Pete Dowson

In what way? Registering FSUIPC only gives you access to the additional user facilities, as described in the User Guide. It confers absolutely no additional facilities on any applications or panels. I think you are rather misunderstanding something in the documentation supplied with the panel. What do you think is missing or wrong? What are the symptoms? Regards Pete

Sorry, none of that means anything to me at all. It sounds like it must be related to SB3 or at least the multiplayer interface it uses. The fact that there's talk of "remote computers" seems to confirm this. I am not an SB3 user -- in fact I've never even used multiplayer, so I'm even less helpful that others might be who use this stuff. I would suggest asking in the SB3 or other on-line fliers forums or support areas. SB3 is, by the way, a very small user of FSUIPC. Most all of its clever stuff is via the FS multiplayer interface. Regards Pete

Okay. Good. At least that's consistent with 4.208. So, was there an FSUIPC4.LOG generated? What about the SimConnect Log? I'd like to see both please. (always every time). Your install of FSX evidently isn't pristine. As well as the SDK which you've installed, the DLL.XML shows another Add-On which I think should also have generated an Add-Ons menu: LeonardoSH.dll I'm now wondering if that could be the cause of these problems. Try renaming the DLL.XML file to, say "DLL.oldXML" then re-running the FSUIPC4 4.20 installer. That will make a new DLL.XML with only FSUIPC4 in it. Copy the 4.211 version back into the Modules folder and run FSX. Please shw me the Log files as well this time. Regards Pete

There's no differences at all in the FSX weather between SP1 and SP2, nor the original release and SP1. [LATER] Sorry, I wrote that when I was too short of time to expand upon it. Let me do so now. Basically, the bugs in the weather system that were in FS2002 and FS2004 are still in FSX. One of the possible problems in getting them fixed over all this time is that not enough people have actually complained directly to MS about them, and part of the reason for that might have been my fault for finding work-arounds via FSUIPC. That said, there are some work-arounds appearing bit by bit. The changes in FSUIPC4 have lessened the problems of sudden wind reversal, but not overcome them completely. It can do better, but currently only at the cost of introducing what are, to me, unacceptable stutters. I am hoping to get over this in due course, but the investigations are extensive, time-consuming, and utterly utterly boring (so any easier facilities to add take precedence). The same really applies to visibility smoothing and graduation. The best results are achievable at far too high a cost. Maybe that can be solved, but I currently do not know. The best results to date are available with the latest update to ASX. Because ASX takes over complete control of the weather (being a source) -- something FSUIPC4 cannot -- it can and does manipulate what weather is being fed to FSX to try to prevent or greatly alleviate the sorts of problems which arise from the otherwise realistic METAR downloads normally used. So, unless you are really strapped for cash, ASX is my recommended solution. If and when I make any progress in FSUIPC4 weather smoothing it will of course be announced in the normal way here (in the FSX Downloads Announcement) and in the History documentation supplied, but there is no development foreseen in this area in the short term. I am investigating as and when I can. Regards Pete

Why? Why would you want to control out and inner engines separately? you lose all the advantage of having two throttle levers -- being able to have asymmetric thrust for tight cornering during taxi or to cope with engine failure). The normal way is simply to assign Throttle 1 to Throttle 1 and Throttle 2 to Throttle 2 (so working for 1 and 2 engined planes, then in the 4-throttles calibration page check the option for 1->12 and 2->34. You have to CALIBRATE the throttles, all 4 of them the way you've assigned them (but only 1 and 2 the way I suggest above, the more normal way). You say "I went into calibration tab and clicked on set for all 4 throttles and I moved the levers and they seemed correlated okay.", which is NOT calibration! After pressing "Set" to ENABLE calibration, you then go through the CALIBRATION process -- follow the STEPS in the User Guide! You simply are not calibrating anything! Please please please follow the numbered steps in the User Guide to calibrate EVERY axis. Otherwise you might as well discard FSUIPC and go use FS. :-( Pete

Yes, if you undock it and move it there. I would hope and expect Key2Mouse to be able operate the mouse on any screen too, but you need to check that. Pete

You have all your answers now then, at last. Looks like the only way is to buy Luciano Napolitano's "Key2Mouse" program so that you can program a keystroke to operate the mouse to move the lever. Then you can use that keystroke on your button. Trouble is then you have to have the quadrant on screen for it to work. Regards Pete

That isn't an error from FSUIPC but an error reported by your application program. You don't even say what version of FS or FSUIPC you are using, nor whether you Registered FSUIPC or not! The information needed will be in a complete FSUIPC log. Please run it again, then close FS down, and show me the FSUIPC Log file from the FS Modules folder. Pete

They are the same. It isn't "my" page, it is Enrico Schiratti's page where he designs things and decides where to put them. I assume he decided it was clearer to put a copy in each of the FSX and FS2004 sections with descriptions appropriately worded. Sorry, I don't know conversion rates offhand. There's about 0.70 UKP to each Euro and about $US 2 to each UKP, so you can work it out roughly. Doesn't the site offer conversions? You can get them any way you like. They get shipped on disks too by many add-on producers. Does it need an upgrade? I thought it used FSUIPC so would be compatible in any case? You don't need to purchase FSUIPC for its use, they have a license. Regards Pete

You asked the wrong question, then. What has FSUIPC got to do with it? It's all about FS controls. If the standard FS controls (you can use Ctrl+Shft+F1/Ctrl+Shft+F4 which by default operate Mixture Lean and Rich respectively) don't work, what should actually work on their panel? (And did you ever check their documentation or help?). I originally suspected the answer would be that yuou cannot use keystrokes or controls, only the mouse (because there are a lot of add-on panels which insist you use the mouse). But then another user in this thread chipped in saying the FS controls DO work -- it is just that the graphics don't work with the controls being used. So there are two of you disagreeing on how the (same?) PMDG panel works. Either one of you has a different version (check for updates?) or one has a badly installed version. Did you EVER check your assignments with the default 737 as I repeatedly suggested? I really do think this subject is completely exhausted here now. Pete

In the Axes assignments you have some slight oddities, though I've tested with identical ones here and found no problem. [Axes] 0=0X,256,D,3,0,0,0 1=1X,256,D,9,0,0,0 2=1Y,256,D,10,0,0,0 3=1Z,256,D,17,0,0,0 4=1R,256,D,18,0,0,0 5=1U,256,D,14,0,0,0 6=1V,256,D,13,0,0,0 [Axes.Beech Baron 58 Paint1] 0=0X,256,D,3,0,0,0 1=1X,256,D,9,0,0,0 2=1Y,256,D,10,0,0,0 3=1Z,256,D,17,0,0,0 4=1R,256,D,18,0,0,0 5=1U,256,D,14,0,0,0 6=1V,1,D,13,0,0,0 [Axes.Beech Baron 58] 0=0X,256,D,7,0,0,0 1=0Y,256,D,8,0,0,0 2=0Z,256,D,3,0,0,0 3=1X,256,D,13,0,0,0 4=1Y,256,D,14,0,0,0 5=1Z,256,D,9,0,0,0 6=1R,256,D,10,0,0,0 7=1U,256,D,18,0,0,0 8=1V,256,D,17,0,0,0 9=2X,256,D,1,0,0,0 10=2Y,256,D,2,0,0,0 The Delta of only 1 for the Mixture1 on the "Beech Baron 58 Paint1" may give some problems if there is any jitter at all on the axis, as it means every single change has to be read. I don't have any jitter on any axes I have so I couldn't test it, but it may be that the changes are causing FSUIPC to stick in a tight loop reading the values and never allowing Windows to redraw the displayed ones. This is pure speculation, and assumes that the only aircraft you've tested with is that Baron with the white/blue paint scheme. Your other Baron entry, highlighted above too, has the X/Y axes assigned to the Mixt1 and 2 instead of U/V, but it will never be used because the name is a short name and you still have this: ShortAircraftNameOk=No If you want that entry to be used for all the other Barons you'd need to change the option to "Yes" (or you could use the "Substring" option there and just use "Baron" as the name). The other entry, [Axes] looks okay, so with other aircraft loaded I cannot see why there would be a problem at all. There certainly isn't here with exactly the same settings. Regards Pete

I think you should check with PFC what to do. I do not know enough about all the variations of their hardware to advise. I do know they made kit specifically for Elite as well as the current switchable kit and FS/Xplane usable kit. Try to contact PFC in Sacramento next week -- they are most likely still clodsed this week. Most manufactuers are. Well it can do, but the only real cases of that I have encountered were in a small place in Malaysia and other far flung parts of the world where the power supply available was fluctuating like mad and so causing all sorts of jitters on the axes. It was for that I added a lot of the smoothing and digital filtering in my driver. Really your results do look like it is operating with the wrong protocol. Sorry, I've no idea. I suppose you read the labels on it? They wouldn't mean anything to me in any case -- you'd need them to tell PFC. Maybe it has a serial number on the back someplace? Regards Pete

Have you yet actually tested it on the default 737? If it works on that and not on the PMDG aircraft then it has to be either a bug in the PMDG software, or possibly a bad installation, or simply that the PMDG panels are not designed to be used with the normal FS controls. Have you checked to see what controls the PMDG panel offers vis its keyboard shortcuts? Maybe there's a specific keypress comniation they assign, or you can assign, to this function? Well, I really cannot see how you will get more help here for what is evidently a PMDG matter. I would hope they would support their own products, assuming the answer is not already to be found in their help or documentation. Regards Pete

Are they the supplier? If not, contact your supplier. If it is underpowered it can cause problems. Have you had problems ever since you bought it, with the same power supply? If not it is unlikely to be that. Have you ever used it with FS before? Have you ever used it with "Elite" stuff? The fact that you mention a switch behind the quadrant implies to me that someplace you've read of models which are switchable between PFC and Elite protocols. Have you? Maybe yours is an earlier model, with the older controller board, and which is not switchable? There's more questions you need to answer I think. Regards Pete

Ok. The PFC MCP presumably isn't connected and you are not using Project Magenta. That's a bit strange. I can understand a parked throttle not passing immediately, as it sends the same signal as an unplugged quadrant (so you sometimes have to move it off idle first), but elevator and aileron should be giving normal readable values from the go. Not sure -- the checks are only based on certain regilar signals sent by the firmware inside the unit. Maybe those signals are sent whether or not there's a connection, but I don't think that's correct. That's something to ask PFC. It sounds like the firmware is giving spurious signals. Maybe the spasmodic mixture axis is what is telling the connection check that the quadrant is working okay. Ahthat sounds like it is using the Elite protocol, not the native PFC one. Are you sure you have a version which can be used with FS? Do you have Elite as well? What did you actually buy? You may need to send the unit back to PFC for a conversion if you've changed from Elite to MSFS. None of the USB-Serial adapters I've ever seen have any power source. They are just little plug things, and very cheap too. Make sure you plug them directly into a PC motherboard USB port though, not an unpowered multiplier. sounds like you need PFC support. Have you tried that? Regards Pete

Good! Thanks for letting us know! Pete

I'm very sorry, but it is the best I can do using the feedback folks provide. It has evolved over the 8 year life of FSUIPC and there are thousands of users who seem to get by. I can only improve the manual by responding to specific pointers from users as to what and where they find "confusing". If you would care to provide more details maybe I can do this, but I cannot explain more otherwise. So what is wrong with this paragraph in the User Guide which covers this exactrly: Since calibrating a throttle lever with a reverse zone would waste that zone when used on a Cessna (which has no reverse, you know), it would naturally be better to have aircraft-specific calibrations. But if you don't mind part of the movement being wasted it doesn't matter. It is entirely your choice. You are doing it wrong, then. I cannot give step by step instructions better than I have or I would have done. If you cannot be more specific about what you actually don't understand I'm afraid I cannot help you. There is no such thing as a degree-by-degree adjustment on flaps. you need to learn more about aircraft. Flaps are set at specific increments or angular values. Yes, as the paragraph I quote above says. Pete

I've just uploaded version 4.209 to the FSX Downloads Announcement above. As well as the listed changes this now includes some diagnostics in the Signature Checking part. Maybe, if SimConnect does manage to load it, these will show me why your system won't verify the signature from my Windows calls. Unfortunately, because the signature checking is performed on first loading, before I have any access to Logging facilities, the details are sent to Windows' debugging facilities. So that we can see what it is doing will you please download DebugView, from here: http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/DebugView.zip Run this BEFORE starting FSX (with FSUIPC 4.209 in the Modules folder). When you get a failure or other problem, save the Log you get in DebugView (File - Save) and show the result here, or ZIP it and send it to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. Please do the previously-advised checks first. At present this problem is unique to yourself, so it is very puzzling. Regards Pete

Really, that is very suspicious, because there is nothing so different between 4.20 and 4.208 which would stop it loading or changing any of the signature details. I think we will have to concentrate or working out what is wrong with the FSX installation which is causing this. Can you do these two things please: 1. Show me the DLL.XML file. You will find this in: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Dati applicazioni\Microsoft\FSX 2. Look at the FSX Help Announcement above and make FSX generate a SimConnect Log for me to look at. Please do this with 4.208 installed. From the pictures you showed, although I don't know Italian, it looks as if the signature checking is okay when doing the checks via Explorer, so the puzzle is why the exact same checks aren't working when carried out in FSUIPC4 -- the exact same sequence of Windows facilities are being used to carry out the checks. I'm cross-checking a few other things this end whilst awaiting your resluts. Regards Pete

Oh, how confusing! I think that should be reported as a bug. Thanks for jumping in here. Regards Pete

I'm afraid I cannot reproduce any such problem here, so I think the issue must be more complex than you say. I am assuming that you definitely have got "Direct to FSUIPC" selected, because the symptom does sound very much like the usual problem with FS assignments of the Mixture axis being defaulted with zero sensitivity. Just to cross check, when you press the top left "Set" button in the Mixture1 calibration section, it does say "(direct!)" against "Mixture1" doesn't it? To start with, as well as trying other axes on Mixture1 have you tried the same axes on other functions? Perhaps you could list the assignments you've made -- or, better, show me the [Axes] and [JoystickCalibration] sections from the FSUIPC4.INI file (which you'll find in the FSX Modules folder). Regards Pete

Ah, a button! All becomes clearer ... Okay, fine. But why not try the default 737, which after all is more like the PMDG aircraft you are trying it on? The Cessna is nothing l;ike a 737. If it works in the default 737 then your problem is specific to the PMDG add-on, so you should really be seeking support from PMDG. So it seems very likely that PMDG have not used the normal FS controls for this part of their cockpit (just as they don't for many other things). Why not refer to the documentation you get with the PMDG aircraft and find out how to operate it? There is probably a key press combination you can program, or even assign yourself. Regards Pete

Yes. Check the Other Downloads announcement above. It's at the end. Pete

The INI file format isn't published for any of the [Axes] or [JoystickCalibration] sections. They're not supposed to be edited manually. It is easy enough to do in the dialogues, after all. I only published full details for [buttons] and [Keys] to allow multiple events and conditional programming without making the dialogues over-complex for normal use. I'd rather not, as I'd prefer it to remain an implementation flexible value. However, if you really must do it this way, the numbers equate to the position of the axis in the Calibration pages, with page 1 containing 1-4, page 2 containing 5-8 and so on. On each page count top left first then bottom left, top right, bottom right. Don't miss any quarter -- the ones with other options or, for example, flap details, have numbers which simply aren't used. Regards Pete

This most certainly indicates that either the file is corrupted, or has been tampered with, or that the basic signature checking facilities in your computer are missing, broken or disabled. (Although, I suppose it could also indicate a hardware error, such as disk or memory problems. But this seems unlikely if you have no other problems). I still need to know the result of your checking the signature directly, as I asked previously: "Please right-click on the FSUIPC4.DLL (in the FSX Modules folder), selection Properties and check the signature details there." One thing you could do is try the 4.208 version available in the FSX downloads Announcement above. Regards Pete