Questions about Setup for Saitek ProFlight Yoke & Throttles

[HondaJet]

Pete,

I have had this new yoke system for a few days now and have everything set through FSUIPC v4.86. All the FSX controls are disabled. FSX Gold & Win7

Question 1 is about multiple modes that is part of the yoke (if you use their software which I am not). There are 3 modes via a roller switch on the back of the yoke. I have looked around your setup windows and didn't find anything obvious to me. Is there a way to program different buttons/switches for mode 1 vs mode 2 vs mode 3 using FSUIPC? If so where can I find details on how to do it?

Question 2 is about throttle levers; they have value number movement down to the idle detent and then below that is is a button instead of further movement of the values to the negative side like my old CH throttles did. So I am working on the best way to set up those positions for reversers, prop feather, & mixture cutoff. I found a way to do that via the button "send keystroke" function to for a keyboard command in FSX. The trouble I found with this is for a twin engine aircraft when I use it that causes both controls to go to reverse, feather or cutoff. So that doesn't seem like a good working solution to me. If I needed to shut down one engine in the air and feather the prop it would activate both so I would be dead in the air. :(

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Jerry

Edited February 8, 2013 by HondaJet

[Gypsy Baron]

In answer to question 1, yes, you can program buttons and switches to be conditional upon the state of

other buttons and switches. I suggest that you read the following two sections of the "FSUIPC4 for Advanced Users.pdf"

Page 19 COMPOUND BUTTON CONDITIONS

Page 47 Appendix 1

The mode switch you refer to is reported to FSUIPC4 as buttons 8, 9 and 10, depending upon

the position of the switch.

To implement the compound button programming you will need to edit the FSUIPC4.ini file by hand. It is

a text file and can be opened in Notepad. (ALWAYS make a backup copy before edits)

There are other methods to achieve what you want to do, depending upon how many 'modes' you want to have.

I have a rather comples arrangement for my A2A aircraft that gives me up to 8 functions for each of the

switches on my Saitek dual throttle quadrants, That is effectively 8 modes.

I use the technique described on Page 22 "ADDING OFFSET CONDITIONS", where I use one of the

three-position switches on the throttle quad as my 'mode up and mode down' switch. This increments/decrements

the value in user-defined offset 0x66C0 between 0 and 7. That value is the mode selected.

In the ini file the programming for such an implementation would look similar to this:

31=P174,10,Cx510066C0,x00030001 <---- Mode switch

32=B66C0=0 P117,6,C1030,0

33=B66C0=1 P117,6,C1034,0

34=B66C0=2 P117,6,C1038,0

35=B66C0=3 P117,6,C1042,0

The above would equate to 4 'modes' for the referenced button (see Page 23)

The problem with using the three positions of the mode switch on the yoke is you are limited to 3 modes

which I find to be too few for any advanced aircraft. My A2A B-17G, with it's 8 modes means that I

have 80 functions available for the 5 three-position switches on my throttle quads. The 6th is the 'mode switch

up/down' functions.

Question 2....I don't use the throttle detente switches often but when I do it is usually to 'trigger' a Lua script.

One case in point is the prop reverse function in the A2A B-377 aircraft. To achieve reverse pitch in this aircraft

you must send an 'F1' keystroke to set throttle to idle and then send a series of 'F2" keystrokes to pull the VC

throttles back into the reverse range. Then to exit this condition you need to send a series of "F3" keystrokes to

advance the VC throttles out of the reverse range. At that point you can then resume normal throttle action.

When one of the 4 throttles goes into detente, the F1 and F2's are sent. When that throttle moves out of the

detente position, the F3's are sent.

Using the compound button procedures you can program those detente switches to be 'mode dependent' just

like any other button or switch.

I use Lua scripts for their power in implementing event-driven functions...a change in some offset value, a timed event,

etc. One use is to briefly display the current mode assignments for my 10 switches when I change modes. This appears

in a small Lua display window for, in my case, 3 seconds and shows me what the 10 functions are that are set for that

mode. With 80 functions I need the 'reminder' :)

So, read the pdf file mentioned above and keep a shortcut to its location handy. Also read the "FSUIPC Lua Library.pdf"

and the "Revised_List_of_FSX_Controls.pdf" that come with FSUIPC4.

Also, I suggest that you use the "Aircraft specific" feature of FSUIPC4 or "profiles" so that you can have different

setups of your various aircraft that get loaded automatically when you select that aircraft to fly.

Paul

[HondaJet]

Thank you Paul for your response. I will look into these this weekend as I have never used either type of commands with FSUIPC. So far my use has been what I consider pretty basic. So I will delve into the advanced manual and go from there. I appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

Jerry