When you are ready to join the online game, you will need to be able to
communicate with the other players. You can communicate by
both voice and text.
There are four text radios that you can use. Each one can be
tuned to a different "channel". You use different key combinations to "transmit" on each radio.
/ (Slash key) = Text Radio 1 Shift / (Shift + slash key) = Text Radio 2 Ctrl / (Control + slash key) = Text Radio 3 Alt / (Alt + slash key) = Text Radio 4
In the example above, Radio 1 is tuned to Channel 6, Help. This channel will be seen by
anyone on my team who is tuned to the Help channel. This is for new
pilots who want to ask questions, but don't want to clog up the other
Country channel.
Radio 2 is tuned to Channel 3, Room. This channel
will be seen by anyone in the same room. This usually means anyone who
launched from the same field.
Radio 3 is tuned to Channel 2, Country.
Anything typed on this channel will be seen by everyone on my
team or country. This is normally the channel you will use the
most.
Radio
4 is tuned to Channel 4, Range. This channel will be seen by anyone in range
of my voice radio (see next section).
You can use the drop-down arrow to change each radio to a different channel.
Naturally, the text for each channel will show up in its own color. Green for Country, purple for Room, etc.
You
also have a voice radio (you do have a headset with a microphone, don't
you?). There are two voice channels, Range and Tactical.
Pressing the F11 key lets you transmit on the Range channel to
teammates within about six miles of your position. (many people
re-map this to a button on the joystick) You can
only transmit for four seconds at a time (this helps keep people from
clogging up the radio). The Range channel lets you talk to
people in your area, without having to hear everyone on the entire map.
The
Tactical voice radio can be tuned
so you can talk to a specific group of people. For example, if
you look at
the picture of the radio bar above, you will see that I have the
the "V" radio set to Channel 4, Squad, so that I can talk to my squad
mates on the Tactical voice channel. Pressing the T key lets
you transmit on the Tactical channel. So that's F11 for Range, T
for Tactical.
There is a lot more you can do with the text and voice channels, but this is all you need for now as a beginner.
