Usage

This page shows how to prepare, publish and maintain an ATIS with vATIS using the VATSIM Brasil profiles. It assumes the installation and the profile import are already done.

Overview

The ATIS is published as a connection of its own (SBCT_ATIS, for example), separate from your control position. A session goes like this:

flowchart LR
    A[Connect the position<br/>in EuroScope] --> B[Open the FIR<br/>profile in vATIS]
    B --> C[Choose the station<br/>and preset]
    C --> D[Check conditions<br/>and NOTAMs]
    D --> E[CONNECT]
    E --> F[Follow METAR and<br/>runway changes]

The main window

1. User Settings. Credentials and update sounds (see User settings).
2. ATIS Configuration. Profile editing: stations, presets, formatting and contractions. Day to day there is no need to touch it.
3. Window controls. Pin on top, switch to the mini-window, minimize and close.
4. Stations. One tab per aerodrome in the profile. Connected stations show the ATIS letter next to the identifier.
5. ATIS letter. Left-click advances the letter and right-click moves it back.
6. Station's current METAR.
7. Wind and QNH taken from the METAR.
8. Airport Conditions. Expected approach and runways in use.
9. NOTAMs. Notices to pilots.
10. Record ATIS. Records an ATIS in your own voice. The VATSIM Brasil profiles use a synthesized voice, so the button is disabled.
11. Presets. The station's predefined configurations, usually one per runway in use.
12. Connect. Connects and disconnects the ATIS from the network.

Preparing the ATIS

1. Choose the station and the preset

Click the aerodrome tab and choose the preset matching the runway in use. In the VATSIM Brasil profiles, the preset name tells the configuration. For example:

Choosing the preset fills the Airport Conditions field with the expected approach and the landing and takeoff runways. SBCT preset 15, for example, brings:

EXPECT ILS *X RWY 15
LDG RWY 15
TKOF RWY 15

2. Check the airport conditions and NOTAMs

The Airport Conditions and NOTAMs fields accept free text. Each station can also have predefined messages that you switch on and off without typing. Click the field title (AIRPORT CONDITIONS or NOTAMS) to open the list:

• Tick the messages that should go into the ATIS. They appear in list order, which can be changed with Up and Down.
• Ticked messages appear in cyan in the field and cannot be edited there. The free text comes before or after them, depending on the Include before free-form option.
• In the VATSIM Brasil profiles, the predefined NOTAMs cover situations such as a closed runway (RWY 11/29 CLSD. at SBCT).

3. Write text the voice can read

The ATIS is read by a synthesized voice, in English. vATIS recognizes a few conventions to pronounce free text correctly:

Contractions are replacements defined in the profile. At SBCT, for example, the TKOF contraction is read as takeoff. To insert one, type @ in the field and pick it from the list:

Publishing the ATIS

1. With the station, preset, conditions and NOTAMs checked, click CONNECT.
2. The button turns into DISCONNECT (blue) and the letter turns cyan on the station tab.
3. Confirm the letter. To adjust it, left-click (advance) or right-click (back). To type a specific letter, use Shift + left double-click.

What the profile builds for you

With the ATIS online, vATIS assembles the information in the order set by the preset. At SBCT, the structure is:

SBCT ATIS [ATIS_CODE] [TIME]
[ARPT_COND]
[TL]
[WIND]
[VIS]
[RVR]
[PRESENT_WX]
[CLOUDS]
[TEMP] / [DEW]
[PRESSURE]
[TREND]
[WS]
[NOTAMS]
[CLOSING]

Each bracketed field is filled in automatically: the weather comes from the METAR, [ARPT_COND] and [NOTAMS] come from the fields you checked, and the QNH is read in hectopascals. The transition level ([TL]) is calculated from the QNH with the TMA's table. For SBCT:

The voice message ends by asking the pilot to acknowledge the information, for example "acknowledge you received information alfa".

Keeping the ATIS up to date

• New METAR. When a METAR is issued, vATIS updates the ATIS and the letter blinks. Click the letter once to acknowledge the update.
• Runway change. Switch the preset, check conditions and NOTAMs and advance the letter. Tell the traffic on frequency and the adjacent units about the change.
• Other changes. When you change conditions or NOTAMs with the ATIS online, advance the letter so pilots know there is new information.

Mini-window

To save screen space, use the mini-window button (item 3 of the main window). It shows only the letter, wind and QNH of the connected stations: yours in cyan and other controllers' in red.

• Click a blinking letter to acknowledge the update, or middle-click to acknowledge all of them at once.
• Right-click to pin the window on top, choose which stations to show or return to the full window.

Closing

1. Click DISCONNECT on the station.
2. Only then disconnect your position in EuroScope.

If another controller will take over the aerodrome, agree beforehand on who publishes the ATIS, so there are never two ATIS for the same station.

Learn more

• Official vATIS documentation.
• Each aerodrome's frequencies and _ATIS callsigns are in the aerodrome SOPs.