Hot Mic FS2020 (Alpha/Bravo Setup)

[Rich Heimlich]

So after my latest sabbatical I decided it was time to come back to VATSIM and FS and bought the CRJ for FS2020. I then shook the rust off with the default AI-based ATC and took several test flights. I then loaded up vPilot and tried to set the PTT button to "button 1" on the Alpha yoke (the white left trigger button). I noticed, however, that the PTT option would quickly grab a number of other "buttons" from the Bravo throttle quadrant, but managed to get it set to Alpha button 1.

Then I connected to VATSIM and found a controller working San Diego Ground and tuned to his frequency. He immediately reported back that I had a hot mic even though I wasn't pressing any button, let alone button 1. I tried several different things and reloaded vPilot and FS2020 each time to no avail. As soon as I'd connect to his frequency he'd report that my mic was open. 

Any ideas on what's going on? First I thought it might be Lorby's Axis and O's as it was setup with a script to animate the PTT button in the CRJ so I removed that functionality entirely (bummer). After that it was just me trying different hot keys. No luck.

[Ross Carlson]

Does this problem happen if you use a keyboard key for PTT?

[Rich Heimlich]

13 hours ago, Ross Carlson said:

Does this problem happen if you use a keyboard key for PTT?

I'll check that next. The hard part is troubleshooting this as it means getting onto a channel to likely screw things up.

[Rich Heimlich]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:15 PM, Ross Carlson said:

Does this problem happen if you use a keyboard key for PTT?

Ross, do you have a suggestion on how I can go about testing this issue without annoying the heck out of controllers?

[Dustin Rider]

If you have someone else who can log on with you in another aircraft, or even in observer mode, you two can meet up at a non-towered airport where there is no traffic and run your tests on 122.8.

[Rich Heimlich]

12 hours ago, Dustin Rider said:

If you have someone else who can log on with you in another aircraft, or even in observer mode, you two can meet up at a non-towered airport where there is no traffic and run your tests on 122.8.

Great idea, but unfortunately I don't really know any VATSIM users that personally.

[Robert Shearman Jr]

Additonally, the TX light in the upper right of vPilot tells you when you are transmitting.  You can tune to an unused frequency and test it that way, without bothering anyone.

[Rich Heimlich]

27 minutes ago, Robert Shearman Jr said:

Additonally, the TX light in the upper right of vPilot tells you when you are transmitting.  You can tune to an unused frequency and test it that way, without bothering anyone.

Perfect! Thanks for reminding me of that. I did manage to get on today and found a very helpful controller in empty space who was willing to help out. 

Keyboard worked great and then, once I could get the darned Alpha button to be set right (button 1) then that worked too. The funny thing is that it's REALLY hard to set it as the Bravo keeps jumping in with about a dozen different buttons that all seem to be continually pressed. Next time I'll have to disconnect it while doing this, but FS2020 doesn't like that very much.

We'll see if my next session works as intended.

[Ross Carlson]

In case you're not aware, if you press the button to set a new PTT, then the Bravo immediately sends a button press that vPilot detects, you can then press the button in the vPilot settings window to set a different PTT, and vPilot will ignore the first button that the Bravo sent, and scan for other buttons. If the Bravo sends a different button, you can keep repeating this process until you no longer get any spurious unwanted button presses from the Bravo, at which time you can press the button that you actually want.