Dave-Pilot2ATC

Try downloading and installing the latest P2A update. This should replace any corrupt files, etc. IF that doesn't work, check your installation of the English-US language and speech engine in Windows. See the User's Manual for details on how to do that. Dave

If you mean you are not hearing a response from Clearance, except you did get one at KMSP, then most likely it's a problem with voices. Microsoft disabled the free use of their Online voices in desktop applications other than their own. ATIS is working because you selected a non-online voice for it. So, you will need to uninstall all the online voices. See the V3 Downloads page of the website for instructions on how to do this. Dave

There is an issue with the interpretation of "X ray" that will be fixed in the next update. Dave

Some specific aircraft may not allow P2A to swap frequencies, so you have to do that in the cockpit. You may even have to set the standby frequency in the cockpit. Try using one of the stock GA aircraft in your SIM to rule this cause out. Also, the SIMs have settings that allow them to control the frequencies. These are in the ATC settings and should be turned off, along with any other ATC settings. Sometimes, just swapping the frequencies a second time, or Disconnecting and Reconnecting will fix this sort of issue. Dave

P2ATCv3 Update_3.0.0.0_RC3 Fixes Arrival and Approach start issues. Fixes descent start and vectoring issues. Fixes Copilot control of Coms issues that were mostly found in X-Plane. Fix Activate Approach view of intended vector/approach track. More fixes to taxi request/responses for specific gates or FBOs, etc. Fixes many other bugs.

P2ATCv3 Update_3.0.0.0_RC2 Fixes Waypoint tracking. Fixes arrival and approach scenarios with and without vectoring. Fixes missed descent instructions on certain approach scenarios. Improves handling of approaches when Departure and Destination are close to each other. Fixes missing Copilot Speech options in certain scenarios. Fix ATC Controller handoffs in certain scenarios. Fixes handling of taxi requests to named parking locations. Fixes many other bugs.

You can set the aircraft type and color in the Aircraft Profile Acft Info tab. To open the Profile, Click on the Profile button to the left of the AutoPilot button in the same area as the Connect button. Dave

That specific error message is normal and does not affect the operation of P2A. Strangely, nothing has changed regarding the connection to a remote X-Plane installation. You mentioned in the original post that unchecking the setting "Run on X-Plane Remote Computer" allowed P2A to connect to X-Plane but just the traffic didn't display. Is that still the case? Dave

P2A V2 has an alternate "Slow" version of the P2ALink that can be installed. It runs less frequently and therefore has less of an impact on XP. You can check that option in Settings and then reinstall the XPLink plugin and it should load the "Slow" version. V3 doesn't use any plugins and therefore has very little, if any, performance impact on XP. Dave

Thanks Bob. TOD does get recalculated during the flight, which might explain the large change. I believe the problem with the early descent is a bug in the waypoint tracking that makes ATC think the aircraft is further along than it actually is, but it could be the TOD calculation being off also. I'll look into both. Recent AIRAC updates have changed some Center controllers to Radar Control controllers which is what causes Washington Control instead of Center. That's on the list to fix also. And you're right about the "radar contact" only being done once. You should be getting only a greeting like "Good afternoon" for subsequent controller handoffs in most cases. If somehow the controller loses contact or can't find you on his busy screen, he might ask you to Squawk Ident and then you would get another "radar contact" call. So there must be something wrong in that area as well....possibly not enough randomness in that possibility. Thanks for the detailed reports! Dave

Thanks Bob. I'll try flying the flight and get it fixed. There have been issues with the waypoint tracking where it jumps ahead and triggers these early events. Dave

Thanks Bob. Strange bug. I'll check it out. Dave

Thanks for the report. I'll look into it. Dave

The APPR button to the left of the map now shows ATC's version of the intended vectoring/approach and is only available when ATC has activated the approach. This is usually first done when you get your "Expect ...." arrival call. The Activate Approach button can be used any time to show the expected arrival/approach. It uses the route/procedures you have entered into P2A. Think of that as your GPS flight plan. ATC has its own version of that once you File your GPS plan. It then modifies that as needed depending on your settings. So, for example, ATC might decide to give you a different approach at arrival time because of a wind change. So after you get your expected arrival information, you can press the APPR button and see a line showing ATC's expected arrival and press the Activate Approach button to see if they match. Dave

The update at the top of the list on the V3 Updates page of the website is always the latest one. Going down, goes backwards to earlier updates. Each update is a complete replacement for the code, so you only need to install one update to get all the latest fixes and features. The full version on the V3 Downloads page is always the latest version, so if you are installing that, no updates needed. Dave

P2A V3 does not require any plugins for X-Plane. You can have a look at the Quick Start guide for details on how to install, but basically you install the program and set up X-Plane UDP Network settings in both XP and P2A and the connection aspects are done. There are a few more steps, but XPUIPC is definitely not used. Dave

Thanks for the update. That's wild about the ILS Frequencies. IF the SIM and P2A are at the same AIRAC level there shouldn't be any mismatches. P2A takes the Nav Frequencies direct from Navigraph only. Please send me the details next time you run into this and I'll check it out on my end. Dave

WideFS should allow you to get P2A to "see" the SIM through FSUIPC7, so the SIM events will fire and P2A will be able to function normally. The sharing of things like Mouse and sound are the only things that require additional work and/or software. Dave

This thread goes deep into Networked setups and how to address all the issues, like sharing the Mouse and even Sound across 2 PCs. Another, simpler option to avoid clutter is to just add another monitor to your PC and move P2A to it. You can even pick up an inexpensive touchscreen monitor and then use most functions in P2A using it like an EFB with your finger/touch. Dave

You need to set P2A so ATC is not responsible for assigning procedures. Set all 3 ATC Assigns xxx options to off on the Flt Plan tab of Settings. Dave

P2A v3 does not use XPUIPC at all anymore, so if that's why you have it, you can remove it. You can also remove the P2A_Link plugin if using P2A v3, as it is no longer used. Beta versions of X-Plane often cause major issues, which all go away when they release the version, so I avoid beta versions altogether. Dave

Some users have found that changing microphones does the trick, even if the one they are using works with Windows, it isn't visible to P2A. You might also try starting P2A as Administrator, or as a regular user if you are starting it as Admin. That changes what resources Windows lets you access. Check the Levels tab of the Mic properties and put the Mic Boost to 100% and see how that works. Also, try the listen to see if it is coming through loud and clear. Dave

Because of the very short distances involved, if you have issues with not getting instructions, etc., try setting all your ATC radii in the Aircraft Profile to very small numbers. Maybe Tower=2, Departure=6, Approach=6. If that fails, pick an airport 50 or so NM away and try again. Dave

There is a bug that causes P2A to get confused about what the next waypoint is or to miss passing one. It happens somewhat randomly so you can often re-fly the same route and it will work. We're working on this for RC2. Dave

Thanks for the videos. In the first video, you were interacting with the Windows speech trainer, so your mic physically is working and getting through to Windows. However, to interact with P2A, you would need to close the Trainer window. Then press the Practice button on the P2A Language Trainer. This will load the Speech Recognition engine and the large PTT button will be enabled. Using that PTT button, say something like just "Say Altimeter". I suspect it won't register, but if it does, the phrase will show in the window and the Replay button will be enabled, proving that your mic is getting through to P2A. If it is not getting through, the issue is with Windows Sound Settings. Go through the Microphone Troubleshooting steps in the Quick Setup Guide. A common issue is that your microphone is not set as the Default Windows input device, but there could be other issues. I see in the second video that your Mic is on a headset, but you have the output set to Speakers. This normally would work, but in some environments it does not. Try setting the headset as the output device in both P2A and as the Windows Default Audio Output device. Dave