Am I really connected? Connection Tutorial?

[William Richards 1169795]

Hi fellow VATSIMers. I think I'm all set. I've installed X plane 9 and Squawkbox in my plugins tab. When I drop the menu down I have the option to connect to VATSIM. The connection script appears in purple and it says I'm in.

 

So where is everybody? I type a hello and get no response. I'm on a Mac so I should be hearing voice too. Nothing. At first I thought I was at an inactive part of the server. I tried to figure out Servinfo but couldn't get it to run right in my plugins folder. Instead I go Cayri.

 

Cayri shows controller zones in Boston so I thought there would be activity there. When I teleported my plane over. There was still no controllers greeting me. I saw planes but as far as I could tell they could have been projections of the simulation. What am I doing wrong?

 

Sincerely,

Will Richards

 

Am I just having a problem with my communications? I'm logged on now. I've typed text in but received no response. Squawkbox is identifying other people on line but I can't tune my radio to their frequency for some reason. It looks like I'm on the network. I don't think a firewall is blocking me. Why can't I hear anyone?

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

but I can't tune my radio to their frequency for some reason.

 

that would be why

 

i dont use xplane so cant tell ya why you cant tune your radio, but thatd be why you cant communicate with ATC as you have to be on the same frequency for that to work

 

only controllers have voice enabled channels. when they are not online, its text on unicom.

[William Richards 1169795]

Yes I was able to finally get to the right frequency for my controller via my com2 . The freq was 125.8 but they weren't responding to me. I have a Mac and I thought I would be able to use my built in mike to communicate but no luck. Still no response. But at least I can hear them.

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

if you are on comm2, make sure you have it set so you can transmit on comm2 aswell.

 

you have 2 options with the comms on some panels, you can receive only, or you can transmit and receive. if ATC isnt responding, theres a good chance you dont have your comm panel set to transmit.

 

post a screenshot of your panel and someone may be able to tell if its setup right or not

[Grant Bonsant 1163630]

In Squawkbox, you have to open up "Setup sound" and route your Com1 and Com2 to the appropriate soundcard in your computer. Then, on the lower left corner, you'll find a button to click to set up your mic...it will run tests for you to make sure you're getting a signal from your mic and tell you if all is good.(Mics built into laptops are terrible because they pick up too much room noise) THEN you have to go to preferences and choose what key or button you hit to "transmit" your mic.

 

THEN, If you click on "show who's online" in the dropdown menu, you'll see who is in your vicinity and at what frequency you can find them. Then it's just a matter of tuning your VHF radio to that frequency and you'll be good to go.

[Wade Williams 877539]

Transmissions only go to COM1. Use COM1 for your communication.

[Phillip Kurus]

Transmissions only go to COM1. Use COM1 for your communication.

 

 

Hmm. Not to muddy the waters, but I can receive transmissions fine on COM2, though I've yet to transmit on COM2 that I can remember. (Maybe "transmissions may be made only on COM1"?)

 

And while we're talking COMs, what the heck is "sidetone beep"? (Sorry if that's not the precise term; not at the XP box now.)

 

Thanks.

[Grant Bonsant 1163630]

Com 2 works for me as well, for receiving. I usually set my UNICOM to COM2 and the controller(if online) to COM1. This way I get to monitor UNICOM while listening to traffic at the airport I'm heading to

[Jordan Krushen 1135174]

Com 2 works for me as well, for receiving. I usually set my UNICOM to COM2 and the controller(if online) to COM1. This way I get to monitor UNICOM while listening to traffic at the airport I'm heading to

What Wade is getting at is that while you can receive on COM2, you can't transmit, so don't expect anyone to hear you on that channel. For communicating with ATC, use COM1.

[William Richards 1169795]

I can hear the controller just fine when I tune to their frequency on the show who is online tab. When I go to set up audio I get this screen shot. I have a built in microphone that the window can pick up and play my voice back to me. But once I've set everything up the controllers still can't hear me. I may have to buy a usb headset. Am I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igning the right Coms to my input and output fields?

 

[Wade Williams 877539]

If it plays it back to you, it should work. Have you set your push-to-talk key/button in the preferences? You're not transmitting if you don't press that down. I also recommend enabling the PTT icon in the upper left of your screen, so you know when you have your PTT key/button held down.

 

With that said, don't use the built-in mic. Buy a USB headset.

[Colin McAllister 1203734]

Hi I am running XPlane 9.7 and XSB Vatsim 1.0.5 with the Saitek Pro Flight Yoke on a Mac -- trying to set up a push to talk button for vx comm with ATC. I can set a key on the keyboard - works well. But would be nice to make a bit more real to have the left finger button set up as PTT - when I go to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ign the button on SB it is reset as "button 170" which I have discovered is the "mode" button on the yoke, not very helpful as this puts me in an open mic situation -- anyone with experience or ideas - greatly appreciated

 

C-GCKM

 

Colin

[Brendan Lynch 1167842]

Go into "Joystick, Keys, and Equipment", then buttons. Then, just change what that button does in the sim, but not what it does in XSB.

[Colin McAllister 1203734]

Thanks Brendan - that's the interesting thing.

 

This button is not [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned ("do nothing at all") ...

 

basically it is meant to allow you to switch modes on the yoke so you can have multiple [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ignments for each button - say one mode is for a C172 ad the other s for a 767. It really would not be a good PTT button as it is a sort of "3 way-toggle" switch for lack of a better term.

 

I was hoping there was a way to change the number in SB to something besides 170 so I could pick the button I wanted ...

[Chris Kawchuk 1129097]

I understand your issue completely. (Same thing happens on a Saitek X52 stick -it also has one of those 'mode selector' switches, which always is pushing down button 70, 71, 72, depending on the position).

 

The long and the short of it: The mode switch on the yoke is "constantly depressed" to some value. Meaning, when trying to setup XSB to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ign PTT to a button, it always sees this button pushed immediately, and hence, selects it.

 

You'll need to manually edit the XSB's preferences file and hack in your preferred button. (X-Plane/Resources/plugins/Xsquawkbox Resources/). The file you need is "Xsquawkbox prefs" (no extension - it' just a text file tho)

 

Look for:

[keys]

voice_ptt_btn=6

 

replace '6' with the button number you'd like to use (It may take a bit of trial and error to figure out which button maps to which button number).

 

Hope that helps!

 

- CK.

[Colin McAllister 1203734]

Great stuff - you nailed it Chris.

 

I edited the file and we now have PTT on the yoke. Thanks for pointing out the file and line item.

 

Colin