Radio and ATC Help (Singleplayer)

[kickdowndoors]

Hi guys,

Just got back into FG after a long time (unsurprisingly terrible performance on my Mac had me quit but my new laptop runs it like a dream) and I'm trying to start interacting with the AI ATC and ground control. It's been problematic. I've tried searching Google for an answer but came up with nothing. For reference, all of the following issues occured in the FG hangar 757-200, on the latest update, Windows 10, NVidia GeForce 1660 Ti (latest drivers), i7-9750H CPU. Anything else, just ask.

I am aware of the use of ' and numlock- to interact, but I'm not sure when to use which one. Whenever I have tried to use numlock-, it's come up as red text, which I believe indicates it's not being seen by the intended recipient. Sometimes ' just doesn't offer an option and I don't know why. For example, after starting up I was told to switch to ground, which it appears was done automatically as my next message was recieved by ground with no problems. However, after I was holding by the runway I was told to switch to tower, after which no option appeared, and switching comms to the correct frequency changed nothing. Which brings me to my next issue.

If someone could give me a rundown of the important radio functions - I know the basics (i.e. what COM1 and COM2 do and how they are used), as well as the callouts and their order, but in practice I'm not sure how to switch between COM1 and COM2, or more importantly how to turn them off. While flying from Gatwick to LFPG, the entire channel crossing was filled with incredibly annoying TTS from ground comms at Heathrow. How I connected to Heathrow, or how ground comms reached to France I don't know, but I couldn't figure out how to change frequency in the cockpit or using dialogue boxes - in fact, changing frequency made no difference. I could still hear them while on a completely different frequency, or while using COM2. It would be a massive help if someone could tell me the generic physical controls and their function in practice.

Finally, it gets so frustrating to have to listen to an entire airport of TTS AI. They talk incessantly because responses are formulated before the text is fully read out so you get a constantly building backlog of robot talk. But flying with AI is a nice touch I really enjoy. Is there a way I can temporarily turn off TTS, or only have radio communications for myself. I know in real life you have everyone on the one frequency but god TTS makes it horrible to play.

Thank you for your help!

[wkitty42]

you could just change your radio freq to shut them up... the loaded buffer will have to empty, though...

[kickdowndoors]

you could just change your radio freq to shut them up... the loaded buffer will have to empty, though...

yeah, thanks. guess thats the best solution there, but god that buffer lasts. especially when you speed time up, and everyone starts talking at once

[wkitty42]

yeah... don't do that time speed up thing