Pete Dowson

From what I've seen and heard, it isn't between layers, there seems to be quite good smoothing by FS thenm it is something going very odd within the layers themselves. If it works and has no bad side effects, yes, but the problem is the weather indications such as Shift+Z will not then show that actual wind affecting the aircraft. I still need to do experiments and tests to see what can be done. Regards, Pete

Please have a little look at the WideFS DOC inside the ZIP. I have tried to keep that simple, especially the first parts, describing what it is. Then, by all means, ask questions. Okay? Pete

The error only sounds if you are trying to set values which are out of order. The numbers must increase from left to right. Correct the ones which are out of order first. If necessary, start on the right instead of left, and so on. There is no difference inside FSUIPC which axis you are setting, the code is identical and all axes with centres have 4 numbers, which have to be in order. If you want to start again from defaults, just edit the FSUIPC.INI file (in the FS modules folder). You'll see the section there for Joystick Calibration and you can delete it all, or just the aileron entry, as you like. Do this when FS isn't running. Regards, Pete

Just delete the FSUIPC.KEY file from your FS Modules folder if you want to start again. Then when you enter the details, enter EXACTLY what you have been given by SimMarket, even if this is not how you like your name to be. They have derived this from your details when you purchased it and the Key is tied to those details exactly. Regards, Pete

The Schiratti site has not had the 2.97 version up since FSUIPC 3 was released two weeks ago today. Since then it has only had FSUIPC 3, and currently it is showing version 3.04. If your browser is showing differently you are probably looking at a cached page in your PC or on your server. Try refreshing it (Refresh button), or clearing your caches, or else complain to your ISP. Thousands of people have already downloaded version 3 in the two weeks it has been there. Regards, Pete

Sorry, but no way! 2.98 was a Beta for FS2004 and has never been released publicly, and the previous public version is not available nor supported now. Version 3 is the only current version and this applies to FS2000, FS2002 and FS2004. It is not just "the FS2004 version". That is a complete misconception. I have to take the position of only supporting registered copies of FSUIPC, and registered copies need FSUIPC 3 or later. If you register then all your programs will work in FS2002 and you get full support. If you have registered FSUIPC and WideFS in FS2004 then simply copy over your FSUIPC.KEY file from your FS2004 Modules folder to your FS2002 Modules folder. This saves having to re-enter the details. But this only works if you are running them both on the same PC -- if not you will need to re-enter the details. Regards, Pete

I'm not really doing anything with the "Run" facilities in WideServer these days. All those facilities are now in FSUIPC -- more folks benefit that way. Check the section "Programs: facilities to load and run additional programs" in the FSUIPC Advanced Users guide. They've been there for some time now (Septemeber 2002). There's also a nice little freeware program called "Run Options" by Jose Oliveira, on the Schiratti site. This edits the relevant section of FSUIPC.INI for you. Regards, Pete

Phew, I wrote that years ago. Let me see. It gets the heading, and the wind direction, both in degrees TRUE, reverses the wind direction so you get the direction it's blowing you. Then you need the true air speed (or maybe the ground speed?) and the wind speed, and the rest is vector trig. I think I looked it up in a book. If you search the 'net there are places with whole collections of aviation and navigational formulae. I just looked at my code and I don't understand any of it, and it looks a complete mess, so I'm not sharing it here. Sorry. Regards, Pete

This is the FMC and the Overhead of PSS's A320? Can it be split across more than one PC? I understood it to be an integrated peice of software, I would very much doubt that you can do that. In any case, it is a question for PSS I think. I don't know who told you to use WideFS for this. As it says quite clearly (in big letters possibly), wideFS is for external applications for FS, It extends the FSUIPC interface to client PCs which are NOT running FS at all. The PSS A320 will be an add-in aircraft for FS. none of it will run without FS, and it will all need to run together in one copy of FS. I think you need to investigate Project Magenta or something similar. Regards, Pete

The sole purpose of Wideclient is to talk to WideServer on the FS PC and present a remote copy of the FSUIPC interface. The interface is not a visible entity to humans, it is used by application programs. If you are not running any application programs on WideClient you do not need it nor WideServer. Pete

Sounds like it was reading a different file to the one you thought it was! Never mind, glad it's okay now. Pete

I hope you can get it sorted out quickly. The last time I heard of anyone with jittery axes was in Myanmar I think, and it was the power supply. Do also check that there are no joystick assignments in FS (check joysticks are disabled) as even if there are no USB or Game Port ones connected, this can still play havoc. Other things that can cause small jitters (not big deviations) are bad cables, dirty connections, dirty pots, temperature and humidity variations, and so on, but I do try to smooth some of those out. Regards, Pete

Hi again, A couple of points of clarification I've just thought of: On this: The update rate managed by FSUIPC is really constrained by the FS Frame Rate. I cannot allow it to try to make these calls into WEATHER.DLL aynchromously. They have to be done in synch with the rest of FS, on the frame rate. Otherwise the system can get very unstable. So if, for example, your FS is running at 20 fps it would take at least 30 seconds to update 600 stations -- probably half that as by the time you've seen the signal to allow you to change the data, you will have missed the next frame tick. I don't think there's any way around that, even by leaving out the FS populate call as I suggested I might be able to in my last message. The only speed up would be by batching the weather stations, as FS does by loading a WX file. This brings me to this: Now here I think you are possibly mis-reading this: "I suppose you could have a routine which did this in a loop, working from a file, rather than using the IPC interface to pass the data, as it obviously is not suited to such large amounts of data. I'm not sure why this would be any advantage over creating a WX file and loading that with a FLT. " All that was suggesting was that possibly the IPC interface could be used to supply a filename for a set of weather stations, which would then be loaded into FS en bloc. Exactly the same in fact as available already for loading FLT + WX files. I don't know a way of injecting them into FS as a batch, so FSUIPC would have to loop reading the file and sending each WX station to FS. If this is done in one frame then it would be a stutter, certainly, maybe a long one -- though I could of course leave the "populate" call till the end. Regards, Pete

Since this is still a live program, no, I cannot without his permission. Has he said this would be okay? Surely you haven't asked him already and got such a reply. Ask him to confirm it with me, I need some details in any case. I really would far prefer it for the authors themselves to contact me, as most do. Then they can incorporate the keys in their programs or publish them in a read.me or FAQ on their websites. They are also in the best position to supply the information I need to make the key. Otherwise, it would not be appropriate of me to bypass authors in the manner you suggest. I understand that this will be needed for defunct or unmaintained products in which the author has lost interest, but this is not the case here. Regards, Pete

It means the program is not accredited for running on a free version of FSUIPC. All programs need access keys unless you register FSUIPC. The author or supplier of programs can apply for access keys. A lot have done so already, some have not. Pete

1. I would spread it out to much longer than 30 seconds if I were you. there's not such a big rush. Start at the aircraft and work out in a spiral. You can take minutes to reach 100 miles. 2. Please read the "important notes for FS2004 users" near the back of the FSUIPC User Guide. Those stutters are primarily due to the imposter clouds which are horrible anyway. There is no way around the drawing of the others as I could not find the way into FS's morphing mechanisms. This is the same as FS2002 and before, only better once the localised weather is entered. 3. See the "important notes for FS2004 users". Those stutters can be avoided. they don't occur here when using FSMeteo 6, for instance. 1. There should be a way to inject weather for stations as a "target" for FS to morph to. This is how FS itself would do it. However, it took me months to find the way to just set the stations the way that I do. I never managed to find the way to set target weather. Microsoft won't help with this. Maybe there will be a Weather SDK one day, but there never has been in the past. 2. No, I wish I did. but it simply isn't like FS2000/FS2002 where there was a complete table of weather structures. And, no, the NewWeather structure is nothing like the internal structure -- closer were my AWI structures, but even those are different. You can get a better idea from the .WX files. 3. It is as fast as it can be at present for the way it works and what it has to do. It is basically just creating the weather structures the way FS likes them and making a couple of calls into FS - one to pass the structure over, and the other to make it take effect. From timing tests I've done, the bulk of the time is spent inside the second of those calls, and it is FS re-populating specific weather points in a circle around the aircraft to take into account the change just supplied. One possibility which I could try is to avoid making the call which does the populating and only do that AFTER you've set all the stations you want. This could be done by adding extra commands to the NWI. Write to my email address and we'll discuss his further and maybe do some testing. 4. Updating a station without using the IPC interface? Sorry, I don't understand. You mean loading a .WX or using the Jeppesen weather downloads? Can you clarify? Pete

Has it been accredited? If it supplies an access key it will work without a registered FSUIPC, if not then it won't. If you don't want to try it to see, the author is the best person to tell you and also to apply for and supply a key if he feels that's right. With it going to payware now perhaps he wouldn't wish that? I don't know, ask him to contact me about it if necessary. I can offer access keys myself for non-maintained or otherwise abandoned freeware programs, but I cannot really deal with current programs except via the author or supplier. Regards, Pete

None at all, sorry, because I would need to see the INI file and the WideClient LOG. But I can tell you that Wideclient can only produce that message if there was no server name or IP address parameter in the INI file. It is NOT a Network error, as it won't have even attemnpted anything on the network, it is just saying that an essential parameter is missing. Double check that where you are looking at the INI file is definitely where you are running Wideclient from. I've had reports like this before where no amount of INI checking and editing did anything at all because they were running WideClient from a completely different folder! Pete

There is no change to PFC DLL, and nothing related to whether you upgrade and purchase anything else. The changes for FS2004 were minimal. I think you'll find something else is doing this, the timing is just a coincidence. Check things like your power supply, your COM port connections and so on. Also make sure you have no other joystick connection is enabled in FS, as double inputs for the controls will most certainly look like this. All the PFC DLL can do is read the values provided by the digital controller in the PFC device, scale them according to your calibrations, and then send them on to FS. The only connection with FSUIPC in this matter is that PFC obtains the addresses for FS from FSUIPC -- that way it can remain substantially FS-version independent. I feel it is very unfair to try to blame other modules of mine for a deterioration in your controls, and I do object to such implications. If you find you need hardware support please address it to PFC. Also note that there are some aircraft (the 767PIC notably) which has errors in their programming causing them to occasionally send full deflections for elevator, and possibly the rudder. I provided spike elimination options in FSUIPC to deal with these (see Technical page). Regards, Pete

Yes, but the interface it provides is the FS98 one. There are additions in each successive version, but the interface has stayed the same. I;ll change it if and when I design a new interface. Pete

The only way at present would be with multiplayer, I think. You run the clients in "observer" mode, or something like that. Pete

Yes, I know. But I made FS2000 readouts compatible and then FS2002 .. and now FS2004. Really, FS2002 is not distant, many still use it and most current add-ons and hardware were made for it. If the value needs adjusting to make it TRULY correct in real terms, and if it is a simple conversion from the value provided, then the way to deal with it is for me to publish the correct formula in the SDK. Currently it says 16384 = 860C. I didn't derive that, it was obtained from some earlier document, lost in time, and probably for FS5 or something. Maybe it is just that this isn't true for props and never has been. If there's a better expression for props, tell me what it is and I'll publish it. I would have done that several years ago if you had told me, but no one bothered. I see no need to make the actual numerical values there muck up existing applications and hardware gauges, no matter what the units are. Please try to see this point of view. It is quite important. Regards, Pete

No. WideServer ALWAYS produces a log when it runs. It is called WideServer.log and is in the FS modules folder. WideClient does likewise, its log is called WideClient.log and will be in the same folder as WideClient.exe. Sorry for having such obscure names for the logs :lol: but this has been like this now for 6 years and folks don't normally have any problem finding them. Why is the disconnecting causing many probems? The reconnection is fast. There is no data lost. Are you sure you are not getting confused with SB disconnecting? WideClient and WideServer stay connected as long as neither stops running for any length of time. If it is disconnecting then there is a problem, either with FS itself not allowing WideServer to run, or with something causing Wideclient to stop running. Making them stay connected when either isn't running would cause more problems than it solves. And in fact it solves nothing, because if you have problems because they aren't running, whether they are connected or not makes no difference whatsoever. When you send the logs (Zipped up please) don't forget to tell me about your PCs, what they are running, what processor and memory, which FS version -- and what you set the Frame Rate Limiter to in FS. The latter is quite important, especially in FS2004. Pete

In that case try it without ActiveSky, though I doubt that it is to do with the weather. As I said, the weather system in FS and in FSUIPC is completely different between FS2002 and FS2004. Even though there might well be bugs in both, I really very much doubt that they could be the same bugs! :) If it isn't a hardware problem, I am more inclined to think it is some interaction with the multiplayer side of things, since that is the main common thread. Perhaps it is to do with attempts to make images of someone else's aircraft using some badly installed textures or aircraft model in your FS installation? I don't know a lot about SB, Multiplayer and flying on-line, but doesn't it use specially installed stuff to get the other aircraft visualised? Regards, Pete

That's where I get it from for the FS98 areas, but converting it to the FS98 units. But in FS2004 this makes it too high, compared with the readings on the panels and compared to FS2002. Well, FSUIPC was doing the same for both Props and Jets, and they both came from the same place. I really don't know what the final values should look like, but the value FS gives me is quite clearly different, for Props only, than that given by FS2002. Quite possibly, and I don't know who is right. I can only go by what the panel/gauge designers tell me, and the value I gave for FS2004 was wrong for them. I have to keep things compatible. If it has been wrong all the time since FS98, then it has to stay wrong, at least in the FS98-compatible position. BTW how do you read the values on, say, the Cessna default EGT gauge. It is marked in 25C ticks, but starting from 0 or what? Since 08BE is derived from the same place as 3B70, both for Jets and Props (the same location is also used for "GENERAL_ENGINE1_EGT" too, in case you didn't notice), there's no point in me "comparing" them. All I'd do is discover that I was converting them for props by the formula I gave you! :lol: Sorry, it really is NOT FSUIPC's job to make things "as real as it gets". As far as the FS98 locations are concerned my only aim is to make it "as compatible as it gets". Regards Pete