Need testers for 737 systems simulator software

[metamarty]

Nice work with the ProSim Marty - I have it running on my test PC and it is most impressive.

Couple of minor points that may be of interest - Unless I'm doing something daft of course!

Just looking at the lighting control and on my setup I find that the Anti-Collision Beacon and Strobe controls appear to be exchanged?

Also, Position and R/W Turnoff light controls don't seem to work - I think 'Position' are the Nav Lights referred to at Offset 0D0C bit 0, but I'm not sure whether Runway Turnoff is accessible - Unless it is 'Recognition' referred to at bit 6?

I haven't got as far as controlling any hardware yet, but I hope to try this asap probably using a mix of OC and BU836.

Cheers,

Rob

I did take me some time to get a mapping of what I believed was right, but it might be wrong. The anti collision and strobe lights were indeed exchanged, since I believed this to be correct, but I changed them back now, as it seems the strobe lights should be on the wings and the anti collision light should be on the bottom of the fuselage. The position light currently works on bit 0, but it does not seem to affect the lighting of the airplane. You're also right about the turnoff light doing nothing. They are not controllable as far as I know. Bit 6 seems to switch on some light that mostly resemble dim taxi lights, but I don't know what they are supposed to be.

For now, Runway turnoff and Wheel well do nothing more than increase the load on the electric system. The logo and Position lights are switching bits on FSUIPC but I see no response in the model.

Thanks for the input, the fixes will be in the next release.

[metamarty]

Happy new year everyone!!

Marty, I have another request, or maybe it already happens?

I have an led 64 card on another computer running FS2Phidgets for MIP, gear, autobrake ect. It would be sweet if I could pick up the offsets for the Master caution, Fire and 6-pack from there and save a bunch of long wires from the overhead down to that location.
That would be usefull for not just me but others with phidgets gear already running. If you could transmit all the ofsets to FSUIPC, one could use guage , button and indicators from anywhere on the network.
I have to run your software on another PC because I could not get the phidgets cards to be seen by two programs. So I have one LED64 in the ovewrhead running directly from your software, and the other for MIP.

Thanks again for your efforts!!!

Andy

Happy new year to you too!

It's a good idea to have an FSUIPC output. I'll see if I can add that. For now, the other option is to install the SIOC program from opencockpits. It allows scripting and passing values on to FSUIPC. You can output any value from prosim737 to a SIOC variable and then process it and pass it on to FSUIPC.

[RadarBob]

All understood Marty.

Glad to be able to contribute - Albeit in a small way!

Some further (model dependent) findings on this one:

In the default 737-400, there is no switch on the overhead for 'Position' and changing the setting with ProSim doesn't have any effect on the Position (Nav) Lights as viewed from outside using 'Spot Plane'.

However, there is a 'Nav' switch which correctly controls the Nav (Position) Lights - You can see them on the outside view, but this 'Nav' switch position is not controlled by the ProSim switches - Interestingly, this 'Nav' switch also seems to turn on the cockpit interior lighting and if you turn the switch off in FS and then change any lighting switch setting in ProSim (Doesn't matter which) then the switch operates and the cockpit and Nav/Position lights come back on - So it seems that they are linked to a bit which ProSim maintains set - Possibly bit 9 (cabin lights)?



In PMDG, there is a switch for 'Position' and this changes when the state is changed in ProSim - When viewed from outside, the Position lights do illuminate accordingly (and without an associated cabin light change!)


In the default 737, there is no ovhd switch for Logo, and there is no logo illumination effect on the A/C logo when viewed from outside using 'Spot Plane'

In PMDG there is a switch for Logo, and it is controlled correctly by ProSim - However, Logo illumination effect when viewed from outside seems to be fixed on anyway.



Had another look to see if I could find out a bit more about what/where the Runway Turnoff Lights were:

According to the POH I have here. they are located in the leading edge wing roots and illuminate the area immediately in front of the main gear.


In the default 737, there are no switches for Runway Turnoff, and I can't see any effect on the A/C lighting when the state is changed by ProSim.

In PMDG, there are switches for Runway Turnoff, but these switches appear to have no effect on the A/C lighting - So perhaps they are just dummies?

Cheers,

Rob

[metamarty]

All understood Marty.

Glad to be able to contribute - Albeit in a small way!

Some further (model dependent) findings on this one:

In the default 737-400, there is no switch on the overhead for 'Position' and changing the setting with ProSim doesn't have any effect on the Position (Nav) Lights as viewed from outside using 'Spot Plane'.

However, there is a 'Nav' switch which correctly controls the Nav (Position) Lights - You can see them on the outside view, but this 'Nav' switch position is not controlled by the ProSim switches - Interestingly, this 'Nav' switch also seems to turn on the cockpit interior lighting and if you turn the switch off in FS and then change any lighting switch setting in ProSim (Doesn't matter which) then the switch operates and the cockpit and Nav/Position lights come back on - So it seems that they are linked to a bit which ProSim maintains set - Possibly bit 9 (cabin lights)?



In PMDG, there is a switch for 'Position' and this changes when the state is changed in ProSim - When viewed from outside, the Position lights do illuminate accordingly (and without an associated cabin light change!)


In the default 737, there is no ovhd switch for Logo, and there is no logo illumination effect on the A/C logo when viewed from outside using 'Spot Plane'

In PMDG there is a switch for Logo, and it is controlled correctly by ProSim - However, Logo illumination effect when viewed from outside seems to be fixed on anyway.



Had another look to see if I could find out a bit more about what/where the Runway Turnoff Lights were:

According to the POH I have here. they are located in the leading edge wing roots and illuminate the area immediately in front of the main gear.


In the default 737, there are no switches for Runway Turnoff, and I can't see any effect on the A/C lighting when the state is changed by ProSim.

In PMDG, there are switches for Runway Turnoff, but these switches appear to have no effect on the A/C lighting - So perhaps they are just dummies?

Cheers,

Rob

Here's a nice overview of various lights on aircraft:

http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question...cs/q0263.shtml

Unfortunately, as you describe, the FSUIPC bits do not contain all lights and some descriptions are different from the 737 labels. The logo lights have a bit, which the program controls, but as you found out, there is no response on the model. Some for wing lights, which should illuminate the wing leading edges. I also fix bit 5 to "on" in any conditions. I had to do this, because of some anomalies with hardware in our cockpit. Some drivers need this bit on to function properly.

I think bit 5 is what you refer to as the nav switch. This is strange, since it is labeled "instruments" in FSUIPC. It is the only bit I always set to on when a switch is operated.

Bit 6 and bit 9 are the only bits which are currently not controlled by the program.

[dnoize]

Yes, it's nearing completion. I've added support for the MatrixOrbital VFD2041 screen, which is a close copy of the actual green display. Of course, the phidget LCD will work too. The electrical panel will display the usual data and will have a full working maintenance mode when the switches are in "Test" position and the MAINT button is used. This will allow you to view electrical faults that are stored in memory and clear these faults.

Hi Meta,

Do you know a source for the MatrixOrbital in the netherlands ?

Is your software directly communicating with the display ?

The MatrixOrbital uses serial communication.

Futaba also has a few serial VFD's...i guess those could be used too ?

I have two Futaba VFD's on the shelve here, worth a try maybe.

The Futaba VFD are slightly bigger than the Matrix orbital, but still smaller than the original display. The Futaba seems to be cheaper too.

more info on the futaba vfd display range:

http://www.futaba.com/products/displ...cter/index.asp


Stef



.

[metamarty]

Hi Meta,

Do you know a source for the MatrixOrbital in the netherlands ?

Is your software directly communicating with the display ?

The MatrixOrbital uses serial communication.

Futaba also has a few serial VFD's...i guess those could be used too ?

I have two Futaba VFD's on the shelve here, worth a try maybe.

The Futaba VFD are slightly bigger than the Matrix orbital, but still smaller than the original display. The Futaba seems to be cheaper too.

more info on the futaba vfd display range:

http://www.futaba.com/products/displ...cter/index.asp


Stef



.

I bought my VFD2041 from a dutch store somewhere in Groenekan, but this was around 1999 and I can't remember the vendor. It was a hobby project and now, 10 years later I found that the display actually fits nicely into the slot for the electric display and it even has the same color and brightness. That's why I implemented it. It's going to look much better than having a phidgets TextLCD in there.

Yes, the module is legacy RS232, but giving the nice USB RS232 cables available, you're not going to notice much about this. Just plug the USB into the hubs that also serve the other hardware. There's a lot of hardware working this way. Even the engravity CDU's are RS232 devices with their RS232 to USB converter built in. The only annoyance is that you'll need to find the COM port that was created by the RS232 converter cable and configure that in the software.

I doubt the matrix orbital driver will work with other vendors displays. There are some escape codes starting with 0xfe that I send to the device for controlling the cursor, clear screen, brightness, etc. If the device does not understand these, it will probably become a mess. The full specs are here:

http://www.matrixorbital.ca/manuals/...FD2041_150.pdf

It won't be too hard to build support for other displays, but I will need a sample hardware product to build it.

[RadarBob]

Thanks for the nice link to the lighting overview Marty.

Obviously there are some differences in the way writers have interpreted and implemented some aspects, so I can see that it is difficult to cater for that.


Cheers,

Rob

[airbus340]

Hello your software is really great but i have one problem i want it to configure it with open cockpits outputs card. the readme says that i should type this in my web browser:
http://:/sioc but i don´t know which port and which host i tried it with localhost and the port i used when i was activating the iocp server(in the hardware window is iocp connection listed) but it dont work can you help me please
thank you yours niko

[metamarty]

Hello your software is really great but i have one problem i want it to configure it with open cockpits outputs card. the readme says that i should type this in my web browser:
http://:
/sioc but i don´t know which port and which host i tried it with localhost and the port i used when i was activating the iocp server(in the hardware window is iocp connection listed) but it dont work can you help me please
thank you yours niko

I think you are mixing two things:
First of all you need to connect the program to the IOCP server. To do this, open the configuration window of the program and locate the line that says "IOCP server". Next to it are two text fields. Enter the IP address of the IOCP server in the first one and the port in the second one. You can find these values in the window of the SIOC program. It displays these items.

The next thing is the configure what inputs and outputs you want to use from SIOC. This can be done in the various tabs of the config window. Once that is done, you can get a stub config file via your webbrowser. A typical URL to type into your browser would be http://127.0.0.1:8080/sioc.

[dnoize]

I bought my VFD2041 from a dutch store somewhere in Groenekan, but this was around 1999 and I can't remember the vendor. It was a hobby project and now, 10 years later I found that the display actually fits nicely into the slot for the electric display and it even has the same color and brightness. That's why I implemented it. It's going to look much better than having a phidgets TextLCD in there.

Yes, the module is legacy RS232, but giving the nice USB RS232 cables available, you're not going to notice much about this. Just plug the USB into the hubs that also serve the other hardware. There's a lot of hardware working this way. Even the engravity CDU's are RS232 devices with their RS232 to USB converter built in. The only annoyance is that you'll need to find the COM port that was created by the RS232 converter cable and configure that in the software.

I doubt the matrix orbital driver will work with other vendors displays. There are some escape codes starting with 0xfe that I send to the device for controlling the cursor, clear screen, brightness, etc. If the device does not understand these, it will probably become a mess. The full specs are here:

http://www.matrixorbital.ca/manuals/...FD2041_150.pdf

It won't be too hard to build support for other displays, but I will need a sample hardware product to build it.

I will source a matrix orbital vfd from the us. They are around 114 $.

Meanwhile if you would like to try the Futaba, i have 2 of the NA204SD02 here and you can use one if you like. They can be configured to use either a serial or a parallel protocol.
The vfd glass part fits perfectly in the window and they look quite nice.

Is the sim you are working on for a FTO ?

Thanks again for your tremendous effort.


The futaba VFD:





Stef



.

I have 2 of the NA204SD02