Aries Radio System

[JayPee]

What is IVC (Falcon BMS) based on and how does it work?

 

Just throwing up a ball... No clue if it's feasible to even attempt to copy IVC's functionality.

 

EDIT:

 

Oops, already got my answer it seems.

Yes its [Aries] exactly like IVC. It has more features than IVC but it also isnt integrated into the sim like IVC is. Hopefully someday ED will pull its head out and just pull comms in house. For now its the best the current version of DCS has.

 

All DCS squadrons are using it to my knowledge. Not many using TARS anymore. It even models ky58 encryption with a realistic setup. Maybe not entirely useful but still cool

Edited February 10, 2015 by JayPee

[towsim]

DCS is pretty stable since version 1.973. Only TeamSpeak seems to have some trap doors. I am working on it. On JayPee’s stimulus, I am thinking on a system which separates the logic between DCS and Aries. Up to now it can happen, that DCS honks in the jungle of Aries threads. Especially at mission end. If the connection is simplified down to a data transport only, it could enhance the stability.TeamSpeak is another business. It is not made for radio communication. The entire frequency management has to be done with black magic. This is always a potential source for bugs. If I would find another VCS, which supports voice packages with position information marks, I would change over.The Alt-Tab process change is mostly impacted by DCS itself.The window focus and the Z-order management of DCS is not predictable. To take over the focus control is like walking in a minefield. So Aries takes care only for the situation when the Aries Window is clicked. It pushes the focus back to DCS thereafter. Otherwise, all devices, like joystick, throttle.. would be disconnected from DCS. It keeps complicated. But I like it to fight.

[shagrat]

So how about NOT shifting the focus to Aries window?

The keys to control channels etc. should work without shifting focus of application window, right?

[towsim]

It is an automatism. If you click the Aries Window to change the frequency, the focus is forced to the Aries Window by the operating system. You need to have the focus to get the mouse click message to the Aries message queue.It is up to the user to suppress this situation by hiding the Aries window. If the widow is switched off, no focus change caused by Aries will be expected.

[NeilWillis]

Towsim, is there a possibility of making the Eavesdropper facility operate using just a press-to-talk key instead of the dialogue box method currently used?

 

We have a lot of new recruits arriving in our virtual squadron, and sometimes they struggle with Aries. Having Eavesdropper allows us to talk to them, but it would be much more practical if we could set up a key press to go straight into it.

[towsim]

I will have a look...

[TurboHog]

Hey,

 

Resolved, see edits below.

 

 

Can I alter UHF pre-sets for the AN/ARC-51 radio (Huey) somehow?

 

- Changing the pre-sets in UHF_Radio.lua does not do anything. Instead, I get weird and random frequencies when I display them on the ARIES panel.

- I don't see an option in the configurator. I believe there was a menu to alter R-828 pre-sets once and according to the manual it should be possible. Am I blind?

 

The only possibility is to define the frequencies in the Aries Radio configuration program.

 

- Since the pre-sets can not be changed by the pilots, the mission prepare function does not work like for the A10.

 

 

EDIT:

 

Since I can't find the option to alter presets in the configurator, is it safe to alter them in AriesAirborneRadio.cfg instead?

 

[PTT_box2]

speakers=1

DeviceName =

Button=

volume=1.000000

chan_1=317500000

chan_2=257800000

chan_3=385400000

chan_4=344000000

chan_5=362300000

chan_6=353800000

chan_7=264200000

chan_8=282800000

chan_9=279400000

chan_10=391800000

chan_11=379600000

chan_12=267600000

chan_13=266600000

chan_14=342950000

chan_15=245500000

chan_16=236600000

chan_17=372200000

chan_18=244500000

chan_19=359800000

chan_20=243000000

 

EDIT2:

 

Changing these presets worked! But still, shouldn't I be able to do this using the configurator?

Edited February 10, 2015 by TurboHog

[towsim]

The presets in the AriesAirborneRadio.ini are leftovers from one of the first Aries versions. They are not read correctly into the system. If you change the channel with the cockpit selector then you get the value from the Aries presets. If you change the channel out of the Aries panel then you get the value from the UHF_Radio.lua.This is a confusing situation. Whatever the Aries panel shows, the cockpit box holds the frequency from UHF_Radio.lua . This is important to know if you contact any ground unit for service. DCS has obviously no standard for the preset frequency definition. The UH 1 seems to be an exception and a change in the UHF_RADIO.LUA works. Some other Aircraft/Helicopter can be configured with the mission editor.But I am not the omniscient LUA guru. If someone knows how to configure the presets in any LUA file for the different models, I would integrate it in Aries Radio.

[Ramstein]

if someone knows of a way to use it, without making it crash TeamSpeak I am listening... I would re-install it immediately if I could figure out how to use it correctly and not crash Teamspeak... if I am screwing it up... I want o know how, I looked for a log file, and not sure if there is still one around, I took out Aries a few days ago, as it just crash TeamSpeak asap,,, almost immediately.. or I will hope there is another fix coming, if it is something that needs fixed, but I thought the last patch was the big fix.. I am so confused... must be legal drugs and old age..

[towsim]

@Ramstein

I assume, you are using version 1.973.

 

• 
  
• Start the configurator program (ARD) from your desktop.
  
• Set the checkmark for “Enable Protocol Message File generation (HTML)”
  
• Push “Save” then “Exit”
  
• Start a DCS Session with TeamSpeak up to provoke the crash.
  
• Now you should find the following protocol files:
  \DCS World\AriesWings\logs\AriesAirborneRadio_log.html
  and
  C:\Program Files\TeamSpeak 3 Client\plugins\AriesRadio\AriesRadioLog_log.html
  
• On a Teamspeak crash you should even have a DMP file at:
  C:\Users\[your user name]\Documents
  It should look like ts3_clientui-win64-1407159763-2015-02-08 14_42_23.734054.dmp
  

Please send all three files (if present) to support@ariescon.com. I will try to find out what is going on.

[Home Fries]

If someone knows how to configure the presets in any LUA file for the different models, I would integrate it in Aries Radio.

This mod allows you to change helicopter preset channels in the mission editor, as well as keep the original frequencies if the mission was created without the mod enabled.

 

It is JSGME compatible with a "master mod" for the ME and separate mods for each installed module (Ka-50, Mi-8, UH-1).

 

EDIT: I guess this means that you would need to parse the MIZ file, unless the channel matrix is somehow dumped into export or shared memory. The other wrinkle is that the mission builder can create separate channel matrices for different sides, flights, or aircraft.

Edited February 11, 2015 by Home Fries

[TurboHog]

The presets in the AriesAirborneRadio.ini are leftovers from one of the first Aries versions. They are not read correctly into the system. If you change the channel with the cockpit selector then you get the value from the Aries presets. If you change the channel out of the Aries panel then you get the value from the UHF_Radio.lua.This is a confusing situation. Whatever the Aries panel shows, the cockpit box holds the frequency from UHF_Radio.lua . This is important to know if you contact any ground unit for service. DCS has obviously no standard for the preset frequency definition. The UH 1 seems to be an exception and a change in the UHF_RADIO.LUA works. Some other Aircraft/Helicopter can be configured with the mission editor.But I am not the omniscient LUA guru. If someone knows how to configure the presets in any LUA file for the different models, I would integrate it in Aries Radio.

 

Wait. My observations are quite the opposite:

 

Changing UHF_Radio.lua does NOT work for the Huey

 

Changing AriesAirborneRadio.ini DOES work for the Huey.

 

I noticed because changing UHF_Radio.lua did not change anything in-game, but when I opened AriesAirborneRadio.ini I recognized the frequencies that I saw earlier so I assumed they were used. When I altered these frequencies It indeed correctly changed the presets, regardless of my edits to UHF-Radio.lua

 

For both situations I use the knob on the AN/ARC-51 panel to switch between presets.

 

Your software works better than you think... :)

[Snoopy]

If someone knows how to configure the presets in any LUA file for the different models, I would integrate it in Aries Radio.

 

 

Please make this optional of you figure it out. We have mission specific presets built into the miz file in the 476th and if Aries "forced" presets that would cause us major issues.

[NeilWillis]

Has anyone come across a situation where comms are fine on UHF and FM radios, but incoming sound is absent on the VHF net?

 

It's puzzling me totally.

[towsim]

@NeilWillis

I have dug deep in my source code to find the reason for your problem but had no success. Does the problem still exist?

[Rivvern]

Master Arms squadnight with Aries. About 10 clients in Ka-50, A-10C and MiG-21.

 

Aries 1.973Beta. Installed as admin and TS started as admin.

 

We encountered the following problems: (sorry but we dont have any logs for you)

*2 TS crashes - TS and DCS restart was required

*2 Aries/TS/DCS disconnects w/o crash - TS and DCS restart was required.

*Quality settings seem to vary. I heard one guy clear as day and another much worse. Settings were adjusted during the evening. We think the quality should be a bit better. Need some steps between 9 and studio.

*Radio range. Not sure if this is correct or not. But we feel the range is a bit short.

 

But when it worked. It worked good! :thumbup:

[Esac_mirmidon]

I have suffered my first TS crash in the last month with the last beta files. Only once just when i was pushing cockpit buttons inside with my mousse.

[Ramstein]

Sorry, I can't send any error or dmp files for it because I uninstalled it a while back after al the crashes,, so I don't have any current files to send.. I would have to re-install, let it crash teamspeak, then find and send them, so, if someone else has some of the crashes and files to send that would be great.. otherwise... would have to go through it all over again to get some crash files..

[towsim]

To all Aries user,

during the tests of our internal beta versions we found a bug, which could be the source of instability and bad receiver quality on short distances. The horizon calculation has a bug in angular calculations. Since the horizon limitation is not that important for the simulation, we recommend to switch off the horizon feature in the communication quality dialog until a new version is available. It would help us if the users, who had stability troubles, would report here in if ‘horizon off’ enhances the stability.

Sorry…

 

 

[NeilWillis]

@NeilWillis

I have dug deep in my source code to find the reason for your problem but had no success. Does the problem still exist?

 

We got to the bottom of the issue, he had simply pressed both the option buttons in the configuration facility, and so killed the sound to both earphones for that channel. It took us a while to figure that one out.

 

Thanks for the quick response.

[Dojo]

To all Aries user,

during the tests of our internal beta versions we found a bug, which could be the source of instability and bad receiver quality on short distances. The horizon calculation has a bug in angular calculations. Since the horizon limitation is not that important for the simulation, we recommend to switch off the horizon feature in the communication quality dialog until a new version is available. It would help us if the users, who had stability troubles, would report here in if ‘horizon off’ enhances the stability.

Sorry…

 

 

 

 

@Towsim. Is it possible to make the Radio Quality settings "savable"? I know that a handful, but not all, of the values in the Radio Quality settings can be changed in the .ini file. In this case, we'd have to change the Horizon setting each flight. Not a big deal, but being able to save these settings would be ideal, especially since this menu is only accessible once in sim.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Snoopy]

@Towsim. Is it possible to make the Radio Quality settings "savable"? I know that a handful, but not all, of the values in the Radio Quality settings can be changed in the .ini file. In this case, we'd have to change the Horizon setting each flight. Not a big deal, but being able to save these settings would be ideal, especially since this menu is only accessible once in sim.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Think this would be a great option and make it easier for virtual organizations to keep an adopted standard.

[towsim]

The function is already implemented in the yesterday’s internal beta release.

[shagrat]

Great!

[baltic_dragon]

Hey Towsim,

First of all you were right with the "Radio transmission" - it's all about the volume sliders in the beginning of a mission. Works perfectly well.

 

However, I encountered a different kind of problem. Twice when hosting a game, T some point my Aries just randomly reset all the frequencies in the radio box to 0.000.000. When I changed them in my cockpit (it was enough to switch any of the decimals) the frequencies returned to original values in the radio box, but I was not able to transmit, I only heard others. The 'transmitting' light was on in TS whenever I spoke, but nothing happened in Aries. Have you encountered a problem like this before?

Edited February 16, 2015 by baltic_dragon
wrote this on ipad, so many typos..