DC-6 and FSUIPC - Throttles & Props

[xkoote]

Having been a veteran of the FSX/P3D ways for 20 years now I have reached a stumble block. I like to exhaust as many options as possible before posting, but I haven't reached a clear solution, so I have to ask. 😟

I have used FSUIPC for many years now and like it. All my aircraft are all set up through it. So much so that porting over the P3D profile for a single aircraft (DC-6) made "almost" everything work. The throttles and Prop axes are giving me immense headache.

So far I have:

- Deleted my DC-6 P3D profile and tried a fresh initial setup.
- Removed ALL assignments related to power and propeller management via either an MSFS internal axes or keyboard bind in a custom clear profile.
- Tried various FSUIPC options related to possible throttle values. (To Calibration, as normal axis and it's various options)

None work. The prop control is completely unresponsive, and as I have it now (To FSUIPC Calibration) when you move the physical joystick axis, the engine wants to change setting. However due to the throttle in the DC-6 VC not moving together with the joystick axis, the power jumps back to the current setting.

Any ideas? 

p.s.
I am cc-ing this post in the PMDG forums as well.
All my other axes (aileron, rudder, individual brake pedals and flaps) work. As well as all buttons (rudder and elevator trim, separate mixture controls) assigned via the same FSUIPC profile.

Thanks,

[John Dowson]

What controls are logged when you move the throttle and prop levers in the UI? You could try activating logging for Axes Controls and also Events, move the throttle/prop levers in the UI to see what controls are logged, then try assigning to those.

46 minutes ago, xkoote said:

and as I have it now (To FSUIPC Calibration) when you move the physical joystick axis, the engine wants to change setting.

The same logging should also show you what is happening when you do this.

You can attach your FSUIPC7.log (with the logging activated, and the throttle/prop moved in the UI and also from your assigned axis) and also your FSUIPC7.ini and I can take a look. However, not having this aircraft it may be better if PMDG could advise on what controls to use.

[xkoote]

Thanks for replying. I’ll try it out when I get back home. 

[Travis1992]

I am having the same issues. Using "Direct to FSUIPC calibration" for my 4 throttles. Honeycomb Bravo.

[John Dowson]

11 hours ago, Travis1992 said:

I am having the same issues. Using "Direct to FSUIPC calibration" for my 4 throttles.

PMDG aircraft don't usually like the throttle axis going through FSUIPC calibration. Try assigning direct to the FS controls instead. Also maybe try the *_EX1 controls.
I also noticed this on the Asobo forums, posted yesterday:

Quote

from PMDG forums:
Folks,

Something to point out here: We are working with a couple of game controller users via support- and we are seeing a couple of different reports.

• We have identified some changes we need to make to our throttle control to accommodate game controller users so those are pending an update.
• We have fixed a large number of game controller users ability to control the airplane flight controls by reminding them to disengage the Control Lock.

More to come.

 

[DaveG]

I've set my throttles up as "Throttle1 Axis Set Ex1", "Throttle1 Axis Set Ex2" etc, and the prop pitch as "Prop Pitch Axis Set Ex1" which seems to work fine. Only issue for me with this is the "map 1->12, 2->34" option on the calibration page doesn't work with these. 

Also, if you have the PMDG AFE turned on, in some situations he overrides your throttle commands, so they don't appear to work.

[John Dowson]

2 minutes ago, DaveG said:

I've set my throttles up as "Throttle1 Axis Set Ex1", "Throttle1 Axis Set Ex2" etc, and the prop pitch as "Prop Pitch Axis Set Ex1" which seems to work fine. Only issue for me with this is the "map 1->12, 2->34" option on the calibration page doesn't work with these. 

Ok, thanks for reporting. The *_EX1 controls don't go through to calibration - they are for direct to FS assignments only.
I did start looking into allowing the _EX1 controls to go to calibration instead of the standard controls, activated via an ini parameter. I think I have this working in a dev branch of the code, but the problem was that it would apply to all aircraft as it turned out to be more complicated to allow this just for specific profiles. I could take another look at this, but I don't think it would be useful for the PMDG aircraft due to priority issues - it has been known to cause issues with PMDG aircraft, although I don't know much about the DC-6...
 

14 minutes ago, DaveG said:

Also, if you have the PMDG AFE turned on, in some situations he overrides your throttle commands, so they don't appear to work.

Thats also useful to know, thanks.

[Martin99]

"Throttle1 Axis Set Ex1" is working but with my virtualFly TQ-6 Quadrant I have the problem that I can not calibrate the Throttles to be at zero in MSFS at the TQ detent zone. For zero Throttle I have to move the TQ-6 Throttles all the way down in the detent zone and that's annoying.

 

[John Dowson]

3 minutes ago, Martin99 said:

"Throttle1 Axis Set Ex1" is working but with my virtualFly TQ-6 Quadrant I have the problem that I can not calibrate the Throttles to be at zero in MSFS at the TQ detent zone. For zero Throttle I have to move the TQ-6 Throttles all the way down in the detent zone and that's annoying.

I think thats the way the _EX1 controls work, as they are used in a/c that have a reverse thrust toggle, so the full axis range is used for forward thrust, and also revers thrust (once toggled).
If you want to calibrate using the EX1 controls, you could assign to a lua script, adjust the parameter value accordingly (your calibration), then send the axis control from the lua. Alternatively, I could provide you with an FSUIPC7 version to test that allows the EX1 controls to be calibrated. However, that development branch is quite old now, so I would need to update this first.

[Martin99]

It would be ok if the throttle in MSFS would be at zero if the TQ-6 lever is at the detent, but this doesnt work. Hopefully PMDG change this behaviour and I can calibrate the throttles with FSUIPC. Even in MSFS I can not calibrate this using the "neutral" slider. PMDG overrides all.

How I send the axis control from lua?

[John Dowson]

9 minutes ago, Martin99 said:

How I send the axis control from lua?

Using ipc.control

[Martin99]

I've no idea how to set this up. Is there a short guide what I have to do?

[John Dowson]

6 minutes ago, Martin99 said:

I've no idea how to set this up. Is there a short guide what I have to do?

No, not for this specific use case. There is documentation on the functions you need to use...
First,  assign the axis to an FSUIPC offset - you can use one of the free ones, eg A000.
In your lua script (which you would have auto-started from your [Auto.xxx] profile section), use event.offset to monitor the chosen offset. Your receiving function will receive the axis value. You can then adjust this (i.e. apply your manual calibration), then sent to the sim using ipc.control.

 

[Travis1992]

When I use EX1, it works, but the throttles are reversed and as said by DaveG, you can not calibrate them to reverse them(back to normal).
I used direct to FSUIPC because of a previous issue we talked about:

The only way I can fix(for now) this is by setting up throttles in the simulator, which is quite annoying to switch back and forth.

[Travis1992]

Also, I failed to mention... The controls through FS did not work either. They would not move the levers in the cockpit, but they would move the RPM when I move my throttles, then when no movement, RPM goes to 0(idle). I think direct did this too, but don't quote me on that for sure.

[xkoote]

Just landed in Dallas on a 15+ hour flight. Flying back home on Tuesday. I see a lot of info here. Means I have homework to do as soon as I get back ;-)

Thanks !

[John Dowson]

22 hours ago, Travis1992 said:

When I use EX1, it works, but the throttles are reversed and as said by DaveG, you can not calibrate them to reverse them(back to normal).

You can reverse the axis by editing your FSUIPC7.ini file. See the section Additional parameters to scale input axis values in the Advanced User Guide (P38).
To reverse the axis, add ',*-1' to the end of the axis assignment line in your FSUIPC7.ini.

@Martin99 You could also try scaling your axis using this method (to get 0 at your detent) rather than using lua.

[Travis1992]

8 hours ago, John Dowson said:

You can reverse the axis by editing your FSUIPC7.ini file. See the section Additional parameters to scale input axis values in the Advanced User Guide (P38).
To reverse the axis, add ',*-1' to the end of the axis assignment line in your FSUIPC7.ini.

@Martin99 You could also try scaling your axis using this method (to get 0 at your detent) rather than using lua.

Thanks so much. That worked perfectly!
Here is an example if anyone needs it:
0=BX,256,F,67103,0,0,0,*-1    -{ TO SIM: THROTTLE1_AXIS_SET_EX1 }-
1=BR,256,F,67110,0,0,0,*-1    -{ TO SIM: THROTTLE2_AXIS_SET_EX1 }-
2=BU,256,F,67124,0,0,0,*-1    -{ TO SIM: THROTTLE4_AXIS_SET_EX1 }-
3=BV,256,F,67117,0,0,0,*-1    -{ TO SIM: THROTTLE3_AXIS_SET_EX1 }-
Do not use the above and copy/paste, it will not work. It is just to show the general set up and addition of the ',*-1' to the entry.

[xkoote]

Issue indeed fixed, thanks to all !