Engine Start Key

[Kenny]

Hello again Pete.

Thanks for the prompt reply to my mail. Sorry for the intrusion.

I am still trying to assign a key that flips on and stays on until an engine fires up.

I am using Voice Buddy to orally operate switches like the Battery, Avionics,Lights etc. No problem with these as the switch simply flips on and off as required under voice control.

The problem I have is with keys that have to stay in an "on" position until the engine starts. The switches at present require me either to hold the mouse button down or hold a key down until start up. A single press and release merely toggles the switch on and off. Voice Buddy does not appear to have a "repeat" function which would "Hold" the switch.

Perhaps this is outwith the functions of FSUIPC. I am trying it this way as I cannot seem to find a key in FS Assignments that repeats without being held down. Perhaps some of the members have knowledge of an engine switch that simply flips on to achieve startup.

Please appreciate that I am just finding my feet with this only since starting to use Voice to control switches.

I hope that I have made sense with this post.

Regards...Kenny

[Pete Dowson]

Thanks for the prompt reply to my mail. Sorry for the intrusion.

You seem to have started a new thread, so it is a bit difficult to refer back.

I am using Voice Buddy to orally operate switches like the Battery, Avionics,Lights etc. No problem with these as the switch simply flips on and off as required under voice control.

The problem I have is with keys that have to stay in an "on" position until the engine starts.

By "on" you mean "pressed" I assume? That is done by the software sending a "KEYDOWN" and holding it down until a "KEYUP" is sent. Unless Voice Buddy provides a method of interpreting a command as meaning do the KEYDOWN part only, and a way of giving it a KEYUP, then what you ask is just not possible.

There is a "cheat" control provided by FS -- "Engine Autostart", assigned by default to CTRL+E. That will work with a normal voice-to-keypress setting. I think that's your only option.

Regards,

Pete

[Kenny]

Hi Pete.

I mailed your private mail address by mistake the other evening and you asked me to post any further questions via this Forum.

Thanks for the quick reply. I have not as yet seen a way to "hold" a key press in Voice Buddy. Will investigate further.

Regards...Kenny

[Pete Dowson]

I mailed your private mail address by mistake the other evening and you asked me to post any further questions via this Forum.

Ah, rightthanks. I still get so many messages I forget which is what!

Thanks for the quick reply. I have not as yet seen a way to "hold" a key press in Voice Buddy. Will investigate further.

What about using the Engine Autostart keypress as I suggested? I think that's about as good as you'll get by voice if the program doesn't have separate press and release facilities.

Regards

Pete

[Kenny]

Yes, that's been at the back of my mind. It's just that probably like most Simmers, I try to keep things as authentic as possible. In this case though the Autostart looks like the only option at present.

Thanks for taking the time to help me, my knowledge base on techie. things is not great. I will mail eDimensional for their input and post here when I get a reply. If they can help then it is always another piece of the puzzle for folks.

Regards...Kenny

[Pete Dowson]

I try to keep things as authentic as possible.

Shouting "start" through a mike doesn't sound so authentic :D . You should be using a spring-loaded partly-latching toggle switch for the starter, and for airliners another (latching) switch for the fuel. Even with a co-pilot you'd probably do one or the other. You could operate the starter yourself and shout out "fuel on engine one" when the N2% figure gets to the right value, so your "buddy" co-pilot does that bit. :wink:

Regards,

Pete

[Kenny]

Ahah, now I'm getting somewhere. I knew if I went to the right person I would get the info. Now, where to get a spring-loaded partly-latching toggle switch? :D

[flypfc]

Kenny

are you trying to build a full cockpit those switches can be hard to come by I have to have them custom made for my app which can be costly but if you e-mail me privately I can help you maybe :!:

Regards Eric

[Kenny]

Hi Eric.

No, I'm not doing a full cockpit, do you want a divorce on your conscience? :D My wife thinks I'm crazy as it is!!

I'm just using my pc but am trying to make everything work by voice control, everything but the engines unfotunately.

Thanks for your input.

[Frank.O]

Kenny,

I don't know wether this works for jets too, but on the Baron I just tried the following: go into FSUIPC menu and display the Keys page. Open the scroll list with FS controls. Scroll down until you find "MagnetoX Start" (where X ranges from 1-4). Assign a key to this control (be careful that it is not already used in FS). If you just hit that key once the engine 1 starter will go to start until the engine starts and then go to "both". If you then create a voice command that issues this key to FS this should be what you're looking for. I didn't find any similar control for jet starters though, there's just one general control named "Jet Starter" but I don't know what that does.

Hope this is of any use for you.

Frank

[Kenny]

Hello Frank, Hi to Pete and the rest of the Guys.

Thanks for the suggestion Frank. As I said to Pete I,m not really a dabbler with my Sim. It's only this Voice programme that's got me tinkering. However after having looked at all the Magneto key settings it became clear that this was what the key should be. I also have discovered that the Concorde engine ignition switch will stay "on" until the engine fires.

I will have to tidy the bmp a bit to make it suitable for my panels but it now works via Voice Buddy. Now that I know it works I can take the time to try out various other engine switches and see if the Magneto Start will work for them also.

If you read this also Pete, you did suggest using The M key to select the Magneto so obviously this is the way to go. It probably seems straighforward to you but I'm not really clued up on how the gauges work.

In my Dash7 panel the M+ and - keys alter the zoom factor. I'll look at that in the assignments page of FS.

Thanks to you all for helping out. A problem shared is a problem halved

[Pete Dowson]

If you read this also Pete, you did suggest using The M key to select the Magneto so obviously this is the way to go.

Well the generic M magneto selector assignment doesn't actually operate the mags or starter switches, it only selects them. The + or - keys then turn the switch. For props the starting needs the start position to be held against a spring, so you hold the + key down till the engine starts. Jet starting is similar but I think it uses a different selector.

There are hundreds of FS controls and I do not know exactly what they all do. I suspect some do nothing and are just left-overs from an earlier version, or possible new facilities which never actually made it into the code.

Scrolling through the list in FSUIPC, looking for likely candidates to try, is not so easy and you can miss things. For each version of FS since FS98 I have published lists of the controls FS declares (I won't say supports for the above reasons. :) ). I used to try to explain what each one did and how to use it, where I knew, but I gave that up as an almost impossible task with all the other things I have to do. But the list, just as a bare list, may be useful to you in any case -- http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.

In my Dash7 panel the M+ and - keys alter the zoom factor. I'll look at that in the assignments page of FS.

Don't press them together. Press M first to select the Mags. I don't think the Dash7 has any does it? For jets I think you select the jet starter with a J. The + and - keys operate on the last thing selected, which could be almost anything -- by default when you load up, the view is selected, hence the Zoom operation.

Regards,

Pete

[Kenny]

Hello again Pete,

Thanks for continuing to monitor this topic. I don't know how you keep track of it all :D . I suppose that practise makes perfect.

I have your controls document and have read through it. I won't take up more of your time and ask you to explain it all here. I'll go through it and tinker with things slowly and carefully after backing up!!!!

You are probably smiling at my attempts to " walk " with this. I feel I am still at the crawling stage. I haven't even figured out how you get to do the quote sections that you do in your replies to my posts. eek

I appreciate your input and more importantly your contribution to the FS community. As a non techie I can only marvel at the programmes you produce and thank you for them. I only use FSUIPC and must admit to taking it for granted up to now.

By the way, now that we have figured this out my poor " Co-Pilot " is in for an ear bashing via Voice Buddy!!! :D

Thanks again