PMDG Idle/Cutoff Levers

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

Hello Peter.....

i have been reading your replies about the PMDG overhead with 'baited breath' hope there's more news soon.

not the reason for my post though......

the PMDG 737NG Idle/Cutoff Levers respond to the internal FS command for Engine1 and Engine2 Fuel Valves.

hence in my TQ my levers are connected to a BU0836 joystick card via microswitches which FSUIPC sees.

this allows me to assign the buttons to Toggle Engine 1 and Toggle Engine 2 Fuel Valves.

i was wondering if in the future releases of FSUIPC you would be able to place distinct Engine # Fuel valve

ON/OFF options.

this is one of my 'pet hate' problems, having to get out of the cockpit to synchronise the software and

hardware idle/cutoff levers.

thanks for such a great product, where would we be without you.

kind regardsian

[Pete Dowson]

the PMDG 737NG Idle/Cutoff Levers respond to the internal FS command for Engine1 and Engine2 Fuel Valves hence in my TQ my levers are connected to a BU0836 joystick card via microswitches which FSUIPC sees. this allows me to assign the buttons to Toggle Engine 1 and Toggle Engine 2 Fuel Valves.

Right. So you are all sorted in this regard?

i was wondering if in the future releases of FSUIPC you would be able to place distinct Engine # Fuel valve ON/OFF options.

Erthis is confusing. You say you have added these using the "internal FS commands" (I assume you mean Mixture Lean and Mixture Rich controls?), so what else could FSUIPC do for you?

this is one of my 'pet hate' problems, having to get out of the cockpit to synchronise the software and hardware idle/cutoff levers.

Why? I'm evidently missing something here. Please explain.

Regards

Pete

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

good morning peter,

my appologies if i didn't explain myself properly, so let me have another shot at it :o)

the PMDG737NG Idle/Cutoff Levers respond to your FSUIPC option of 'Toggle Engine# Fuel Valve' in the dropdown menu in the Buttons Page of FSUIPC.

i am currently operating the levers this way via 2 microswitches in my TQ connected to a BU0836 card which FSUIPC recognises.

the option in FSUIPC is for a 'Toggle' only. so sometimes the synchronisation of the hardware and software Idle/Cutoff Levers on startup is not right. i.e. PMDG

will start with the levers in Idle and the TQ levers will be in cutoff. so only having a Toggle option available means getting out of the cockpit to synchronise them with a mouse click.

i dont have a keyboard or a mouse in the cockpit at all, everything is controlled by a switch or pushbutton sending keys or key2mouse.

what i was asking is would you be able to add distinct ON/CLOSED commands for the Engine Fuel Valves in a future version. for example Control Sent When Button Pressed

'Engine 1 Fuel Valve Closed' and Control Sent When Button Released 'Engine 1 Fuel Valve Open'.

this is the only thing i do not have 'exact' control over and when i have visitors to the cockpit, they tend to be asking questions and distracting me and very often the synchronisation of the fuel levers gets overlooked.

hope i explained it better this time.

thank you sir, have a great day. regardsian

[Pete Dowson]

the PMDG737NG Idle/Cutoff Levers respond to your FSUIPC option of 'Toggle Engine# Fuel Valve' in the dropdown menu in the Buttons Page of FSUIPC.

Ah, the "Toggle Fuel Valve Eng#" FS controls? I didn't know they operated on the PMDG. Most aircraft, and certainly all default aircraft, use the "Mixture Lean" and "Mixture Rich" controls for Cutoff and Idle settings, respectively.

what i was asking is would you be able to add distinct ON/CLOSED commands for the Engine Fuel Valves in a future version.

You can do it yourself, now, by manipulating the FSUIPC offsets for the fuel valves. Referring to the "FSUIPC for Programmers" document, from the FSUIPC SDK, you'll find these offsets:

3590 Engine 1 fuel valve, 1 = open, 0 = closed

3594 Engine 2 ...

3598 Engine 3 ...

359C Engine 4 ...

In the Buttons or Keys drop-down, assign to the "Offset Byte Bet" control, offset x3590 (for Engine 1) etc, Parameter 1 for "idle", 0 for "cutoff"and you're there!

For cockpit builders and anyone with a load of buttons and switches to spare, the Programmer's guide is a mine of useful information. All those offsets can be manipulated using a series of "Offset ..." controls in the Buttons option.

Regards

Pete

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

mr dowson, you are a 'diamond geezer' :o)

i have just been experimenting with the Offset Byte Set parameters and - EUREKA !

thanks for pointing me in the right direction, this now blows it all open for some other ideas i have.

thanks for taking the time to help. have a great week and eagerly awaiting new developments.

best regards from shropshireian

[Pete Dowson]

mr dowson, you are a 'diamond geezer' :o)

i have just been experimenting with the Offset Byte Set parameters and - EUREKA !

thanks for pointing me in the right direction, this now blows it all open for some other ideas i have.

Please do note that there are "Offset Word", "Offset Dword" and others, for different parameter sizes. Those fuel valve offsets are actuall listed as 4-byte values, but sunce they should only ever be "0" or "1", only one byte (well, one bit really) actually gets used. Just take care with some of them needing larger values setting or clearing.

best regards from shropshireian

Shropshire? Maybe not far from me then (near Biddulph, north of Stoke, halfway to Congleton). Maybe you'd fancy copiloting in my 737 cockpit sometime?

Best Regards

Pete

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

good morning peter......

what an offer that is, i would be delighted to fly with you. i'm a bit tied up until after weekend 17/18 may, but after that a clean sheet. i live about 10 miles from whitchurch and i used to fly microlights out of sandbach, so i'm sure i could find you.

thanks and i'm sure i'd learn a lot :o)

best regardsian

[Pete Dowson]

what an offer that is, i would be delighted to fly with you. i'm a bit tied up until after weekend 17/18 may, but after that a clean sheet.

In that case it would probably have to wait until mid-June. I've got some holidays coming in May.

i live about 10 miles from whitchurch and i used to fly microlights out of sandbach, so i'm sure i could find you.

Right. I did my flying lessons at Sleap, which I presume you will know too, then? Unfortunately, I never got a medical certificate because of my Retinitis Pigmentosa (tunnel vision) which I didn't even realise I suffered from till then. Biggest disappointment of my life, not being able to get my PPL.

thanks and i'm sure i'd learn a lot :o)

Well, not necessarily. Theory-wise I'm quite good, but I tend to be programming and/or testing rather than flying, so most of my "flights" are simply test runs where I'm looking out for specifics in something I've been working on. It's handy too, for me, having a pilot concentrating on flying the airplane properly! ;-)

I have a PFC 737NG cockpit (see http://www.flypfc.com), but a little out of date at present -- awaiting some more MIP instrumentation and their still-in-development fully equipped overhead (mine has most of the necessary switches but no indicator lights or gauges). And my elevator trim pot has gone really wonky -- I have a spare part for it but I'm not able to fit it myself so I'm waiting for the other enhancements so that the PFC engineer, Eric, can fix it all together in one worthwhile visit.

But it can be fun, nevertheless! ;-)

Write to me in June, after the 7th: petedowson@btconnect.com.

Best Regards

Pete

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

hello peter.....

sleap, i know it well. i did my ppl at welshpool, so we used to fly in for a brew and a sandwich.

enjoy your holiday and i'll contact you after june 7th.

incidentally, the idle/cutoff levers are working perfectly.

best regardsian

[Pete Dowson]

incidentally, the idle/cutoff levers are working perfectly.

Good.

If you want to extend your control over the PMDG overhead (or other mouse-only parts), the latest update, 3.809, above will let you do that. I finished the mouse macro facilities.

I've been trying them on the PMDG 747X in FSX, with FSUIPC 4.269, and they work there too!

See you in June! ;-)

Pete