Re: New and in need of help
Hi,
Good to see another 747 builder around (helps to bring the balance back with all those NG guys ;) )
With regards to IO cards I can't really help you since I haven't started on this yet but this forum will provide you with LOAD of info on how to do this.
Regarding FSUIPC I would stronlgy suggest to go ahead and buy yourself a license; it's not going to create a big whole in your budget but will provide you with a LOAD of functionality you are going to need.
As far as dragging panels to different monitors is concerned, that is certainly possible with PMDG, in particular for PFD, ND and EICAS (others like throttle, etc. will work as well). Just have a look here to find out how this can be done:
http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/show...highlight=pmdg
Regarding the offset programming you have chosen the wrong add-on in all honesty but so did I (and a few others). For whatever stupid reason the PMDG management has decided to keep the offset info a secret for the most part. There are some initiatives going on to get e.g. an MCP working again if I am correct but swithches and annuciators on the overhead you might as well forget it, that is using the offset route.
But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A short term alternative is using FSUIPC mousetraps. Just look at Ian's website for a wealth of info (also Ian is very helpfull so if you drop him a note he will certainly respond to your question) Here is his site: http://www.737ng.co.uk/
Also there is a new 747 being developed as we speak so to say based on the older PS1 simulator which promises to be very open in terms of extracting or injecting data. It's called PSX but will not be available until somewhere next year. Have a look here for some more detail: http://www.aerowinx.de/
and here: http://aerowinx.com/forum/forum.php?...u1uvk7jel8adfp
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Martin
Re: New and in need of help
Hi Martin,
Thanks for your help... and yes, I am happy to be of the few 747 folks :cool:
So not having the PMDG offsets to access the overhead (and other) switches, would I be able to somehow read there states? I doubt that I can... in which case, how would I be able to light up the overhead annunciator lights?
The mouse idea is a very smart work around...
Thanks for your help.
Mehdi
Re: New and in need of help
Hi Mehdi,
Controlling the overhead is a pretty tough subject but certainly not impossible if you can live with a few 'maybe not so perfect' solutions.
There has been some good work done by some of this 'smaller ;););) plane' captains where Ian has done a wonderful job in particular.
I had the pleasure of having a small info exchange over the mail with him.
Here's a copy of his responses:
----- Original Message -----
From: ian@737ng.co.uk
To: Martin Kuivenhoven
Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 2:00 PM
Subject: Re: Controlling the PMDG overhead
good day captain..........
quite true, i am controlling all the overhead with mouse macro's. they are very reliable and accurate. i am also
controlling the efis units, the fire panel and various controls on the MIP as well.
synchronisation is not an issue. what FSUIPC does when it loads is look at every switch. if it is in a physical 'on'
situation (closed), then FSUIPC actions that switch. if the hardware switch is 'off' (open) then it ignores it. at least
that is my experience using this system.
now FSUIPC allows you to perform one action when the switch is turned on and another when it is turned off. so by
some planning, you can wire switches and assign mouse macros in an order that you want.
regarding the mcro macro file........no issues at all with this. FSUIPC runs as part of FS as a module, so as soon as a switch
is thrown, the action occurs.
i have now coupled the switching action with my new project of automating the overhead systems including the automatic
delivery of power to the aircraft. so not only is it possible to synchronise the switches, it is also possible to automate
the switches,annunciators and the behaviour of the power delivery system.
if you have a joystick controller, hook up a few switches, record the macro's and see for your self.
it was the cheapest and easiest way for me to achieve what i wanted. my skills are in the electrical and parts side, i have never
had any computer language experience so i struggle with writing code or assembling programming. that's why i avoided SIOC.
still, i am very happy with the end result because my aircraft systems are about 90% perfect.
hope that helped you out captain.
good luck and best regards from wales ...... ian
----- Original Message -----
From: ian@737ng.co.uk
To: Martin Kuivenhoven
Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: Just one more question: Re: Controlling the PMDG overhead
hello captain.......
right there is no such thing as a perfect system. mechanically, it is impossible to do what you are asking because a switch is open or
closed. with an event driven software solution the same is true because either a value is 1 or it is 0.
so, we have to compromise. well not so much compromise as 'bend the rules' a little bit.
forgive me, but i know virtually nothing about the 747 systems, so i guess i'm not the best person to be asking.
all i can do is tell you what i did with the 737. with the 737 APU, you start it, a low pressure indicator illuminates on for 16 seconds
and then goes out when the APU has started. about 30-35seconds after initiating start, the APU Gen Off Bus Annunciator lights.
once the APU Gens have been switched onto bus, the led goes out. now this may help you to achieve what you are looking for.
what i did was to use 555 timer chips which are all triggered (and reset) by the APU start/off switch.
once triggered (by selecting start), one gives me the 16 second illumination of the Lo Press led, one is timing the delay of 32 seconds before illuminating the APU OFF BUS led, one is timing a 32 second delay before making APU power available to the bus by switching a relay.
turning the gens on, breaks the contact between the chip and the Off bus led, so it goes out.
using the timer/relay, no APU power is available to the bus until the system is ready.
so, using a similar system, you can light your available led's and extinguish them using your push switches. you would need to find the
right switches to do this, but that's just a matter of looking hard enough :o))
555 timers are very cheap (about 25 cents) and great to work with. very versatile and can be used with transistors to drive very heavy loads.
i am working at the moment with logic chips. this will allow me to dictate whether an led lights based on certain conditions.
if you want more information on 555 timers. look here http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/555timer.htm
or here http://www.eleinmec.com/article.asp?1.
i'm sorry i can't be more help, two things go against me. 1. i dont know the 747 systems and 2. i have to sit down and study a sequence of
operation with a pencil and a piece of paper to be able to offr a solution.
but at least i hope i have given you some hope/direction.
good luck and let me know how you get on.
regards from wales ..... ian
Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Martin
Re: New and in need of help
Quote:
Originally Posted by
mabderezai
My project is to build a 747-400 cockpit... big project ... uh ... and I am on a tight tight budget...
Don't think of your time and money budget as a one-off thing. Think of it in the terms of spread out over 5 years or so. Spread out your purchases with what you can do within a timeframe not just a single one-time budget because noone builds a simpit with a fixed single purchase budget. The time involved to build simply makes that impractical to spend your budget all at once.
