Few vatsim questions

[David Higdon]

When you send the flt plan to vatsim from dispatch do you still have to enter it in fsinn? The virtual home base in fsinn, is that our hub or the departure icao? Do you have to wait for the utc time on the dispatch flt plan before logging on to vatsim? What are good settings for fsinn? Looking on dolo my number it doesn't look like ATC covers many areas. Is most of the flying done typing messages on Unicom? If your computer locks up when on vatsim do you get banned? What's a good setting for voice so the controller doesn't sound like a Charlie Brown cartoon? Sorry for all the newbie questions .

 

[Peter Schindler]

will try to answer some of your questions, David.

When you send the flt plan to vatsim from dispatch do you still have to enter it in fsinn?

Don't think so. In Swuawkbox you don't have to. Just make sure your callsign matches the one you filed.

The virtual home base in fsinn, is that our hub or the departure icao?

Not sure about that. Haven't used Fsinn in years. I'd probably chose the home base you entered with your Vatsim application.

Do you have to wait for the utc time on the dispatch flt plan before logging on to vatsim?

No. If you look at the pre-filing form, we always add 30 mins to the current UTC time, regardless of what the schedule or the charter booking says. If you don't change that time in the Vatsim form you should start your flight about 30 mins after. A little earlier or later should do no harm.

Is most of the flying done typing messages on Unicom?

If no ATC is active in your area you just type to Unicomm if there's any close traffic around you.

If your computer locks up when on vatsim do you get banned?

No. Happens all the time If you manage to get it restarted, just reconnect to Vatsim and send a PM to the controller.

What's a good setting for voice so the controller doesn't sound like a Charlie Brown cartoon?

You can request a "radio check" with ATC. He will reply (if he heard you at all) with a number indicating the quality of your comm, ranging from 1 to 5, I think. With everything lower than 4 you should try to tweak your microphone or reduce background noise - or both

 

[Svilen Vassilev]

What's a good setting for voice so the controller doesn't sound like a Charlie Brown cartoon?

Peter has answered all questions correctly and in detail, I just thought to add a little bit to the answer on this question.

First, in your FSFDT control panel (part of FSINN), browse to the Vatsim settings and uncheck the "realistic distortion" option. The voice protocols and codecs used by Vatsim and the pilot clients are bad enough and there's certainly no need to add extra distortion on top of that

Second, regarding the radiocheck: it's always a good practice to request a radiocheck from the controller at the beginning of your session, especially if it's not a busy frequency, the typical response will contain two digits, i.e. "... I read you 5 by 5". These are 2 separate scales ranging from 1 to 5. The first scale evaluates sound clarity, the second one evaluates sound strength. Hence "5 by 5" means "loud and clear". "5 by 4" would mean "not very loud, but clear", "4 by 5" would mean "loud but not very clear", etc etc. Occasionally, when the reception is both loud and clear, to save time, the controller will just answer "readability 5", which implies 5 on both scales.

I've found out that not many pilots are aware of this two-scale subtlety so there you have it

 

[David Higdon]

I went on vatsim the other day to observe. Did a radio check to see if my settings worked. I'm aware of the 5 by 5 response etc. Not to sure of the chat stuff. Got a text from the controller saying that you don't have to be on PRIM to make a radio check. Haven't a clue what he meant. I was using fsinn and I didn't see a PRIM in the window. Think he meant you should be in private chat?

 

[Svilen Vassilev]

Hard to tell what he meant. PRIM or "primary frequency" is a term related to ATC clients, not pilot clients. ATC clients have this ability to connect to a main (primary) frequency and to multiple secondary ones, either via voice, text or both. That's not something pilot clients support, they only allow you to have your Comm1 and/or Comm2 connected to controller's channels. Most likely he thought you were using an ATC cilent to observe. In any case you haven't done anything wrong.