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Is PRO ATC X good for airliner flying?


Marc Stanford

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Marc Stanford
Posted

As the title says does this ATC addon come with realistic voices, ATIS, and routing with SID/STAR support?

I've been using the stock ATC system for over a decade now and I want something that has more realism to it. I have heard some good things about Pro ATC X but I want to hear what you guys have to say.

Does Pro ATC X have a interface similar to the default ATC system, can I open a menu and use it like the default system?

Happy new years to you all!

Posted

I used ProATCX for about two years before finally moving over to VATSIM. I really like it, and yes it dynamically assigns SIDS/STARS based off of wind. 

The voices used are actually a string of recorded .wav files, but somehow manage to seem less "robotic" than the text-to-speech engine, which is used by a lot of other ATC Addons. There's also more third party voice sets available to download to break up some of the monotony of hearing the same few voices over and over.

The "background ATC" is also a nice touch, but are just loops of real world controller sound files, and do get a little monotonous after awhile. In fact there's a running joke when flying over France that there's a pilot requesting a diversion to Marseille... Did he get there? Nobody knows! 

You can import pln files as well, much like you do with ActiveSky. Tuning ATC frequencies in the aircraft links with the radio stack. The only slight oddity is with the FSL products where you have to bind a "com swap" button, because ProATCX doesn't pick up on the fact that you've clicked the <-> com swap button in the VC, but works flawlessly in every other aircraft.

Its another external application that needs to run whilst the sim is open, and the in-sim interface is much like the GSX style menu system after you've hit Ctrl Shift F12.

There's not been an update in awhile, but largely because "it just works", and is largely "feature complete". The last update they did, focused on the phraseology, so is now a nice learning tool for flying within the EU on VATSIM.

ProATCX isn't for everybody's cup of tea, with some people preferring RC4/Pilot2ATC/VoxATC, etc... But it gets a thumbs up from me

TH0R5T€N KlRCHH€lM
Posted

Well, how shall I say, I used proatc for a while, until putting it into the virtual dustbin.

 

There were several reasons for it. In the practical manner, the tool worked fine until handing over to initial approach. Here the drama usually started. Transition to final approach fix were rather strange in my humble opinion. So if you want to use it for training, you won't be happy with it.

 

The other reason why I stopped using it, was the stagnating development. Until mid summer 2019 I missed something like a development approach to FSLabs. Okay an update for the bird was announced, but this announcement was already 1 1/2 years old. If you like, I can check the member' s forum whether there were some progresses in this matter.

 

PS: Checked the forum out of curiosity. Last official statement of the developer in June 2019. But well the contents reads rather vague...

 

Gesendet von meinem SM-A705FN mit Tapatalk

 

 

 

 

Ray Proudfoot
Posted

I’ve been using Radar Contact v4 for around 13 years and it works perfectly with both FSX and P3D (all versions).

Development ceased a few years ago but the product is robust. Load a flight plan, enter departure and arrival gates, choose your callsign and that’s it. No faffing around!

As one of the recorded voice sets I can confirm I am human and not robotic. The instructions are clear, concise and change for FAA and ICAO areas. Two real-world AT Controllers verified all instructions are correct.

Best of all it’s now free so you can try it without any risk.

https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/547732-radar-contact-and-jdtllc-in-transition/

  • Like 3
Marc Stanford
Posted

So I want the realism of SID/STARS, the authenticity of human voices, and the interface similar to the default ATC system.

Which should I get?

Pro ATC X or Radar Contact 4?

Ray Proudfoot
Posted

Marc, RC4 doesn’t know about SIDS and STARs. You just include them in your flight plan and fly the route. Up to 30nm away from departure you should fly pretty close to each waypoint to be credited. Further away the tolerance is less critical. The interface shows you the active waypoint.

Its free. Nothing to lose by trying it. It can be run on the P3D PC or on a separate one via WideFS.

  • Like 1

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