading XXX, Continue Airway YYY, etc., in a more continuous way. I'm not trotally certain of this, Howard, but I do know that (for me) the controllers have stayed with me the whole flight when I have this item clicked.

 

Please let me know (if you try this) if it works for you. Good luck!!!!!

 

Thanks!

 

All best,

Ray L (Blackbird)

Hi again, Howard.....I have had the same issue as you - at times. I'd like to try an experiment with you - this has worked for me (as in - the ATC controller never "falls asleep" on me!!). I know it's not a permanent solution - but I'd like to see if it will work for you. (You see, we are all trying to help Mourad make this program be the BEST it can be - and he is really trying to use the input that we all send him) - so, if you would give the upcoming suggestion a try - thanks. If it makes the controller(s) stay with you, I'll report this to Mourad. He really does listen. He we go:

 

Start ProATC/X.

Next, click on the OPTIONS Tab on first screen.

Now click the IN-FLIGHT Tab.

Next - left hand side - click (so as to put a check mark) the very first item - Assign waypoint and SIDs/STARs/Waypoints. I think this makes the controller "follow" you more closely, and makes them tell you more directly things like "Turn left, heading XXX, Continue Airway YYY, etc., in a more continuous way. I'm not trotally certain of this, Howard, but I do know that (for me) the controllers have stayed with me the whole flight when I have this item clicked.

 

Please let me know (if you try this) if it works for you. Good luck!!!!!

 

Thanks!

 

All best,

Ray L (Blackbird)

 

Hi Ray, thanks for the tip. I'll try that very soon. Unsure when, 'cos on Tuesday I'm away in Spain until next weekend :( :smile: Hopefully when I get back the update will have been released...

Have a great time in Spain, Sir!

 

Best,

Ray L (Blackbird)

check your moving map and see the active waypoint

 

Or, if you, iike me, do not like to switch to the moving map (I play in full screen on one monitor) then you can also call up the ingame Flight info menu and check what's the active waypoint.

I guess it's true of all add-ons that few post to say things are working as they should and so forums like this tend to exaggerate problems just on the basis of statistics.

 

I've had ProATC for a few months and had some troubles early on. Most of those revolved around how I generated flightplans and entered them into the FMC and whether the NGX could follow them without missing waypoints and thereby breaking the ATC chain. I have reverted to using Vataware to get the route, importing that into ProATC as a text string to generate a flightplan. I then enter the identical flightplan into the NGX FMC manually so I get nice smooth turns. I have Assign waypoint and SIDs/STARs/Waypoints turned off so that ATC lets me fly the route without undue interference.

 

On the above basis, I've only had one ATC failure in months and that was attempting an approach into Innsbruck, which is notorious, and I suspect the problem was in the nav database or the afcad and even possibly me rather than ProATC,

 

Clearly ProATC can go on improving [more voice sets would be great] but I'm very happy with it and it works for me.

Wow, thats a bad experience. Not sure whats up with that.

 

Have you made sure ProAtc.exe has administrator rights? Sounds like those things are not getting permission somehow. I would check that first.

Have you done the AIRAC and Scenery database update? and then aligned scenery?

Communicating any of these issues with Mourad by email?

 

I dont have nearly any of those issues you mention. It works pretty darn good except for some issues, but nothing that cant be controlled and changed myself. I have mostly successful flights.

 

I do know that I had problems with frequencies even with copilot doing it with older aircraft like the level D. I found out it was my systems on the aircraft. Didnt have the right configuration and it would mess up.

 

Same here, I have always been given the dep runway, as soon as I have clearance.

I have always been given the dep runway, as soon as I have clearance.

 

Hi Mike... ?? So what's different with my setup? I only get a departure runway when asking for taxi clearance!!

Howard, you've got me beat. I have never had any problems getting clearance either STARS or Vectors and the runway is always included, My comms however are set to auto i.e. All I do after switching frequencies at the start is press 1, after that the next time I press is to ask for pushback, then taxi and then after landing to ask ground for taxi directions. The pilot answers all ATC calls I just react to them i.e. ascend, descend etc and frequencies are switched automatically after the pilot answers ATC. I did get your "flying into mountains problem" on a flight from Verona to Geneva, at the moment ProATC doesn't seem to acknowledge altitude restrictions (something that I'm sure will be fixed in an update soon)I solved that by ignoring the descend instruction until it was safe to do so, other than that, no problems.