flightgear/man/man1/fgcom.1

.\" Copyright (C) 2017 Alessandro Menti
.\"
.\" This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
.\" modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
.\" as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
.\" of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
.\"
.\" This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
.\" but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
.\" MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
.\" GNU General Public License for more details.
.\"
.\" You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
.\" along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
.\" Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
.\" Or try here: http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html
.\"
.TH FGCOM 1 2017-06-04 FlightGear "FlightGear man pages"
.SH NAME
fgcom \- VoIP client for the FlightGear radio infrastructure
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBfgcom\fR [\fB\-\-server=\fIserver\fR] [\fB\-\-host=\fIlisteninghost\fR]
[\fB\-\-port=\fIport\fR] [\fB\-\-callsign=\fIcallsign\fR]
[\fB\-\-frequency=\fIfrequency\fR] [\fB\-\-atis=\fIfrequency\fR]
[\fB\-\-airport=\fIcode\fR] [\fB\-\-username=\fIuser\fR]
[\fB\-\-password=\fIpass\fR] [\fB\-\-silence\-threshold=\fIthreshold\fR]
[\fB\-\-debug\fR] [\fB\-\-help\fR] [\fB\-\-version\fR]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B fgcom
is the FlightGear utility used for connecting to multiplayer voice servers.
.PP
It is usually not necessary to run
.B fgcom
from the command line, as it is already integrated into FlightGear, with the
exception of a few specific cases (such as recording ATIS messages or
performing a radio check, see the
.B EXAMPLE
section).
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
\fB\-\-server=\fIserver\fR
Connect to the FGCom server \fIserver\fR. By default, FGCom tries to connect to
\fBfgcom.flightgear.org\fR.
.TP
\fB\-\-host=\fIlisteninghost\fR, \fB\-\-port=\fIport\fR
Listen on the network interface having the IP address \fIlisteninghost\fR, on
port \fIport\fR. By default, FGCom listens on the loopback interface
(\fB127.0.0.1\fR) on port \fB16661\fR.

The specified port can be used by an instance of FlightGear to communicate with
FGCom and update the pilot position as they fly.
.TP
\fB\-\-callsign=\fIcallsign\fR
Use the callsign \fIcallsign\fR during the session. By default, FGCom uses
\fBguest\fR as callsign.
.TP
\fB\-\-frequency=\fIfrequency\fR
Set the active radio frequency to \fIfrequency\fR. The frequency must be
written in the format \fIxxx.xxx\fR and must be given in MHz.
.TP
\fB\-\-atis=\fIfrequency\fR
Record an ATIS message on \fIfrequency\fR MHz. The frequency must be written in
the format \fIxxx.xxx\fR and must be given in MHz.
.TP
\fB\-\-airport=\fIcode\fR
Position the pilot/controller to the airport having the ICAO code \fIcode\fR.

Since some radio frequencies might be reused across the world, it is essential
to set the pilot/controller position correctly to make the FGCom server able to
determine the correct voice channel. Always use this flag if you are not
connecting a FlightGear instance to FGCom.
.TP
\fB\-\-username=\fIuser\fR, \fB\-\-password=\fIpass\fR
Log in to the FGCom server using the username \fIuser\fR and the password
\fIpass\fR.
.TP
\fB\-\-silence-threshold=\fIthreshold\fR
Set the silence threshold to \fIthreshold\fR dB. The value must be between
\fB-60\fR and \fB0\fR. The default is \fB-35.0\fR dB.

The silence threshold is the level below which the sound captured by the
microphone is considered background noise (and, thus, filtered out by FGCom).
Setting the silence threshold to \fB-60\fR turns the filter off; setting it
to \fB0\fR filters everything (mutes the microphone).
.TP
\fB\-\-debug\fR
Enable debug output for troubleshooting purposes.
.TP
\fB\-\-help\fR
Display usage information and exit.
.TP
\fB\-\-version\fR
Display the FGCom version and exit.
.SH "EXIT STATUS"
.B fgcom
exits with
.B EXIT_SUCCESS
on success, with
.B EXIT_FAILURE
if the syntax of the command-line arguments is wrong or an error occurs.
.SH NOTES
FGCom understands several special frequencies used for testing purposes or
general chatting:
.IP \(bu 3
\fB121.000 MHz\fR, \fB121.500 MHz\fR: "guard" frequencies reserved for
emergency communications;
.IP \(bu 3
\fB123.450 MHz\fR, \fB123.500 MHz\fR, \fB122.750 MHz\fR: general chat
frequencies;
.IP \(bu 3
\fB700.000 MHz\fR: radio station frequency. Depending on the FGCom server in
use, a recorded radio message will be played;
.IP \(bu 3
\fB723.340 MHz\fR: French Air Patrol communication frequency;
.IP \(bu 3
\fB910.000 MHz\fR: echo test frequency. Your voice will be echoed back after a
short delay, to allow you to check that your microphone, speakers/headset and
that your connection to the FGCom server works. The test is limited to a
maximum of 65 seconds, after which you will be automatically disconnected;
.IP \(bu 3
\fB911.000 MHz\fR: "music on hold". The frequency continuously plays background
music, allowing you to check that your connection to the FGCom server works.
.SH BUGS
.IP \(bu 3
At the time of writing, there is no mechanism in place to update the
frequencies used by FGCom with the ones used in the real world, should those
change. The former, thus, might not always correspond to the latter. Always use
the frequencies listed in FlightGear under \fBAI\fR -> \fBATC Services in
Range\fR instead of the ones published on aeronautical charts.
.SH EXAMPLE
Connect to the default FGCom server, switch to the San Francisco International
Airport (\fIKSFO\fR) ground frequency (\fI121.800 MHz\fR) and allow FlightGear
to update the current pilot position by sending it to port \fI16661\fR (the
default one):

    $ \fBfgcom --frequency=121.800 --airport=KSFO\fR

Perform a radio check by connecting to the echo test frequency:

    $ \fBfgcom --frequency=910.000\fR

Record an ATIS message on the San Francisco International Airport (\fIKSFO\fR)
ATIS frequency (\fI118.850 MHz\fR):

    $ \fBfgcom --atis=118.850 --airport=KSFO\fR
.SH "SEE ALSO"
.BR fgfs (1),
.UR http://\:wiki.flightgear.org/\:FGCom_3.0
the FlightGear wiki "FGCom 3.0" page
.UE