Pete Dowson

FS does not simulate more than one autopilot. The one and only autopilot is switched on and off by the Autopilot master offset. And FS does not simulate control wheel steering (CWS), so there are no offsets for that. Regards Pete

Macros are contained in files of type ".mcro" which are saved in your FS Modules folder. You can delete the entire file or edit it to delete individual macros. But there is really no need as they take up little disk space. Or maybe they are taking so much space in the drop-down assignments lists that they confuse the issue? If so, by all means delete those which you may never want to use. Regards Pete

The only stupid questions are those that should have been asked but weren't! Really? I'm sorry you don't like my style, but I write in the same way always, just trying to be factual, the same as in the documentation. Please point out the precise places in which you feel I wasn't trying to be explanatory and helpful so I can understand how you get such a mistaken impression. I'm genuinely curious. I just can't see it. If everyone were like you, misunderstanding replies where I only try to be helpful, I'd stop all support right now and close down the Forum. I don't need to do so much, you know. Check out how much support you get from many other producers. Oh, that old favourite again. Didn't you pay for FS? Didn't you pay for your F-16? How much help do you get from those producers? Do you think you are being so nice now? I was trying to help, the best I can. Why do I deserve this? And "paying" or not, I've always tried to help folks in the same way, for the 12+ years I've been supplying freeware and only more recently payware. There are threads here from all sorts. Paying customers don't get preferential treatment in replies, I reply to whatever questions there are. Of course, and that is why I answer questions, fast and always, with the facts as I know them and/or pointers to where to get more. I really don't see how I could possibly do any better. I am NOT an expert on every add-on for FS and don't actually have many add-on aircraft. I prefer to become proficient at one or two. I know nothing of any F16 add-on, nor how it is written. The best folks to advise on how to use an add-on are those who wrote it. I couldn't even hazard a guess, but can really only point out the two or three different ways FSUIPC might (and it is only a "might") be able to help -- and that is exactly what I did if you read it again! Hmm. I found some for F16, but dating back years and obviously not related to your version. Strange. I wonder where I saw it mentioned recently? Sorry, at my age I think the little gray cells start fading ... Pete

It certainly sounds like you are using an out-of-date and unsupported version of FSUIPC. Try updating to a current version. Pete

FS doesn't simulate subsystems to that level. Some add-on aircraft might, or you could investigate FSPS's BTMS program (Brake Temperature Monitoring System) -- see http://secure.simmarket.com/fsps-brake-stem.phtml Regards Pete

FSUIPC uses the same methods to read them as any other program. Are they plugged in? Does Windows and FS recognise them? Are you using a currently supported version of FSUIPC (i.e. 3.98 or 4.60)? Regards Pete

Rightjust the same as most FS users and I wouldn't have assumed otherwise. Why not justsee if just following the instructions for mouse macros give any results. They might. They have for many other 'layman users'. The L:var method is a little trickier and less likely to work in any case. Also use the Search here for other F16 -related posts. I think there was another not long ago. If you mean controls rather than keypresses (as there's no drop-down list of keypresses like 'A', 'B', 'C' etc, no need for one), then I'm not sure which "documents section" you mean, but there will be a document entitled "List of FSxxx controls" included in the documents installed with FSUIPC. That contains all of the FS controls available in that version of FS -- all of those are in the dropdowns, as well as many others added by FSUIPC (listed in the Advanced Users guide). Yes, but you aren't a programmer and aren't out to use its programming facilities. ;-) However, the control assignment facilities are far in excess of what you can do in FS alone. Sorry, I'm not sure of the relevance of that? Care to expand? Regards Pete

I don't know what those are. Does this F16 have controls or keyboard shortcuts for what you want to do? Do these MFDs send joystick buttons? For which aircraft actions? The FSUIPC drop-down lists for FS include every possible control provided in FS, plus some extras added by FSUIPC. But there is no way it can provide a list of specific aircraft controls invented or added by third party add-on aircraft. How is it to know these or predict them? It simply sends a Mouse click message to whatever software owns the place you click -- same as any other windows program (or Apple O/S prograsm for that matter). How it is used depends on the program -- in this case the add-on aircraft graphic gauges. If the F16 is programmed using the standard Microsoft C/C++ gauge programming SDK in a standard way then the mouse macro facilities might work -- you'd have to try them to find out. Alternatively they might be using "Local Gauge Variables" or "L:Vars" to control things, in which can you might be able to construct macros to drive these -- there are facilities provided in FSUIPC to get a list of L:Vars for the current aircraft. All these things are described in the FSUIPC documentation, but what will work with any third party software is anyone's guess - except maybe the makers of the aircraft who are probably the first folks to ask. Who would program these? What would they do? There's no magic in programming, it is hard work. You have to know what to do and how to do it. Presses of what? Button presses are shown in the Buttons & Switches tab, and KeyPresses are programmed in the Keys tab. What else would you expect? Have you tried support for this F16, whoever and wherever it may be? Regards Pete

In that case you could simply press them slightly, to get the zero value, BEFORE pressing the "SET" button for the maximum value. Then the calibration would be from -16384 to 0, and the "at rest" position, 16384, would act like 0. That's the whole point of being able to set your points of calibration where you like, or in this case, where you need to. If you'd followed the step by step instructions for calibration in the User Guide you'd have achieved this in any case, because it recommends setting "dead" areas at both extremes so that the extreme FS values can always be reached. It is even more important for toe brakes to set a reasonably generous dead zone so you don't accidently engage the brakes when using the rudder (and likewise vice versa to avoid deflecting the rudder when using the brakes). So you really should be pushing the brakes in a little more before pressing any "SET" button. Regards Pete

This is only because the original IPC interface, designed by Adam Szofran way back in FS95 days, worked that way. When he stopped development after FS98 (moving on to work for the Microsoft FS team) I continued the same interface with the sole intention of getting all my FS6IPC-interfacing programs working on FS2000. And so it has gone -- no chance, or no point, in changing the interface because it's main purpose is for continued compatibility. Yes, but if you read them all in one request they aren't any more inefficient than a single item. All in one request per cycle. The difference in the transfer of 1 byte or 4000 bytes, or whatever, is negligible. The cost is the process switching and message processing. You only want to do that once per cycle. You do all the "FSUIPC_read" calls (and "FSUIPC_write" is any), in the order you need them, then call "FSUIPC_Process" once, per cycle. Only the Process part takes any time -- it has to send a message and wait for a response. Well, you could only add such calls to the process at sparser intervals -- the main point is to only do one process call per cycle. The "point" at which the amount of data in a single call becomes noticeably slower is quite high. If updating your display costs performance then by all means only do it when it changes, but yes, your understanding is correct. I do this in my PFC display drivers. Regards Pete

Check the profile specific selection and choose the profile from the list which drops down, or create a new one using that selection. There's actually a picture in the User Guide showing you. Did you not look? See the section headed For users already having Aircraft Specific settings Well, that seems to defeat the whole point of me adding the facility to make things easier for you! How weird. The way it is designed to be used and documented to be used, of course. The same way as you create and name profiles in the first place. Please have a look for the FSUIPC User Guide sometime soon. You may find it interesting! ;-) Pete

Attitude? I think you should look to your own, please! Read your first message then read my reply and you'll see it was completely justified. FSUIPC never asks for a registration, it never has. And documentation is always provided for a purpose, not just to give me something to do to fill all the time i don't have. Pete

Of course. I don't want to bog down your file system with logs. A new log gets created every session. Okay. That will cut off FSUIPC's weather reads, so that no program which needs to read the weather via FSUIPC will get any. That would be okay if nothing needs to read weather from FSUIPC. Pete

If you want to Register FSUIPC in order to use all of its facilities then you need to purchase the key from SimMarket. Please do read some of the documentation which tells you all about these things. That's why documentation is provided, for you to read, enjoy and understand! Pete

Good! Thanks for letting me know. Pete

Two things there: 1. If he says "Lua Vars" he doesn't mean it. he means "L:Vars" which is short for gauge Local Variables. Lua can have variables of course, but they are yours to define. Gauges and FS does not use or include "Lua", that is an FSUIPC addition only. 2. The older versions of FSUIPC3 did not include access to Gauge L:Vars, either in FSUIPC macros or controls, or in Lua. I first implemented them only in FSUIPC4, but i soon added them in FSUIPC3. If you have a current version, then the facilities are the same. Why not read the documentation? In the current Advanced User guide for FSUIPC3 even mentions L:Vars in the contents list, part of the chapter on Macros. And the statement "FSUIPC4 only" was removed from the Lua library documentation some time ago. What do you want L:Vars for with the PMDG 737 overhead? All those switches are controllable via mouse macros, for sure. I don't know if PMDG used L:Vars in the FS9 737. Regards Pete

No, I confirm no such thing. What "Lua variable" are you wanting to get? One you've defined in Lua, one defined and set as a Global? You do not explain enough for me to make any sense, I'm afraid. Pete

Where does it "ask for registration"? Sorry, but that is nonsense! Not one version of FSUIPC I've ever made EVER asks for registration. The installer provides you with the OPTION to register, in case you want to. Do you not see that? You choose whatever path you wish. I moved the option to the Installer to get over the need to have a special run of FS in "Administrator Mode" just to register! The installer has sufficient privileges just by virtue of being an installer, so getting around that constantly annoying problem! Why not read a little of the Installation document provided within the ZIP? It might help you understand things better, and it really isn't that long! I sometimes feel I waste my time providing any documentation whatsoever! :-( Pete

I assume FSInn sends the weather direct to FSX via SimConnect. FSUIPC4 cannot affect that unless you explicitly enable the option to influence FSX's own weather (not normally advised), or enable wind smoothing (which a lot of folks use to try to calm down FSX's excessive wind shifts). FSUIPC is in no way different or sensitive to anything to do with the version of Windows you use. You must have something else going on there. Either way there is nothing I can change in FSUIPC to influence matters because it isn't directly involved at all when you aren't using it. It is certainly now sounding like a matter for FSInn folks. Regards Pete

Ah, the weather is supplied via the Server? And how is it then applied locally, to your copy of FS? You could try enabling weather logging in FSUIPC, see what might be causing the problem. Maybe there's too much turbulence being applied? Though without any options applied in FSUIPC I can't see how it would make that any better or worse. Regards Pete

You'll find a huge range of nVidia drivers on http://www.guru3d.com. That's where I go. The latest ones aren't always the greatest. Some folks actually stuck to, or went back to, 182.50, finding those much more reliable and with good performance than later ones. I did too for a while, but the 197.45 ones I use now seem good on a win7 64-bit system. I see 197.57 is out as Beta. I see, however, that you don't yet have a lot of choice with the GTX 480. Y0u have to use 197.75 (the 470/480 equivalent of 197.55), or 197.41, the original ones for the GTX 470 and 480. Regards Pete

I'm glad it was so easy. These problems are sometimes much more intractable. Regards Pete

There was for a while, but I doubt it is still in place. SimMarket sell the user Registrations. Please check there. Regards Pete

Almost all of the problems I've ever heard about seem to have been caused by attempts to uninstall and reinstall FSX. Its uninstaller does NOT do a very good job -- especially on SimConnect, which it only seems to have a half-hearted attempt at. The result then is when you do the re-install the SimConnect libraries get into a mess. It's all wrapped up with Microsoft's weird and wonderful (!) side-by-side library system which has to be the most complicated computer entanglement I've ever encountered. I suspect, in the end, the quickest answer might be a Windows reinstall followed by an FSX install, but you might get away with restoring to an earlier point if you have any restore points available. Before that you could try uninstalling FSX once again, then installing it one step at a time, running and checking each time -- i.e. after the base CD install, then after the SP1 install, and finally after the SP2 or Acceleration install. Pete

But uninstalling FSUIPC stops FSMETEO updating any weather, as it uses FSUIPC doesn't it? At least it always used to. So the result is the same as stopping FSMETEO. Right? By default FSUIPC does not touch the weather at all, unless it is asked to do so. If it appears to be doing something you need to find out what is asking it to act on its behalf. So, it certainly seems to be FSMETEO you need to investigate. Regards Pete