If you’re not seeing the option to request an altitude change, remember there is a scroll bar in the interface. I’m en route from KLAS to PHNL right now, and while I had to scroll, there it is:
If you don’t see the option, you can always quit the program and reload. It will detect that you’re in flight and ask you to confirm what phase of flight you’re in, then should just basically pick up from there.
Yes, I remembered the scroll bar. I’m not stupid.
I don’t recall claiming that you - or anyone - is stupid. Perhaps I misremembered? In any case, if you don’t see the option and restarting BATC doesn’t show it either, perhaps posting in the developer’s Discord might help. They can tell you whether, under the conditions of your specific route, that behavior is expected or not.
OK, I asked on the BATC Discord channel. I have always thought it was basically an East-West rule, but it is really the “Semicircular Rule” discussed in the Wikipedia article linked above. That rule states:
At FL 290 and above, if Reduced Vertical Separation Minima (RVSM) are not in use, 4,000 ft intervals are used to separate same-direction aircraft (instead of 2,000 ft intervals below FL 290), and only odd flight levels are assigned, independent of the direction of flight:
- Eastbound – Magnetic track 000 to 179° – odd flight levels (FL 290, 330, 370, etc.)
- Westbound – Magnetic track 180 to 359° – odd flight levels (FL 310, 350, 390, etc.)
Bought the basic BATC today. Initial impressions are I’m not that impressed. I’m looking for something to replace default atc without the use of a mic. Have auto reply- copilot. I prefer FSLTL for traffic- gates connect, more realistic behavior. Unfortunately you can’t hear ATC chatter unless you have BATC traffic connnected. I also don’t like how it’s a separate app in the nackground making me constantly window out and in- messing with my FPS in game- even with keep on top option enabled and no minimize in game option. I’m prob doing something wrong but comms frequently get lost? BATC will simply say I don’t understand then there’s no way to get back in touch with ATC. Wish it was better integrated with the sim. I’ll have to mess around with it more, but I’m not looking forward to it haha. Maybe with the use of a mic things work better.
You can DL the in game menu, I struggled with this at first until someone clued me in. Allows you to do the menu selections without clicking outside the sim.
I bought it the other day as well, the LLM integration is intriguing. I’ll use it more once VFR features are added.
I’m definitely looking forward to VFR, but I am very, very much enjoying IFR for a change, too.
I really love being able to talk to the AI via voice. It’s so much better.
Well, had my first kind of sub-optimal BATC experience in a few months today. All was well until I was descending into PHNL. Center handed me off to a different Center frequency, which then confused itself. NOTE: I use auto-reply so yeah. BATC confused itself.
After that, I couldn’t get Center to respond and rather than quitting and restarting BATC entirely, which in retrospect I probably should have done, instead I contacted Tower and requested landing clearance from about 40 miles out. Tower cleared me to land, all that far out, so I just vectored myself in for the visual and landed. After landing, however, BATC did not acknowledge the landing, didn’t hand me off to Ground or give me taxi instructions. At this point, I did quit and restart, but ATC assumed I was at a gate and as soon as I started moving on the taxiway toward the terminal, I got fussed at for pushing back and starting up without permission.
Get the toolbar here: https://www.beyondatc.net/_files/archives/92461f_6c1a44d199584035a6a4db5314efe08e.zip?dn=beyondatc-toolbar-v1-1-2.zip
First time running BATC. A few notes -
The lack of jetways connected to parked jets is an immersion killer. I hope they’ll get this figured out.
10AM flight out of KBOS, traffic settings all on 5. A single jet landed during the 30 minutes I was on the ground. No takeoffs. That said - after booting up the flight, I changed the real weather time so I was flying in daylight. Not sure if that had anything to do with the issue. Didn’t see a single jet on TCAS or visually while in the air.
Got nice directions to taxi to RWY 33L at KBOS. Impressive.
Never got a clearance to descend at TOD. Not sure if I’m supposed to initiate the request or if ATC reaches out and provides. Figured I’d ask ATC to descend since I was by then past TOD. I was at 380, the lowest altitude I could request was 320 and that was denied. Tried again and the program crashed.
Kept flying the approach and rebooted BATC. Simbrief had me flying into RWY27C at KORD. When I reached out to approach, the screen showed only three runways, all eastbound. ATC chatter had all traffic departing / landing on them. This was despite the prevailing wind favoring westbound runways. No ideas what the issue is.
Once on the ground, I couldn’t reach ground control and then the program crashed again, so I called it quits. I do need to ask - how does the gate selection work with BATC? I normally just land and select the gate in GSX and find a way to get there on my own since MSFS ATC sucks. Assuming I don’t have another crash while on the ground, will BATC offer me a gate selection to choose from and taxi directions to it?
That’s clearly not working in all cases then-
Here I am on a 218 course, previously at FL350 but climbing to FL370 for my stepped climb, but BATC only showing even FL increments to choose from. (note: I had already requested FL380 here because there was no other choice, and was looking for a way to request FL370, but there was no way to do that being offered)
Did you try 1. clicking on the headphone icon to list the frequ, then 2. clicking on PHNL at the top, then 3. clicking on the center frequency listed on that page, then if still no joy, 4. toggle your main radio panel from COM1 → COM2 → COM1 again?
This works for me 90% of the time when BATC goes silent and I can then see 'Announce on frequency message" and proceed to get communications going again. I too use auto tune/respond (as I’m often multi-tasking with every day life lol)
That was an presumption by another BATC user, not an official support person. Maybe we can get a better answer by asking again on the BATC Discord channel? It could be a bug, too, of course.
Yeah, Maybe I’ll venture over there. I do find discord like trying to ask a question in a big room of 100 people all shouting their questions & desperate for an answer at the same time!
It should be from 000 to 179 (east) is uneven, from 180 to 359 (west) is even. It’s called semi circular cruising level system. It’s not like on a northerly or southerly route where the route changes between sectors, you immediately need to descent or climb from even to uneven or vice versa, you look which sector your route is predominantly in, and file according to that. ATC usually accepts whatever flight level you request en-route regardless of the semicircular system (at least in Europe).
I don’t know if it is still the case, but Italy had a semicircular system running North / South instead of East / West since the country is North / South orientated. Most flights were flying North / South so it made more sense to separare that way.
Thank you. I was traveling primarily N → S but also E → W too, and simbrief allocated FL350 with a step to FL370, so from what you are saying ATC should have continued to accept my odd FL’s? although technically E → W maybe I should have been on a even FL? This is all very confusing for a non pilot! 
Semicircular system is mainly for flight planning purposes and usually taken care by whatever flight planning system is used. You might be able to file something different, I don’t remember if your flight plan will be accepted, I believe it will, depends on the airways used as well. As an airline pilot you are usually not very bothered by it’s existence. The cruising level filled satisfies the requirement, after that you just request what you need. Since the OFP usually gives fuel and time offsets for levels 2000, 4000, 6000 etc. above and below your filed level, you usually stick to that. And in order to stay close to the optimal flight level you usually request 2000 ft stepclimbs, not 1000 ft. So usually if you start even, you stay even and vice versa.
Here is an example from an AIP. I believe on Jepessen en-route charts its denoted with a E or O and an arrow in the direction applicable. Some airways or parts of it only go one way.
Maybe the airway you were flying requires Odd levels although tracking westbound?
OK, so according to their Discord (I seem to have prompted a whole pile of responses there). Even though regions exist with different rules, France, Spain Italy and Switzerland are different from the other European nations (see map below)-
However BATC is apparently currently using a generic rule for now
