Cant assign "BELOW GLIDESCOPE" annunciator

[lineman55]

Hi everyone,
Can some one tell me if its possible to assign this annunciator for my 737 cockpit that Im biulding.
I see that there are some items that I cant seem to find to assign to activate for my 64LED board. They dont require a digital input.
Also:
"LE FLAPS TRANS" indicating they are moving.
I find that only certain assigned items can be calibrated also.Is this normal?


. The items I am selecting should be activated by MS2004 default aircraft.
Mabe the listing in the software is described a bit different then what Im looking for mabe? :confused:

Kind regards
James

[alandyer]

James,

Is there an FSUIPC offset for the functionality you are looking for ?

If answer is yes, you can get it to work.
If no, then there is no way with any software I know of.

There are offsets for flap position.
Assign and enable them and you will see FSvalue change as flaps extend or retract.
FSUIPC has tools to examine Offsets while FS or pmSystems is running.
FSUIPC SDK has copious documentation on their Offsets.

Why would you assign annunciators to digital input ?
Digital output, surely!

and have I checked each and every offset for Microsoft Flight Simulator and pmSystems in the supplied INI file ?
and have I checked each of those against every Phidget componenet type ?
and have I checked all the above permutations against each aircraft type ?
Short answer: No.

Too busy building B737-700 sim!!!

Regards,
Alan

[lineman55]

Hi Alan,
I have spent the week trying to figure out my "BELOW GLIDESLOPE" annunciator
dilemma having it attached to my LED64 board.May I ask your assistance on this
issue?
If you find that their is no way possible..I will let it rest at that.
I'm totally stumped and out of ideas. :confused:

Kind regards
James

[imported_sweker]

Evening James,
I have been an avid Flight Simmer for 15 years, but have only joined the cockpit builders community within the last year. I have been researching 'Phidgets' as my interface hardware, but have not yet purchased it. Regardless, in reading this forum, I think your answer might be found in some of the other questions.

Again, I may be way off, but take a look at the following offset and see if you can assign a certain value for your annunciator to activate. If you note while flying within FS2004, the 'Below Glideslope' comes on at a point when the needle hits a certain 'threshold' (bottom 1/4 of the glidescope indicator).....Give it a try...can't hurt....

0C49 1 NAV1 Glideslope Needle: –127 up to +127 down

Let me know if it works.

Steve

[lineman55]

Thanks Steve,
I will try anything at this point.
Have you seen this listed in the drop down choices exactly like that? because this is a LED 64 board that Im using and
I would have to assume to make a copy of what is closest to that and rename it slightly different and then work from there in the pidgetfsuipc.ini file. :o

Ill give it a try and report back
Thanks for your ideas!
James

[alandyer]

Steve,
Thanks, Capt.
You're right on the money!

James,

Step 1: Identify Offset.
Courtesy of Steve we're past Step 1.

Step 2: Verify that Offset is in your FS2PhUIPC.ini file

If Not, add these entries (can get em from FSUIPC documentation).

[NAV1_GS_NEEDLE]
Offset=0C49
Length=1
FSType=Proportional
LoValue=-127
HiValue=127

Instead of [NAV1_GS_NEEDLE] you could have [MY_OFFSET_DESCRIPTION]

Now on to Step 3: Examine Offset values coming from FS.

Here's easy way to do this (Does not require Phidget card).
Create a Dummy Tab (button is on tool bar of main screen).
Assign NAV1_GS_NEEDLE to any line on Dummy Tab.
Don't forget to ENABLE component.
Save those settings!!!!!!!

Fire up FS.
Fire up WideClient (if FS2Phidget is on different PC from FS).
Fire up FS2Phidgets.
That saved setting will be restored every time Dummy tab is opened again.

Play around with Flight Sim:
(a) Shoot an approach.
or
(b) Taxi to somewhere along extended runway center line of ILS approach path.
Preferably out to the Middle Marker.
Also, you want to make sure you're centered on the localizer.
Use slew mode and pretend you're flying a Harrier for a while.
This will allow you to drop above, below and smack onto G/S while observing G/S needle.
Hint: write observations down (Not FAA requirement, just good tip :)
You should get good feel for Values.

Step 4:
Hook up hardware and calibrate "On" range for LED as well as brightness
(Yes - that can be set now!) based on your observations.

Regards,
Alan.

[lineman55]

Hi Alan,
Well I entered the following :
[NAV1_GS_NEEDLE_BELOWGLIDESLOPE]
Offset=OC49
Length=1
FSType=Proportional
LoValue=127
HiValue=127

and then I got an ERROR 6 and it shut down

When I changed it back to
[NAV1_GS_NEEDLE]
Offset=OC49
Length=1
FSType=Proportional
LoValue=127
HiValue=127

and proceeded to go into the calibration screen it said"invalid property error"
I even downloaded the newer version also.

So what do you think?
James :confused:

[imported_sweker]

Hey Guys,
Glad I could help....actually amazed I was on the right track! :eek: I've also decided that Phidgets is for me, and I'll be ordering my first one soon. :) It took awhile to understand how everything interacts, but using all the available doc's (i.e. FSUIPC guide) and forums really help.

James, maybe there is a character length restriction on the name, or perhaps it didn't save properly before you exited.

Once I get my first unit, I'll be able to help out a bit more.

Cheers, Steve

[imported_sweker]

Thanks Al,
I appreciate the vote of confidence. I've been reading for a long time about interface units to ensure I understand how they work and determine which one is relatively easy to work with. Needless to say, Phidgets has me sold! I'll be purchasing my first unit tonight.

James,
Not sure if I can help with this one, but when I get my first unit, I'd be glad to work together to get both set-ups working....

Cheers, Steve

[lineman55]

I got it to work... :p Finally!!

[steveellis]

I have been following this thread closely.
So what values did you find did the trick ?

[alandyer]

Me too.
I'm also curious.

[alandyer]

Steve,

Thanks for your kind words.
I also following thread closely.
Have to get this working for my sim.

What do you think of idea of aircraft specific INI files ?

Alan.

[lineman55]

Hello Steve and Alan,
I have had the flu for a few days and didnt feel much like doing anything :o
I will post today how I have the ini file that made my "B/GLIDSLOPE " anunnciator working.
Give me some time so the "Tylenol" kicks in

Kind regards
James

[steveellis]

Aircraft Specific INI Files would be an excellent addition.
The problem I find is that newbies ..like myself.. sometimes find it difficult to know what these values range from, I know we all like to try and figure it out for ourselves but sometimes ahelping hand is needed for those tricky bits.

I mean, it was only yesterday that I found out that the AUTOBRAKE DISARM, ANTISKID and a few more annunciators cannot be configured as FS does need other parts to make these functions work. The Annunciator for DISARM was a particular headache for me...<G>

Lineman --- Hope the tylenol has kicked in ---

[lineman55]

And the answer is........
Alan had it pegged from the start..

For some strange reason I had to place this at the bottom of the PS2phFUSPIC.INI
to get it to work.


[NAV1_GS_NEEDLEANNUN]
Offset=0C49
Length=1
FSType=Proportional
LoValue=-127 <--------- "minus sign" important
HiValue=127 "FUSPIC.DOC shows a "plus" in front of 127" I removed it and it worked

and then calibrate it for your purpose.

I know have the following annunciators working..
LANDING GEAR GREEN/RED
LE FLAPTRANS
LE FLAPS EXT
INNER,MIDDLE,OUTER MARKERS
AUTO BRAKE DISARM (LIGHTS when I turn auto brake knob in off position, I believe it is supposed to do the opposite?
SPEED BRAKE ARMED
SPEEDBRAKE EXTENDED


I am trying to get my FUEL LIGHT to activate when I reach a given minimum in the center tank.I have tried GALLONS, percent,
and still it wont activate after I lower the level in the aircraft fuel load.
Here is what I have:

[FUEL_CENTERTANK_ANNUN]
Offset=0B80
Length=4
FSType=Proportional
LoValue=0
HiValue=1500 <-----737 center tank max gal

any tips on this guys?


Aircraft specific .ini files would definitly be a huge help.

Kind regards
James

[alandyer]

Center tank is offset 0B78.
0B80 is left tank.

[lineman55]

Your right Alan.
I have changed it so many times trying left tank,right tank, and center I didnt realize I left it like that when I posted this.
Should I be looking at GALONS instead of percent? while trying to achieve this issue?
James

[alandyer]

Steps 1 and 2 have obviously been performed.

Step 3: Examine Offset values coming from FS.

What values are getting from FS for fuel using Gallons offsets ?
empty ?
full tanks ?

[lineman55]

Alan,
Im getting 1500 for full tank center fuel tank
I have set it to activate lets say 1000 gal and then I would save and go to FS to
adjust fuel capacity and drop it down to 900 in the center tank and then go into FS
and the led would still not light even though my tank shows the subtracted fuel.
When Im in the Phidget software and calibrate it the light goes on and off accordingly with my new settings but not in FS while im sitting there on the runway with the plane started and ready to go.I have even tried the wing tanks also with the correct offsets. :confused:
I will poke around some more tonight with it.
James

[imported_sweker]

Afternoon Gents,
Back to the original post topic "Below Glidescope" annunciator, I noticed the following offset in the Project Magenta documentation. Would this not be easier than setting values to the annunciator?

04FE 2 Bit 1 = Below Glideslope

and....

04FE 2 Bit 0 = Windshear
04FE 2 Bit 2 = Caution
04FE 2 Bit 13 & 14 = TCAS Warning and Alert

Let me know what you think!

Steve