I currently use Radar Contact because of its easy of use and setup.  I also own PROATCX which I find very messy.  Just irritating things like you are not told which runway you are assigned when receiving the taxi clearance, you have to go through menus to get the info up.  ATC often just forgets about you and you never get contacted by them or they send you on a zig zag all around the airport you want to land at because it got confused.  I do have to take my hat off to the people over on the PROATCX forum who currently try there best to help out, but there is only so much they can in offering assistance as not all the problems are user error and require a fix or patch from the dev.  It's gone VERY quiet from the two official voices on the forum.  One of the PROATCX officials posts over on the PFPX forum so he is still around and active in the sim world, just not active on ProATCX forums.

 

Also the biggest thing that should be a warning to people is that the exact same dev who made PROATCX also made a very similar program for FS9 and abandoned it in a very similar state to PROATCX.  I can't recall the name of the FS9 software as I never owned it.  I also only found out about this after I had already purchased PROATCX, otherwise it would have put me off instantly.  No one here can tell you where to put your money but we can warn you where not to put it :P

 

 

So I am looking to replace PFE with something that is currently getting updated, why is that a problem?

 

PFE was updated only last month and has another update to 2.16 due anytime.

VoxATC was updated a few days ago. So there you have two options with good support, still being updated and a good proven track record.

 

The question was asked for advice before buying ProATC. I think it sways both ways like Marmite, some love it, some hate it. It all depends on peoples own experiences on the product and the after sales service. Nobody can say that you must by a product or not, but if I was looking a product that had bad reviews, with bad after sales and had the choice of three other products, all with better track records, two currently being updated, then I know which one that I would not put my money in.

PFE was updated only last month and has another update to 2.16 due anytime.

 

Yep, I did not know until Badfinger pointed that out.  I may just stick with PFE then, if I do update it looks like VoxATC will fit the bill.  Badfinger may have saved me some money :)

Badfinger may have saved me some money :)

That's not all he saved Ya, probably a nervous breakdown as well.

That's not all he saved Ya, probably a nervous breakdown as well.

 

Hehe, I get those at work (Software engineer at Adobe).

PFE was updated only last month and has another update to 2.16 due anytime.

 

 

what is this update all about mate?

 

ATC giving you descend instructions and not forgeting about you ?

 

 

what is this update all about mate?

 

No, it corrects a problem when you have used the function to reset the hotkeys to default, it can leave the ini file with som bad entries for the last couple of hotkey slots.

Post #56 above shows how to correct this manually.

Maybe the system being used is a bit overloaded and some parts sound disjointed? If that's what you mean by "robotic" then you shoul consider running it on a networked PC rather than on the FS PC. That has the additional advantage of allowing the ATC voices to be sent to a different speaker, such as headset or overhead.

 

Some users claim that the distortions added in the "Meatwater" versions of the sound files makes them sound less "robotic", but to me they just make them almost unintelligible, especially on a headset.

 

Pete please, can you clarify this point? when you use RC via networked configuration with its own default voices (not meatwater) does it become less disjointed? is it better to use it in networked configuration in your opinion?

Pete please, can you clarify this point? when you use RC via networked configuration with its own default voices (not meatwater) does it become less disjointed? is it better to use it in networked configuration in your opinion?

Very much so. RC performs much more smoothly when it doesn't have to compete with FS. And certainly the voices sound fine to me using a headset. I also used to use IYP (It's Your Plane) to talk to RC -- IYP has facilities specifically for RC -- but felt a bit silly talking to a

PC. I have a button on my yoke which is single press for 'ack' and double press for 'contact controller', with the other options as a Wideclient button pad on a small in-cockpit touch screen ( Lilliput 7 inch, USB).

 

The Meatwater versions seem to me to push radio quality back to early 1900's style 'Biggles' quality, almost unintelligible, as I said.

 

Pete

The Meatwater versions seem to me to push radio quality back to early 1900's style 'Biggles' quality, almost unintelligible, as I said.

Pete

C'mon Pete, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

Thanks so much Pete.

C'mon Pete, that's a bit of an exaggeration.

 

Try them on a headset!

 

Pete

in a networked configuration is it possible to route audio from client to server pc using any particular software, something like voice over ip? instead of using a phisical rca jack from client to server?

 

in the same way you can transmit data via ethernet connection is not possibile to do the same with audio?

You can route the audio, it depends how you want to use that audio and what hardware you use.

 

Jack plug headphones and speakers - Run FSX through the speakers and ATC through headphones. Use and extension cable if needed or plug straight into the networked PC.

 

Jack plug headphones with mic and speakers - Same as above although you probably will need an extension to plug headphones into network PC and Microphone into FSX PC.

 

If you have a USB headset or want to run it all through your speakers, you can run a mini jack to mini jack lead. Plug one end into the speaker port on the networked PC, the other end to the line in on your sound card. Right click on the speaker symbol in the taskbar, then right click on the 'Playback device' option. This will open the Sound control panel. Select the 'Recording' tab, then select your 'Line in' and 'Properties'. You then need to click 'Listen to this device'. In the dropdown list you can select the option for the sound card you want to listen to, either USB headset or speakers.