PMSystems?!

[mondo50m]

Hi. I built the hobbycnc unit....not a bad unit, but very limited. It handles 1/4" material quite well. I do not like to get on a soap box, but I do not understand how the complete simulator program can cost $69.95 and just one small part of that software done better is worth a grand......that is the problem with this world, everyone wants to get rich on the backs of the rest of the world. I can build a decent overhead panel for about $50 worth of plastic now that I have the router. I'll shut up now.

My other 2 cents, now I am broke.

[autocadplease]

There is also Alpha FMC http://members.quicknet.nl/scumari/fmc/

[coolmanak]

Which would be great if I was using a Boeing

Thanks for the help though

[dnoize]

I do not like to get on a soap box, but I do not understand how the complete simulator program can cost $69.95 and just one small part of that software done better is worth a grand......

Sigh..... Here we go again. This is only covered a zillion times here: its all a matter of volume. Pmdg's and the likes sell in the tens of thousands (20 000 copies of pmdg sold in just the first 2 months)

Project Magenta sold just a few thousand copies in 10 years !
Offering free updates all these 10 years! Now try that with Microsoft.

Yet they have to employ a team of 4 people !

Now people say sales volumes will rise when prices drop, but there simply arent that many cockpit builders ... Not going to happen.

that is the problem with this world, everyone wants to get rich on the backs of the rest of the world. I can build a decent overhead panel for about $50 worth of plastic now that I have the router. I'll shut up now.

My other 2 cents, now I am broke.

try building a overhead commercially for 50 dollars, employ a team of a couple of men/women, pay the bills for professional equipment like cnc's, laser (high volumes),painting booth, etc, pay your bills for the building, materials, taxes, etc AND survive .... And you will be a happy man

if you can afford commercial parts and think you need them: get them. If not, look for alternatives. Like your own cnc. I think that adds alot to the hobby and thats a great thing.

Personally i dont understand why a Ferrari costs 300 000 euro's while its only a pile of metal, plastic and leather while that cant be worth more than 20 000 euros

[spiro]

i would like to add to that saying that it is hard when a company that has pro tools and a team building panels and all sorts of stuff has a lot and a lot
of bills to pay at the end of the month even when bussnes is not going so good the bills are the samebut if you put it all together hear in greece i personaly can not find a cnc router kit to build i whould see it as fun to and the chepest is 4500euro descktop type +vat so with that money it is not woth it than you need so many more tools and if you go out buy them with the same money you can get a butiful ready sim so its tha same thing hear in greece i find some hard were expensive too and not saying ant names the value of the products i bellive are not realy worth there money but every one has to live!! as for the electronics part i am a car electronic and have my own work shopi find most switchs leds rotary encorders pushbuttons and so on at 4 times cheper than on any sight (the same type too)so i can imagen the proffit they make and it is a bit too much thay dont think making better prices more pepole will buy so more and new things can be made and more pepole will get more involved with this hobbie imagen 1 rotary encorder that costs say 6,00euro gose down to 2 euros(witch it can very easylly) some one with a low income that would buy say 2 rotary encorders for 6 euros if they were 2 euros he could buy 6 and be very happy i think both would and the buyer and the seller this gose for softwere too i am not saying for no one to make a profit we all have to live i am just saying with better prices more will be involed and sellers will have more work building and selling
sorry if it is a bit off topic

[Peter Dowson]

Also, if we use pre-made panels (I.E. GoFlight, some CockpitSonic, etc) that are designated as either "plug and play" or have a certain kind of software that you are instructed to buy to make them work, would that still require PMSystems to run it?

I think you misunderstand the nature of PM (and Sim-Avionics, etc). pmSystems relates to the rest of PM. The MCP relates to the CDU and the PFD/ND/EICAS displays relate to those. It's an integrated system, in the same way as the PMDG aircraft are integrated systems. You can't really mix and match. If you buy a ready-made subsystem (MCP or whatever) it may or may not have PM support -- and it may or may not have PMDG support. etc etc.

I personally up until this point (and this point may or may not be a turning point) have used FSUIPC's MouseTrapper to record every single switch, pushbutton, or knob turn, push, or flip on the overhead panel of the aircraft I am working with, and simply assigned my hardware (some cockpitsonic, some goflight) switches, knobs, and pushbuttons to do those actions. I didn't have any trouble with that, and it appears to work fine.

Yes, but that was a method I discovered by hacking only relatively recently. And it still isn't something that has worked for the last 10 years and would still necessarily work for the next, with different FS versions etc (excepting that there's no more versions of FS ).

And it doesn't in itself help drive hardware at all -- it only allows switches to be assigned. Folks are maybe managing to find ways of getting their hardware gauges and indicators operating, but I'm not sure how. There are a lot of indicators on the overhead which need to be enabled correctly, there are the 6-packs, the warning lights, the fire subsystem on the central console. Etc etc.

Are doing things like these fine without PMSystems? Is it more for home-built panels, panels that display numbers, etc?

You can't really use pmSystems on its own, as I say. It works with the other parts. And you can't replace the systems used inside the PMDG aircraft without discarding the PMDG panels --- as I have done. I use the PMDG 737, but with no gauges, no panels. I use it for the flight model and aircraft body only.

Regards
Pete

[jeehell]

Did you consider my software?
It's directly aimed at the airbus A320, can work over a network, has all instruments (PFD, ND, EWD, SD), a MCDU and now even overhead and system logic (similar to pmSystems, ok less advanced than theirs, but hey it's free)
It's still not in a final state, but it's fully flyable, and I'd rather need extra hands to test it!!
http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17680 (be sure to get the latest beta 5.3)

[coolmanak]

Jeehell, I've been trying that software for a couple hours now, and it's absolutley AMAZING!!!

Thanks so much for putting all that effort into such a wonderfull product!