I fly both Airline IFR and GA VFR - Is VoxATC  7.41 worth the money.

I have bought Pilot2ATC, PF3 and Pro-ATC all of which have their limitations, so far I prefer Pilot2ATC of the three.  I have also tried Vatsim but coverage is very limited and you are at the mercy of the Controller, very often on final Approach he or she will just clock off, its happened several times going into Gatwick and if you complain on the forum you are told 'they are volunteers' the fact they have just ruined an otherwise good flight doesn't matter, so I've given up with Vatsim.

Going back to VoxATC I have tried the trial version but have noticed some very odd Ai behaviour especially on the ground (taxying round in circles) and being told to change frequency VFR but not given a frequency to change too.

I'm also concerned about the apparent lack of developer support, I emailed him a question three weeks ago and have not had a reply.

I am now very happy with P3Dv4.1 and most of the Scenery and Aircraft 3rd party addons I have bought, only thing lacking is decent ATC, so do I waste more cash trying to get the perfect Flight Simulation experience ?

 

I  bought it and, while some things could be better, I enjoy it much better than the default ATC or the other alternatives that I have tried.  I was able to get the developer to respond once (and he did it rather quickly).  But, otherwise he ignores me, I don't know why he can't be more responsive.

Thanks Rick, your not giving me much confidence this is the ATC program for me.

54 minutes ago, GAJ52 said:

Thanks Rick, your not giving me much confidence this is the ATC program for me.

After researching them fully, I invested in VoxATC from version 6.

I believe it to be the best most capable ATC add-on, for my use case (both VFR and IFR, particularly in the UK)

It is CAP413 compliant, meaning it uses accurate real world phraseology.

In order to give you the most accurate possible simulation, you do need to accept that Vox (or indeed any ATC addon to some degree) relies heavily on scenery data for its operation.  However good the logic, if the scenery data you are using is poor, you will get a similarly poor ATC outcome!

IMHO, for optimal results VoxATC requires:

a) real world navdata (I use fsAerodata)

b) accurate addon airport sceneries (meaning the underlying AFCAD data which Vox indexes and uses).  Beware, even the best addon airport scenery may sometimes require editing with ADE in order to optimise your experience.

c) using a flightplan in sim as accurate as you can get it

d) add on voice packs, such as those from IVONA and Cereproc.

(d) is optional, its only an audible improvement.  (a) (b) and (c) are really a necessity if you want to try to get a real world simulation.

 

I have used VoxATC to obtain 100% accurate ATC instructions in the following test scenarios recently:

1. VFR flights from EGGP Liverpool replicating my historic real world PPL flights, inc MATZ penetrations

2. IFR flight mirroring the PMDG 737NGX tutoriual flight 1, including accurate flight level changes and SID/STAR routings

Conclusion: It is possible to get VoxATC to give you very accurate instructions, but you need to help it help you by giving it the best possible data to work with

 

I have voxatc and have used it for years but have been using P2atc also as it has been steadily developed.

P2atc is for me reliable and predictable..and very configurable..while vox is still having problems.

The p2atc developer is also immediately accessible by email or forum question which makes a great difference.

Vox has AI interaction but I find the novelty wears off after waiting for ages to get take off clearance behind some other a/c.

So I use p2atc as my choice ATC, but keep an eye on vox though it may be some long time before it is fully "right" and P3d may have changed by then needing a new version of vox!

Try the vox demo and see if you like it.

Kevin, many thanks for your detailed reply, much appreciated.

Are you now using version 6 or 7, as you mention MATZ penetration is this included in version 7.4, I know version 6 had the UK/Europe extension but didn't think that was included in 7.4 ?

John, thanks for your comments.

I agree with your view on Pilot2ATC only thing I don't like is it doesn't control Ai so its just you and ATC which you have already set up before flying so know what to expect.

I just wish a 3rd party developer like PMDG would take up the ATC challenge instead of these one man band developers that enviably get bored or have to give up for personal reasons and leave the product unfinished.  After buying Pro-ATC nobody heard from the developer for over a year and every time a customer complained on their forum, over protective Moderators would get verbally aggressive with anyone daring to complain, which is one reason I wouldn't touch Pro-ATC if it ever became the 'perfect' ATC add-on.

2 hours ago, GAJ52 said:

 

Kevin, many thanks for your detailed reply, much appreciated.

Are you now using version 6 or 7, as you mention MATZ penetration is this included in version 7.4, I know version 6 had the UK/Europe extension but didn't think that was included in 7.4 ?

 

Im using v7.41. The UK expansion pack is not yet available for v7, but it is being worked on (no publicly available ETA though yet)

6 hours ago, john1383 said:

Vox has AI interaction but I find the novelty wears off after waiting for ages to get take off clearance behind some other a/c.

Dont ever go flying anywhere busy for real then, I remember waiting at EGGP Liverpool for 15-20mins at a time either holding on the ground or orbiting at the end of downwind leg so the easyjets, ryanair and wizzair flights could get in or out with minimal disruption :p

I still prefer Radar Contact though I have PF3.

Can't find where to buy it from, there is no means to purchase from the Home page ?

You need to click on Register (top right on the menu). It will then take you through to payment.

Didn't see that one, thanks.

Ok I've just bought VoxATC 7.41, thought I might as well add it to my other ATC software collection.  As a registered user of version 6 (although haven't used it for a couple of years) it only cost me 30 quid to upgrade.

Many thanks guys for all your recommendations 

22 hours ago, GAJ52 said:

After buying Pro-ATC nobody heard from the developer for over a year and every time a customer complained on their forum, over protective Moderators would get verbally aggressive with anyone daring to complain, which is one reason I wouldn't touch Pro-ATC if it ever became the 'perfect' ATC add-on.

Yeah, I bought the product and walked away after never getting the updates that were promised. Then I moved to VoxATC and have got rather sick and tired of no support. Now I have gone across to P3dV4 I'm in a quandry as I'm unsure whether to go back to VoxATC or not. The big plus for me was VoxATC running AI traffic.

vox's developer Tegwyn is a one man operation.  Vox I believe doesnt generate a huge revenue (as a niche product) so you have to expect the dev to have a day job too