IVAO is proud to announce the release of a brand-new Datalink module for its ATC Client: Aurora, a stepping stone in the Air Traffic Control experience for our members.
After having released its new ATC Client: Aurora in December 2019 in BETA phase, IVAO did not cease to regularly update the client, allowing for more realism and immersive experience. Previous feature updates included web-based Flight Plan filing, Voice Module, SELCAL, and others.
Aurora's latest update will now include another new highly realistic and requested feature: Datalink.
The Datalink feature will seamlessly integrate with the Hoppie ACARS system, bringing excellent news for our members using Hoppie enabled aircraft, such as FSLabs’ A3xx series of aircraft. Paving the way for an even more realistic experience through their MCDU/ACARS. The Hoppie integration also constitutes excellent news to our third-party developers who can directly link their own Datalink software to IVAO’s software ecosystem.
Our members who are not using a Hoppie-compatible third-party ACARS system will still be able to receive Datalink messages from IVAO’s connected ATC stations through the ATC’s primary active frequency.
The new Datalink system consists of two parts;
The first part is the Telex, which is a simple messaging system that can be used for controller/pilot and pilot/pilot communication. Telex is not used as an alternative to voice communication.
The second part is the CPDLC (Controller Pilot Data Link Communications) is a Controller/pilot communication system used for non urgent communication, that is an alternative to voice communication.
A full step-by-step tutorial of the new Datalink can be found on our Documentation Library: https://wiki.ivao.aero/en/home/devops/manuals/Datalink-Aurora
A second important feature included with this update is Vertical Profiles. This is also a highly realistic INSET on our ATC client that will enable Controllers to have a transversal view of the active sector, as a means to visualise the vertical separation between traffic.
As our software is still in the BETA phase, we continue to heavily depend on our member feedback on bugs and feature requests to ensure our software is more stable and realistic.
Full change log could be consulted here: https://virtualsky.ivao.aero/aurora-changelog/
IVAO will always remain an organisation that is fully committed to promising leading-edge software to its Community, and working at full capacity to offer the most sophisticated, realistic and convivial flight and ATC simulation experience.
