Appreciate some guidance on throttle setting in p3d

[chumley]

I have a GF-TQ6 Throttle Unit connected to P3D and two throttles mapped in FSUIPC for the PMDG NGX and using direct mode with no reverse zone.

With the throttle levers in the same position I am getting different thrust settings on the PMDG guage on the display.

I have checked the settings in the Joystick Calibration page and have the following settings for the two controller levers:

Approx setting                  Throttle 1 Lever                            Throttle 2 Lever
Max                                        16383                                            16383
Min                                        -16384                                           -16384
75%                                   11430/13907                                 11543/13963
50%                                     4000/10192                                   4282/10333
25%                                    -4572/5906                                    -3724/6330

I accept that the internals on the throttle levers are most likely prone to giving different readings for the same position but I am wondering if there is some feature in FSUIPC that will remove this discrepancy.

Thanks 

[Pete Dowson]

3 hours ago, chumley said:

With the throttle levers in the same position I am getting different thrust settings on the PMDG guage on the display.

Yes, this is the problem with analogue inputs, especially generated by cheaper potentiometer devices. No two are ever identical. If the positions aren't too dissimilar you are actually getting something which is quite realistic as the types of control in the real aircraft are rarely the same after a while -- especially those like the older Boeings using mechanical and hydraulic links.

3 hours ago, chumley said:

I am wondering if there is some feature in FSUIPC that will remove this discrepancy.

Yes. There are facilities to calibrate them at more points than just minimum and maximum thrust.  Please look in your FSUIPC User Guide, refer to the section called CALIBRATING MULTIPLE THROTTLE, PROP & MIXTURE AXES TO "LINE UP", on about page 50.

Pete

 

[chumley]

Thanks Pete

I had a crack at Syncing the throttle levers following the information referred to above.

 

After doing this I had the following values showing in the .INI file:

SyncSlopeThrottle2=7/9,19/19,30/30,44/41,53/51,64/63,75/71,87/86,97/96,108/106,120/121,127/128

When testing this the N1 values in the PMDG NGX are still up to a couple of units in variation when the levers are visually at least correctly aligned. I should add that I have, using a spirit level, drawn a line on the throttle unit and moved each lever to the line - the N1 values are L - 75.3 and R - 77.6

I'm pretty sure I followed the instructions carefully. The question I have is - does the data from the .INI file look reasonable and should it still show the kind of differences in N1 values I am seeing?

Thanks

 

[Pete Dowson]

29 minutes ago, chumley said:

When testing this the N1 values in the PMDG NGX are still up to a couple of units in variation when the levers are visually at least correctly aligned

Test with a default aircraft. Maybe PMDG have programmed in some realism -- maybe uneven wear and tear on the engines and controls. Always test things with default aircraft.

31 minutes ago, chumley said:

The question I have is - does the data from the .INI file look reasonable and should it still show the kind of differences in N1 values I am seeing?

No idea. But you should also realise that analogue inputs are rarely exactly the same every time no matter how precisely you position them. I don't understand why you insist on them being aligned perfectly, it isn't a realistic proposition. If you really want exactly the same inputs to FS for every throttle position then use the Throttle Sync hot key method. Then, when that's engaged, FSUIPC copies throttle 1 to all engines and it won't matter where the others are.

Pete

 

[chumley]

Thanks again Pete

The only reason for the alignment was that I thought I may have been missing something in the setup but if it's just the vagaries of hardware then I'm not that bothered.

At the end of the day I have managed for quite a while with the different values and it hasn't stopped me enjoying what I'm doing.

Having said all that I'll get back to what I enjoy doing.

Thanks for your time (and of course FSUIPC)