Radar Screen

Basic Lists

On top of the screen you can find the menu bar:

Most of the menu items can be activated with left mouse button as usual, though there are some buttons where right mouse button might be used, too.

Menu Items

Turn on/off some blocks of menu items, like:

  • Show controller login name
  • Show file name
  • Show primary frequency
  • Show ATIS frequency
  • Show selected aircraft
  • Show clock
  • Show leader data
  • Show transition altitude
  • Show altitude filters
  • Show METAR in title

Connection

Clicking here will take you to [[Connection Settings]] dialog. The icons with orange border will show you the actual connection mode. These are:

  • Unconnected state
  • VATSIM connection
  • SweatBox connection
  • Simulator session hosted by me
  • Proxy connection
  • Playback logfile
  • Non VATSIM server connected (local FSD for simulation)

Controller login name

During active connection the callsign and your actual rating (in brackets) are shown.

Voice communication setup

Voice setup. Select text/voice frequencies for receiving/transmitting.

Primary frequency

Your primary frequency is displayed here. (To change it, go to the voice communication setup.) It turns orange, when you issue a ”.break” command, for a position relief. Clicking on the icon the [[Voice Communication Setup]] is opened.

Voice ATIS connections

Your voice ATIS connections can be found here. There are four places for the four served airport.

  • The “minus” sign means no connection.
  • The ATIS letter shows an active connection

Unfortunately there is space for the airport itself. Clicking on the letter opens the ATIS Connections dialog.

Sector files

  • Download sectorfiles from providers
  • Reopen your last opened sector layouts (.asr files)
  • Open – open an existing .asr file
  • Close – close the actual .asr file
  • Save – save changes to the actual .asr file
  • Save As – save the actual .asr file with a different name
  • New – create a new .asr file – depending on the loaded plug-ins here you may have several new options to create different type of screens
  • Load Sector File – load your main .sct ASRC sector file
  • Load Aliases – alias file (.txt), same format as ASRC alias files
  • Load ICAO Airlines data – data file to decode ICAO airline codes (ICAO_Airlines.txt)
  • Load ICAO Airports data – data file to decode ICAO airport codes (ICAO_Airports.txt)
  • Load ICAO Aircraft data – data file to decode ICAO aircraft codes (ICAO_Aircraft.txt)
  • Load Load airport coordinates (ICAO.txt)
  • Load FSNavigator data – FSNavigator data file for the actual AIRAC (AIRWAY.txt)
  • Load VATSIM Server IP addresses – ipaddr.txt file (exported from Servinfo)
  • Load additional Server IP addresses – myipaddr.txt file (your personal servers file)
  • About EuroScope – current version of EuroScope

Actual sector layout

The name of the currently displayed sector layout is shown here, if you open more than one .asr files and switch between them with [F7] then the name of the actual one will here. Clicking on this item will let you manually select another already opened layout.

Selected aircraft

The name of the currently selected aircraft will appear here.

Clock

Your system time is shown in UTC (zulu time).

Other settings

This is the main settings menu for deeper changes in your program.

  • Save profile – To save the current configuration in the current profile file
  • Save profile as – To save the current configuration in another profile file with another name
  • Auto load last profile on startup – If this menu item is checked, EuroScope will load the lastly used profile file on next startup
  • Auto save profile on exit – If this menu item is checked, EuroScope will save the current profile file when exiting.
  • Save all settings – To save parameters that are not saved in the settings file, call this item. Actually from version 3.0 it is not so important to do it manually as all settings change will be prompted on exit.
  • Load all settings – Replace your settings with previously saved ones
  • Settings file setup – It opens the dialog box to specify what settings groups are to be saved to what files (see Where Are My Settings Saved)
  • General settings – Some general settings such as ASEL and FREQ key, current squawk range (further details under General Settings)
  • Display settings – Select what to be displayed on your radar screen (further details under Display Settings)
  • Symbology settings – Set the colors, font sizes, line types and symbols used on the radar screen (further details under Symbology Settings)
  • Plug-ins – It opens a dialog box to manage your plugins and plug-in permissions. See the Plug-Ins dialog.
  • TAG editor – Create your own radar tags/labels using this editor (further details under TAG Editor)
  • Sounds – Audio notifications can be configured here (further details under Sounds Setup)
  • Voice – Voice communication setup (same as the one available through the icon, further details under Voice Communication Setup)
  • Active airports/runways – Select airports to be concerned in your traffic prediction lists, select active runways for displaying default procedures (SID/STAR) and accurate distance calculation (further details under Active Airports Runways)
  • System messages – It simply opens the ”Messages” tab in the chat area
  • Extended centerline setup – EuroScope is able to draw enhanced runway centerlines on your radar screen. (Easy configuration, neat result.)(further details under Extended Centerline Setup) To turn on runway centerline items go to Display Settings.
  • Conflict alert setup – You can setup when an alert is to be displayed (further details under Conflict Alert Settings Dialog)
  • Sector ownership setup – Here you can set up how the sector assignment should work (further details under Sector Ownership Setup)
  • Range rings around planes – Here you can setup range rings around planes
  • Scenario editor – built-in simulator in EuroScope (further details under Scenario editor)
  • Save chat to a file – Save the content of your current chat into a text file.
  • Save chat to the clipboard – Copy the entire text of your current chat to the clipboard.

Quick settings

  • Show sector inbound list – Show flight strip with all aircraft incoming to the sector
  • Show sector exit list – Show flight strip with all aircraft exiting from the sector
  • Show departure list – Show flight strip with all aircraft departing from this position
  • Show arrival list – Show flight strip with all aircraft close to its destination (if destination is selected as active for arrivals)
  • Show Startup list – Show the departures before startup.
  • Show Taxi Out list – Show the planes currently taxiing out for departure.
  • Show Take-Off list – Show the planes ready for departure.
  • Shod ADC Sector list – Show arrivals in the airport vicinity.
  • Show Taxi In list – Show the arrivals taxiing in to the gate/stand.
  • Show flight plan list – Show flight strip flight plans (many filters are available)
  • Show conflict list – Show CARD list (many filters are available)
  • Show controller list – Show list of controllers (also observers, any connections with ATC clients).
  • Show aircraft list – Show a list of predicted traffic that are to enter your airspace, or have already entered it.
  • Show Piloting list – Show the pseudo pilot list for controlling simulated planes.
  • Show METAR list – Display a floating bar showing all METAR requested if checked, otherwise not.
  • Show ATIS letter in METAR list – Display the ATIS letter in the METAR list if checked, otherwise not.
  • Connect SIL to Top messages – If checked, locks Sector Inbound List flight strip bay under the incoming messages list, otherwise you can put that list anywhere you want on your screen.
  • Connect SEL to SIL bottom – If checked, locks Sector Exit List flight strip bay under the Sector Inbound List flight strip bay, otherwise you can put that list anywhere you want on your screen.
  • Connect DEP to SEL bottom – If checked, locks Departure List flight strip bay under the Sector Exit List flight strip bay, otherwise you can put that list anywhere you want on your screen.
  • Show text messages – As we prefer voice communication, we might miss important text messages coming on our primary frequency. With this option we can display the incoming messages (with time stamp) on top of the radar screen, with double clicking we can hide them and go to answer them.
  • Show STBY aircraft – This tool comes handy, when you would like to turn on the radar tags for aircraft that are squawking STBY.
  • Show simulated traffic – Traffic falling out of your range are also simulated. This way, you can have information on flights that are not in your range yet. If this option is on when you are not connected to the network you can see all aircraft and controllers online based on VATSIM statistics data.
  • Play sounds – Play sound files for certain events, like handoff, etc. Configuration is possible in Other Options -> Sounds.
  • Show magnetic north up – If this option is checked then the magnetic north will be displayed to the UP side of the monitor. If unchecked then the true north.
  • Enable advanced proxy communication – EuroScope is designed to be easily used in systems with two or more monitors and displays. In this case you should start two instances of ES and connect the second to the main program via proxy connection. In this case both clients will be a full station using only a single VATSIM connection. If advanced communication is enabled then several messages are sent between the clients (e.g. the selected screen item, the opened chat windows, the entered message to the command line etc.) With the help of it you are able to write the command in one instance and click the aircraft in the second one and it will still work. On the other hand when someone is connected to your proxy externally then it is not a good idea to see what he/she is typing. This flag is set automatically. If a proxy connection is made to the “localhost” client then it is enabled otherwise disabled as default.

Active airports/runways

Here you may select the airports to be concerned in your traffic prediction lists, select active runways for displaying default procedures (SID/STAR) and accurate distance calculation. Clicking on the left side of the runway designation will select the airport, in the right hand columns the departure and arrival runways can be ticked (further details under [[Active Airports Runways]]).

Leader line on/off

Toggle the time/distance vector for all displayed aircraft. (Mind you, it is possible to toggle the leader line of a given aircraft by right clicking on an empty section of the detailed tag.) Clicking with the right menu button a popup list appears that allows a quick setting of the leader lines. In this popup you can select if the leader line is a straight one or if it follows the route.

Leader line type/length

You may set the type of leader line, depending whether time or distance vector you prefer at the moment. Also, by clicking on the numbered button (”left click” to increase, ”right mouse button” to decrease) you can set an exact length for the vectors.

History trails

Toggle history trails for all aircraft. (Small dots symbolize the previous positions of the aircraft.)

Show standby aircraft

This tool comes handy, when you would like to turn on the radar tags for aircraft that are squawking STBY. Note that flying STBY planes are always shown in professional mode. In this mode it hides the planes on the ground only.

Transition altitude

This is just a reminder of the actual transition altitude for you. Set the values with your left and right mouse buttons (”left click” to increase, ”right click” to decrease). Below FL100 the levels can be adjusted by 500 ft, above FL100 by 1000 ft.

Altitude filter

You may set an interval (open, or closed) in which you want traffic to be displayed. Default value is GND-UNL which means that all traffic is shown on the radar.

Distance tool

A smart tool for measuring distance and time, checking radials, headings, coordinates, etc. This button calls the ”.distance” command, which can be followed by callsigns, fixes, etc. Selecting the points can be done either by typing the points or by selecting them on the radar by a single mouse click.

Separation tools

Use separation tool if you are not sure whether two aircraft on converging tracks would require further attention in order to keep the separation between them. With this you can predict what the minimum distance between these planes would be, and when exactly this situation would happen.

Short METARs

To display the short metar of an airport press [F2] type the ”ICAO code” of the airport and hit [ENTER] (this is equivalent to command: ‘.QD XXXX in the text input ). If a new METAR is received from the server, it will be shown in orange to draw your attention. By clicking on it (acknowledging it) the color will change to white and also the complete metar is displayed in the status bar. If the place is long enough to show the full metar string then it will be displayed instead of the short version. If you have to display more station data at one time you may run out of space for them (actually it is not a too big area). In this case with a right click you can loop over the displayed metar data. A doubleclick will remove the clicked metar just as F2 and ”ICAO code”.

Send screen to the next desktop

This button is hidden unless you have a multi-monitor system. Users with multiple monitors can send the screen to the next monitor using this button.

Minimize to taskbar

The standard Windows minimize button.

Maximize/restore window

This is once again the standard maximize/restore Windows button. But a little bit limited behavior. As EuroScope does not have a resizing frame around there is no meaning to make smaller than the screen. So the only difference between maximized and restored state of the screen is that in maximized state even the taskbar is covered by the radar. In restored state the taskbar is visible. My experience shows that when the screen is maximized MSN will show your state busy but not in restored state. Clicking here with the right button a popup menu appears that allows you to select the position of the window from a short list.

  • Full
  • Left half
  • Right half
  • Top half
  • Bottom half
  • Left third
  • Middle third
  • Right third
  • Left two third
  • Right two third

The selected position is used only if EuroScope is not maximized.

Quit

No real need to comment this function.