VAICOM 2.0 for VoiceAttack

Just to advise somehow the windows media player wasn't working reset and reinstalled and now it works cept that I still cannot get vaicom to work in dcs....period

From my understanding, the issue with VAICOM2 at the moment is actually not an issue with VAICOM, but that VAICOM uses both the 'COMM Communications Menu' button---what ever you have it set to---, and the 'COMM Push-To-Talk' button. Both must be set and working.

Since a couple of 1.5 OpenBeta updates ago, the 'COMM Push-To-Talk' button no longer does anything. Previously, both 'COMM Communications Menu' and 'COMM Push-To-Talk' would open the communications menu in the upper right corner.

Apparently VAICOM used PTT to open the comms menu and issue commands, but since PTT is no longer doing anything, VAICOM cannot work.

Same problem recognises commands setup as administrator etc etc but commands to DCS does not work!

help anyone what am I doing wrong?

Hi everyone,

Let's catch up on the questions you have asked. Seems I'm a bit behind :D

Some answers below, PM me if you need more help!

Cheers

Hollywood

@Dogman/Loz/Beeroshima/Kuabi

In general, the Invalid Radio messages in the log can point to a couple of things

1) Releasing PTT too soon ie before the beeps.

2) Wrong recipient/radio combination eg calling 'AWACS, request picture' on UHF radio,

3) A misinterpreted command, or

4) Some PTT config problem.

As a new user you will need to spend some time with the program to let it get used to your personal mode of speech. The number 3) variety usually comes from a mistaken word interpretation. This is much more common when you just get started with VAICOM. In the beginning it is advisable to speak sentences much slower then you would normally, with short pauses between keywords. This will help the engine to catch on. After a while you can start speaking faster. Also many people report that adding keywords to the MS speech library helps a lot for them. This is very personal. For some this is a must, but for others such as myself only one or two very stubborn words (Novorrosyisk, anyone? :ranting:) need to be added. Inspect the log to see how your command was interpreted. See what works for you. Try your initial testing with easy comms set to ON and most of all have patience in the beginning, it will not all work perfectly from day one and you will need to invest a bit of time to get the most out of the system.

@NeilWillis

You can have a look at the MiG-15 profile, Chocks are also in there with the Crew commands. When you want to make new crew commands (e.g. air) yourself, inspect the menu structure, copy an existing Crew command (e.g. Request Repair) in the profile and adapt the new command: i.e. label, keywords, and inspect the code for the associated (F-)keypresses. Change these as required to match the menu structure and test.

@maverickturner

Well, although I haven't tested this myself VA has a profile options (look for the checkbox icon) function that says 'override listening if my command begins with'. You could experiment with what happens if you put keyword 'Click' there or similar.

@M1Combat

Most of it sounds like normal behaviour. The Mirage radio system only has a single PTT key (VHF1). You can check the VAICOM PDF documentation that came with the M-2000C profile. The OPTIONS command should indeed show you the (sub)menu. In the VAICOM user manual documentation more info on this.

@protea1

It seems you are using Legacy Audio setting. Disable this in VA options (the wrench icon).

I assume you have went though the setup documentation and note about non-US international keyboard etc. I'll send you a PM to check how you have set things up and what else could be interfering.

@placebokid

These are not part of the current command set for the UH-1H profile. I have not identified these commands when the profile was created. Perhaps they were added later. They could be included in the profile if the menu structure is available. Using internal logic VAICOM dynamically constructs command key sequences that are sent to DCS.

@Captain Orso

Yes correct. In Easy Comms ON mode, the comms menu key (\) is used and in Easy Comms OFF mode, HOTAS MIC or COMM Push-To-Talk keys (RALT+\, etc.) are used. If the latter function is now broken in the recent beta I will need to get some input if this is in fact a confirmed bug or an intentional move by ED to restructure the comms menu setup going forward. Would be good to know if this applies to all modules or just a single one. I'll send you a PM later. As a workaround you can use Easy Comms ON until resolved. Thanks

:joystick:

Hi

I am having similar issues as protea1 with the latest updates. I have been using Viacom for some time and it has been working great. However with the latest update the commands are recognized and work at the start of a mission but then randomly stop. If I alt tab out and look at the Viacom window I can see the commands recognized but this does not send to DCS. If I switch DCS between full screen and windowed a few times and then click on the Viacom window it starts working again for a period of time and then suddenly stops again.

Viacom is run as administrator and I have tried setting to active window and selecting the DCS window but same happens.

Any ideas ?

Thanks

Hey bouncer

Thanks for the info. I cannot reproduce this problem myself but perhaps others have similar experience.

There's been no change to VAICOM, so if this is across all DCS versions then the problem likely originates from VoiceAttack sw.

I assume you use their latest release version.

Let's keep track on this: please check that there have been no recent changes (hw/sw) on your rig that also might be related to this issue.

Perhaps check the VA forum if other users report similar issues with other games. Grtz

I think I've found out why I was getting "Invalid Radio" most of the time.

I've got a UK Keyboard and in order to get the \ key to work using Vaicom in game I have to add to the General settings in the options list, OEM102 (the name of that key on my keyboard) as an additional key to the \ key.

May help others with the same keyboard.

Now I don't know why but if I select Easy Comms off, although I am transmitting messages properly, nobody, including ATC are responding (even if using the F keys) Seems to work OK with Easy comms on. (and yes with it off I have checked I'm using the correct frequency.)

Yeah, had the same problem with my UK Sidewinder X4 keyboard for years too. Only affects DCS and means we have to go through and map OEM102 everywhere that has \ mapped. I reported this ages ago in the hope ED could fix it but apparently not.

How do you change the Auto_ATC_Select to True in the .vap profile?

Do you just change all of the falses to true in the following lines?

<CommandAction>

<PairingSet>false</PairingSet>

<PairingSetElse>false</PairingSetElse>

<Ordinal>0</Ordinal>

<ConditionMet xsi:nil="true" />

<IndentLevel>0</IndentLevel>

<Id>22c1cb2d-14e8-4b8d-8ad4-2cfaa236fd3f</Id>

<ActionType>BooleanSet</ActionType>

<Duration>0</Duration>

<Delay>0</Delay>

<KeyCodes />

<Context>Auto_ATC_Select</Context>

<Context2 />

<Context3 />

<Context4 />

<X>0</X>

<Y>0</Y>

<Z>0</Z>

<InputMode>1</InputMode>

<ConditionPairing>0</ConditionPairing>

<ConditionGroup>0</ConditionGroup>

<ConditionStartOperator>0</ConditionStartOperator>

<ConditionStartValue>0</ConditionStartValue>

<ConditionStartValueType>0</ConditionStartValueType>

<ConditionStartType>0</ConditionStartType>

<DecimalContext1>0</DecimalContext1>

<DecimalContext2>0</DecimalContext2>

<Disabled>false</Disabled>

<RandomSounds />

<IsSuffixAction>false</IsSuffixAction>

@Loz

With Easy Comms OFF it can be tricky i.e. you may not hear response if the Intercom Control Panel dial is not set correctly, the radio is not powered or configured for the right transmit mode, recipients may be out of reach, etc.

If you haven't done so yet, can you try an instant action mission where you start mid-air and see if you can get your wingman to respond to commands over UHF.

If that works then config is ok (verify the HOTAC MIC keybinds in DCS config are set to defaults) and you can move on from there.

@capthaltli

No need to edit the .vap file manually.

Just open VoiceAttack, edit the VAICOM profile (look for icon with pencil), category Process Management, command Menu_Set_Defaults.

Look for the line where Auto_ATC_Select is set to False.

Doubleclick to edit, and change value to True. Done.

@Loz

With Easy Comms OFF it can be tricky i.e. you may not hear response if the Intercom Control Panel dial is not set correctly, the radio is not powered or configured for the right transmit mode, recipients may be out of reach, etc.

If you haven't done so yet, can you try an instant action mission where you start mid-air and see if you can get your wingman to respond to commands over UHF.

If that works then config is ok (verify the HOTAC MIC keybinds in DCS config are set to defaults) and you can move on from there.

Thanks Hollywood. I should have made it clearer. I was on a Instant action trying with Easy Comms OFF and Vaicom was working correctly but no response from my wingman to any commands. Also none from ATC even though I had the correct frequency and overflew the airfield??

I checked the radio freqs but not the I/C panel so I'll take a look at that.

Thanks Hollywood that worked.

Another question, does Voice Attack work with DCS's new F-5E? Do you need a specific profile or can it use another profile?

@capthaltli There's no VAICOM profile for the F-5E at this time,

if you want to fly with this aircraft you can try to adapt an existing VAICOM profile.

Maybe check with @NeilWillis who has similar plans: see above a few posts earlier.

I've tried to adapt the mig21 profile for the F5.

It nearly works. I even added some commands for the ground compressed air application and chocks which work well.

The only part I haven't been able to get right is radio selection. The F5 has a UHF radio and it works on the ground but once you get it in the air it needs to use RAlt \ instead of just \ to activate comms. Which doesn't work right.

So I haven't really figured out how to fix that yet.

Figured it out. Switched to the Mig 15 profile which copes with the Ralt function.

The PTT mic switch button can't cope with the 00.050 second delay however in the F5. It flicks so fast the menu doesn't appear, and instead of commands you get view changes. Increased delay of the command to 00.150 seconds and it works.

This is for Process Management > _Menu_Execute > "Else press Right alt" Increased press duration to 00.150

So I searched the thread here, but didn't find an answer. Sorry if this has been covered.

Voice Attack is telling me "easy Communication" is on, when It's off in DCS.

By that I mean that it's using the \ key instead of the keys for the proper radio.

I have DCS installed to my SSD, (Volume D:\) not the C drive. Could that be causing the problem?

Can I just manually set Easy Coms to off in VAICOM, because I'm very used to setting the radios properly, I'd never need it anyway.

@FeistyLemur Good info, thanks for sharing! Seems that this is specific to the F-5E.

@Wrench Could be related to where your apps data folder is located, you can check the note for 1.5 open beta users attached to first post if you want to see which files to inspect.

Anyway you can easily set the default value for Easy Comms to False: In VA go to profile edit (pencil icon), category Process Management, command _Menu_Set_Defaults.

Double click the line where Easy_Comms is set to True and change the value to False. Done.

Aha! Thank you, Hollywood.

I had no idea you could set options like that... >.>

I'm pretty n00bish when it comes to VA.

Also, I saw in there I can set my DCS install directory. I took the Liberty of updating that, so hopefully that was a good idea.

Is the website down right now? I'm trying to get a fresh install of voice attack and the website won't come up.

Seems to be up for me: VoiceAttack

I'm having issues with Huey Profile, every time I press the trigger button it switches views on me (I can hear the MIC click noise). Anyone else having this issue? Also, in the log I noticed that it says my trigger has been released even though I haven't released it yet. A lot of weird stuff going with VAC (sometimes I get an error and the help page starts to spawn a bunch of PDF files) plus the fact that I don't really understand everything makes it difficult to troubleshoot.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Flipping views is a result of the comms menu not being triggered properly. Common causes of which can be multiple things. Such as the system failing to detect easy vs hard coms. Failing to unbind f11 and f12 as per the instructions, or even just needing to reset the profile while in the game to refresh it.

First make sure all keys are set up appropriately as per the instructions. Unbind the ones it says to. Then make sure its detecting your coms mode and doesn't give errors in the voice attack window about failing to detect and falling back on easy mode, then lastly reset the vaicom profile while in the aircraft before you're about to start by saying "profile reset".

Ok, sir. Thank you for the tips. I was able to unbind the F11 and F12 keys and now I don't get the view change any more. However, I'm still having issues with the trigger button. Somehow VAC recognizes that I pressed the trigger even though I did not. I believe VAC is detecting my mode correctly. I'll keep playing with it.

Thanks again.

numpad 0 1 2 and 3 are also supposed to be unbound as well and used by voice attack for the various talk keys. Only the A10c uses multiples that I know of and the other modules use a single talk key. Which is numpad 1 on all the modules I've tried.

Then typically you use your joysticks software to bind that push to talk key to your stick or throttle, or autohotkey. I bind mine to the coolie hat ptt swtich forward on the warthog throttle with autohotkey.

I believe it has to use a keyboard key because of limitations of Voice attack not being able to use joystick keys to trigger it.

I believe it has to use a keyboard key because of limitations of Voice attack not being able to use joystick keys to trigger it.

Thanks Feisty. With the recent versions of VoiceAttack it has become possible to trigger PTT with HOTAS/joysticks directly, so you can do without Autohotkey if you want. See the note attached to first post.