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Posts posted by Callum S - 1179882
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The major change with the clients is that even if the pilots can't see the frequency, if the controller is online, those transceivers will be active and you will still use them to talk with CTR.
There is a script in the works which injects your AFV positions into the FSD so that all of your frequencies will show as online in the pilot clients. This script was taken out for a while as it was causing stability issues however, the team is still working on it and it may still be included in the initial roll out. For me, this script will be a major decider in how many frequencies a controller will use.
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A heads up, SCO_CTR is actually 2h40m closer than what it displays as because yesterday, they used a different controller callsign while another controller was taking a break. Just add 2h40m to the SCO_CTR numbers.
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4 hours ago, Will Smart said:
If a controller is offering top-down coverage
At this point, I don't believe we'll be going down that path. While we'll be discussing policy amendments as a Board this weekend, there would not necessarily be any advantages to having providing top down at an airport. The more frequencies you couple, the greater chance of someone blocking another pilot. There is also the case of pilots not knowing whether these other frequencies are online due to that system being temporarily deactivated for stability issues. If all the stars align, this is something that would likely be looked into post release
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3 minutes ago, Tristan Garratt said:
I understand that vatpac currently only plans enroute having multiple frequencies, but would it be possible to investigate allowing approach to open departures as well?
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33 minutes ago, Sean Harrison said:
Is VRC supported?
All clients which are currently supported will continue to be supported. The AFV Stand Alone client can be used with all clients
Excellent question though, I'll add it to the FAQ's.
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It's technically possible within AFV, it's just not an option we're investigating with the time we have to get something ready for the launch day
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We've got Competition!
Scottish Control (SCO_CTR) is fighting for the Iron Mic so we'll need to keep as much up time as possible! They're only 2 and a half hours behind at the time of writing this post. Can we get as much CTR coverage as possible to try and stay ahead
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27 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:
So VATPAC intends to operate at this level of granularity? It will certainly raise the authenticity bar a notch or two.
We won't be going that far as it would create issues for providing extended coverage. I won't rule it out for the long term as I'm always open to running trials and having discussions but for now, the extent of multiple frequencies will be limited to enroute controllers who are extending.
29 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:impact this will have on text
Great question. I've added this to the FAQ's. The text options remain exactly the same. If a controller is running multiple frequencies, they can still tell the text pilot to change frequencies as the controller is required to monitor and use text on all their frequencies.
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23 hours ago, Russell Diehl said:
love to particpate in any additional tests
I can test any afternoon/evening next week mate. Just let me know a time and we can both logon and test
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One of the fantastic features that's coming with Audio for VATSIM is the ability for a controller to use multiple frequencies. While at release, we'll be restricting the use of this function to Centre Positions only, trials may be conducted in the future to determine whether to apply this feature to other positions.
How does it work?
The feature is called Multi-Frequency Operation. When logged onto an enroute position, you'll have a selection of frequencies appear in your AFV client.
At this point, all positions that you can extend to will be located in the AFV VCCS panel (Panel above). If you choose to extend as a CTR controller, you will need to set your VIS points correctly within Euroscope, Tune the additional frequencies by text (Choose TX/RX text in the communications setup window) and you'll need to activate the frequencies by choosing TX or RX. When you activate another frequency within the VCCS panel, your total Transceiver count will go up as you need these transceivers to remain in radio contact with aircraft. You'll also need to ensure your controller information advises people you're extending as per the VATPAC Controller Information and ATIS Policy.
In this picture, you can see that in Euroscope, I have tuned RCV and XMT text for both frequencies. In VCCS, I have selected to Transmit and Receive on both ML-SNO_CTR 124.000 and ML-TBD_CTR 125.300. This will ensure I can provide a control service on both frequencies.
Cross Coupling
Cross Coupling refers to the linking of Transceivers and frequencies. There are different forms of cross coupling which I'll explain below with the assistance of the AFV user guide.
As mentioned above, originally, it was intended to send dummy data of the additional frequencies/positions a controller was controlling. There were some stability issues detected very late in testing and the decision was made to remove this feature until they can find a stable work around. This will hopefully happen post release sometime. What this means is that a pilot will not see another frequency online in their client, however, will still be able to contact the controller if they tune the frequency.
If I was logged on to ML-SNO_CTR and decided to extend to TAS, WOL and TBD, my VCCS panel would look something like this.
This indicates that I can be contacted on all of those frequencies and that pilots on any of the other frequencies will be able to hear me. Although, as mentioned above, the broadcasting pilots' signal may be degraded dependent on the quality of their original broadcast and distance to the transceiver.
As discussed throughout the forums, each ATC position is allocated particular transceivers based upon real world information. If a pilot was to go out of range of a ML-SNO_CTR transceiver heading to Adelaide, they would no longer be able to hear you. It's important to pass them to the correct frequency at the same time you would if the other position was actively controlled. (Eg. Hand the pilot off to your other frequency when they leave ML-SNO airspace and enter ML-TBD on your radar).
Questions? Ask Away!
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Definitely a good option David and Kirk. I think this is something we could look at for our next AIRAC Sector File update.
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Sorry for any confusion guys. Bill is correct in saying that the 15nm range only applies to 122.800. As this is the global UNICOM frequency and it's expected there will be several users on the frequency at once, they have limited it to the 15nm range ring around your aircraft. Broadcasting on other frequencies (eg. for the purpose of CTAF) should have a much larger range at altitude in comparison to being on the ground.
For other frequencies, the area/distance you will be able to TX/RX is dependent on your altitude. It's also worth noting that should a controller have the same frequency as a CTAF, if the aircraft was in range, they may interrupt that frequency. While I doubt there would be any issues, this is something that will need to be checked before CTAF is officially supported.
There is some good documentation in the AFV User Guide here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fLIp1XUnCxPYKTNdzjDo4uKq03ZklTZW/view
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Great work everyone! Let's keep smashing out the week going into the weekend so we can take home all 3 categories!
I've got ML-SNO until late
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Taking Tracy's very valid points into consideration, a compromise could be to have something like Controller of the Month who gets the most positive feedback? We'll be looking at new ways to encourage pilots and other controllers to submit feedback to we can actively work to develop what we teach and expect controllers to practice. While something like this would have to be carefully structured to ensure pilots don't get harassed to submit feedback, I'm sure we can incorporate some kind of monthly award in a fair and reasonable way.
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Correct. There will be no transceivers for CTAF at this point. We may in the future bring this in for airports with CTAF to give them additional range (in line with RW airports) however, we can't do this until CTAF is officially supported. For the mean time, tuning a frequency will suffice.
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On 01/10/2019 at 6:26 PM, Greg Barber said:
Does a transceiver HAVE to be present?
For this concept yes.
Where a transceiver isn't available, you will have a fixed broadcast range ring of 15nm around your aircraft when tuned to 122.800. If another aircraft (with a range ring of 15nm) is 29nm away from you, you should be able to hear them.
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7 hours ago, Tristan Garratt said:
can we make it compulsory to have controllers monitoring guard
This is a CoC concern, not a Divisional matter at this point in time. You are welcome to submit this feedback to the BoG/EC.
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Congratulations to Ashot who recently flew through his Enroute Exam! Coming to a Centre Position near you. Great work
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3 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:
I sadly missed an invitation to assist beta testing Oceanic AFV Sunday evening
Hey Rusty,
If you have access to the BETA software, we'll be doing some Divisional testing over the weekend and I'd love for you to come along
4 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:pilot client lists the other stations on frequency
Assuming you're talking about the callsigns of other pilots on frequency? I don't believe they do. I know the standalone AFV client does tell you who the last person to broadcast on your frequency is though.
6 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:I assume this is to be continued via the use of "CROSS COUPLING"
It sure will be and I'm really excited to see this in action. I believe they were injecting the radio position names into the client/FSD server originally however, ran into a snag and it became unstable so they'll be removing this feature at release. I will need to do further testing to confirm whether all of our manned frequencies will show up.
8 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:However, anything that can be done to expedite its full introduction here in Australia/New Zealand will be most welcome.
I'm sure the BoG members from Australia were pushing for this in the first place. I will do everything we can as a Division to expedite the official use of this in Australia. In the mean time, I couldn't see an issue with monitoring unicom on COM2 and broadcasting CTAF on COM1.
9 minutes ago, Russell Diehl said:Does anyone know whether developer's of pilot clients intend to support transmissions on multiple frequencies
This might be a Flight Simulator limitation but I'm honestly not too sure. Excellent question!
I'm glad to see everyone's excitement for the introduction of the new VATSIM Voice Software
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Example 1. The transceiver is 100ft AMSL. Therefore, the range on the ground is 12.3nm. If you are AGL outside of this area, you won't be able to transmit/receive. The aircraft down the bottom is at 35000ft, because of their height, it gives them a range of 230nm. They will be able to broadcast and receive from that transceiver. The higher an aircraft is, the greater range they have.
Example 2: Both aircraft are within range of the transceiver in this photo, however, aren't in range of each other. This means the controller can communicate with both aircraft, however, the aircraft won't be able to hear each other.
Example 3: Another possibility is that an aircraft may be within you range however, isn't in range of the transceiver. This is a situation where you could relay their message to the controller/appropriate traffic.
More to follow.
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This topic is the first place you should look to get answers to the most commonly asked questions. If you have a question, please ask it in this thread and we'll add it to the post with an answer and delete your comment to keep it tidy
Q: Is Audio for VATSIM good?
A: Logon and find out for yourself
Q: When will Audio for VATSIM be released?
A: AFV is being released on Monday 14th October.Q: Will Euroscope 3.1d/TAATS work with AFV
A: Absolutely! You'll need to download the AFV Stand Along client when it becomes available. We'll provide further details on how to configure this (including a video) soon!
Q: What pilot clients can I use?
A: vPilot (FSX+P3D) and VATSIM's newest client xPilot (For Xplane users) will be entirely compatible from day one. For all other clients including Swift, xSquawkbox, FSINN and Squawkbox can be utilized by using the standalone AFV Client.
Q: Are there pilot clients available for MAC/LINUX?
A: Yes! Swift is compatible with MAC. https://dev.swift-project.org/phame/post/view/17/swift_and_afv/
Q: What are the major changes?
A: State of the art voice quality - A Brand new Opus-based voice CODEC with realistic distortion, white noise and VHF & HF simulation.; Reduced Delay - up to 80% reduction in latency; Range Simulation - transceivers setup as per real ATC positions, with signal strength dependent on distance and altitude; Customisable technology - this upgrade paves the way for future development.Q: Will there be voice Unicom/CTAF?
A: Absolutely! On UNICOM 122.800, you'll be able to hear pilots on that same frequency within a 15nm radius of your aircraft. You can also tune any frequency and broadcast/receive transmissions with other aircraft provided they're within range. There is more information on VHF range in another post
. This means you can use Unicom and Voice CTAF! We're going to be doing some work on CTAF and won't have detailed information/list of CTAF frequencies available for the AFV release so we'd recommend, if you choose to use voice CTAF to have Unicom (122.8) tuned in your COM2 so you can maintain compliance with the VATSIM CoC of monitoring UNICOM.
Q: Do I need a new client?
A: If you don't update, or use the standalone AFV client, you will not be able to hear any transmissions over VATSIM after the upgrade.Q: Will there be multiple Centre frequencies now?
A: Due to the size of Australia and extended coverage policy, we've had to think outside the box with how to approach the new transceiver voice system. Therefore, if you logon to ML-SNO_CTR and you wanted to extend, you would need to tune ML-TBD_CTR in the AFV Client Panel. This will activate the transceivers for the ML-TBD_CTR sector and allow you to communicate with traffic. You need to remember though that aircraft need to be transferred to that frequency so you can continue communicating with them. All this means, just like in the real world, you'll hear "ABC contact me 125.3"! We'll be bringing out more communications regarding this soon.
Q: Where are the transceivers and do I need to worry about them?
A: The VATPAC Operations Team have been busy collecting and entering data regarding Australia's transceivers into the AFV System. This means you shouldn't need to do anything when interacting with the Network. There is the chance of the odd missing position here or there and we'll be available around the clock when AFV releases to make sure we can fix any issues.
Q: Can I talk over someone? Do I get blocked? What is blocking?
A: A major change is that when you transmit, you no longer receive, just like the real world. This could lead to blocking another person or yourself. It's important to show radio etiquette at all times. Listen, Wait, Press your PTT down for a second or two and then talk.
Q: How does the range affect my broadcast?
A: The new AFV system has range based transceivers which are affected by your height, location and the height of the terrain at the transceiver. AFV also has range based fading. This means the further you get from a transceiver, the more faded, crackly and faint you will become when talking to ATC/other aircraft.
Q: How does HF Simulation work?
A: AFV has incorporated HF simulation into the update. Due to limitations within simulators and the lack of aircraft developers currently modelling HF radios, all HF frequencies will have a VHF frequency you can tune to reach the frequency. The frequency will still sound like HF and has been modeled excellently. We're still working out where HF will be incorporated into VATPAC and we'll provide further details in the near future.
Q: Will ATIS work?
A: Due to limitations with the new voice system, Euroscope will no longer generate a voice ATIS. You'll need to connect your ATIS still, however, a new system within AFV will automatically convert your text to a voice ATIS and broadcast it on your ATIS frequency. Details will be released regarding this in another post.
Q: What about Text Pilots?
A: Text still plays a part of VATSIM's systems and will still be available at all times. All controllers are required to tune multiple text frequencies if they use cross-coupling to ensure text pilots can communicate over all frequencies. It's also a requirement for pilots to monitor UNICOM text frequencies and broadcast, if necessary for those pilots.
Q: What ATC clients are supported?
A: All currently supported clients (Euroscope 3.1d and VRC) will be supported through the use of the AFV Stand Alone Client.
Q: Can I have multiple frequencies as an Approach or Tower Controller?
A: This is against Local Policy and isn't allowed at this time. We'll be reviewing this when additional features are released for AFV in the near future. It's our intention to incorporate this in the future.
Q: Will there be training provided/available to pilots & controllers?
A: Our Staff and other community members will be available on Teamspeak every day, particularly in the evenings to assist you with any questions or issues you may have.
More Questions to come. Do you have one? Ask Below!
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Audio for VATSIM launch date announced
VATSIM is delighted to announce that Audio for VATSIM, our brand new voice technology, will launch on Monday 14th October 2019. This is the dawn of the next generation of online flight simulation. Check out our video here.
What is Audio for VATSIM?
Audio for VATSIM is an innovative new technology for our voice communication which features:
- State of the art voice quality - a brand new Opus-based voice codec with optional realistic distortion, white noise, VHF and HF simulation
- Reduced delay - up to 80% reduction in latency, making busy frequencies more realistic and manageable
- Range simulation - transceivers set up as per real ATC positions, with signal strength dependent on distance and altitude
- Customisable technology - this upgrade paves the way for future amazing development by the community.
This is the biggest technological change for the VATSIM community in many years, and is being rolled out across all pilot and ATC clients. In order to implement this change, we must do two things that have never been done before on the network. First, we must take the entire network offline for maintenance for a short period. Secondly, after the downtime, all VATSIM members will need to have updated their ATC and pilot clients to be compatible with the new infrastructure.
How will the launch work?
At 2000z on Sunday 13th October 2019, all VATSIM servers will be taken offline to begin the migration to our new infrastructure. VATSIM users should ensure that their flights and ATC sessions have concluded by this time. During this period, all other VATSIM services may also be subject to some downtime.
The network will remain offline for a period of 24 hours, although a limited number of connections are likely to be allowed before this time whilst we embed the new servers. To be safe, our members should not plan any flights or ATC sessions prior to 2000z on Monday 14th October. If the downtime needs to be extended beyond this time for any reason, we will announce this as quickly as possible.
How do I prepare for the launch?
Every VATSIM member will need to update their pilot and ATC clients and, in some cases, will need to download a small standalone app to run alongside the client whilst our developers work to integrate Audio for VATSIM natively into their software. We have created a website to guide you through the steps you need to take, whichever client you are currently using.
I need help preparing my client for this upgrade
We’ve launched a support forum and Discord server as the official places to get support. You can also post on our Facebook group or local facility forums to ask for help from fellow members of the community.
If I’m using FSInn or Squawkbox, do I need to upgrade to a new client to use Audio for VATSIM?
Following feedback from the community, the team have made arrangements for Audio for VATSIM to be compatible with these clients, although you’ll still need to follow the instructions posted shortly to install a standalone client before the switchover. That said, FSInn and Squawkbox will cease to be supported in the coming months as we make other enhancements (increasing the refresh rate) to VATSIM, so you are strongly recommended to use this opportunity to upgrade to a more modern client.
How do I find out more about the technical details?
The Audio for VATSIM website contains a knowledge base which includes a full manual of the principles of operation for Audio for VATSIM, as well as other documentation which you may find useful.
On behalf of the whole VATSIM community, thank you for being a part of this network and we can’t wait to see you on the scopes and in the skies enjoying this whole new level of immersion.
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We recently received some positive feedback about Bill who was operating Sydney Tower. @William Teale
QuoteWould just like to say that Bill who ran YSSY_TWR this evening did an insanely good job. He spoke clearly and slowly. I requested a progressive taxi and he did the job perfect. Please if you can pass this message to him, wonderful experience. Possibly the best controller i have came across.
Keep up the great work Bill
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Love this Idea! Let me put something together
One Controller, Multiple Frequencies - Explained
in Audio For VATSIM
Posted
Once the pilots and controllers have had time to become accustomed to the major change, we will consider going with additional frequencies outside of Centre positions extending.