Imagine sitting in front of your monitor at say Cleveland International. You look left and watch as a United 737 pulls back from the gate. "United 212, taxi to runway 05R and hold short" you hear through your headphones. "Air New Zealand 121 (my call sign), please amend your flightplan to FL220, taxi to rwy 05R behind the United 737 ......number 2". "FL220 and number 2 behind the United 737 .......... 121" I reply through voice comms and follow the 737 in front of me. As we both hold in position we watch as a 747 comes in to land. "Westwind 339 cleared to land ....... surface winds 065, 11 knots, gusting 18, United 212 line up behind the 747 on 3 miles final" we hear the Tower Controller say. It is as interactive as that, no getting away from it. I am using a beta version of Squawkbox that allows me to see the exact aircraft around me and to change my voice comms and talk to an available controller at the click of a button. And whilst I am happy to report that this works 100% for FS98, I can tell you that with the exception of multiplayer, it works 100% with FS2K. I hear that the multiplayer problems with FS2K have more or less been sorted out now and an update to Squawkbox is not that far away (and no, I do not have a date.) But in the meantime 99% of the Squawkbox functions including real weather updates work fine. For those that are interested, here is what you need to get the most out of this superb programme and whilst Squawkbox is the main programme, there are a few other goodies to help you along and maximise your enjoyment.

PILOT GUIDE

A guide to getting everything you need and running it effectively with your sim. So many people have been asking where they can get an ATC programme for their sim, it would be worthwhile to spend a little time on putting this info together so that you can enjoy what is perhaps THE group of programmes that DOES make flying with Flight Simulator "as real as it gets". And what's more .......IT"S FREE ! If you are interested read on and follow the links for EVERYTHING you need to get this programme to work in both FS98 and FS2K. Believe me, once you have tried flying with Squawkbox, you will see that the other "scripted" programmes just do not compare and pale in comparison.

1
 Go to The International Virtual Pilots Association and register as a Pilot to use the servers. Registration is free and currently there are over 12,000 members. Registration does take a couple of days, but you will receive a pilot id and password to access the world-wide servers. Register before Tuesday. You will have your ID active at Wednesday. If you register at Wednesday you will have to wait for another week as the organization updates the server information once a week.
2
 Follow this link and download SQUAWKBOX. Squawkbox (SB) interfaces with your flightsim and is the link to your real-time ATC communications. (The controllers use a programme called Pro-Controller. If you are 'just'a Pilot you don't need Procontroller. Controllers need to register here.) Squawkbox also provides realweather updates, ACARS and TCAS and a superb Flight Management System that can hook into your autopilot. With this, you can load a flightplan (see step 4) and with a little research include SIDS and STARS. * You will notice on the download page that it says that SB is not compatible with FS2K, this has now been resolved with the new .dll listed below.*
3
Download FSUIPC.DLL This module allows you to run FS2K with Squawkbox and is necessary to get the thing running smoothly (including real-time weather updates). Copy the included FSUIPC.dll file into you fs2000/modules folder.
4
 Go to Enrico Schiratti's site and download WHAZZUP. This programme allows you to see who is online and where so you can go and join in the fun. It shows who is flying and which controllers are available (including those that have voice support) and also allows you select a flightplan to use with Squawkbox. A couple of points to note. A controller using voice will have a _V_ prefix, such as NZWN_V_CTR (New Zealand Wellington Voice Control). If the controller's callsign is NZWN_CTR then you will receive and send your instructions via text rather than voice. Many areas now have voice support (see step 5) with for instance my area Satpac (Pacific) almost exclusively on voice control. If you do not have voice facilities do not worry as you can still use text. Other areas with a large degree of voice comms support include Europe, South America, Cleveland, Indy, New York and it is growing. As I said, WHAZZUP will also allow you to make a Squawkbox ready flightplan for anywhere in the world, so it also acts as a flightplanner. Just remember to save the flightplan in your Squawkbox directory. You will use this to obtain clearance from the controller before you depart.
5

Download the free ROGER WILCO voice communications interface. This allows you to talk and listen to the controllers (and pilots in that area) who are using voice support.

Some areas are also using a voice comms package called Battlecom available fromThe cost of registering this product is US$5, but it appears that Roger Wilco will be the accepted package for use with Squawkbox (I think).

More information about using your voice can be found here.
6
 Read ALL the instructions. Everything is there to get you up and running and interfaced correctly with both FS98 and FS2K.

COUPLE OF NOTES.

You may find that SB is a little slow loading with FS2K, at least that is my experience and I assume this is due to the load on the cpu. Just have a little patience. If you are using FS2K, click the bottom box "Do not use multiplayer" on the opening screen of SB until the new release comes out. Again, if you are using FS2K, clear your weather and type .wx (airport code) in the comms area of SB and it (SB) will then continually update the weather for you as you fly along your route. I also remember that when I first used Squawkbox, I did feel a little "perplexed or bamboozled" with this great package and even a little "apprehensive" about my piloting skills online, but I quickly learnt that everyone is in this together and also very helpful and keen to help others learn. So all I can say, is jump in and try it .......... it really will make your flightsim experience many times better and to top it off, you will be learning something. Hope this has helped and if any more in-depth info is needed, only too willing to help.

Contributed by Dave B NZ121

Additional software:

Whazzup (582Kb) : It is a preflight tool for PC Controllers and SB Pilots with a graphic representation of the Controllers and Pilots lists found on the Satnet and IVAO web pages. Controllers are shown with a circle or FIR/ARTCC sector, Flightplans are shown as great circle route. The world map is a fully zoomable Map and there is a "Friends List" as well. By Enrico Schiratti. If you never used SB or Procontroller just download the file, place the files into a new folder and run the program when you are connected to the internet. You will see a worldmap with all active aircraft enroute!

Links

(inform me about dead links):

IP server addresses if you want to be Procontroller observer.

Satco Check to see a list of pilots and controllers online in real-time.

Additional data for squawkbox FMS.