Talking flight monitor 6 release notes

Version 6.8.1

  • Removed the lock on the PMDG737 for users of the official release.

Version 6.8.0

Full PMDG 737 Support – A Milestone Achievement

We are thrilled to announce that the PMDG 737 is now fully supported in Talking Flight Monitor. This marks a significant milestone in accessible flight simulation – to our knowledge, this is the first time two complete PMDG study-level aircraft have been made fully accessible in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Why fly the PMDG 737?

The Boeing 737 is the world’s best-selling commercial airliner and the backbone of modern aviation. Now, blind and visually impaired pilots can experience this iconic aircraft with the same depth and authenticity as the PMDG 777. Whether you’re flying short regional hops or transcontinental routes, the 737 offers:

  • A consistent, familiar experience for pilots already flying the PMDG 777 in TFM
  • Complete access to every switch, button, and system in the cockpit
  • Professional procedures from cold and dark startup to shutdown
  • The flexibility to fly everything from the compact 737-600 to the popular 737-900

Complete System Coverage:

  • Full overhead panel with all electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, fuel, pressurization, flight control, and environmental systems
  • Glare shield EFIS controls with altimeter management (Control+U/D to adjust, Alt+S for standard/previous setting, Alt+M to switch between HPA and inches)
  • Forward panels for complete cockpit access
  • Control stand including MCP and transponder
  • Streamlined turnaround panel for efficient ground operations
  • Enhanced ILS system supporting ILS, RNAV, LOC, GS, and all modern approach types
  • Quick access shortcuts: Control+P (panels), Control+F (FMC), Control+M (MCP)

Download version 6.8.0 today and experience the world’s most popular airliner like never before.

Version 6.7.12

  • PMDG777: Fixed the audio works panel hyd pump sound switcher.

Version 6.7.11

  • PMDG (all): Added Control+P = open panels, Control+F = open FMC, and Control+M = open MCP to the TFM control key keyboard commands. This will load them into a popout window without requiring you to load the view first.
  • TFM: Added loading licenses to the network timeout in the network section of settings. If you find your internet to be too slow, increase this value.

Version 6.7.10

  • PMDG (all variants): Added controls for the audio works sound pack. They are in the observer audio control panel. Note: You must have the audio works sound pack for these controls to work. Otherwise, it will only control observer microphone state.

Version 6.7.9

  • Speech history is now thread safe. There shouldn’t be any more random crashes when TFM tries to remove a speech item from the speech history list.

Version 6.7.8:

  • Keyboard manager: Custom hotkey assignments are now preserved when a new hotkey is introduced or removed from the keyboard manager.
  • Keyboard manager: You are now notified with a dialog when trying to assign duplicate or invalid hotkeys to an action.
  • Keyboard manager: Added a reset to defaults button. Press it to factory reset your assigned hotkeys.
  • Keyboard manager: Notification dialog for saving or resetting hotkeys makes it clear that you must reload your aircraft in TFM to make the hotkeys work.
  • PMDG: The 777 is now available in MSFS2024.

Version 6.7.7:

  • Implemented auto update for release customers.
  • PMDG777: TFM now reads the incoming FMC message when the message annunciator turns on.

Version 6.7.6:

  • PMDG737 settings: Made it clear which settings in the Overhead/ADIRU panel are annunciators. Also rearranged the checkboxes where the controls are first, then annunciators last.

Version 6.7.4:

  • Licenses: TFM now normalizes the expiration date/time on the license server with the system it is installed on. This makes it easier to determine when the license expires, and when is the correct time to display the license expired dialog. I have seen cases where the license expired dialog appears a day early or late due to time zone differences. This should fix that issue.
  • Introducing V1.0 of the new license tracking system. It improves the security of your license. With the new format, you can be assured that no one can steal or tamper with it. It works as follows. TFM will take a fingerprint of your system. It uses 6 stable components to generate the fingerprint. These components do not include personally identifiable information, only a generic system profile. When you change systems, reinstall Windows, or add/remove some hardware, the license server will then determine if it can tolerate the new changes. If so, it will launch as usual. Otherwise, the following conditions will apply.
    • Legacy licenses – Anyone with TFM 6.3.2 and earlier has a legacy license. When starting TFM for the first time after this update, you will be presented with a reauthorization required dialog. Pressing the reauthorize button will update your license to the new format.
    • Unauthorized devices – When installing TFM on a new or unfamiliar device, it will present an unauthorized device detected dialog. Pressing the move license button will activate TFM on the new device, and deactivate it on the old one. You can move TFM around an unlimited number of times. You can run only 1 licensed copy at a time. Please note that anti-virus software may temporarily interfere with the unauthorized detection process. Avast is one known to do this. It is a false alarm and should be ignored until you know it is truely an unauthorized device.
    • Expired licenses – When an expired license is detected, TFM will present a dialog giving you the chance to renew. Pressing the renew button will take you to your account so you can complete the renewal process. Note that you will have to restart TFM for the renewal to refresh. Any other action will either result in TFM shutting down or redisplaying the expired license dialog.
    • Normal license – TFM will continue to work as expected.

Version 6.7.3:

  • Update manager: Added a customized update view that better fits TFM’s user interface design.
    • Readonly text field that displays the update message. *Update button updates TFM if available. *Changelog button displays the changelog in the browser (may require account login).
    • Go to download button displays the download page for the current version in the browser (may require account login).
    • Remind me later button sets a reminder for 2 days (will add more in another build).
  • Update manager: Added a help/check for updates menu item. Click it to check for updates.
  • Update manager: Updates may be mandatory or optional depending on the update’s contents. For mandatory updates, users are not allowed to leave the update manager until updates are applied. All other updates can be delayed until a later time.
  • Update manager: Help/changes menu item now displays the current changelog in the browser (may require account login).

Version 6.7.1:

  • A dialog box now appears when trying to load an aircraft from the ‘Choose aircraft’ menu item that isn’t currently loaded into MSFS. Example: trying to load the PMDG777 in TFM when the PMDG737 is the active aircraft in MSFS.

Version 6.7.0:

  • Improved performance, especially around API calls.
  • Added a message spoken during startup that indicates that TFM is loading licenses.

Version 6.6.1:

  • Added logging levels to the logging system. The levels are as follows.
    • info = informational messages such as success log entries or non functional messages.
    • debug = non functional information logged that could help implement new features, fix bugs, and improve performance.
    • warn = an option set in settings prevents the use of a feature, or the current state of TFM prevents the feature’s use. TFM can continue running as normally in other cases.
    • error = A system or TFM related error that causes a feature to crash or otherwise rendered useless. TFM can operate, but in unstable or undesirable conditions.
    • fatal = A system or TFM error prevents the use of TFM completely. FSUIPC or MSFS drops the connection, for instance.
  • Started logging problems in threads, background tasks, UI contexts, and the global application context. This will help with debugging issues in TFM.
  • Added additional diagnostics in the log entries.
  • The log entries are now in json format. This makes it easier for json utilities in TFM to manage them in the UI.
  • The log file now has a .json extension, reflecting the content inside.
  • Fixed an airports database crash when trying to build using in a popped out window.
  • Added extra logging around the airports database build process, especially since it uses external processes to build the database.

Version 6.6.0:

  • Rewrote 100% of the logging system. It should be cleaner and easier to read.
  • Removed debug.log, error.log, and warning.log. They only created confusion and duplicated other log entries elsewhere.
  • TFM now generates a new log file each time it starts. This makes session debugging much easier, since we only have to look at a particular log file(s). The new format is TFM-DD-MM-YYYY_HH-MM-SS.log, where DD is the day, MM is the month, YYYY is the year, HH is the hour, MM is the minute, and SS is the second. This also provides an easy way to create a log viewer UI in the future. The logs folder can get filled up pretty quick, so make sure you remove any logs you don’t want to keep.
  • TFM no longer floods the log file after disconnect.
  • ILS announcements should be turned off by default.
  • ILS announcements should now turn off on touchdown.
  • TFM now cleans up its resources when returning to a disconnected state.
  • TFM now reverts to the connection status screen when FSUIPC drops the connection.
  • All popout windows will automatically close without notice when the FSUIPC connection is lost.
  • TFM no longer crashes when the FSUIPC connection is lost.
  • Where am I? no longer crashes TFM when attempting to use a nonexistent airports database.
  • Attempting to use TCAS when your aircraft is in an unknown location, or the airports database hasn’t been built yet, no longer crashes TFM. Instead, it announces a message and returns you to the screen currently being displayed.
  • PMDG (all variants): Global hotkeys used with the TFM control key no longer stay active when an aircraft is unloaded from TFM. Example: MSFS crashes or is shutdown before TFM is shutdown.

Version 6.5.0:

  • Rewrote the ILS detection system to be more efficient.
  • PMDG (all variants): TFM no longer crashes when MSFS closes.
  • Implemented a volume control for sapi output. Navigate to assistive technology in settings and move the slider to change the volume. 0 = muted and 100 = 100% volume.
  • Due to technical changes in TFM, the way we queue spoken text has changed. This required the following changes in assistive technology settings. The select a voice, speech rate and volume controls now have their own play sample buttons. Be sure to press each one to hear your new sapi setting.

Version 6.4.2:

  • TFM: Redesign automatic announcements for ILS landings
  • TFM will now detect and announce tuned ILS stations independently of other ILS announcements.
  • Added a new hotkey, ‘Shift + L’, that toggles the detection and announcement of tuned ILS stations. NOTE: it is sticky! Be sure to delete UI state/GlobalHotkeys.json before starting for the first time.
  • Removed the old checkbox in settings for automatically announcing ILS position because it is obsolete.
  • Added a checkbox in settings/aircraft that toggles on/off the announce tuned ILS stations setting.
  • Made permanently visible the ILS time entry box.
  • Your position on the ILS (Shift + I) is no longer sticky. It will now revert to off when TFM starts.
  • Changed the attitude mode on/off announcement to ‘attitude mode on/off’. The announcement better fits with the other togglable modes.
  • Your position on the ILS (Control + I) now gives ILS readouts regardless of the ILS announcements setting. WARNING: it could be inaccurate.

Version 6.4.1:

  • ILS: The ILS readouts now work for non ILS based runways such as rnav, loc, gs, dvm, etc.
    • Runways without an ILS will not have any detection actions related to it.
    • Scenery can be outdated. Given this, the ILS readouts will do their best to give the most accurate representation it can provide.

Version 6.4.0:

Refactered the ILS detection and announcement system to no longer require/depend on aircraft system state to be used. The previous implementation limited pilots to using it when approach mode was turned on. In all cases, a real pilot would have access to this information when the nav radio needles detected the ILS tuned to the frequency in the nav radios. BVI pilots now have the same ability with one advantage: They can get the readouts as soon or as late as they feel is required. The new ILS detection/announcement system also no longer requires a physical ILS station to work. This was done for a few reasons.

  • Attempt to handle outdated scenery (phantom ILS stations, mismatch runways).
  • Help facilitate rnav, loc, gs, and similar approaches (ILS station physically not present).

Pressing Shift+I will immediately startreading ILS announcements, provided the destination runway is set in the nav data/runways view, regardless of distance or aircraft state. The only condition tied to the ILS system is that it doesn’t read while on the ground.

Version 6.3.2:

  • Added networking category in settings that has a network time out setting. Increase it if your internet is slow.
  • Security and performance improvements.
  • Fix: Allow the PMDG777 to accept negative vertical speeds.

Version 6.3.0:

  • Fixed: The bug tracker no longer appears in the release version.
  • Fixed: The activation window now appears when no valid license key is detected on your machine.

Version 6.2.2:

  • Removed extra logging that was no longer needed.

Version 6.2.1:

  • Fixed: Subscriptions with multiple payment plans are now handled as expected.

Version 6.0.0

  • initial release.