Help on small Phidgets job...U/C and low volts.

[Tony Hill]

Ok, I couldn't even get teh programme to run but you gave me an idea ...that it was the project that was corrupt...I actually found that even though I had deleted the whole program and the directories, when i reinstalled it bought back my project!!!! So that was stuffing it up...I deleted the project (how the ^&%%^$%^& did that survive a complete delete and reinstall??)

So I now have it starting again but will have to leave it until the weekend to have another look at getting it working....cheers mate!! and hope I can lean on you a bit more as I go.


Thanks


Darryl

[gokhotit]

lean away..I will help where I can..

[Tony Hill]

Thanks for that. Just to make sure I have the concept right:

For the "Gear down light":
I assign a "high value" to the offset (0FB4 being left gear) say 16383 and make this switch the light on by reading the FSoutput through the valve and into the "output". So when I drop the gear, the offset increases from 0 to 16383 as the gear goes down. When it is down and locked (16383) the light comes on. When I pull th gear up, the value decreases steadily to 0 and the light goes off as soon as the value is 16382 or lower (approximate numbers of course).

I have no "gear transit light" so the other thing needed is to do the opposite on another phidget port for the "up" figure (ie 0FB4 = o) to turn the light on when the gear is "up".

At the moment I can turn the light on and off with the test button, can get the offset reading to follow the sim...but can't make the light come on at the appropriate value?

I have organised some more time Wednesday night now and hope to crack it.

The "UP" is lit by two LEDs and the "DOWN" by four, I presume I need a port for each light and a duplicated circuit for each port.

How am I looking so far?

Darryl

[CocnutAir]

You have got the SHUTOFF property set correctly, right?

[Tony Hill]

You have got the SHUTOFF property set correctly, right?

I think so Alan,

the Valve section, shutoff is set to "true' as suggested.

I think the main problem is that I am not at all sure where to put each value, ie the vavle, the light and the input all have spaces for "max" and "Min"... but I can't see whether i need the 16383, for instance, in ALL of them, or just the input etc.

I have a mental block when it comes to software. I used to be able to pull it apart (in the days of dOS and "BASIC") and do whatever i wanted but these days unless it is a GUI and I understand it (ie it is "moron proof") I don't seem to be able to grasp it easily...I either have to do it "parrot fashion" or spend ages learning the software inside out (as I did in over a 100 hours or so with the gauges). It doesn't come naturally at all these days!!

I can at least see the philosophy behind your marvellous software now, just the details are not sinking in! I'll get there!

thanks


Darryl

[gokhotit]

lets use your gear down light. Goto the valve for that light. Make sure Shutoff is set to true (last value for the valve),got the ComponentValue section set Minvalue to 16382 and maxvalue to 16383. Light will only come on when the gear is down.

[CocnutAir]

Let me chip in with an analogy:
The valve is like an adjustable pressure valve on a steam pipe.
The FS Variable supplies the "steam pressure".
The valve shuts off the steam supply (Shutoff = True) when the supplied "pressure" is outside its Min and Max Value. If the pressure from the FS Variable is outside the valve's range, the valve switches off the steam supply completely. The digital output that is connected downstream to the valve receives no steam and the light goes off (LEDs aren't really steam-powered these days, at least not directly).

If Shutoff = False, the valve will restrict the line "pressure" to a range between the valve's Min and Max setting. In this mode, the valve acts more like a regulator.

I only added this steam analogy to, hopefully, help others who might also be struggling with the concept, not to imply in any way that you were being slow. I don't want you to get wrong idea. Any person that can replicate a Spitfire is pretty sharp.

Let me know if you think I should try this approach in the documentation. If this did not work for you let me know too.

Regards,
Alan

[Tony Hill]

OK, gokhotit... Thanks, yes I see so I was on the right track.

Alan,

No offence taken, largely because when it comes to this I AM slow....but I am at last starting to catch on, the steam makes sense.

I have, tonight, got the Undercarriage lights working. I have so far been unable however to tie them to the main battery. I have two lights for "UP", one left and one right and four lights for DOWN..two left and two right...ONLY so that each letter in the words has its own LED for light distribution. So at the moment when the left gear retracts, say, that light comes on "U" and then a few seconds later the "P" comes on as the right gear hits the well. This is necessary to track both wheels, but it is NOT how the Spitfire gear indicator works. In reality unless BOTH wheels have retracted fully NO "UP" indication comes on...same for "DOWN"

So I have to work out how to give them independant lights (done) but make them co-dependant (to be done). I guess the theory for that will work for the lights being restricted to when the Generator is on!!

The LOW VOLTS light is also problematic as I can't seem to find which offset the A2A Spitfire uses for the light.


Thanks guys, any help wth the next step would be appreciated....I am out of town on business until Saturday now though,

THANK YOU BOTH!!!!!!!!


Darryl

[CocnutAir]

If there was an offset for a switch that detected when the left undercarriage is up and locked and another offset for a switch on the right undercarriage would that help?

You could connect both switches in series to the UP lights. If both switches are closed the UP lights would go on. In other words, both switches would have to be closed for the UP lights to come on?
Each switch only closes when their respective undercarriage is up and locked.
Would that work?

Regards,
Alan

[gokhotit]

That sounds like it might work.. If both offsets are in the same line as both lights with a valve in between each offset, then both lights at the end, sound good. Something like this:

--rt gear--valve--lr gear---valve---U light---P light--