Pete Dowson

Oh, thanks. Evidently I found the wrong Nextup site, or a different branch. Pete

Thank you! I will check that out! Pete

Should they register somehow in the displayed result? No shift? Pete

Ivona don't sem to sell directly. You have to go to their agents, the main one of which appears to be "TextAloud". I can't find them for sale elsewhere, thought perhaps I missed a link someplace. Perhaps if others here have found more they could kindly post a link? Pete

Yes, that was it. Thank you! Note that if you press a key and change your mind, "Clear" doesn't clear it for re-entry. You have to abort and start again. Also i see it accepts F keys too, not just alphanumeric, which is good. really needs Shift, Control combinations too to be more distinguishable on a busy PC, but A-Z, 0-9 and F-keys should suffice. Pete

Ah, good. Is it a recent addition, as it doesn't appear in that neat crib sheet PDF available in another thread somewhere below? Understand about emergencies. Pete

I'm just seeking clarification about adding voices. I only seem to have Microsoft Anna on this Win7-64 PC. I've read rather offputting things that say SAPI5 isn't compatible with 64-bit applications. Is that really true, or is that just referring to the fact that the text reading applications haven't been published in 64-bit form? Why don't SAPI4 voices work? They seem much cheaper (but lower quality I assume). I thought P2A was using the speech synthesis facilities, or does it use a package compiled into itself? $45 for Ivona SAPI voices seems very exhorbitant, and they only seem to offer Ameican voices in SAPI5. Not so appropriate in Europe, where I fly exclusively. Cerproc voices are a little cheaper at £25 (and sound better to me) and offer a greater variety of UK and European voices. But are they SAPI5? The sales portal doesn't appear to say. There's also an older post here from Dave which warns against them because they cause crashes. Is that still the case? I think I saw something about free Microsoft voices in the various language packs. Would I need to actually install them all just to get the voices, and is it worth it for a lower quality? Can I assume they are all SAPI5 these days? I looked through the manual for guidance on all this, but unfortunately didn't really find much. So I hope I can get some good advice here. Pete

One of the pilot requests I don't see if "Direct To" ("request direct to <waypoint>"). I see it CAN be done on the fly by editing the plan on screen. But that's no good if I'm inside the cockpit trying to fly the 'plane! "Direct to" is useful when there's a short cut available, avoiding a planned deviation from the more direct course, and this can be very useful when things are running later (e.g. meal time looms ) or fuel is running low, for some reason (bad planning or serious weather effects or problems in the aircraft). Actually, that also leads me to ask where decalring an emergency is? Or is that a planned future enhancement? I think it is such in ProATC/X, though they do have direct to facilities (but by menu button or key selection of course). Pete

Sorry, the version is 2.4.0.7_x64_p3b Pete

After evaluating P2A within the trial period, and with Dave kindly adding a facility for me to get the conversation text onto another PC for display in my cockpit (so I can learn the program properly, and assist my failing memory in respect of details and especially taxi routes), I took the plunge and purchased the product. I'm still using ProATC/X at present though because there's some more setting up to do before switching over. I will also need to get or purchase some more voices, but that's another subject. The first hurdle I need to jump in the setting up is getting a key assigned for PTT. (I will also want one for "sayit" initially, whilst learning). I don't know if the latest version (2.4.0.7 b2) has a bug here or there's something else wrong, but, whilst the manual says i can enter any alphanumeric key as the "hot key", the hot key setting window is accepting nothing, no keys whatsoever. The keyboard definitely works (I use it to load programs and set the configuration! ). So what could be wrong, please? Pete

I have a three screen system with three projectors driving the scenery view on a 210 FOV curved screen. To do this I need 3 P3D windows. That severely affects frame rates. At a dense airport sich as EGLL or EHAM I have to reduce many settings just to get up near 20 fps. If I set either a frame rate limit or VSYNC it can't even manage that -- both settings reduce frame rates further when they cannot be easily achieved. So on the ground I need FFTF 0.01, and with that and some settings (like AI Traffic in particular) much lower than I'd really like, I can make it usable. However, when flying, whether through clouds or not, I get up to 40-60 fps quite often, depending on the scenery below. And if I keep the FFTF that low I most certainly get "blurries", so much s that I prefer cloudy weather so i don't see too much terrain. And it is usually okay (less noticeable) at cruise altitudes of 30-40,000. So, yes, the FFTF program will be useful. And there are bound to be others like me, with either very demanding needs or systems with less power than you. Pete

Provided the [General] section parameter: ShortAircraftNameOk=Substring is set (and that is its default) then all you need to make it accept any aircraft with a similar name (i.e. without assigning each one as you load it) is to have [Profile.Majestic Dash 8 Q400] 1=MJC8Q400 Or, assuming there are no other (different) Q400's, just [Profile.Majestic Dash 8 Q400] 1=Q400 Pete

Okay. Will do, tomorrow. Pete

Hi Dave, I've just started a quick "trial" session on my Test PC (not the cockpit), just so I can look round and try a few things. I will see if I can fit what I need on one of my very small in-cockpit screens (as per your suggestions in the other thread I've started), but meanwhile, a couple of quick questions: 1. I don't seem to be able to import or export the original FS9/FSX text .PLN format, only the XML format. Is it not possible to use older format .PLN files? I still have some programs which produce or require that (more compact) format, and most programs seem to be able to cope with both. (Less importantly, I do also have a library of such .PLNs, which I know need re-doing in any case using later AIRACs). 2. One I finish my trial needs on this PC, can I start a new trial, or complete this trial period on a different PC (for tests in-cockpit)? Or do I need to do something about the hardware registration? Sorry about the mixed subjects in the end. The main one was about the PLN files, that's why I added to this thread. Thanks, Pete

Yes, it is all working as it is. It is only one output and one input. The switching of the output it done by a program I wrote which uses a virtual sound device and copies the sound onwards to one or the other. There's a slight delay but it works well. And the mikes go through a professional cockpit audio module which provides both pilot to pilot sound (from when I used the external noise-elimination types of heavy headsets), and input to the PC via an AV to USB adapter. I've had all that set up for several years. Sounds good. See #3. It would be on a small screen in the cockpit, the same one i used for ATC menus before. It's on a separate Wideclient PC, and it is driven by a Lua plug-in which reads the text file (via a shared folder) and formats it / scrolls it as needed. I use the same technique to display weather data from Active Sky, including wind layers. Before P3D4 I used it also for GSX and ProATC/X menus, diverted from the FS/P3D screen by intercepting the SimConnect decodes, but currently this isn't possible with P3D4. I'm working on L-M to get such facilities built in, and meanwhile using another program i wrote to move the SimConnect windows to a viewable position on the far left of my curved screen where I can read them and where they don't interfere so much with the main viewing direction. Not ideal, just a temporary measure. That might be possible manually by selecting it and using right-click 'copy', then pasting into Notepad and printing. I don't know. And not all text windows are amenable to that. No, I would just like the full output to also be (freshly) written to an ordinary text file. Use a fixed name each time overwriting the last one. My plug-in would just pick it up, format it format it for my screen and allow me to scroll as needed. Well, that's really the same as #3 except that the file is cumulative -- i.e. written with the + option rather than overwriting. My plug-in would treat it in the same way, but with automatic scrolling to shown the last lines unless manually scrolled back. I really don't have room for another screen. I do have one I use for FS-FlightControl, which I find indispensible. But the menu screen is far too small. I already use iPads. There's a mount on both left and right window bases, much like in real Boeing airliners these days. But they are used for charts, and of course they are not Windows tablets but IOS. That sort of spoils the point a little for me. And sometimes I have a real copilot (or I am the copilot in that case, more usually), and he (or I) need(s) to keep busy! I am really trying to work towards full realism. But I note your recommendations. And understand if the output of the text to a file is not an easy thing for you to implement. After all, I don't know what software packages you use in producing your software. Thanks for the fast and constructive reply! Pete

I have a full B738 cockpit, and have P3D4 scenery on a 220 degree FOV curved screen using 3 projectors. For ATC I currently use ProATC/X (and previously Radar Contact), and I am reasonalby happy with it. But both of those programs are very much menu-oriented, using assigned keypresses only. I have in the past tried to use one of those programs which can recognise speed and provide a keypress in return, but these are really not good when the menus are not always the same. They cannot be without making the menus extremely large to cope with all circumstances having unique selection. I keep reading good things about Pilot2ATC and studying the documentation it seems to do pretty much everything I would expect of it. (Actually, like ProATC/X, it does too much for me - flight planning! ;-) -- I use PFPX and TopCat). But it won't be easy to use from within a cockpit shell. I do have some things in the cockpit which are less than realistic, like a couple of touch-screens used for simulator-oriented options and actions (as opposed to aircraft cockpit-oriented), and one tiny screen on which I display the menus so current selections are known. But there is really no space for a screen large enough to accommodate Pilot2ATC itself. Like my other (previous) ATC programs, I would be using Pilot2ATC on a networked PC, which has the headsets (pilot and copilot) connected, as well as the overhead speakers (and there is an extra output for a jump seat headset, currently not connected). There's an overhead switch to direct the sound to headset or overhead (the headsets are the single ear type and suit use for mike only if preferred). But it will be difficult to use it (maybe not impossible, once I'm a dab hand no doubt) without being able to see any of the Pilot2ATC screen. I would be setting up the flight plan and making the connect to the Sim before getting into the cockpit, so that part is no problem. It is just from requesting Clearance and onwards that I'd like to be able to do certain things and see certain things without having to pause the sim and getting out. So, I wonder if you could consider these enhancements, some if not all of which I am sure would be of interest to others like me: 1. An assignable keyboard shortcut for "SayIt" (I think others have been asking for this already) 2. An assignable keyboard shortcut for the "?" button, to bring up the Grammar text screen, but with the currently tuned controller assumed rather than have to select it. 3. A text file produced containing the Grammar screen text, so I can read it and display it on my in-cockpit menu screen. 4. A maintained text file for the speech Window, which would be my default scrolling display on my in-cockpit menu window. The colours can't be easily encoded in a plain text file, but perhaps they can be differentiated by, say, an * at the start. With these additions I'm sure I will find Pilot2ATC the best option for proper speech-riented cockpit ATC. What do you think? Oh, there is one other I'm not sure of -- the transponder "ident" action. From a quick read I think you have a screen button for this, is that right? I do have an ident button on my transponder. Shouldn't there be an assignable keyboard shortcut for that? Or don't you really ask for or use Ident? Thanks for reading this, I look forward to your response. Regards Pete

DELETED (Sorry, double post by mistake). Regards Pete

No, you never need to uninstall. You'd lose all your settings. In any case there's no "uninstall" facility except deleting the stuff in the Modules folder. Pete

You need FSUIPC 5.124 or later with P3D4.2. You should be keeping your FSUIPC up to date in any case. Pete

No. I tried that one too. The other Eiresim Irish airports (Cork, Shannon) are usable, but with some odd graphic anomalies (for example, the roof part of the tower at Shannon is floating in the air above the building). But Dublin is all wrong, particularly buildings or lack of them. EGCC <-> EIDW was always my standard "test" run after making some upgrade or cockpit change. i have to do EGCC <-> EGLL now. Not so pretty without the full city scenery for London, which just brings performance down too much (jerkiness). Pete

Thanks! Pete

Interesting results. Thanks for posting. Could you tell me what program is used to get the graphs and statistics for the frame rates? Thanks, Pete

According to the threads about IVAP problems on my Support Forum (why not look there?), the problem is probably related to the privilege levels you are using. If you are running iVAP "as administrator" then so must P3D4 be run "as administrator", and vice versa. Pete

So the BGLs tell it how long to be at the gate as well as a departure time? That's weird. Pete

Yes, as I said. You seem to have completely misread what I wrote. Yes, the Sim should be doing what it is given in the BGLs. So why does it stick aircraft at gates more than 2 hours before their scheduled departure time? THAT's what I said shouldn't happen if the sim was properly obeying the FIXED timetables in the BGLs! Pete