Need a Little Help

[English Rebel]

Okay, I'm new to FSUIPC so please give me a little latitude -- thanks.

Couple of questions.

1. I see that there is a lua script for the Go Flight modules so to avoid programing what is already done where can I find out exactly what GF modules are covered and what they do? Also dumb question but how do I load a lua plug in?
2. Before waiting to get information on 1. I decided to jump right in. I was programing my GF TQ6 for a simple single engine Cessna with engine throttle, engine mixture and flaps. I am in the AXIS ASSIGNMENT window and did the following:

• Hit Rescan and moved the throttle lever, checked Send to FS As Normal Axis, selected from the drop down list Axis Throttle Set. LSUIPC set this a #1 Y axis.
• Did the same for the mixture lever, selecting Axis Mixture Set and LSUIPC set this as #1 Z axis.

Okay, so far so good (I think).

• For the flaps lever I went to the right hand box and moved the lever to flap position 1 (FSUIPC identified this as # 1 R axis) and I selected Flap Détente Set from the drop down list in the Controls Sent When Range Entered box and put 5 in the Parameter box (5 degrees).
• I repeated this for 5 steps and ended up with the first raw value of Start at 1198 and end at 16184, the second as from 1198 to 5395, etc. Is this the correct direction as I wasn't sure whether to check the UP or DOWN boxes?

Am I on the right track here or am I doing something wrong?

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

I see that there is a lua script for the Go Flight modules so to avoid programing what is already done where can I find out exactly what GF modules are covered and what they do?

Sorry, I don't know them. you may need to check them individually or ask the authors.

Also dumb question but how do I load a lua plug in?

You really need to at least browse the Lua documents supplied with FSUIPC -- not necessarily the Library reference, which is for those programming Lua, but the intro. You can assign buttons or keys to any Lua program installed in Modules, or run things automatically in several ways.

For the flaps lever I went to the right hand box and moved the lever to flap position 1 (FSUIPC identified this as # 1 R axis) and I selected Flap Détente Set from the drop down list in the Controls Sent When Range Entered box and put 5 in the Parameter box (5 degrees).

You've lost me there. The controls sent when range entered part of the axis assignments has no "flap detente set" option at all. There is no FS control by that name either.

The flaps detentes are part of calibration, not part of assignment. You need to assign to the flaps axis, as with any other axis, then go to calibration and calibrate like any other axis, then, and only then, optionally, calibrate detentes. But bear in mind that if you calibrate specific detentes they are only any good for the current aircraft. Detente positions for each aircraft differ. Unless you are sticking to one aircraft type there is not point in detentes.

Regards

Pete

[English Rebel]

Peter

Please look at this screenshot as this is where I set up the flaps. You will see in the left hand box I have selected Flaps Détente Set from the drop down list.

I moved the lever to each détente and labeled the parameter 5, 10, etc after incrementing the range number in the upper box. I didn't calibrate at all (I know I need to read some more to figure it out, but this is my first date with FSU). The flaps worked in the Cessna 172 for the first and second detents but I had to move the lever to detent 4 to get the third flap setting in FSX -- I may have that range wrong.

By the way, the throttle and mixture levers worked fine except that I had to select AXIS MIXTURE 1 SET from the drop down list, as AXIS MIXTURE SET did not work. AXIS THROTTLE SET worked fine.

Did I just get lucky to get this to work?

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

Please look at this screenshot as this is where I set up the flaps. You will see in the left hand box I have selected Flaps Détente Set from the drop down list.

I must apologise. That's a new control to me! I've never noticed it before now. It must have been added in one of the FSX updates and i never noticed -- it isn't in any of my lists.

But consequently, I'm sorry, but i have no idea what that FS control does. If you want to experiment with it and see what it does, that's fine, but I think it might not do what you think it might do. Maybe the parameters are merely detente numbers rather than angles?

By the way, the throttle and mixture levers worked fine except that I had to select AXIS MIXTURE 1 SET from the drop down list, as AXIS MIXTURE SET did not work.

Axis Mixture Set is the same generic axis which FS would assign by default, and affects all selected engines. The 1, 2, 3 and 4 versions are for those specific engines. There is no way Axis mixture Set would not work (it would wreck almost everyone's FS installations if it did not), unless you have for some reason deselected the only engines you have (using the E + 1 2 3 4 keypresses or similar), or you have calibration set incorrectly on that generic axis.

Regards

Pete

[English Rebel]

I must apologise. That's a new control to me! I've never noticed it before now. It must have been added in one of the FSX updates and i never noticed -- it isn't in any of my lists.

But consequently, I'm sorry, but i have no idea what that FS control does. If you want to experiment with it and see what it does, that's fine, but I think it might not do what you think it might do. Maybe the parameters are merely detente numbers rather than angles?

Axis Mixture Set is the same generic axis which FS would assign by default, and affects all selected engines. The 1, 2, 3 and 4 versions are for those specific engines. There is no way Axis mixture Set would not work (it would wreck almost everyone's FS installations if it did not), unless you have for some reason deselected the only engines you have (using the E + 1 2 3 4 keypresses or similar), or you have calibration set incorrectly on that generic axis.

Regards

Pete

Pete

The flaps work okay except as I mentioned in the Cessna I had to go to detent 4 on the TQ6 to get flaps to 30 degrees. I will go back and redo it. AXIS MIXTURE SET definitely did not work so I changed it to AXIS MIXTURE 1 SET. And, no I didn't hit any key combinations. Having said that I haven't done any calibrations. I assume I just go into the Joystick calibration screen.

Thanks

Alan

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

AXIS MIXTURE SET definitely did not work so I changed it to AXIS MIXTURE 1 SET. And, no I didn't hit any key combinations. Having said that I haven't done any calibrations. I assume I just go into the Joystick calibration screen.

Yes, but if Axis Mixture Set does nothing, then either your FS installation is broken, or you have a conflicting assignment elsewhere, or you have calibration set with bad values. There are no other options. It is NOT a function of FSUIPC, but a function of FS. FSUIPC merely sends it on. It is exactly the same as assigning it in FS.

Regards

Pete

[English Rebel]

Yes, but if Axis Mixture Set does nothing, then either your FS installation is broken, or you have a conflicting assignment elsewhere, or you have calibration set with bad values. There are no other options. It is NOT a function of FSUIPC, but a function of FS. FSUIPC merely sends it on. It is exactly the same as assigning it in FS.

Regards

Pete

Pete

I have to go do a calibration as that may be the issue. I'm having other major issues with the GO Flight radio stack (ICCS) with the swap button not swapping frequencies etc, so there may be an issue with FSX itself.

Another weird thing is happening. I have my throttle lever in the B position and it works fine. I had my mixture in the C position but it acted like a switch -- no variable, in the raw data window the display went from one fixed value to another as I moved the lever through the range with no variables in between. I moved the lever to position D -- same thing. In position E it works just fine albeit with AXIS MIXTURE 1 SET variable. Don't know what's going on.

Thanks

Alan

[English Rebel]

Pete

I'm still struggling with programming my flaps on the TQ6. I did have them working after a fashion (they were reversed and jumped a detent) so I kept tinkering with the settings for about a day and a half. Now the flaps lever does not register in FSU when I move the lever -- it just registers -16384 at all positions (the TO & FROM values were from a previous programing) and of course it doesn't work in FSX at all now. Also I could never get the flaps settings in the Joystick Calibration window to register -- throttle, mixture set okay.

Here is a screen shot of the FSUIPC Axis window and the .INI file. I did change the FlapsDetents to YES to see if that had any effect but it didn't. Have I somehow succeeded in breaking this function? One more thing, in reading the manual I set the AUTOASSIGNLETTERS=YES and USEPROFILES=YES in the .INI file. The auto assign works fine but I still have the Aircraft Specific check box instead of Profile Specific (see screen shot). I did close FSX and re-open it but it didn't take for some reason.

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

Here is a screen shot of the FSUIPC Axis window and the .INI file. I did change the FlapsDetents to YES to see if that had any effect but it didn't. Have I somehow succeeded in breaking this function?

Since I wasn't even aware of the FS "flaps detents set" control and have no idea what it does, I can't really help with that. I thought you were happy exploring it on your own. And you can see that you have three ranges set, two of which cover the entire pssible input range from 5594 to 16384, only, oddly, leaving are shorter range from -2198 to 5594 in between!!

As adviced before, if you want to use a flaps axis I would strongly advise using the flaps axis control -- either one, FLAPS SET or AXIS FLAPS SET would do, though generally the latter is probably best as it is the one FS would assign if you used FS instead.

just get it working first, calibrate it like any other axis. Do not bother with any detente settings until it is correctly calibrated, and able to actually select all flap positions. Only then enable detentes in the calibration section as calibrate them one at a time. Though bear in mind what I said before. Detentes are well and good if you only ever fly aircraft with exactly that number of detentes. They won't match positions otherwise. I have them in my 737NG cockpit, but I never fly any other plane in it -- only the 737NG for which it was designed.

One more thing, in reading the manual I set the AUTOASSIGNLETTERS=YES and USEPROFILES=YES in the .INI file. The auto assign works fine but I still have the Aircraft Specific check box instead of Profile Specific (see screen shot). I did close FSX and re-open it but it didn't take for some reason.

They are two different matters. You only show a portion of the INI file, not enough for me to check, but did you change the UseProfiles parameter in the [General] section? It won't work anywhere else. And check there aren't two such lines, one overriding the other.

Pete

[English Rebel]

Since I wasn't even aware of the FS "flaps detents set" control and have no idea what it does, I can't really help with that. I thought you were happy exploring it on your own. And you can see that you have three ranges set, two of which cover the entire pssible input range from 5594 to 16384, only, oddly, leaving are shorter range from -2198 to 5594 in between!!

As adviced before, if you want to use a flaps axis I would strongly advise using the flaps axis control -- either one, FLAPS SET or AXIS FLAPS SET would do, though generally the latter is probably best as it is the one FS would assign if you used FS instead.

just get it working first, calibrate it like any other axis. Do not bother with any detente settings until it is correctly calibrated, and able to actually select all flap positions. Only then enable detentes in the calibration section as calibrate them one at a time. Though bear in mind what I said before. Detentes are well and good if you only ever fly aircraft with exactly that number of detentes. They won't match positions otherwise. I have them in my 737NG cockpit, but I never fly any other plane in it -- only the 737NG for which it was designed.

They are two different matters. You only show a portion of the INI file, not enough for me to check, but did you change the UseProfiles parameter in the [General] section? It won't work anywhere else. And check there aren't two such lines, one overriding the other.

Pete

Pete

I found out why the USEPROFILES=YES was not taking, I had to exit FSX and change the .INI file then go back into FSX. Apparently it wouldn't allow this change in the .INI file while it was running although I could change .INI setting for AUTOASSIGNLETTERS=YES while the program was running.

I am playing around with the flaps detent settings and have gotten it almost there but I'm a little confused over the settings in general. Let me explain. If I have the lever at 0 flaps and click in the FROM box it sets the value at 16011. I check the UP box and then move the lever to detent position 1 (10 degrees in the Cessna) and then click in the TO box, it sets the value at 12288. I index the RANGE from 1 to 2 and click in the FROM box it sets the previous value of 12288. I move the lever to position 2 and click in the TO box and it enters the value of 5958.

Now here's where I'm a little lost. If I go back to RANGE setting one, the values in the two boxes have reversed. This doesn't seem logical to me as I've incremented the values in a negative way and it's telling me that they are going in a positive direction from 12288 to 16011. I have the flap detents working, but it skips a step, i.e. when moving the lever from 0 to position 1 the flaps do not move. If i move to position 2 the flaps move to position 1 and if i move to position 3 the flaps move to position 2 and so on. I wasn't sure if this had something to do with the values changing.

How do I set detents in the Calibration section by the way?

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

I found out why the USEPROFILES=YES was not taking, I had to exit FSX and change the .INI file then go back into FSX. Apparently it wouldn't allow this change in the .INI file while it was running although I could change .INI setting for AUTOASSIGNLETTERS=YES while the program was running.

The onlt parts of the INI file which are re-read during a session are the Keys, Buttons and Axes assignments -- you do it via the Reload button on each of those tabs. Like most other programs all normal INI file parameters are only read at start up. (INI stands for "Initial").

I am playing around with the flaps detent settings and have gotten it almost there but I'm a little confused over the settings in general. Let me explain. If I have the lever at 0 flaps and click in the FROM box it sets the value at 16011. I check the UP box and then move the lever to detent position 1 (10 degrees in the Cessna) and then click in the TO box, it sets the value at 12288.

You have the flaps lever reversed. Zero flaps is with the lever full forward, but for throttles that is max thrust. Minimum flaps (0) needs a minimum value sent to FS, not a maximum value like max thrust on a throttle. Assuming you don't want the axis running the opposite way to real aircraft flap levers, flap axes have to be reversed BEFORE calibration. There's a REV button for this. The same would apply to spoilers / speedbrake, as the "off" or "down" position is also full forward.

You might also find toe brakes on pedals need reversing because, for some reason, manufacturers seem to usually make them sending there max value with feet off.

Always get the direction working correctly, then calibrate. Assign detentes last of all. I did actually advise you to calibrate first -- if you had done you would have surely noticed that you needed to reverse the axis?

How do I set detents in the Calibration section by the way?

Using the detente facilities provided and documented (there's a two page section in the User Guide on that very subject. Didn't you look?). But do this AFTER you have calibrated with the direction set correctly!!

Pete

[English Rebel]

The onlt parts of the INI file which are re-read during a session are the Keys, Buttons and Axes assignments -- you do it via the Reload button on each of those tabs. Like most other programs all normal INI file parameters are only read at start up. (INI stands for "Initial").

You have the flaps lever reversed. Zero flaps is with the lever full forward, but for throttles that is max thrust. Minimum flaps (0) needs a minimum value sent to FS, not a maximum value like max thrust on a throttle. Assuming you don't want the axis running the opposite way to real aircraft flap levers, flap axes have to be reversed BEFORE calibration. There's a REV button for this. The same would apply to spoilers / speedbrake, as the "off" or "down" position is also full forward.

You might also find toe brakes on pedals need reversing because, for some reason, manufacturers seem to usually make them sending there max value with feet off.

Always get the direction working correctly, then calibrate. Assign detentes last of all. I did actually advise you to calibrate first -- if you had done you would have surely noticed that you needed to reverse the axis?

Using the detente facilities provided and documented (there's a two page section in the User Guide on that very subject. Didn't you look?). But do this AFTER you have calibrated with the direction set correctly!!

Pete

Thanks Pete

Yes I did find that the toe brakes needed reversing. I will read up on setting the flaps detents on page 52 (sorry I hadn't got that far). So if I enter my settings and they got reversed as I mentioned then I just need to go into calibration and check the Reverse box before or after calibration?

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

Yes I did find that the toe brakes needed reversing. I will read up on setting the flaps detents on page 52 (sorry I hadn't got that far). So if I enter my settings and they got reversed as I mentioned then I just need to go into calibration and check the Reverse box before or after calibration?

You need to select the direction (REV) before calibrating, else the calibration will be oriented for the wrong direction. If everything is symmetric it doesn't matter so much, but it rarely is.

Pete

[English Rebel]

Pete

I read the section in the manual about setting flap detents. I followed the directions to set 0 flaps and full (3) flaps no problem. When I moved my lever to just before flap position #1 and clicked on the SET button above the center window the computer chimed to indicate it would not accept the setting -- see the first screen shot. I did the same for position 3 after upping the spin control to #2 position a value was already in the window, see the second screen shot. I tried out the flaps they do work but the only issue is that to get to flap position 3 on the Cessna I have to move my lever to position 4 it seems that it ignored my calibration.

Am I doing something wrong -- I followed the instructions as written.

Thanks

Alan

[Pete Dowson]

I read the section in the manual about setting flap detents. I followed the directions to set 0 flaps and full (3) flaps no problem.

There most certainly IS a problem. your flap axis value for flaps 0, as you can see, is 12288. That's almost maximum!

YOU STILL HAVE NOT EVEN SET THE "REV" OPTION, AS INSTRUCTED!!!! THAT IS PROBABLY WHY YOU ARE GETTING THE VALUES IN THE WRONG ORDER!!!

Can you not see the Rev option, still unselected???

When I moved my lever to just before flap position #1 and clicked on the SET button above the center window the computer chimed to indicate it would not accept the setting -- see the first screen shot.

Yes, of course, because you tried to set that flaps value to a LOWER setting 5771 -- see "IN") than the 0 flaps value already set (12288). The settings must increase. You cannot have the detentes in any old order, they must increase with the axis input. Then in your second picture you are trying ot set -188, an even lower value!!! Please do read the screen values. They tell you what is going on. It really isn't at all complicated, it's just mapping IN numbers to OUT values needed by FS.

You'll need to start again. cancel the detentes, set REV and calibrate, THEN set the detentes. how many times do I have to tell you the exact same thing? :-(

Pete

[English Rebel]

How many times do I have to tell you the exact same thing? :-(

Pete

Quite a few apparently .

Alan