Which ATC program do you use?

[Bobsk8 12,753]

14 minutes ago, jbdbow1970 said:

The more reason I use Nav charts and do my own vectoring. Can't trust anything these days.

Oh, I knew exactly where i was, just wanted to see what the rocket scientist in the tower was going to do....

 

[CFIJose 5,485]

I role play ATC & the PIC. 😀

[Noel 4,506]

12 hours ago, jbdbow1970 said:

Well unlike the default atc they will not direct you into a Mountain.

Happened many times in FSX/P3D, and a grand total of once early on in MSFS default ATC.  What's even more remarkable is that I've done SPJC to SPZO twice now and the approach into Cuzco involves threading parts of the Andes and ATC exactly matched VNAV waypoints in my flight plan and there are a slew of them as you near Cuzco--incredible!

I strongly believe Asobo will get back and focus on ATC at some point so I'm fine with it's shortcomings now.  It is far better than it ever was though can on occasion not decide where you need to step down to on the descent and accurately communicates w/ AI planes supplied by FSLTL.   One area I really would love to see changed is the default Azure pilot voice it is just too corny, does not sound like a robot at all but just does not sound like someone operating comms in an aircraft instead it sounds more like a nerd reading from a script and with the wrong voice inflections for this application.

[Stearmandriver 2,304]

7 hours ago, Bobsk8 said:

I have been cleared for an ILS intercept flying at 8000 AGL by Vatsim. 😉

How far out were you?  It's not unusual to be cleared for the ILS 16L into SEA from over MARNR in the middle of the night; that's at or above 12,000.  There's no reason you can't be cleared pretty far out.

9 hours ago, ha5mvo said:

Which programs HAVE you seen to deem it arbitrary?

P2ATC and FSHud in this sim.  Oh and default.  Pretty much the full suite of what was available for FSX.

Now, sure, human controllers will sometimes make mistakes or do something illogical, even in reality, the same as pilots will, because human error is inevitable.  I have, in reality, had controllers in Mexico vector me towards terrain.  But obviously, the occurrence of random or illogical instructions from a human is going to be much less common than from AI, even in a game.

But it IS a game of course, and so everyone should have fun their way!  The OP simply asked for opinions so I shared mine.

[Bobsk8 12,753]

2 minutes ago, Stearmandriver said:

How far out were you?  It's not unusual to be cleared for the ILS 16L into SEA from over MARNR in the middle of the night; that's at or above 12,000.  There's no reason you can't be cleared pretty far out.

 

4 miles. If i had been a bomb, I might have made the runway. 

[Rocky_53 1,581]

A  quick question, does Pilot2ATC recognise (not control) default  AI and instruct you accordingly, as I understand in ProATC this is a feature? Also, is it possible to make the comms sound a little more realistic by sounding like radio?

Edited December 12, 2022 by Rockliffe

[YouDontKnow 93]

36 minutes ago, Rockliffe said:

A  quick question, does Pilot2ATC recognise (not control) default  AI and instruct you accordingly, as I understand in ProATC this is a feature? Also, is it possible to make the comms sound a little more realistic by sounding like radio?

Pilot2ATC sees the traffic but it is not able to instruct you accordingly in the airspace. It can on the ground if i remember. 

 

 

[Rocky_53 1,581]

2 hours ago, YouDontKnow said:

Pilot2ATC sees the traffic but it is not able to instruct you accordingly in the airspace. It can on the ground if i remember. 

 

 

Ah good, that's fine, thanks.

[Cpt_Piett 4,703]

On 12/10/2022 at 7:00 PM, Noel said:

Happened many times in FSX/P3D, and a grand total of once early on in MSFS default ATC.  What's even more remarkable is that I've done SPJC to SPZO twice now and the approach into Cuzco involves threading parts of the Andes and ATC exactly matched VNAV waypoints in my flight plan and there are a slew of them as you near Cuzco--incredible!

I strongly believe Asobo will get back and focus on ATC at some point so I'm fine with it's shortcomings now.  It is far better than it ever was though can on occasion not decide where you need to step down to on the descent and accurately communicates w/ AI planes supplied by FSLTL.   One area I really would love to see changed is the default Azure pilot voice it is just too corny, does not sound like a robot at all but just does not sound like someone operating comms in an aircraft instead it sounds more like a nerd reading from a script and with the wrong voice inflections for this application.

I think default ATC has potential, but it's been a mess since SU11. Long threads about this on the official forums. I hope Asobo will be able to better utilize the Azure technology - more variation in voices etc. 

[jcomm 5,939]

So, I see that Pilot2ATC is 2nd in the ranking.

I have been using default ATC only and usually manage my descents by anticipating with requests for flight livel change, but I miss a neat feature in XP12's new default ATC - using altimeter settings adjusted to the World region we're flying in, as well as other interesting details.

Then the first time I saw Pilot2ATC it was for XP, now it is also available for the remaining platforms.

Wonder if Pilot2ATC is aware of the regional ATC characteristics?

Bummer, just noticed right now while browsing their site that there's a 10 day free trial! Going to give it a fair try 🙂

EDIT: I was fast downloading and trying to set it up for XP12 firstm but I gave up... My brain can no longer process such a complex install procedure 😕  I will keep default ATC, in MFS as well as in XP12...

Edited December 12, 2022 by jcomm

[Noel 4,506]

Default ATC recognizes and directs other aircraft present in default AI traffic or FSLTL in and outbound which I've always valued.   Here's a small example you can see ATC has cleared UAL2309 to land and my UAL655 to Go Around.   Does PilotATC do this as well?  

[Ricardo41 5,955]

Well, after watching A LOT of Youtube videos, I broke down and bought ProATC SR.

Took a while to set up, and I've been fiddling around with it while still on the ground, but so far it seems ok-ish. 

Contrary to what I said in another post, I find the voices, once you set it up, quite serviceable, the "real ATC chatter" files that play in the background add to the immersion. 

The program doesn't integrate into the insim panel, but, rather, is a floating window that is always on top. It's not terrible distracting. 

Button assignments frequently conflict with MSFS keyboard commands, so will need to be reassigned. I'll set it up on my Joystick, as I rarely use the buttons on my joystick, except from trim. 

Simbrief import worked ok-ish, after a few tries. 

GUI is quite cluttered and doesn't exactly look modern and fresh. 

I don't expect to get much support from the official Pointsoft forum or the developer. 

 

[Sonosusto 681]

Love the Pilot2ATC. Its not perfect and won't communicate with traffic in air but apparently, Dave stated they will eventually work on this. Not in the near future, however.

It does communicate with most ground traffic though.

I bought a bunch of voices (ceres or ivona, i forget) and along with ATC chatter, it really adds to the immersion. I don't mind that it doesn't communicate with traffic in air. It does warn me of traffic alerts in the air, however.

And it doesn't vector me into a mountain. That's nice. 😁

[RobJC 2,069]

For some reason this seems to be the hardest category of add-ons to settle on. I have come close to pulling the trigger on FSHud, PRO-ATC/SR, PF3 and Pilot2ATC. 

[Sonosusto 681]

31 minutes ago, RobJC said:

For some reason this seems to be the hardest category of add-ons to settle on. I have come close to pulling the trigger on FSHud, PRO-ATC/SR, PF3 and Pilot2ATC. 

I have not tried any of the others but I will say that Pilot2ATC (with the voices and chatter added) really work well together and even integrates with Navigraph SID/STAR and routes. It takes some setting up but reading the manual essentially has everything you need to get started and set up correctly. I tried and worked with every Beta Update he released for the last 8 months or so (I think it was) and it kept improving. Dave just released a final version and a subsequent fix after.

I am sure all of them have something good to offer.