FSS WX and Clearance... and RC not going to next FTP

[djgodden 0]

I've got two problems. 1. I cannot get FSS to respond to me. I was flying from Truro, Cornwall to Cork, Ireland and my RC (4.3.3845) had two selections for me. 2-FSS WX and 4-CLR by FSS. Pushing 2 or 4 did nothing at all. RC works fine when I'm sitting on a field with a tower. But go to a small field and FSS doesn't work. Any ideas?2. Also, when flying from small fields the fly-to-points don't sequence. When I arrived at LND (for example) it doesn't shift to the next FTP. I repeatedly fly directly over LND and still RC doesn't shift to the next point. Is there a way to force RC to the next FTP? Thanks,

[jd 57]

what frequency do you have dialed into the comm, when you want to talk to fss?do you have tune on contact checked, or are you changing frequencies manually?if the checkpoints aren't progressing, you're not flying close enough to them. if you miss one, request direct next checkpoint, and pick up the next checkpoint in your .plnjd

[djgodden 0]

By your answer I'm obviously missing something here. I looked in the manual and didn't find a frequency for FSS. Where is that? I am manually tuning freqs.As for the checkpoints, I'm flying directly over them repeatedly, both by autopilot and manually. RC range indicates I'm at 0 miles from CP.As for requesting direct to next check point I'm unsure whether you mean in RC (there isn't a selection to do that) or in the Garmin I'm using (DreamFleet Baron 58 RXP). I'll have to look up how to do that with Garmin.

[ronzie 21]

Request direct next checkpoint is on the RC extended menu (9 or 0 - can't recall), then you will see the selection.In the RC controller options tab (pre-flight) for your airport should be the FSS frequencies.A checkpoint will not advance unless all pilot acknowledgments are given.

[djgodden 0]

That's interesting. I looked on the controller page in RC and there aren't any FSS freqs listed. Wait... is CENTER the FSS frequency? I didn't try that one. (see, I'm new at this) Also, I cannot get to the extended menu (9). When I press it nothing happens, so I cannot select direct next checkpoint.

[djgodden 0]

Ok, tried the CENTER freq (118.77) to no avail. I still have 1-FSS WX, 4-CLR by FSS, and Main-0 listed but nothing happens when I press any of them. I know these used to work but the last time I was at a small airfield and remember them working was about 2 months ago when I was in Australia.

[ronzie 21]

Make sure you have the comms and set the autotune option to see if anything behaves differently.Secondly, these are in the initial menu I believe. It is possible another installed application might be stealing keystrokes since you get no action on any choice. You might want to go into the keyboard settings options and map to some different keystrokes. Try CTRL-SHIFT-1 and so on for a test.Have you been at any large controlled airfields since these troubles occurred and do they now have the same symptoms?

[ronzie 21]

EGHY has a grass strip with a 1739 runway and no radio facilities. When I get home I'll have to check RC's frequency database to see if any FSS is listed. For arrival I'll have to check EIBN Bantry Aerodrome, another grass strip in the Cork area.The FSS used is probably the same as for EGHY the one used for Newquay Cornwall airport (EICK). Arrival FSS would be the same as Cork Airport EICK.These should be in the frequency database for your small departure and arrival airports.Keep in mind that RC is for IFR and information for such small airports may have been excluded in its communications database. These airports probably do not have IFR departures and arrival terminal procedures.I'll take a look tonight.I can say that RC version 5 still quite aways from release will probably gather its frequencies from the airport scenery instead of a separate database delivered with the program. It will be more suited for the type of flying you describe in this thread.

[djgodden 0]

Thank you for the additional information. Everything seems to work just fine for the larger airports. All worked fine when I left Cork and returned to Truro. I'll try to avoid the small airfields. Maybe this will help matters. I understand that you could not possibly include every permutation of comms in your great program. Thanks again,

[ronzie 21]

The Truro airport does not exist in FS9. Do you have add-on scenery for it? Neither does Bantry. Cork airport does exist and perhaps your return worked. AFCAD was used to determine this.What happens at a recognized airport without radio facilities is that RC4 emulates a telephone call to get weather and CD. The CD delivered by phone allows a time window for you to get airborne and contact center ATC in the air as happens in the real world to confirm your flight plan and activate it.I'm wondering if you have add-on scenery so RC did recognize it as an airport without comms. Since you hear RC otherwise I assume your audio volume and mixers are set correctly.If you do have add-on scenery, make sure the latest version of makerwys is installed and that you have run the scenery DB utility to recreate your runway and airport lists for RC.

[jd 57]

try 118.80jd

[djgodden 0]

118.80 worked like a charm. Shouldn't RC tell you what freqs in its little box when you're using FSS?

[jd 57]

heavens, i think it does in the manual and in the tutorialand it may even be on the airports screen under the frequenciesjd