Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'oncourse software'.
-
PF3 ATCPublisher: OnCourse SoftwareReview Author: Michael HaywardSuggested Price: $49.00/images/fsc/wbicons/store-buy-now-button.pngIt is a known fact that default ATC onmost common flight simulators is not always that good. They missseveral features of flight such as SIDS and STARS and in some casescan send you into ground locations where aircraft are not quitecompatible. OnCourse Software has recently released PF3, the latest edition oftheir long-running ATC software, compatible with FS2004, FSX, P3D and theall-new Microsoft Flight Simulator. It aims to improve the trafficcontrol experience for flight simmers with a new system built from theground up to walk you through each stage of your flight. In this review, we will take a look at the all-new add-on and seehow it works alongside Microsoft Flight Simulator, as well as todetermine if it is worth picking up for your flights. /images/reviews/pf3atc/t/PF3-ATC-sidstar.jpgWhat Is PF3?OnCourse Software's PF3 is an Air Traffic Control client for anyflight simulator that uses the FSUIPC client. It provides you with anall-new advanced set of flight instructions that allow you to simulatefar more realistic ATC without the need for flying on any of theonline networks, such as IVAO or VATSIM. It also allows you to walkthrough every aspect of your flight, including your flight plan,chosen SID and STAR, as well as any deviations or holds you might berequired to make. It also manages your flight around AI aircraft that are also withinthe simulator. While it may not be able to guide them, it can guideyou around their paths, avoiding any chance of collision or deviationin the case of a busy airport operation. /images/reviews/pf3atc/t/PF3-ATC-connectionestablished.jpgPF3's interface is simplistic and gives you what you need to startand plan your flight. The UI is clear and simple to understand, whilethe in-sim frequencies and captions box adds a nice little extra foryou to quickly glance at. When connected to the simulator, the wingnavigation lights on the logo will also start to flash as an indicatorthat navigation is running - a nice little extra detail! Taxi Guidance is also a nice extra feature that lets you followpaths to and from the runway with audio cues from the co-pilot. Theywill guide you left and right, naming any taxiways and stand numbersthat you are passing. The PF3 database comes with thousands of voices with differentaccents that cover almost the entire world. No matter where you fly,you will hear the voices of controllers that would not go amiss inyour departure and arrival areas. This also includes the voice of yourco-pilot, which can be set with a choice of 119 offerings. Voices canalso be shared among regions, for example, the US and Canada or theIrish and British to increase the amount of variety you will hear onthe ground and in the air. Bored of that robotic Microsoft Sam voice?You no longer need to hear it! /images/reviews/pf3atc/t/PF3-ATC-hotkeysmenu.jpgControl of PF3 is also simple and again comes with a lot ofvariety. You manage your communications by a series of hotkeys. Theseare linked to your responses and allow you to easily chat with thetower based on your requirement. While it does take some learning toremember what each key does, once you know the pattern, it's just acase of pressing a number and listening to the program do all of thework. Don't feel like communicating? Get the co-pilot to do it all foryou! PF3 also has two automated ATC methods that let the softwarecommunicate and respond on your behalf, as well as change frequenciesand autopilot systems. /images/reviews/pf3atc/t/PF3-ATC-optionsbox.jpgIt also features some VFR options too, giving you flight followingand guidance on request if you feel like flying something low and slowand enjoy the scenery that Microsoft Flight Simulator has tooffer. Download And InstallInstallation of PF3 comes in three parts, the PF3 client itself,FSUIPC and MakeRwys. Purchasing PF3 from the FlightSim.Com Store gives you an activationkey and the software installer. You do not need to install this intothe simulator directly, but instead into your main Program Filesfolder. Run the installer, activate the add-on and the rest of theinstallation is automated. Once installed, you now need to ensure that you have Pete & JohnDowson's FSUIPC for your chosen platform installed. This is how PF3talks to the simulator and forms a bridge between the flight and anythird-party add-ons that you may have. Install this and in the case ofMicrosoft Flight Simulator, make sure you have the exe fileloaded. Finally, you now want to create the runways database for PF3 toread. This can be done with the free MakeRwys tool, also published byPete & John Dowson. Ensure that your simulator is closed before youstart the tool and once open, wait around 10 minutes for it tocomplete. You will then have several files generated, of which therunways.csv file is what you're looking for. Open PF3, select 'Options#1', click on 'Rebuild PF3 Database' and follow the steps to selectthe file. You will then see it process this data and store it withinPF3 itself. If you do ever find yourself stuck with this, you can always referto the very detailed 193-page PDF document that has been supplied withthe software. This explains every little bit of detail about PF3,including the setup requirements, use of the tool, as well as how toresolve any unlikely issues you may come across. Flight With PF3To test PF3, I did a flight from Moscow Sheremetyevo to LondonHeathrow in the Airbus A320neo on Microsoft Flight Simulator. Thisgave it a good lengthy flight to test with the ATC, while also beingable to fly between two destinations with heavy traffic density. /images/reviews/pf3atc/t/PF3-ATC-flightplannermenu.jpgImmediately from the get-go, the automated co-pilot got to work incommunicating my flight plan and clearance to ATC, as well as a fullATIS readout from Moscow. While I set the aircraft up, it continued totalk to the controller, right up until it knew I was ready fortaxi. It requested the routing from tower and proceeded to tell mewhere to go, making a left onto Alpha and to cross Runway 24L. As weapproached the runway intersect, it proceeded to pass the frequencyover to the tower and request the takeoff from there. This entireprocess was automatic, I did not have to input any frequencies, PF3already knows how to do this! Takeoff clearance was straightforward with the tower giving me windand pressure before giving me the all-clear for takeoff. On beingairborne we were cleared to a flight level of 160 and given a seriesof vectors that sent us towards our flight path. The flight went onwithout issue, and then later we were stepped up to our cruisingflight level of 400 and left to fly on our own navigation. As we approached the English Channel, we were given our firstdescent altitude as well as the BNN1E STAR for Runway 27R atHeathrow. The PF3 approach controller helped to navigate our aircraftto the runway with altitude changes and speed restrictions, beforehanding us over to Heathrow tower for landing. The touchdown wassmooth, we rolled off the runway and ATC handed us over to ground. Asit did on taxi to takeoff, the co-pilot guided me to Terminal 5 atHeathrow before sending me to an assigned gate that was given by thecontroller. Anything I Would Change?While there is a lot that PF3 does right, one thing I did noticewas that the voice audio does not always sound very natural,especially when reading numbers. All the voices are recordednaturally, similar to how the FSX and FS2004 ATC voices were done, butthe tone of these audio samples does sometimes jump when listening toinstructions and is something you do notice. At some stage, I wouldcertainly like to see an update which makes the voices sound morenatural. Yes, it is a definite improvement over the default voices weare used to hearing, but in my opinion, it just needs that littleextra work to make it as smooth as possible. I would also love to see a voice-activation feature in the futuretoo! Tools like Voice Attack and PushbackZoomer already use thesecapabilities in which to pick out keywords and respond as required,and something similar for PF3 would be great! Something that onlineATC networks allow for, is the ability to let you talk to control andhave them respond to you directly. While there is no human aspect toPF3, there is certainly an AI aspect that knows your stage of flightwith FSUIPC, so being able to listen to what you say and respond asrequired, would in my opinion create the ultimate ATC experience. Opinion And Closing RemarksI really do like PF3 and what it brings to Flight Simulator. Whencompared to default ATC offerings, then the difference is night andday, as PF3 is by far the superior option. It gives you a lot ofcontrol over your flight, as well as a controller who can and willsupport you with every aspect of your journey, from climb and descent,to holds, route deviations and changes. The automated co-pilot controls also make for a highly realisticflying experience, with voices that you would expect to hear, whichhas the advantage of allowing you to focus more on the managed flightof your aircraft. When combined with charts and other flight aids that exist forFlight Simulator, you can get a feel for your flight and see youroverall experience improve as your level of realism increases. The learning curve is also not too bad, as both hotkeys and flightplanning can be learned rather quickly with only a few flights. Likewith the simulator's default options, you know the 'pattern' of whatnumber to press and when to press it, and the same can be appliedhere, but with much more advanced options. If you are looking for realistic Air Traffic Control and want anall-in-one solution (without the need to fly online), then you won'tfind a better option than OnCourse Software's PF3. The Technical BitReview PC Spec: Microsoft Flight SimulatorWindows 10 Professional6th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 6700K Processor32 GB RAMNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660/images/reviews/pf3atc/title3.jpg Michael Hayward Purchase OnCourse Software - PF3 - ATC At Its Best!
-
/images/notams/notams21/pf3a0224.jpgOnCourse Software are pleased to announce another (free)update for their PF3 ATC program has just beenreleased. Version 3.10.50 addresses some reported issues in additionto adding some new features. More details available from our web sitewww.oncourse-software.co.ukand also our support forumwww.ocs-support.co.uk/forums. You can purchase it right here at the FlightSim.Com Store. Purchase OnCourse Software - PF - ATC At Its Best!
-
/images/notams/notams21/pf3a0224.jpgFully supported IFR and VFR flights plus our own VFR Free Flightmode, especially developed to let you enjoy the breathtaking world inMSFS whilst providing ATC when you need it. With 119 voice sets,covering the 26 geographic regions in the PF3 world, the level ofimmersion provided by our tried and tested ATC program isoutstanding. PF3 monitors ground AI traffic as you taxi to/from the runway toensure there are no conflicts. Also keeps AI aircraft off the runwayduring landing/takeoff and maintains separation during yourapproach. Can be used with most voice recognition programs and worksseamlessly with MCE. Comes complete with its own unique radioenhancement voice packs. ATC control boundaries have been completely revamped, providingmore accurate handoffs. Supports alternate airports, which you candivert to for whatever reason. Also supports emergency situations anddiverting to the nearest suitable airport en-route. SID/STARfunctionality has been extensively extended to allow even moreflexibility. Comes complete with our FREE PF3 Display, Remote Text and RemoteRadio Stack utilities. Also supports Project Magenta's Boeing typeMCP. All this and our own hosted forum to provide you with supportthat is second to none. Not only that but we also offer ‘Try beforeyou buy’. In fact we insist you try the PF3 Demo program beforepurchasing PF3 – ATC at its best. Works with MSFS, P3D (all versions), FSX and FSX Steam Edition andFS2004. Purchase OnCourse Software - PF - ATC At Its Best!
-
/images/notams/notams18/onco0728.jpgOnCourse Software are pleased to announce a major (free)update for their PF3 ATC program has just beenreleased. Version 3.10 is loaded with new features and enhancementsPLUS support for MSFS 2020. PF3 is ATC at its best. The all new standalone ATC program from OnCourseSoftware, compatible with FS2004/FSX/P3D/MSFS is available now. More details available from our web sitewww.oncourse-software.co.ukand also our support forumwww.ocs-support.co.uk/forums
-
/images/notams/notams18/onco0728.jpgOnCourse Software are pleased to announce the release of PF3 ATC atits best version 3.8.0. This maintenance/feature update is free to allexisting users of PF3 V3+. Full details of this release can be found in the Version HistoryPDF file you will find in your PF3\Help folder once the update isinstalled, or you can check ithereif you wish beforehand. You should always make a point of reading thisdocument after each release as it may contain some very importantnews. The demo version has also been updated. If you've been experiencing problems using PF3's Auto-Updatesfeature (which of course is the recommended way to obtain the latestupdates for PF3) you can download the latest cumulative updates setupprogram Fromhere. This update is cumulative for any version of PF3 (version 3+). More details available from www.ocs-support.co.uk/forums