Throttel Control

[Badger]

Dear Pete,

First off, I hope each day you feel better, I'm down in Stafford and its raining here, so I hope its not too depressing up there where you are.

I notice in the latest version of FSUIPC that I have (v 3.2.2), you have added a resume all throttle control option. I'm having great difficulty in getting FS to reliably select different engines using the E key and then a number.

It may be something to do with my wireless keyboard, but I have to hold down the 'e' key for 3 or four seconds and then select an engine number, even then it's a pretty hit and miss affair.

I was hoping that the same registry setting that you are using to reselect all the engines, might offer some hope of you being able to select an individual engine number through FSUIPC and then assigning a key stroke etc.

On the face of it, a duplication of what FS is supposed to do, but then again it is supposed to let us reselect all the engines via the keyboard and its not that good at that :)

If space is a problem on the interface, just being able to reliably select either engine 1 or 2 would help so much when taxiing twins, especially the DC3.

I hope you can help.

Regards Mark, from damp Stafford!

[Pete Dowson]

First off, I hope each day you feel better, I'm down in Stafford and its raining here, so I hope its not too depressing up there where you are.

Rain? Yes. Mostly up and down to Birmingham these last two days, visiting my wife who's having a hip replacement there. I am lucky to have my youngest daughter home for the long weekend to give me a lift and generally look after me. I'm afraid the eyesight won't be right until the other eye is operated on, maybe in three weeks if I'm lucky. As it is I'm just slowed down a lot and tire easily.

I notice in the latest version of FSUIPC that I have (v 3.2.2), you have added a resume all throttle control option.

If you mean this, as listed in the History document:

A hotkey facility for selecting all engines is added. Apparently there are times when FS’s own key sequence for this (E 1 2 3 4) doesn’t work—notably on 3-engined aircraft it seems. This facility selects all engines by writing the correct bit pattern to the location that matters.

then, as recorded there, that was in Version 3.07 back in September 2003. Have you not updated since before then?

I'm having great difficulty in getting FS to reliably select different engines using the E key and then a number.

Sounds like you are using one of those so-called advanced cockpits that continually sends controls to FS and thereby interferes with such sequences. It's the same problem which causes control acceleration in some cases.

It may be something to do with my wireless keyboard, but I have to hold down the 'e' key for 3 or four seconds and then select an engine number, even then it's a pretty hit and miss affair.

FS works on simple Keyboard messages -- don't hold down a key, just press E, release it and press the engine number. Trying to press more than one key together is the hit and miss part, and it isn't needed in these cases. The E 1 2 3 4 system works in the same way as the pushback (Shift+P then, later, a 1 or 2 for direction of turn).

I was hoping that the same registry setting that you are using to reselect all the engines

Registry? FSUIPC doesn't deal in registry settings.

On the face of it, a duplication of what FS is supposed to do, but then again it is supposed to let us reselect all the engines via the keyboard and its not that good at that :)

I've had no other reports of problems selecting one engine. The problems come with multiple selections, and then really only with the 3-engined aircraft. I can note your request for some future release (too late for 3.30), but please check out exactly what you are doing, becase it sounds a bit wrong in any case. I don't like adding features which aren't really needed. Let me know more details after experimenting with all the 'correct' methods.

As it is, of course, you can assign a Button in FS to produce a keystroke. To produce two (E the 1 or E then 2) you'fd need to edit the INI file (see Advanced Users Guide), but that may be worth trying too.

Regards,

Pete

[Pete Dowson]

... some hope of you being able to select an individual engine number through FSUIPC and then assigning a key stroke etc.

I thought of another way you can do this for yourself, right now. Just program a key or button to operate the FSUIPC offsets.

Scroll down the control list and find "Offset Byte Set". Then set the offset to "x888" and the parameter to a value to select the engines you want:

1 = engine 1

2 = engine 2

4 = engine 3

8 = engine 4

and any combination, e.g. 15 = all 4 engines.

This is all the HotKey facility to select all engines does.

Information about FSUIPC offsets for use in the Offset controls is provided in the FSUIPC SDK.

Regards,

Pete

[Badger]

Thanks for looking at this Pete.

My problem seems to be with 'IR Tracker 3'.

I've e-mailed the supplier but they haven't got back to me yet.

I'd like to try your second solution, but I have to admit to being a little daunted.

Where is the list I should scroll down? Should I find it FSUIPC.INI already?

If anyone else reads this, I'd appreciate a little help implementing Pete's idea.

Thanks

Mark

[Erups]

You need FSUIPC registered, then under the "buttons" tab you have to do the following:

-press the joystick button you want to program, it should get recognized by FSUIPC and appear in the upper line

-on the right mark "select for FS control"

-the drop down list that was grayed out is now usable

-select "offset byte control"

and in the fields enter the informations provided by Peter.

That's it.

[Pete Dowson]

Where is the list I should scroll down? Should I find it FSUIPC.INI already?

No, the list is the drop-down list of controls for assigning to buttons in FSUIPC's "Buttons" tab, or keys in FSUIPC's "Keys" tab. Please refer to the FSUIPC user guide. Documentation is there to help, honestly!

Pete

[davidvoogd]

Hello Pete,

I've been getting the same problem lately. In the PMDG 737 I hit E then 2 to select the right engine. From then on only the left (#1) engine would move, no matter what combintation of E + 1 or + 2 or both or even using the "Resume control of all engines" key. I had to restart flightsim for it to work again, oddly enough it seems to be getting worse lately. I first had this problem with the FLight1 Conquest II, now it's common for any plane.

I'm using a CH Yoke with Pedals btw, the throttles on the yoke and no other joysticks or controllers are hooked up. Oh and I have the registered version of FSUIPC.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Pete Dowson]

From then on only the left (#1) engine would move, no matter what combintation of E + 1 or + 2 or both or even using the "Resume control of all engines" key. I had to restart flightsim for it to work again, oddly enough it seems to be getting worse lately. I first had this problem with the FLight1 Conquest II, now it's common for any plane.

Something is corrupted in FS, or some add-on is overriding the engine selection setting, by the sound of it. The value setting which engines are being controlled is certainly set for all engines by the special control I added for this -- Monitor location 0888 as type U8 (Monitoring is set on the right-hand side of the FSUIPC Logging tab) and see what values are there. If it is 15, that's all 4 engines, 7 three, 3 two, 1 only the first.

I can undertstand the E+ keystrokes getting messed up by some of the more sophisticated cockpits, because many of them send many controls to FS and when one gets between the E and the number the subsequent numeric won't do what you thought.

Bear in mind that when you install some aircraft, you get more permanent additions too -- PMDG for instance, install a DLL in the modules folder. Maybe that is continuously sending controls even when you are not using the PMDG aircraft? Find it and see if it is okay with it removed.

Regards,

Pete

[davidvoogd]

I'll try the log thing. As for the PMDG DLL I don't think I can remove it as it brings up the PMDG menu in FS which is used to set several different parameters for the 737NG.

Thanks for the help,

[Pete Dowson]

I'll try the log thing. As for the PMDG DLL I don't think I can remove it as it brings up the PMDG menu in FS which is used to set several different parameters for the 737NG.,

Please yourself if you don't want to find out what is happening. I just thought you might want to see if it is responsible -- after all you can always put in back afterwards. And there's another thread here, from CaptainKeith, who removed that DLL and got more frames and could still fly the PMDG aircraft okay.

Regards,

Pete

[davidvoogd]

In that case I may just try it out then.