Pete Dowson

Yes please. ZIP and email to petedowson@btconnect.com. Pete

I'm reading that myself here, but it is always zero for, for example, the Cessna Amphibian. The "handle position" changes from 0 to 1 or back (its a BOOLean) when I toggle the water rudder, but the values you want never change from 0. I suspect it needs an aircraft model with this part enabled. I can't test or develop anything without such an aircraft. Pete

I assume this was for an aircraft with such a nozzle? I can try to look for them here, but I need to know which aircraft to load, preferably one of the default ones please. Regards, Pete

If you mean reverse thrust, see the Throttle position offsets -- reverse is simply a negative value there. Pete

Do you mean you have both windows open together? That will certainly cause FS to struggle. In my experience having a second 3D window reduces FS's performance by 60% or more! If you don't mean that, does it still stutter with a simple visual model in spot mode? Have you tried any alternatives? It sounds simply as if in spot mode you are expecting too much of your graphics or processing system. Pete

You misunderstand completely I'm afraid. You cannot use anything whatsoever in FSUIPC to get any aircraft displayed in FS at all. The facility to inject TCAS data is intended to allow programs which are showing aircraft in FS via the Multiplayer interface visible on TCAS screens which use FSUIPC data to obtain the locations. That is all. The only way I know to get any visible and controllable aircraft into FS, apart from the user aircraft, is to use multiplayer. On the Microsoft FS website. It is one of the SDKs they provide I think. I know nothing more about it, I'm afraid. It isn't my in area of knowledge. Regards, Pete

It sounds like, probably uniquely, this panel is attempting to line up the aircraft using the same controls as you would, i.e. the normal aileron axis. It is obviously expecting more sensitivity, so certainly a larger null zone or a flattened response curve could lessen its ability to exercise the control it requires. Just adjust your aileron calibration in FSUIPC to give more sensitivity where this panel needs it -- near the centre. There's really no other way unless you can persuade the panel makers to change to using a different method (e.g. the inbuilt AP localiser tracking, or using aileron trim, or even by-passing the user control inputs and sending values direct to the SIM). Regards, Pete

You should most certainly be able to find a position on the lever movement which arms them. Don't test this on the ground, get airborne first. Why not try using the latest FSUIPC facilities for actually calibrating an ARM position? You can make that quite wide, so it is always easy to find. Yes, use the latest FSUIPC (3.65) and follow the very detailed instructions provided in the documentation specifically for setting flaps detente positions. Regards, Pete

Why not use cockpit mode then? Or possibly find a simpler visual model -- if there's a stutter in spot mode but not cockpit mode then I think it can only be the graphics causing that. An alternative would be to throw more processing power at it -- faster PC and video card. You could also try using normal flight mode by with the simulation set to zero sim rate (check the FSUIPC offsets). Pete

How have you assigned the axis as a tiller then? You mean you assigned it as another rudder in FS? FSUIPC options, "Axes" tab, then as per directions in the documentation. The tiller only appears in the direct to FSUIPC mode (as there's no such axis in FS). Calibrate both tiller and rudder in the Joysticks tab. Pete

As it says on SimMarket, get the software from http://www.schiratti.com/dowson. The ZIP file includes full documentation and other goodies. Pete

The current version is 3.65 and, as always, is available at http://www.schiratti.com/dowson, along with all my othe FS software (for seven years now). I'm sure it tells you this on the SimMarket sales page! Regards, Pete

It sounds like either you are using a bad (pirated) key for FSUIPC, or you are using a version of FSUIPC before 3.53 with a Key purchased in 2006. These are the only two known possible reasons for an application to work without registration but not with. Best to leave it alone then. I'm sure ActiveSky can manage very well in any case ;-) Regards, Pete

Yes, assuming you've not actually got a second copy of FSUIPC (renamed perhaps) in the Modules or the main FS folders, it sounds like something you've installed into FS is not terminating correctly. There will be a copy of FS9.EXE (with all its modules including FSUIPC) still running on your PC from the previous time you ran it -- the window etc has closed, but FS has not terminated because something is running a separate thread which isn't terminating. Check by using CTRL_ALT_DEL and looking through the Process list -- you'll probably find FS9.EXE there. Terminate it using the button at bottom right, then I think you'll find FS loads okay. Assuming this is what is occurring you'll need to find the culprit. I know early FS2004 versions of Active Camera could do that, but that was fixed long ago. Please note that version 3.53 of FSUIPC is over six months old now and not supported. The current version is 3.65. Regards, Pete

I don't know FSXpand at all I'm afraid, and these are messages from that program not from FSUIPC -- you really need to contact their support. But if you like I can look at an FSUIPC Log. Do this: Load up FS, go to the FSUIPC Options, Logging page, and enable IPC read and Write logging. (I hope you aren't using many FSUIPC-dependent aircraft gauges or modules, otherwise the Log will become very large). Then run FSExapnd, get your problem, close FS completely, and show me the Log. If it is too big to show here, ZIP it up and psot it as an attachment here or to me at petedowson@btconnect.com. Regards, Pete

Ah .. is that a later version? Last time I looked it didn't. Does it also support 16-bit (short) values too now? Pete

Yes, -19.68761 is correct. Think of the degrees round a circle, Counts 0 to 360 clockwise, 0 to -360 anticlockwise. -19.68761 is identical to 340.31239. The problem is only that you are using signed numbers instead of unsigned numbers (the Heading is unsigned), but that's not your fault because VB stupidly doesn't support unsigned arithmetic. Just add 360.0 when you have negative result. This is not rocket science by the way, just elementary junior arithmetic. Regards, Pete

I don't know why VB is crashing (I don't know VB) but why are you setting the length of the write to 3380 to 1 when the string you want to write must be at least 4 bytes (5 with the needed terminating null, which I think you may need to add explicitly when using VB). Does VB come with a debugger? You should be able to use it to work out what is wrong. Pete

No, he's not telling you that. Please read it again. The heading provided by the offset you are reading is in degrees TRUE --i.e. it is relative to TRUE North. The one shown on the panel is Degrees MAGNETIC. The difference is the magnetic variation, which is also readable if you want to convert one to the other. Your ".312" may well be the correct TRUE heading. Why don't you use FSInterrogate to check your results against? That is why it is provided after all. :-( Please read again the comments in the documentation about these offsets. Pete

No, not without getting a new Key. There's no need to change it in any case -- it is never actually used as an email address, it is just a way, along with your name, or identifying you uniquely. It's a system I use for access keys instead of tying FSUIPC to a particular PC and having to make new keys after you change enough of the hardware -- I don't like that type of system. With FSUIPC and WideFS you are free to use them on any of your PCs. It is one license per user, not per PC. Regards, Pete

I don't think VB supports short integers, so just declare an ordinary Integer and set it to zero before reading the 2 bytes from offset 0D0C into it. The bits representing the light switches will still be in the right places, the top 16 bits (bit numbers 16 to 31) will be zero, is all. Regards, Pete

Sorry, all I know is that if Windows says it cannot translate the Server Name into an IP Address, then it cannot see that PC correctly. Maybe it is firewalled, ir is in a different workgroup or has its IP address in a different sub-net (i.e. the part of the IP address masked by the subnet mask). I really don't know enough to analyse it more. You may want to see if you can get help from Katy Pluta over in the FS2004 forum. I have had to ask her for help with my own Network from time to time. Regards Pete

I'm not familiar with VB, which I assume this is, but assuming "Single" is a type of floating point I would have thought it advisable to convert "x" to floating point first, before doing the calculations: Plane_heading = x Plane_heading = (Plane_heading * 360.0) / (65536.0 * 65536.0) Note that I always use parentheses () to force the order of computation -- I never trust compilers to get it right! ;-) Pete

There seems to be only two possibilities left -- either your FS CDs really ARE corrupt, or your video system card or drivers are faulty (this is regarding the white text, nothing more). Sorry, I cannot imagine what is going on there. Pete

You need to calibrate with a wider zone for idle! ALWAYS allow more space than you think, as no joystick prodcues 100% consistent values. Pete