frustrated

[Wally Forbush]

i finaly got my nerv up to try flying online and probably making a fool of my self after around a year of being to scared  now im tired of the atc progs out there for offline flying. now when i look for a airport where i can listen or watch , the only controllers  seem to be in europe or in that region. is there a problem with atc attendance? or maybe im trying at the wrong time.
i did finnaly see someone at kjfk but couldnt hear them. all i could see was alot of texting, no way can i fly online having to text also. im a one finger texter and a very slow one at that. id pass the arrival airport by the time i was done  replying back, or trying to decifer what the short hand letters stand for. i wish there was a lobby on like teamspeak or something to ask questions and stuff, but i couldnt find one

[Kenneth Haught]

Wally, glad you are willing to dive and in take the bull by the horns after waiting so long. I would recommend (if you haven't already) that you review the Pilot materials at vatsim.net on how to fly on the network (I do not mean to imply in any way that you seem to need them, just most people forget to look over them when they start and can miss quite a bit of useful information. You will find most ARTCCs have the best staffing between 1800 (6pm) and 2200 (10pm) in their local time, with far more ATC coverage on the weekends than through the week. For instance, the best time to catch NY, Atlanta, Miami, etc would probably be in the evening (Eastern Time). You can use a program like VATSPY, ServInfo, etc, or go to http://vattastic.com/ to see the information in your web browser. If you let us know what time you are trying to find ATC (and in what time zone you are in) more specific information can probably be given.