Boeing 727 Partial Panel

[Michael Carter]

I mounted the monitor behind the MIP this morning and have been playing around with Panel Studio for a couple of hours now.

The monitor is a tight fit under the Korry indicators, but I wedged it in. I took off the factory bracket for the base and used the screw holes to attach a couple of angle brackest that I opened up slightly to a greater angle to match the panel angle.

If this monitor would have been only a millimeter or small fraction of an inch taller it would have never fit. Talk about cuting it close.

You can see the obvious gap from the monitor bezel and I hope to take care of all of that with he instrument bezels when I get around to buildng them.

The ADI is smaller than it should be as is the altimeter, but compromises had to be made in order to use a monitor behind a real 727 MIP.

Now I just have to play with Panel Studio some more to get my pop-up windows and sound included. I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/727panel5.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/727panel4.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/727panel3.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/727panel2.jpg

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/727panel1.jpg

[David Rogers]

That is starting to look really cool! Seeing the gauges from Panel Studio through the MIP really brings it to life!

What are you using as your base 737 model is FS ? The Dreamfleet 727 is one of my favourite addons of all time but it always frustrated me that the panel can't be detached from the outside view - or have you found a way to do this ?

[Michael Carter]

That is starting to look really cool! Seeing the gauges from Panel Studio through the MIP really brings it to life!

What are you using as your base 737 model is FS ? The Dreamfleet 727 is one of my favourite addons of all time but it always frustrated me that the panel can't be detached from the outside view - or have you found a way to do this ?


The 727 main panel is a separate window from the outside view just as in the FS aircraft. Panel studio just creates the new panel that can be moved and resized just as any FS panel.

The frustrating part is trying to get the rest of the panels to be recognized
through Panel Studio. I'm no programmer by a long shot and I barely can comprehend what I'm doing.

I have the overhead panel popup working, but once it's opened by the added 'OH' icon, it won't close. All of the switches and guages are missing too so nothing works. It's there, but it isn't.

Having to refer to the GPS for RNAV work, I did get that working correctly, but that's all so far, and I suspect it was because it's a stock FS gauge.

Working with the DF panels is not so easy or straightforward.

[spitfire9]

I've been using/trying to learn panelstudio as well.

I'm having a hard time of it too ! Some of the gauges I wanted to use from a Convair580 were on a photorealistic panel. Which is to say that the gauges were actually built right on to the MIP,, using the mip as a common bmp for all the instruments ??
For example,, when I pull the airspeed gauge,, all that is there is a needle and the numeric tape bmp,, no face,, the airspeed face is actually part of the background/mip bmp.

I tried to add a new face bmp to the gauge but for the life of me I can't figure it out.
I did get one working but I had too create a new background bmp, just the airspeed face,,, BUT,, now the airspeed gauge is actually its own pop up panel. I would much rather have all gauges as seperate and add them to one pop up panel.

Also ,, because of my very limited knowledge of xml , I have to resort to finding guages that are VERY similar to what I want (needle travel and position) so I can reverse engineer the guage to make it work the way I want.

I know that most people here are using PM or like glass cockpits so if anyone knows a good forum or tutorials on Panelstudio or gauge making,, please pass it on.

P.S. Another thing I noticed about Panelstudio is that if the gauge isn't xml or in a cab file,, studio won't find it or open it ?

[ve4anc]

Skunk Works:

What a neat project. Spitfire 9 and I have a big project ahead with the Convair 580 FTD/Sim ... Spitfire is working hard on the software, while I'm doing the electronics and handling the political and money side of the project.

Should be neat to see this come together and when we actually get moving on bolting all the hardware together next spring, it will make a huge contribution to the training of firebombing pilots engaged in forest fire suppression operations.

All help in the area of MIP software is greatly appreciated, as ultimately it will be for a great cause and literally will save lives.

All the best,
Lee Smith

[Michael Carter]

I haven't gotten any farther than I was two hours ago.

I did verify that most of the instruments are working with the exception of the airspeed indicator and altimeter. I have no idea why they are not working. They are right out of the DF guage file. I guess to get any of this to work correctly I'll have to sign up for C++, and computer engineering courses at the local community college.

Sometimes I hate this damn hobby. SOB!!!::(

[QF6228]

Looking good skunk!

Damien

[spitfire9]

I was just looking at the DF 727 files.

If I can get this straight,, you built a whole new panel for the Df727 with Panelstudio and just left it in the DF panel folder?

Could be a cfg file error, something not right with the as and alt ??

Everything (all the bmps show up) but the as and alt needles don't move?

That is a strange one.
Are the as and alt aliased in any way? Or the other gauges that work maybe?

[Westozy]

Good stuff Mike, well done!

[Michael Carter]

I'm starting to get a handle on this stuff.

What I should have realized from past experience with panels, is that there is one main panel folder that is used globally for all of the Dreamfleet models. Each of the model's panel folder is aliased to the main DF727 panel folder.

It is here that all of the panel information resides.

What FS Panel Studio is trying to do is create an entirely new panel folder to which there is no alias panel to reference for the rest of the aircraft panels and functions and sounds. Yes, you can build a panel from scratch like this, but it would take weeks or months to include what the DF main panel folder contains.

What I did was copy the main panel information from the panel configuration file I created in Panel Studio for Window00=Captain's Main Panel and replace the Dreamfleet Window00= Captain's Main Panel with mine, but only for that window.

After saving it and loading up FS and the DF727 there was my main panel and all of the sound and functions of the original DF main panel were back! Even the icon panel brought up all of the other associated windows like the engine panel, radio stack, etc.

Now all I need to figure out is how to get the main panel to appear on the instrument panel monitor instead of having to undock and move it everytime I load the aircraft.

I'm taking my first flight with the new MIP this afternoon. I hope it is as exciting as I expect it to be. This really is it.

[Geremy Britton]

would fs panel studio be any use with a 737 glass cockpit?

I want to be able to resize my panels on another monitor yet be able to save the settings to when i reload fs my panels are still reset to how to have sized them previously.

Geremy

[Michael Carter]

Yes, you can do the same as I did. When you create a new main instrument panel you can resize all of the gauges to whatever size you need. When the main panel is saved, all of the gauges remain the size you chose and in the position you put them in on the main panel.

What I was refering to about the panel position in my above post has to do with permanently locating the whole main panel to a position that opens it on the second instrument panel screen without having to undock it and move it manually.

Your instruments on the panel will not change. They will remain right where you put them and at the size you made them.

[Geremy Britton]

sounds cool! :D- can you use glass cockpit panels not 727 style gauges with the software.

Thanks

[Michael Carter]

You can use any gauge in your gauge folder.

I could have used glass in the 727, but I chose not to. Although I may still buy the Reality XP Sandel 3808 EFIS.

[Geremy Britton]

thanks may consider buying the software at some point when i get onto building the MIP.

thanks:)

[andarlite]

Now all I need to figure out is how to get the main panel to appear on the instrument panel monitor instead of having to undock and move it everytime I load the aircraft.


I currently have 3 monitors, one for scenery and 2 for cockpit panels. Once you have everything set up the way you want, you should be able to just save the flight. When you retreive that flight, the panels will all be in place on the correct monitors. I saved several flights like this (cold and dark, engines running, etc). The only drawback to this is that when you retrieve the flight, your plane will be at the airport/location where you did the save. Not a big deal though, I saved my flights at my home airport and if I want to start somewhere else, I just change to the new airport after the flight has loaded.

Regards,
Henry

[Michael Carter]

Thanks. I should have remembered that trick.

Are you running all three monitors from the same computer? If so, are you using two graphics cards, a splitter, or what software are you using to allow this?

My next project is going to be getting the monitor running for the engine instrument panel but I don't know how to do this.

[Geremy Britton]

yeah, i was thinking about that myself. :D

[andarlite]

Thanks. I should have remembered that trick.

Are you running all three monitors from the same computer? If so, are you using two graphics cards, a splitter, or what software are you using to allow this?

My next project is going to be getting the monitor running for the engine instrument panel but I don't know how to do this.

I'm running the monitors all from the same computer (a la Gwyn).

My main graphics card is a PCI-E GeForce 7900GS (2 video out), one out goes to 22 inch wide for scenery and the other out to a 17 inch (Capt instrument).... I plan on using a vga splitter to duplicate this screen to another 17 inch for the FO side.

My 2nd graghic card is a cheap PCI GeForce FX-5200 (also has 2 video out).... one out goes to another 17 inch for the center instrument panel. I had though of using the 2nd out to the FO monitor (instead of just duplicating the Capt panel via the splitter), but I find that as you create and undock more windows, the overall frame rate drops.

With one monitor I was getting 50+ fps, added 2nd and it dropped to 30-40 fps, and now with 3, I am getting 15-25fps. Maybe I'll try it as soon as I receive the 4th monitor (just scored a 17 inch Samsung on Ebay for $80).

Regards,
Henry

[Geremy Britton]

so does a splitter just duplicate i screen twice ie you cannot have 2 different panels being displayed across two split screens from a single vga output.

[andarlite]

That's right, it just duplicates. To have 2 different panels displayed across 2 monitors, they each have to be connected to their own vga output from the graphics card(s).

Regards,
Henry

[ivar hestnes]

You are doing very well with your project Michal. Must be something to work with real panels. I like it very much. Looking forward to see more pictures as always:smile: