Voice-Interactive Checklists for MJC8 Q400
Hello everyone,
I have created Voice-Interactive Checklists (using Windows Speech Recognition and Text-to-Speech facilities) for the Majestic Dash8 Q400.
To use these you will need to install the freeware Voice Macro from https://voicemacro.net
Please see my post in the forum at https://voicemacro.net/ForumVM/discussion/405/flight-simulator-co-pilot-for-cockpit-checklists-fsx-and-windows-7-x64#latest for instructions on downloading additional Windows TTS voices and directing the audio output to a device of your choice.
The Checklists are based on those supplied by Brendan Ratchford in his Simulated Delivery and Advanced Tutorial Flight CYZD-KEWR Revision 2 which can be found at majesticsoftware.com/mjc8q400/downloads.html
I have attached the Checklists to this post, but you can download the XML Profile and Checklists in PDF and XLS format from: https://dropbox.com/sh/4vnattxa7ppvu0j/AAD5iXOw1o0PY_F-qJiALA26a?dl=0
Once you install Voice Macro on your PC, you will need to import the XML Profile in order to use it. You can also edit it within the Voice Macro interface or create your own version if you wish.
Some Notes on Use:
(1) You can call for any Checklist at any point in time, for instance, if you call "Before Start Checklist", that takes you to item 21, and the software will speak the challenge "External Power/APU Voltage" and advance the counter to 22. If you now respond with either "On" or "Checked 24, Volts" it will provide the next challenge "Circuit Breakers" and advance the item counter to 23. And so on.
(2) With some complex responses, I have chosen only part of the response as the "trigger". For instance, with item 22, you could respond with "Checked 24, Volts" but the software is triggered only by "Volts", which I have therefore underlined. It will therefore be necessary to pause before saying "Volts", because Windows Speech Recognition cannot pick words out of a sentence. You will get used to it.
(3) If the software fails to recognize your response, then you could skip to the next challenge by speaking "Next Item". You could also use "This Item", and "Goto Next" and "Goto Previous", but with these alternatives you need to provide the response associated with that Item counter to proceed further.
(4) I would be happy to write up more detailed instructions is there is sufficient interest.
Many thanks to @aua668 for suggesting the use of Voice Macro in the first place.
Regards,
Chakko.
Comments
Additional Note (5) On my version of the MJC8 Q400 running on FSX-SP2 and Win7 x64, if I use the audio-router program to route the PNF's (Windows TTS) voice to my headphones (default communications device), then the cockpit sounds from the Q400 are lost. I suspect this is because audio-router and the Q400 programs are using the same channels to manipulate the audio. So I am forced to allow the PNF's voice checklist speech to come through the PC Speakers (default audio device), i.e. along with the other Q400 cockpit and engine sounds.
Unfortunately, the Q400 is the only aircraft in FSX where I face this issue. I use other aircraft like the FSL A320X where I have successfully routed the PNF's voice to my headphones without any interference with the aircraft sounds going to the PC speakers. However, it is possible that the developer of the Voice Macro utility will incorporate facilities within his own program to route the TTS voice to an audio device of one's choice.
I have a faint suspicion that this "issue" with the Q400 might be related to the issues described by two other users:
(1) majesticsoftware.com/forums/discussion/690/sound-loss#latest
(2) majesticsoftware.com/forums/discussion/680/losing-sound#latest
Appropos my post above in which I reported that audio-router seems to interfere with the Q400 sounds, I subsequently found that if Voice Macro and audio-router are started AFTER the Q400 has fully loaded with its sounds operational, there is no interference, and the sounds are retained. The problem seems to occur only if VM and audio-router are started before the Q400 is loaded into the Sim.
So I have been able to interact with my virtual PNF on my headset as I had wished.
Oops, I got it mixed up above: VoiceMacro and audio-router are to be started before the Q400 is loaded, for problem-free operation.
I have also created alternative voice-interactive checklists based on the Challenge-and-Response items of the original Normal Checklists provided by Majestic, and uploaded the files to the same location: https://dropbox.com/sh/4vnattxa7ppvu0j/AAD5iXOw1o0PY_F-qJiALA26a?dl=0
The PDF version is attached to this post.