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Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Fri Nov 06, 2020 4:04 pm

JSO2309 wrote in Fri Nov 06, 2020 12:21 pm:Hi, fairly new to FG and just installed this ATC and I must say I'm impressed! Only question I have is that the COM1 states unusable in A320 and A319. Is this correct or is there some changes I need to do to make it useable?

Hello there! Thanks for taking the time to try and use Red Griffin ATC.
I tried my addon few minutes ago with the A320 and it seems everything is working right.
In order to have the radio working, you should check:
    * Radio is turned on
    * Radio volume is up
    * A valid radio station is tuned (that is in range)

What version of the addon are you using? In case you are using 2.0.0 Beta 1, you should also check settings and see which radio is used by the Addon. In case it is set to auto, Red Griffin ATC uses the first radio available and meeting the above conditions.

In case you did not do so, you can download Red Griffin ATC 2.0.0 Beta 1 here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc/files/

Do not hesitate to post your thoughts, feedback, bug reports and ideas.

Enjoy Red Griffin ATC!
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Sat Nov 07, 2020 4:52 pm

I am very glad to announce I have released Red Griffin ATC 2.0.0 - 7 November 2020.

You can download the latest version, as usual, from the sourceforge repository.
You are invited to test it and report your feedback and suggestions.

This is the changelog for version 2.0.0 - 7 November 2020

    - Production release

I also updated the wiki page with full instructions and detailed information about the main and setting dialogs.

For a full description and instructions on how to install the addon, please refer to the Readme file or the first message of this thread.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby JSO2309 » Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:43 pm

Hi Red Griffin

Thanks for the quick response. I have actually just downloaded the new version (7 Nov) and it's still saying the same thing. See image here:


Radio is on and tuned to EGGW Luton Ground; 121.75.
Comment on Red Griffin ATC for COM1 is "*** WARNING: This aircraft's radio is unusable"

This happens when using the A320neo by Artix. I have just downloaded the new FG version 2020.3.2 and installed the updated A320 Family and it works on there. So guessing there's a confliction with the Artix version of the A320
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Tue Nov 10, 2020 9:13 am

Hi there!
I am glad you can now use A320 with Red Griffin ATC!
As far as I can tell, not all the aircraft in FlightGear (in particular many you can download from non "FlightGear repositories") do not have full functional radios and some are equipped with very limited radio capabilities.
Red Griffin ATC needs the radio to offer many characteristics (I guess, fully functional) in order to properly run and provide a "realistic" experience. This include volume, quality and the ability to be turned on or off.
I did not try the A320 you were using, but I guess that was the case as this happened with other aircraft as well and which I personally tested with Red Griffin ATC: they all had incomplete radio implementation.

Thank you for taking the time to try and rest Red Griffin ATC. Please feel free to post your comments, ideas and feedback here.

Thank you.
Last edited by Johan G on Tue Nov 10, 2020 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Please do not quite the entire preceding post.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Sun Nov 15, 2020 2:00 pm

I am very glad to announce RedGriffin ATC is now part of FlightGear FGAddon in sourceforge, both the main and 2020.3 trunks:

https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fgaddon/HEAD/tree/trunk/Addons/

https://sourceforge.net/p/flightgear/fgaddon/HEAD/tree/branches/release-2020.3/Addons/

As a quick update, I am already working on version 2.1.0: proposals, suggestions, feedback, ideas and comments are all more than welcome.

Enjoy RedGriffin ATC and FlightGear!
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby benih » Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:47 pm

Cool!
How is it to be activated as a pilot with fgaddon?
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Mon Nov 16, 2020 10:48 am

benih wrote in Sun Nov 15, 2020 6:47 pm:Cool!
How is it to be activated as a pilot with fgaddon?


You can install RedGriffin ATC by downloading it either from FGAddon repository or its dedicated repository at https://sourceforge.net/projects/red-griffin-atc/
For installation instructions, you can refer to the wiki page at http://wiki.flightgear.org/Red_Griffin_ATC#How_to_install_Red_Griffin_ATC

Please feel free to send your feedback here.

Enjoy RedGriffin ATC!
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby scarymovie » Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am

Hi RedGriffin,

This is amazing. Good work!

I noticed a couple of things (might not be issues with the addon):

1. Not able to communicate with arrival airport even when nearing it and in range. At times when it finally works, the communication breaks when the radio detects another nearby airport. This happens many times especially when I am flying around "undeveloped" areas in FG (eg. South-east Asia).

2. Every so often, the ATC changes her mind about eg. departing runway, landing runway during approach etc. This could be due to the sudden change of wind direction.

3. Incorrect weather report. It gives a different info eg. the live weather says wind direction: 160 while info given by ATC is 227.

4. ATC directs me to a departing or landing runway that doesn't make sense because of very strong tailwind.

5. It would be good if the ATC could assign a squawk code to the pilot.

I apologize in advance if any of these have been mentioned in this thread before. Thank you.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:28 am

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:Hi RedGriffin,

This is amazing. Good work!

Hello there!
Thank you for your feedback and for taking the time to try and test RedGriffin ATC. I am glad you appreciate my addon.

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:1. Not able to communicate with arrival airport even when nearing it and in range. At times when it finally works, the communication breaks when the radio detects another nearby airport. This happens many times especially when I am flying around "undeveloped" areas in FG (eg. South-east Asia).

Can you please provide me the aircraft you used, the airport code and area in which you experienced this bug? That would help me to personally test this condition and possibly fix the bug.
Please consider RedGriffin ATC assigns to every airport (and hence its radios) a particular range and according to airport size. This also applies to CTR management: the bigger the airport, the wider the CTR area.

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:2. Every so often, the ATC changes her mind about eg. departing runway, landing runway during approach etc. This could be due to the sudden change of wind direction.

Yes, I noticed that too and I am trying to figure out what could be the best option for this. Runway is assigned according to wind direction and in case it changes, I am struggling with the best thing to do. You could stay on the assigned runway but, as the wind direction has changed, maybe it is better to use a different and more appropriate runway. Or it may be simply ignored and use the runway determined at the first radio contact but wind direction could be not appropriate for that.
I am still thinking about this issue and the best thing to do. Any idea?

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:3. Incorrect weather report. It gives a different info eg. the live weather says wind direction: 160 while info given by ATC is 227.

RedGriffin ATC uses METAR information passed by FlightGear. I will however check this again.

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:4. ATC directs me to a departing or landing runway that doesn't make sense because of very strong tailwind.

Like I said, take off and landing runways are determined according to wind direction and I guess it is working right, although it could also be the case there is a bug or specific conditions should also be considered.
Can you give me a proper example on how take off and landing runways should be chosen according to very strong tailwind?

scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:5. It would be good if the ATC could assign a squawk code to the pilot.

Squawking is something I am thinking about since the very beginning of RedGriffin ATC development. There are many things to be considered, including the well known "special codes" (7500, 7600, 7700) as well as the specific area of the world as the squawk code also depends on that.
I thought about simply assigning a "random code" at the very moment of departure request from the pilot, but I know there are many exceptions according to the area of world and sometimes there are special codes to be properly managed in each case and/or airport.
I would also like to "simulate" the cases in which the pilot sets squawk codes to 7500, 7600 and 7700 and to handling them properly. (not much to to with 7500 and 7700, but in case of 7600 ATC could provide assisted approach and landing, although in case of 7600 they usually give light signals)
As a matter of fact (and as far as I know) FlightGear does not support squawking and there are no properties associated to this. I could however assign a random squawk code (excluding the special ones, of course) and just use that. In such a case, implementing squawking would be super easy and done in one minute.
It is not also clear to me whether the squawk code is assigned by the initial ATC (the departure ATC) and you stay with that squawk code for the whole duration of flight or it can be reassigned by other ATCs in case of CTR transition.
Of course, in order to properly have a "real" squawk code, we also need to consider VFR squawk codes and this changes according to the specific area of the world.

Thank you very much indeed for your feedback.

Enjoy RedGriffin ATC!
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby benih » Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:43 pm

Afaik there are transponder properties.
The C182S at least manages them, and OpenRadar and i think ATC-Pie use them on their radar screens.

You may consider also requesting the pilot to IDENT when the squawk is assigned, and once ATC receives it, say so on the radio.

Squawk can change depending on ATCs discretion, afaik.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby wkitty42 » Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:07 pm

RedGriffin wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 10:28 am:
scarymovie wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 am:2. Every so often, the ATC changes her mind about eg. departing runway, landing runway during approach etc. This could be due to the sudden change of wind direction.

Yes, I noticed that too and I am trying to figure out what could be the best option for this. Runway is assigned according to wind direction and in case it changes, I am struggling with the best thing to do. You could stay on the assigned runway but, as the wind direction has changed, maybe it is better to use a different and more appropriate runway. Or it may be simply ignored and use the runway determined at the first radio contact but wind direction could be not appropriate for that.
I am still thinking about this issue and the best thing to do. Any idea?

what happens IRL at airports when the wind direction changes and the runways used changes? are craft waiting in line to take off on the previous runway redirected to the new runway? same question about landing... what is the rule for this scenario?
"You get more air close to the ground," said Angalo. "I read that in a book. You get lots of air low down, and not much when you go up."
"Why not?" said Gurder.
"Dunno. It's frightened of heights, I guess."
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:37 pm

benih wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:43 pm:Afaik there are transponder properties.
The C182S at least manages them, and OpenRadar and i think ATC-Pie use them on their radar screens.

Got it! I saw the transponder properties in the tree. Thank you.

benih wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:43 pm:You may consider also requesting the pilot to IDENT when the squawk is assigned, and once ATC receives it, say so on the radio.

This too is a good idea and certainly important in implementing squawking.

benih wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 12:43 pm:Squawk can change depending on ATCs discretion, afaik.

This is what I know as well. I guess this may happen when the aircraft is approved to a new CTR.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:40 pm

wkitty42 wrote in Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:07 pm:what happens IRL at airports when the wind direction changes and the runways used changes? are craft waiting in line to take off on the previous runway redirected to the new runway? same question about landing... what is the rule for this scenario?

I guess runway is not going to change and all aircraft lining up are going to take off from the "assigned" runway.
I do not know what may happen in a landing scenario, tough.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby scarymovie » Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am

Hi RedGriffin,

Thank you for being receptive to the feedback and constantly trying to improve the addon. You have my full support. :D

You can try flying the Citation II or DHC-6 to WSSS inbound from the north. Alternative would be WMKL from south via WMKP.

For point no. 2 and 4, I believe in real life the ATC would advise the pilot to use a better runway for landing and departing when the wind changes direction with really strong wind, say like >10 knot and stronger wind for take off. So for landing, instead of telling the pilot that he is approaching the wrong runway (which makes me wonder if I've heard the instructions wrongly before the approach), maybe ATC can order the pilot to abort landing and go-around at final. Then once the pilot starts climbing again, he will be told the correct runway to use. And those who are departing and still on the taxiway should be redirected to the appropriate runway for take off in the event of wind changes its direction.

Just my suggestions. Could be different IRL. Thank you.

Edit: It really depends on the type of aircraft. Different aircraft has a different maximum crosswind/tailwind component. It is going to be dangerous to land an A380 during a very strong tailwind if the runway is not long enough. The PIC should know about the aircraft's maximum wind components based on the POH. I have heard before IRL when the ATC asked the pilot which runway he would like to use probably under special circumstances.
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Re: Red Griffin ATC - Speaking ATC addon for Flightgear

Postby RedGriffin » Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:50 pm

scarymovie wrote in Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am:Hi RedGriffin,

Thank you for being receptive to the feedback and constantly trying to improve the addon. You have my full support. :D

Hi there!
Thank you for your feedback and for your full support. I am looking forward in having it! :)

scarymovie wrote in Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am:You can try flying the Citation II or DHC-6 to WSSS inbound from the north. Alternative would be WMKL from south via WMKP.

I will try the above condiotions you suggested. I will let you know and whether I found the bug and fixed it.

scarymovie wrote in Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am:For point no. 2 and 4, I believe in real life the ATC would advise the pilot to use a better runway for landing and departing when the wind changes direction with really strong wind, say like >10 knot and stronger wind for take off. So for landing, instead of telling the pilot that he is approaching the wrong runway (which makes me wonder if I've heard the instructions wrongly before the approach), maybe ATC can order the pilot to abort landing and go-around at final. Then once the pilot starts climbing again, he will be told the correct runway to use. And those who are departing and still on the taxiway should be redirected to the appropriate runway for take off in the event of wind changes its direction.

As for the "approaching wrong runway" warning, the addon needs to be very selective and careful when you are about to land a runway close to other parallel ones (such as xxR, xxC and xxL) and in this case it becomes very strict in order to not have the pilot truly landing on the wrong nearby runway. Maybe this is the case you saw.

scarymovie wrote in Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am:Just my suggestions. Could be different IRL. Thank you.

You are welcome. And I wish I knew what really happens in real life. I do not have any pilot license, I am just a "virtual pilot".

scarymovie wrote in Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:43 am:Edit: It really depends on the type of aircraft. Different aircraft has a different maximum crosswind/tailwind component. It is going to be dangerous to land an A380 during a very strong tailwind if the runway is not long enough. The PIC should know about the aircraft's maximum wind components based on the POH. I have heard before IRL when the ATC asked the pilot which runway he would like to use probably under special circumstances.

That's also why I introduced the aircraft type setting in version 2.0.0. It is useful also for things like this.
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