[FEATURE] Add Jester channel select commands

[rcflyinghokie]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Jester can tune to frequencies via "Radio Tune" however he still is unable to tune to preset channels in the aircraft. Apparently there is a set channel ability that works if you hold a radio selected down but it does not function when using a single PTT for Vaicom.

Describe the solution you'd like Add something along the lines of "radio tune button one" or "push button one" etc (comm parlance for a preset channel) to allow preset selection instead of reading off the frequency or recipient.

Describe alternatives you've considered N/A

Additional context Quality of Life feature adding another one of jesters abilities to Vaicom. This feature should be added in a future release as part of completing jesters abilities commanded by Vaicom.

I also see the commands are already in the code, but they seem to not be functioning via plugin.

[iantron]

FWIW I'll through out that Jester can do this, but AIRIO cannot in my experience. I believe this is the intent behind the Select Channel N command, but I've not been able to make it work. I suspect that works for the front seat radio if you have Select Tunes Radio enabled or a similar config.

I would love this feature. I do all my backseat radio configs using the Jester-Options menu, or just tuning to the freq as mentioned above.

[TaylorMonkey]

Yes, this is a feature I'd really like in order to complete all that Jester can do through AIRIO.

Ideally, Jester should be able to tune to his radio channel through two additional methods:

Tune by Channel Recipient, just like TACAN Tuning, using something like "Radio Tune Stennis", mirroring the existing "TACAN Tune Stennis".

Tune by Channel Number, using something like "Radio Tune Channel One". @rcflyinghokie's suggestion of using real-life "Push" and "Button X" might also be cool, although I wonder if that's normal for crew jabber and not just between planes, or if different phraseology is used to to avoid confusion. I suppose HB or an SME would know.

I also prefer "Tune TACAN (to)" and "Tune Radio (to)" as the spoken phrases. It would be cool if those were added as default aliases, but if not, I can continue to add my own and "Tune TACAN (to) X" works well for me.

@rcflyinghokie Where did you see the code to tune to specific channels (and not just frequencies) in the AIRIO code?

@iantron The "Select Channel N" command is a generic "magic radio tuning" feature that works for all modules and doesn't use Jester. It used to work for me (not sure now)-- you depress the radio mic key you want to tune, and saying that phrase tunes that radio to that channel. In the F-14, it can tune either radio from the front seat, and it bypasses Jester/AIRIO.

However, I'd like to have AIRIO specifically support backseat radio tuning through the Jester AIRIO functionality for greater realism and immersion.

[iantron]

Ooooooh you're saying it works for either the 158 or the 182, but you have to use the right Tx node? I've probably only tried it on intercom, which is why I couldn't get it to work than.

A requirement for the feature than is that you must be able to do it over the intercom.

[rcflyinghokie]

Yes, this is a feature I'd really like in order to complete all that Jester can do through AIRIO.

Ideally, Jester should be able to tune to his radio channel through two additional methods:

Tune by Channel Recipient, just like TACAN Tuning, using something like "Radio Tune Stennis", mirroring the existing "TACAN Tune Stennis".

Tune by Channel Number, using something like "Radio Tune Channel One". @rcflyinghokie's suggestion of using real-life "Push" and "Button X" might also be cool, although I wonder if that's normal for crew jabber and not just between planes, or if different phraseology is used to to avoid confusion. I suppose HB or an SME would know.

I also prefer "Tune TACAN (to)" and "Tune Radio (to)" as the spoken phrases. It would be cool if those were added as default aliases, but if not, I can continue to add my own and "Tune TACAN (to) X" works well for me.

@rcflyinghokie Where did you see the code to tune to specific channels (and not just frequencies) in the AIRIO code?

@iantron The "Select Channel N" command is a generic "magic radio tuning" feature that works for all modules and doesn't use Jester. It used to work for me (not sure now)-- you depress the radio mic key you want to tune, and saying that phrase tunes that radio to that channel. In the F-14, it can tune either radio from the front seat, and it bypasses Jester/AIRIO.

However, I'd like to have AIRIO specifically support backseat radio tuning through the Jester AIRIO functionality for greater realism and immersion.

I got overwhelmed with git messages I missed this one!

To answer your questions, the "push" is actually normal carrier comms, ATC will say like "push button 16" for switching from approach to marshal etc

And the code, I took a screen shot of the RIO alias for instance....

[TaylorMonkey]

@rcflyinghokie Ah interesting. Nice find. It doesn't seem like there is any code to actually handle the radio aliases the way there is for say wMsgJ_RAD_TCN_TAC_STEN (Tacan Tune Stennis) in RIO_SetDeviceSequences.cs.

Also understood that "Push Button X" is parlance over radio with marshall and other craft. Just wondering if it's also used over ICS between crew. Would it be confusing for RIO to know if you're talking to him or another craft? But if you're telling another element to tune to Button X, you're probably also tuning to X, I suppose.

[rcflyinghokie]

@rcflyinghokie Ah interesting. Nice find. It doesn't seem like there is any code to actually handle the radio aliases the way there is for say wMsgJ_RAD_TCN_TAC_STEN (Tacan Tune Stennis) in RIO_SetDeviceSequences.cs.

Also understood that "Push Button X" is parlance over radio with marshall and other craft. Just wondering if it's also used over ICS between crew. Would it be confusing for RIO to know if you're talking to him or another craft? But if you're telling another element to tune to Button X, you're probably also tuning to X, I suppose.

Good question, I know its CV to aircraft communication, I would think that a RIO would execute that command when hearing it since they run the radios essentially.

[TaylorMonkey]

Good question, I know its CV to aircraft communication, I would think that a RIO would execute that command when hearing it since they run the radios essentially.

So here's a thought-- should we be able to say "Push Button X" on any channel, and the RIO automatically tunes his radio to that channel after a short delay as well, rather than only when using ICS? Or maybe only when you say it over ICS and the RIO's radio, but not your radio.

Maybe either of the above should be selectable AIRIO options, or modes you can go in and out of at runtime, based on a verbal cue, but the latter would increase complexity.

Just thinking of a bit more immersion/realism, and making Jester act a bit more streamlined and intuitively.

[iantron]

I think push button x on UHF/VHF is functionally an alias of "select channel x"

[TaylorMonkey]

@iantron

I think push button x on UHF/VHF is functionally an alias of "select channel x"

"Push Button X" doesn't exist currently, and if added, IMO it shouldn't be an alias of "Select Channel X".

"Select Channel X" is not an AIRIO/Jester command. It exists, but like mentioned previously, is a "magic channel tune" for any radio on any plane as a sort of convenience feature.

"Push Button X" or "Radio Tune Channel X" should be a AIRIO/Jester command, to simulate crew communications and to get the RIO to tune only his radio (with accompanying Jester dialog response).

[iantron]

I think it would be possible for any user to make an alias for "Select"="Push" and "Channel"="Button" such that the behavior is essentially the same. So whether the plugin uses Jester or not is a back-end thing, and the user shouldn't care or be able to tell.

I think the only noticeable difference might be whether jester responds with confirmation audio, but either seems reasonable to me in this case. Obviously just use the phrase on the arc-182 ptt and you're covered.

So that should clarify what I meant, but there are some obvious deficiencies to this approach. In MP you don't want to key the 182 for a crew instruction that should be done over the intercom. Jester won't have a clever response, etc. I think this is an interim solution at best. If the proper solution is ever implemented the exact phrasing isn't super important considering the alias feature allows users to tweak it to their preference.

[TaylorMonkey]

I think it would be possible for any user to make an alias for "Select"="Push" and "Channel"="Button" such that the behavior is essentially the same. So whether the plugin uses Jester or not is a back-end thing, and the user shouldn't care or be able to tell.

I think the only noticeable difference might be whether jester responds with confirmation audio, but either seems reasonable to me in this case. Obviously just use the phrase on the arc-182 ptt and you're covered.

So that should clarify what I meant, but there are some obvious deficiencies to this approach. In MP you don't want to key the 182 for a crew instruction that should be done over the intercom. Jester won't have a clever response, etc. I think this is an interim solution at best. If the proper solution is ever implemented the exact phrasing isn't super important considering the alias feature allows users to tweak it to their preference.

Sorry for the following TLDR: I just want to make sure we're not confusing two different things.

No the phrasing isn't important, because the user can do map whatever alias they want. The reason phraseology is being discussed for the HB-specific AIRIO/Jester ARC-182 tuning functionality is because it's missing from AIRIO, and it has to have some sort of default phrase separate from "Select X" if/when it's implemented.

The two different functionalities under the hood ARE important, because of the deficiencies you mentioned. And the user might care and can tell-- I certainly do and can, because they behave differently:

The existing "Select X" feature magically tunes ANY radio you key while saying the phrase. Nothing happens when you say it over ICS.

The Jester AIRIO version discussed here should NOT do that, and should only cause Jester to tune HIS radio, and SHOULD work over ICS (and maybe other channels as well).

You should NOT have to use the phrase on the ARC-182 to ask Jester to tune the ARC-182. You should be able to use the phrase on ICS (or maybe any radio), and Jester would tune ONLY the ARC-182, When it works properly, you won't need clutter the radio in MP by always requesting to change the ARC-182 over the ARC-182, because you could do it over ICS realistically. Exactly as you would when playing Co-op. When you switch to playing with a human RIO, your procedure and switchology would be identical because Jester no longer responds. Your human RIO would... theoretically. All this can be accomplished simply by adding a new set of commands that map to the existing HB Jester menu commands, just like the TACAN tune commands, and making sure it works over at least ICS.

In fact, for full realism, you shouldn't even need to use the existing generic Select X at all in the Tomcat. You would tune your own radio, and tell Jester over ICS (and maybe other channels) to tune his radio. This is currently not possible without adding the functionality to AIRIO, and without making it work differently from the existing Select X functionality. They should NOT be unified or mashed together. They should remain separate commands that work differently (that you can alias to whatever you prefer), because they serve two different use cases and play/immersion styles.

For the purposes of this discussion, it might help to just ignore the Select X command. It's a whole different thing. It works. It tunes radio channels. A player can map aliases to those and use them-- but that's not what this feature request is about, and doesn't address the missing Jester-specific functionality and realism this one would.

[Scot1a]

I use VA keybinds to perform this function and use it over the select system. It would be great to have this integrated into AIRIO!