VoxAtc and Recent Comm panel

[Bugor 0]

Hi,

I installed the latest version (7.41) for Prepar3D v4 for evaluation (that was the first time installation) and the Recent Comms panel was not working. It showed up, but it was just always blank (white).

I have reinstalled the VoxAtc to if it helps and now my demo says that it's expired (I was using it just 2 days). Emailed support, but no reply so far.

Now I'm wondering does anybody have this Recent Comm panel working? I'm now thinking maybe it's not functional at all and nobody just cares about it...

But for me it's going to be a deal breaker as it won't be possible to verify clearance instructions, frequencies, etc...

How do you guys deal with this problem? Or maybe the panel is just working fine for everybody except me...

 

[b757 43]

AFAIK, my com panel works. You should also be able to see the instructions on your main comm panel. You won’t get support from dev sadly. I haven’t had any of those issues so far, though the software has several flaws that have yet to be fixed. I like it because it adds a dimension of realism to the sim, but also can add headaches trying to get everything to work correctly. 

[Gridley 257]

It was working, but to be honest, I haven't used it in a while.  I've been flying mostly VR and it's just another window to pull into the cockpit.

EDIT - I usually have it in easy mode so it pretty much tells you what frequency you should be on and scripts you though what to say in the main window.  If you mess something up an new window pops up with only the bits it didn't understand.  Are you in expert mode?

[Bugor 0]

1 minute ago, b757 said:

AFAIK, my com panel works. You should also be able to see the instructions on your main comm panel. You won’t get support from dev sadly. I haven’t had any of those issues so far, though the software has several flaws that have yet to be fixed. I like it because it adds a dimension of realism to the sim, but also can add headaches trying to get everything to work correctly. 

Thanks for the reply!

Can you please give some more details on the "several flaws" that you have mentioned in your post? It looks like I won't be able to evaluate it myself as the demo has expired.

[Gridley 257]

Working fine for me.  These are virtual windows in FlyInside:

 

[b757 43]

In terms of flaws, I have had several issues that drive me crazy, but there is apparently not a fix for them. One is when at FSDT airports, aircraft “line up and wait” and then just before takeoff, they turn 60-90 degrees off runway heading and depart. They land on the runways with no problem so I don’t know why it only messes up on T/O.

Another thing is multiple runway use. Unfortunately, even with several adjacent runways, the software only uses one (the farthest away) for departures and the inside runway for landing so like airports such as LAX or DFW, the traffic is landing on one runway instead of 2–3. I usually request a different runway so that I can either catch a parallel landing or just not bog down AI traffic.

In terms of weather, the ATIS is almost never correct when tuning the ATIS for that airport. Even the green bar text and verbal readouts don’t match up. 122.0 only gives you the closest airport weather so trying to get ATIS just before descent is almost impossible. Also, when using a third-party WX software, the weather is not updated through VOX so once your secenario starts, that is the weather you will get on the radio. 

The software also doesn’t always recognize your voice either so you will have it repeating “last aircraft say again” many times. I know that is just a limitation of the computer recognition software so that doesn’t bug me as much. 

I’ve never been able to get the expert mode to work either. Once I start it up, it crashes every time. 

I DO like the ability to talk to ATC just like in real life and it helps teach you what to say and what order instructions go. I love having SID/STAR and vectoring. I love that the software controls AI also. I had used ProATC in the past but it just isn’t the same clicking a number vs talking for real. Those are the major things I deal with on a regular basis, but I can’t see myself going back to pressing 1 to contact the tower anymore after being able to talk to the controller. 

[Bugor 0]

Gridley, thank you for the screenshot. Very helpful. In my case the Recent Comm panel is just blank with white background.

B757, thanks for the detailed response! I used to use VoxAtc back in 2011-2012. Then, I had to pause this hobby and now I'm trying to get back. At that time I had more critical bugs (like when ATC just forget about you during a long flight, etc). But I don't think there is anything better on the market now. Pilot2Atc looks very promising and in active development, so hopefully it will get better than VoxAtc at some point...