[Resolved] Question about COM radios in the PMDG747

[Ray Proudfoot]

Having bought the PMDG 777 last week I’ve discovered today they’re using non-standard COM radios.

As a consequence I cannot use the co-pilot in Radar Contact to acknowledge and contact various centres during flights.

This is especially critical in long flights as I have no wish to stay in front on the computer.

Is anyone who uses both the PMDG747 and RC4 able to confirm compatibility please?

@IanHarrison, you spring to mind. 😉

[IanHarrison]

1 hour ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Having bought the PMDG 777 last week I’ve discovered today they’re using non-standard COM radios.

As a consequence I cannot use the co-pilot in Radar Contact to acknowledge and contact various centres during flights.

This is especially critical in long flights as I have no wish to stay in front on the computer.

Is anyone who uses both the PMDG747 and RC4 able to confirm compatibility please?

@IanHarrison, you spring to mind. 😉

Ray, Under the key controls of RC4, you will find Co-Pilot comm toggle. If you activate a keypress (I use Ctrl+Shift+K) you will get your co-pilot operating the radios seamlessly..

I DON"T have RC as co-pilot as I use FS2Crew for the actual co-pilot.

They only downside is that I have a flight deck crew of three! However, I have lived with this for the past umpteen years and it is not a real bother.

Hope this helps,

Ian

Edited August 20, 2024 by IanHarrison
Update

[Ray Proudfoot]

12 minutes ago, IanHarrison said:

Ray, Under the key controls of RC4, you will find Co-Pilot comm toggle. If you activate a keypress (I use Ctrl+Shift+K) you will get your co-pilot operating the radios seamlessly..

I DON"T have RC as co-pilot as I use FS2Crew for the actual co-pilot.

That’s the key combo I use but it requires the aircraft to use standard COM radios. Whilst the PMDG 737 does, the 777 doesn’t and I believe neither does the 747.

You using an alternative program confirms RC4 isn’t compatible when the co-pilot is used. Bummer.

[Bob Scott]

I've used the 777 and the 747 for years in P3D with RC4, and have never had an issue with the automated copilot handling the radios.

You might want to check and see if the key assigned to the RC4 copilot comms toggle is assigned to something else in the 777...if so, it's a relatively straighforward process to reassign it.

[Ray Proudfoot]

7 minutes ago, Bob Scott said:

You might want to check and see if the key assigned to the RC4 copilot comms toggle is assigned to something else in the 777...if so, it's a relatively straighforward process to reassign it.

I’ll check that tomorrow, thanks Bob. From memory it’s CTRL+Shift+K. I wonder if that’s assigned to something in the 777.

How can I check?

[Ray Proudfoot]

Looking through the RC forum I came across this post and it was resolved but I’m not quite sure how. The first para regarding having the mic activated is curious.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/614175-pmdg-777-with-radar-contact/

And the solution to another user having the same problem…

Make sure your comm panel is set correctly with your VHF1 MIC and Speaker on. I had the same problem when I first started using the 747 with RadarContact.

[jcomm]

10 minutes ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Make sure your comm panel is set correctly with your VHF1 MIC and Speaker on. I had the same problem when I first started using the 747 with RadarContact.

That's the culprit !

[Bob Scott]

Well there ya go.  I just fired up the 777 in P3D and confirmed that it works as I remembered it, including radio freq changes on the control head.  I do vaguely remember having an issue hearing the controllers a long time ago because I hadn't pulled up the VHF1 knob on the audio panel.  The freq should still be changing on the control head either way, though.

[IanHarrison]

6 hours ago, Ray Proudfoot said:

Looking through the RC forum I came across this post and it was resolved but I’m not quite sure how. The first para regarding having the mic activated is curious.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/614175-pmdg-777-with-radar-contact/

And the solution to another user having the same problem…

Make sure your comm panel is set correctly with your VHF1 MIC and Speaker on. I had the same problem when I first started using the 747 with RadarContact.

I replied very quickly last night but today was going to check that you had it going. Bob has beaten me to the punch. You need to ensure that the radio buttons are lit up before you will hear anything.

[Ray Proudfoot]

Thanks everyone for your help. The VHF L switch is the one that resolves the problem. No further work required too as my GF166 COM radio changes the frequencies directly.