This morning I had a VFR flight from KPOV to KERI where MCE/Native ATC worked extremely well! I couldn't be happier!

Then, this afternoon, I took VFR flight from KERI to KMFD, and I simply could not get MCE to work with Native ATC...it was extremely frustrating. I decided to have MCE control the comms, which he gladly took. I then asked him to request TAXI depart straight out...his reply was I very much doubt ATC will know what you're talking about (or something to that effect). I have no idea why he did not think it would work! I have to keep guessing at the reason, start over, or just give up.

Hence my request, is there anyway to set an option which explains why MCE does not like this request? Anything that will help me understand what I'm doing wrong or MCE expects in order for this ATC comm to work would be greatly appreciated...

EDIT: Actually, it would really be neat if I could ask the FO why not and he would actually tell me the reasons...

Edited August 24Aug 24 by flyblueskies

On 8/23/2026 at 9:44 PM, flyblueskies said:

This morning I had a VFR flight from KPOV to KERI where MCE/Native ATC worked extremely well! I couldn't be happier!

Then, this afternoon, I took VFR flight from KERI to KMFD, and I simply could not get MCE to work with Native ATC...it was extremely frustrating. I decided to have MCE control the comms, which he gladly took. I then asked him to request TAXI depart straight out...his reply was I very much doubt ATC will know what you're talking about (or something to that effect). I have no idea why he did not think it would work! I have to keep guessing at the reason, start over, or just give up.

Hence my request, is there anyway to set an option which explains why MCE does not like this request? Anything that will help me understand what I'm doing wrong or MCE expects in order for this ATC comm to work would be greatly appreciated...

EDIT: Actually, it would really be neat if I could ask the FO why not and he would actually tell me the reasons...

In a nutshell, to achieve useful integration with native ATC, MCE will try to locate those options you see on the screen (ATC window). Unfortunately, the location isn't static and will change for every run of the sim. And when you've already worked out how to find them, every now and then following major sim update (including Beta), we need to work out what changed and how to get them back.

It's not "say something and some key is sent to the sim", hat wouldn't be reliable. Once MCE UI shows up, and assuming there is at least one option listed, please allow for up to 2 minutes for it to find the ATC info. After that ask co-pilot "confirm ATC options". If it found them, should hear a TTS voice read out the content of the window aloud. If it still says "no atc options available yet" after 5 minutes, it's very likely caused by breaking changes in the sim.

The beauty when you get the info, co-pilot will see something ike 1 - [ Tune Kennedy ground on xxx.xxx] and other fequenciews to tune. Those frequencies are saved along with the control centers they are associated with, speech engine ATC context is dynamically updated so it can easily recognize speech like "going to Kennedy ground", "tune Frankfurt tower on radio one", "over to ground" or your own transmission like "Kennedt ground, JetBlue two five seven is ready for taxi" will be easily recognized as the center name you're tuned to is expected by the speech engine. Imagine the alternative, putting 26000 airport names in speech grammar and hoping for the best.

We'll be looking at the most recent Beta that broke it and update files if required.

Edited August 25Aug 25 by FS++

Ok, I was trying to remember the command "confirm ATC options" to read the ATC menu out loud. Just wondering, is there any variation of 'confirm ATC options' in case I don't remember the exact words?

Anyway, I understand what you're saying and I think its great that you're dynamically updating the ATC response. For the most part, it's working well when using with VFR ATC. If it doesn't respond, I usually request option one or option two, etc. This seems to 'jump start' it. Then, after a while, MCE starts to respond by sending the correct keys to ATC.

13 hours ago, FS++ said:

We'll be looking at the most recent Beta that broke it and update files if required.

I have Show Commands in FS checked and my spoken commands do show up in RED at the top left of the screen. But, they flash so fast that I can't read them...is there a setting to keep them up longer?

Also, I thought I'd share more information specific to KMFD.

1. If I use the standard built in KMFD, MCE works well when using the built in ATC.

2. But, if I use KMFD from Flightsim.to (https://flightsim.to/addon/14335/kmfd-mansfield-lahm-regional-airport), which is only for MSFS 2020, but does work in MSFS 2024. MCE doesn't work well with ATC at the airport.

3. For KMFD from Flightsim.to, I modify the manifest.json to add "package_order_hint": "BESPOKE_AIRPORT_PATCH", . If I don't do this, approach information does not show up in the GTN 750 (or other gps radios).

   

4. This places the airport above navigraph-nav-base

5. Now, all navigation approaches show up in MFSF 2024.

I'm showing this in case this affects MCE. I really appreciate your help with this.

Edited August 26Aug 26 by flyblueskies
Added more detail.

21 hours ago, flyblueskies said:

Ok, I was trying to remember the command "confirm ATC options" to read the ATC menu out loud. Just wondering, is there any variation of 'confirm ATC options' in case I don't remember the exact words?

Anyway, I understand what you're saying and I think its great that you're dynamically updating the ATC response. For the most part, it's working well when using with VFR ATC. If it doesn't respond, I usually request option one or option two, etc. This seems to 'jump start' it. Then, after a while, MCE starts to respond by sending the correct keys to ATC.

There are other commands such as "what about ATC options". Having said that, we realized a long time ago that voice control wouldn;t be fun if you have to pause and think hard about what to say. Therefore in addition to the tens of thousands (yes I mean it) of built-in commands that will cater for most variations in speech so you don't have to create any, for the odd speech command you utter twice and notice the crew isn't trained to understand it, see this tread on how to create custom speech commands, tie them to built-in ones and speaking the custom command will act as if you've spoken the one MCE understands. It means you can have own command, in any language and doesn't have to mean anything in any language like "deeg dag doo", associate it to "confirm atc options" and voila. See this thread on how to do that. This is software that learns.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/630003-command-for-terrain-radar/

On 8/26/2026 at 12:51 PM, flyblueskies said:

I have Show Commands in FS checked and my spoken commands do show up in RED at the top left of the screen. But, they flash so fast that I can't read them...is there a setting to keep them up longer?

Yep, can do via the mce.ini. Default is 3 seconds. You can set it to 5 seconds as follows..

[OPTIONS]

DisplayTime=5000

I'll give this a try...but, it definitely is not 3 seconds now. It's there for a flash, just long enough to know it recognized something...and then it's gone. I'll add the above and hopefully, it'll stay on longer than the flash I currently see.

Any thoughts on Native ATC not working (well, or not at all) when using non-asobo airports?

OK, no go to add the increased delay. I upgraded to MCE 3.1.56 and still the same problem. However, what I am seeing is that the entire line in RED appears for a split second, then immediately reduces to a partial 1st letter. That partial first letter does appear to stay longer...but the entire line is missing.

Which version of Simco64_ldr.exe do I need to use Native ATC?

Just an FYI.

I could not use MCE version 3.1.56 for Native ATC. It would not work with any version of Simco64_ldr.exe.

I had to reinstall MCE version 3.1.49 and then use Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.0.5 in order to use Native ATC.

NOTE: I used only Asobo airports. I did not use any free or purchased airports.

Reporting an update...

I just had two really good flights with NATIVE ATC working really well. I hope I'm not jinxing it...

The first with KMFD (Flightsim TO airport) to KSKY (asobo airport).

The second with KSEE (Flightsim TO airport) to KRNM (Flightsim TO airport).

MCE and NATIVE ATC worked really well together. The only thing I did, was to reinstall MCE 3.1.49 and use Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.05.

That combination is working well so far.

3 hours ago, flyblueskies said:

Reporting an update...

I just had two really good flights with NATIVE ATC working really well. I hope I'm not jinxing it...

The first with KMFD (Flightsim TO airport) to KSKY (asobo airport).

The second with KSEE (Flightsim TO airport) to KRNM (Flightsim TO airport).

MCE and NATIVE ATC worked really well together. The only thing I did, was to reinstall MCE 3.1.49 and use Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.05.

That combination is working well so far.

Thanks for the follow-up

Evenually, use this freshly uploaded exe file that is tested with latest MSFS 2024 Beta.

Native ATC has always been a black box, even in FSX or Prepar3d. No SDK, no documentation anyhwhere. Even AI won't help here. We have worked it out years ago for every sim. with different approaches in each case and now stable for FSX, Prepar3DMSFS 2020. Just have to accept, every now and then it may break when MSFS is updated.

Also, on slow machine, if you ask too eraly for "confirm atc options", it may seem like it won't work, bu it could be just still searching for them. So give it a reasonable 2 minutes after the MCE UI appears, before asking and ensure battery is on as soon as possible. In my case. takes about 1 min to 1 and a hal min. May take less if you have a 5 GHZ CPU

Regarding flashing text....

I never experienced that. Things that come to mind, pehaps using an overlay hidden window that is superimposing itself on the sim window or something. I really have no idea. Eventually, use MCE as the sole add-on, then fire he others one at a time until you get the flashing. None of our software performs drawing operation in the sim. The command display window is just a floating tiny window with transparent background sitting at the top left corner and only visible when there is a need to show the command which requires enabling the feature in the first place. Please keep reporting whenever it breaks. Thanks

.

Edited August 28Aug 28 by FS++

I got a chance to try the new Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.11 and it worked well. It solved a problem I saw with Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.05, in that when I said "Unicom Traffic N427RC" taxing back to parking, Native ATC always chose ...taxing back to runway (I had just landed on).

The new version, 2.4.11, would correctly chose the Native ATC option of taxing back to parking.

16 hours ago, FS++ said:

Regarding flashing text....

I never experienced that. Things that come to mind, pehaps using an overlay hidden window that is superimposing itself on the sim window or something.

I may have found it...when I switch to WINDOWED MODE (ALT + ENTER), the MCE Text remains in full. When I switch back, the problem returns...is there a way to lower the MCE response window?

One thing I did notice with Simco64_ldr.exe v2.4.11, while it did initially CONFIRM ATC OPTIONS, it later got out of sync and reported the OLD menu options.

This happened after:

1. I asked the FO to take comms.

2. After a while (probably 10 minutes or so), I asked for comms back.

3. I canceled FLIGHT FOLLOWING.

4. I manually clicked the ATC menu to find my unicom airport, chose the runway for landing, set com1 freq to unicom.

5. After this, when I asked MCE to confirm ATC options, they were the older options.

6. I also lost control of sayin OPTION ONE or OPTION TWO...MCE would not respond.

But otherwise, it went well.