Simulataneous Connections

[Tristan Garratt]

Hey Folks.

 

Over at YSCN, In real world, both SMC and TWR Are combined as a sort, So that whether a pilot connects to GND OR TWR, He is talking to the same controller. I would like to be as realistic as possible, And understand that simultaneous connections are disallowed, But would they be allowed under the reasoning of realism? To be able to open two frequencies?

 

Regards, Tristan.

[Philipp Edlich]

No, they are not allowed for controllers except for the ATIS. However, with the new Voice-System, the Dev-Team is hoping to introduce a feature to "bandbox" multiple frequencies. So, stay tuned: http://blog.vatsim.net

[Mats Edvin Aaro]

VATSIM controls top-down as I'm sure you are aware, so it would essentially be the same, but you're not allowed to have to seperate connections controlling different frequencies (as of now). We'll see what the new voice codec will bring, maybe we'll get a possibility to bandbox or retransmit frequencies.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

I'm not at home to test this, but, doesn't VRC support transmitting on two frequencies simultaneously (with the same single network connection, I mean)?

[Jonathan Halverson]

I'm not at home to test this, but, doesn't VRC support transmitting on two frequencies simultaneously (with the same single network connection, I mean)?

You can transmit on multiple frequencies but you can only have a single frequency primed and able to accept connections.

[Krikor Hajian]

It's fairly common for real world controllers to work multiple frequencies, especially at less busy airports or less busy times. I did my initial training our of Norwood, MA (KOWD) and I cannot remember more than one time when the ground and tower frequencies were actually split and being worked by different controllers. The airport I fly out of now, Smyrna, TN (KMQY) is hit or miss. You'll see the same thing with terminal or en-route radar positions, where one controller will work multiple frequencies. Sometimes they'll just have everyone change over to a single frequency, or sometimes they'll actually have aircraft switch due to transmitter locations.

 

At least with vSTARS, vERAM and VRC, the client's I'm most familiar with, you can transmit and receive on any number of frequencies (as long as it's been programmed into the client) by selecting the TX and RX buttons. The issue is that the current VATSIM voice system only allows for voice to go on a frequency if someone is primed on it, and you can only prime on one frequency at a time. So I could be working Boston Tower on 128.8 and transmit text on 121.9 (ground), but could not simultaneously transmit voice on both unless someone else was logged in as ground and I was just using their frequency (a common practice when one controller needs a restroom/food/child break).

 

The new voice CODEC, at least from what I've been told, will remove this restriction and should allow controllers and pilots to transmit and receive voice over any frequency, regardless of controllers. Priming on a frequency will still serve a purpose (it's on the controller side of things), but won't any longer limit which frequencies you can use. So if I log on to Boston Tower, I could actually run all the [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ociated frequencies (121.65, 121.75, 121.9, 128.8, 132.22) as they would "real world." The details of how this would work, if it's optional, how it'll be bandboxed, haven't, to my knowledge, been released, however my understanding is that the idea is to make this possible. So hopefully it's something we'll see within the next few months.

[Eoin Motherway 1315348]

Strictly speaking, during those times of "bandboxing" (In simple terms: covering positions below your own), the controller is simply listening and transmitting on two frequencies. They're not jumping between consoles or anything trying to operate multiple "positions".

The new codec will have similar functionality.