PFC twin piston prop feathering on Cirrus II

[jamessbarker]

Hello Mr. Dowson:

Is there a way I could configure PFC.DLL to support moving the prop controls into the feather position for the stock 58 Baron? I am using PFC.DLL v1.92.

Currently, I have FSUIPC set to use a couple keyboard keys to feather the props., which I don't like doing (using the keyboard). Looking at the Baron's XML code, feathering is not done via the PROP_FEATHER commands, rather, it's done by setting PROPx_SET to a negative number (there's a macro in the engine quadrant XML module that does this) -- I have FSUIPC sending -3000 as the parameter when the A and S keys are pressed, and it works fine (except that I am using the keyboard).

The PFC dialog will only take a predefined range of values from 18 to 115, it seems, so I tried forcing the values in through PFC.INI. PFC.DLL seems to ignore the values in PFC.INI if I put a negative in, so I can't seem to get there from here. :(

For reference, I also have the twin turboprop throttle quadrant, which I use with the King Air 350 and a King Air C90B, and the feather function works fine (not that that means anything with regards to the Baron, of course).

Thanks!

James S. Barker

[Pete Dowson]

Is there a way I could configure PFC.DLL to support moving the prop controls into the feather position for the stock 58 Baron? I am using PFC.DLL v1.92.

Isn't that merely a position on the prop pitch levers? I'm sure that works here. Perhaps you aren't calibrating properly?

feathering is not done via the PROP_FEATHER commands, rather, it's done by setting PROPx_SET to a negative number

Yes, this is used by PFC.DLL.

It most definitely sounds like you are not calibrating your Baron style quadrant correctly. There's a notch part way down, then the red area should all give negative PROPx_SET values, down to where it is marked "feather".

The PFC dialog will only take a predefined range of values from 18 to 115, it seems, so I tried forcing the values in through PFC.INI. PFC.DLL seems to ignore the values in PFC.INI if I put a negative in

Ah. Here you are misunderstanding the whole thing. Sorry. The values arrriving from the throttle axes are NOT the ones sent to FS, they are the "raw" pot readings, that's all. They are for CALIBRATING in PFC.DLL. CALIBRATING is the process of making the raw input values transform correctly into whatever is needed in FS for different purposes. You CALIBRATE in PFC.DLL.

You MUST use the calibration facilities in the PFC dialogues. Everything you need to do is there. Please refer to the documentation supplied and follow the directions. If you select the Baron-style twin quadrant and calibrate there you will find everything works.

For reference, I also have the twin turboprop throttle quadrant, which I use with the King Air 350 and a King Air C90B, and the feather function works fine (not that that means anything with regards to the Baron, of course).

Why? That quadrant seems pretty useful for the Baron. However, if you want to use the same sort of assignments for the prop pitch as on the Baron, but different ones for the other axes, just use one of the many free User Config sections and assign them yourself! You can make any mix of axes there. Calibrate them all, and mark it assigned to the current aircraft (when the Baron is loaded of course). You will find two types of Throttle, Prop and Mixture/conditioner controls you can assign -- one set has "reverse" or negative zones and the other hasn't.

Please do look at the documentation some time!

Regards

Pete

[jamessbarker]

Hello Mr Dowson.

I'm sorry if I gave you the impression I've not read the documentation, as I have read it many times. Yes, I understand the difference between the raw and FS values. No, the physical prop control on the PFC Cirrus II twin engine piston quadrant does not have a detent in it, unlike the logical prop control for the 58 Baron displayed on the MSFS screen. And no, there is no way to get an underlying negative FS value, whether I do manual or automatic calibration, whether I try leaving a "dead zone" or not, and regardless of the size of the dead zone -- the minimum FS value is capped at zero. The turboprop quadrant on the PFC dialog displays minimum FS values of -4096 for the power and prop controls, but the twin engine piston quadrant does not support this in calibration no matter how much you move the lever, manual or automtic calibration, and the "rev" checkbox is disabled too. All of this is why I posted my original question. I see that I should continue using the keyboard. Thank you, and I'm sorry to have bothered you.

James Barker

[Pete Dowson]

And no, there is no way to get an underlying negative FS value, whether I do manual or automatic calibration, whether I try leaving a "dead zone" or not, and regardless of the size of the dead zone -- the minimum FS value is capped at zero.

The values aren't "capped" by my code, that is the function of the specific controls assigned to those axes. By default the assignment for that particular quadrant uses the controls which have no "reverse" (i.e negative) zone on them. They are so assigned exactly because that quadrant has no detent and no reverse area.

Please compare the NAMES of the controls as shown at the top of each calibration column. They are different. The documentation shows a list of the controls you can assign -- including two full sets for Throttle, Prop and Mixture/conditioner, one without and one with 'reverse'. These use different FS controls to operate.

That is why I suggested that, if you want that facility you requested on the Baron, you do one of two things:

(a) use the turbo quadrant selection in the program, with or without the actual quadrant, or

(b) use the facilities provided to make your own User Configuration with the controls which include the reverse facility assigned where appropriate!

All of this is why I posted my original question. I see that I should continue using the keyboard. Thank you, and I'm sorry to have bothered you.

I don't understand why you take this attitude! You ignore both of my suggestions and want to use the keyboard instead? Why on Earth do you do this?

The provisions in PFC.DLL provide the utmost flexibility to do EXACTLY what you want. If you simply haven't the patience to even read my replies properly, then go look at the PFC program and see what you can do, then I really don't understand why you asked me in the first place!

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Pete