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Newbie here, need your help.


GASTON VAN CONG TRANG
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GASTON VAN CONG TRANG
Posted
Posted

Hello all, hope you are doing good.

Let me introduce myself, I will be 70 at the end of the month, I've been flying simulators since MS started it's first FS, yesterday I decided to join VATSIM to have a glimpse on how is flying in the real world.

I know the aerodynamics of aircraft, master the art of flying but lack in communication with ATC and the like.

My actual concern for the moment is how to get my SELCAL code which is required to connect Vpilot to MSFS200.

Thank you for your inputs.

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Robert Shearman Jr
Posted
Posted

It's not required.  You can leave it blank.

Cheers,
-R.

fvJfs7z.png

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GASTON VAN CONG TRANG
Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

It's not required.  You can leave it blank.

Unfortunately without the Selcal I can connect only as an observer.

 

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Tomas Hansson
Posted
Posted

Selcal is not and has never been required to connect so something else is going on with your setup. Can you please describe in detail what software you are using and what error you get when you are trying to connect?

Tomas Hansson

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GASTON VAN CONG TRANG
Posted
Posted
16 hours ago, Tomas Hansson said:

Selcal is not and has never been required to connect so something else is going on with your setup. Can you please describe in detail what software you are using and what error you get when you are trying to connect?

Hi Tom, I have MSFS and Vpilot. It’s working now without having to enter the Selcal, may be because I did not enter the route correctly.

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Kirk Christie
Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, GASTON VAN CONG TRANG said:

may be because I did not enter the route correctly.

You can connect to the network before filing a flight plan, so that is not the issue here.

Kirk Christie - VATPAC C3

VATPAC Undercover ATC Agent

Worldflight Perth 737-800 Crew Member

956763

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  • 1 year later...
Laurent Samson
Posted
Posted (edited)

Hello,

I'm new too but have no problem to connect that said. But why don't you answer that simple question anyway even if it is not required? I'm a curious guy so I never backup when the answer is... not important. 😉

Thx

Well there's an extend explanation of what it is and for what it is for. Enjoy a newbie curiosity...
 

 

Edited by Laurent Samson
answer is here
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Andrew Crowley
Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Laurent Samson said:

But why don't you answer that simple question anyway even if it is not required?

Just curious... who's going to selcal you?   😁

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Laurent Samson
Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Andrew Crowley said:

Just curious... who's going to selcal you?   😁

Ahah sure not. But interesting to know what it is instead of always asking or being not sure what we should put in that field. Now I know exactly why I will ignore this field.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Michael Flemming Hansen
Posted
Posted
On 8/20/2021 at 8:19 AM, GASTON VAN CONG TRANG said:

Hello all, hope you are doing good.

Let me introduce myself, I will be 70 at the end of the month, I've been flying simulators since MS started it's first FS, yesterday I decided to join VATSIM to have a glimpse on how is flying in the real world.

I know the aerodynamics of aircraft, master the art of flying but lack in communication with ATC and the like.

My actual concern for the moment is how to get my SELCAL code which is required to connect Vpilot to MSFS200.

Thank you for your inputs.

To answer your questions in sequence:
SELCAL is not required to be entered to connect to VATSIM. Both on xPilot and vPilot, what you need to enter is your callsign (airline icao + max 4 letters/digits, for example DLH22AB or DAL64) and which plane you are using. Just be aware that, at least for xPlane, you usually have to select the plane in the dropdown list. 

SELCAL is an older form for communication between pilot and atc, mostly used on trans-oceanic flights or where HF radio is the only form for connection. It comprised of 4 letters, in grouping of two, where the first letter in a group has to come before the second letter, alphabetically. So DF-EH is a valid SELCAL but EB-GF would not be a valid SELCAL.
The purpose of the SELCAL is for the pilots to be able to turn the radio volume completely down (because there could be a lot of chatter and there is a lot of noise on HF) and when the ATC needs to reach the plane, they send a SELCAL (SELective CALling) request. The request is comprised of two sounds, which is made of two distinct tones, from the letters. 

You can try it out here: https://www.avdelphi.com/selcal.html

As I understand it, SELCAL is still used and planned by the pilots and ATC, but only as a backup solution. The primary way of communication is via CPDLC which is kind of a text message system for planes. 

On the VATSIM network (at least with xPilot) you get a "ping" from the software, when the ATC needs to reach you. But the reason behind it is the same. That you can turn down the volume of your radio while flying trans-oceanic (or similar routes). 

Cheers,

Michael

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