Com Radio stepped on - A reminder for controllers

[funflyed]

An observation from the past week: I have noticed a huge number of members and controllers stepping on one another, due to what seems like a shortage of controllers vs. the number of aircraft on the network. While the controllers do and OUTSTANDING job of trying to manage the load I have heard a couple of instances where controllers have (rightly so) admonished flyers about transmission etiquette. I would just like to remind the controller community that while y'all are managing a huge number of airports and frequencies and hear every transmission that most of us simming out here simply can't hear most of the transmissions that come into you. Thus, its very difficult not to have multiple times when everyone is stepping on one another when trying to transmit.
When this gets really bad it does hugely diminish the realism of PE to real world flying.

[Kevin_atc]

From what I have seen, the controllers only say something when it’s very clear that a pilot isn’t using logic before they key the mic. For instance, if a controller issues an IFR clearance, even if you can’t hear the pilot reading it back, you should wait to hear “readback correct” from the controller.

The same concept can be applied with any transmission. If a controller tells an aircraft to descend via an arrival and another pilot keys up 1 second later, there’s no way the first pilot was able to read thay back in time. Frequencies have a cadence and rhythm to them and even if you can’t hear the other pilot, you can use reason to know roughly how long they should be talking for. Controllers use this same concept to key up after a readback to make their next transmission when it’s really busy and nonstop talking. That’s why if pilots have a sloppy end to their readback, the first part of the controller’s transmission will get blocked as they were anticipating the pilot to unkey. Will it be perfect each time? No. But if you give ample time for the pilot to read something back and try to follow the the rhythm of the frequency, while it may be frustrating for the controller, there’s really nothing they can get mad at you about.

[funflyed]

Thanks Kevin. I am a real world pilot, as well, and have flown in some of the busiest airspace in the country. I am not implying anything about the controllers being mad or not handling the situation well. Also not disparaging PE. I think its a wonderful service and again the controllers do a stellar job. I also realize that PE has a lot more room for simmers to make mistakes.... from rusty real pilots who need to brush up their comm skills (I am included in that group) to folks who have never flown or communicated in the real world airspace. Those all make for the possibility of more sloppy transmissions. Just trying to add some constructive thoughts to help y'all make it better.

[Keith Smith]

I would just like to remind the controller community that while y'all are managing a huge number of airports and frequencies and hear every transmission that most of us simming out here simply can't hear most of the transmissions that come into you.

I greatly appreciate the overall sentiment of your post, however that particular statement is generally not true, especially now that in cases where a single controller is working a given operating area, clnc/ground/tower/approach are all combined to a single repeater (see the recent change which combined tower/approach repeater): viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8153

At this point, the only time you generally don't hear the other pilots if one party is on a center frequency and the other is not. The number of pilot-initiated calls on center freqs is relatively low. There are blocks which are truly accidental (and unavoidable), however, there are many which take place which are not. It's the latter category that we're trying to minimize.

Even if the repeaters weren't there, the point still stands that if you hear a controller issue an IFR clearane, it's not hard to imagine that the pilot is going to read it back. As such, until you hear "readback correct," then it's worth waiting.