Using MSFS Controls with FSCUIPC and Mobiflight

[kiwipilot]

Hi,

Im new to FSUIPC and am in the late stages of building and now starting programming a complete cockpit for the Asobo Cessna Caravan. All components are running through an arduino mega which is programmed using mobiflight and FSUIPC offsets. These are probly really stupid newbie questions and i have searched fairly extensively through your forum to find the answers but nothing ive found so far seems to work, so here goes.

First problem im having when setting the offset for the Left and Right fuel selectors (running on two separate switches) it will allow me to turn them on individually but not off, when i switch one off it also either toggles the other one too or does nothing. I have tried every fuel selector setting i can find in both FSUIPC offsets but also the event ids from the MSFS control list but i keep getting the same problem.

Second problem is with the programming of the start switch panel on the left hand side of the cockpit i cant seem to find a working offset or event id for the Ignition switch. In the MSFS controls list there is an option for 67016 TURBINE_IGNITION_SWITCH_SET which theoretically would be the correct one?? Using the parameters 0 and 1 to set the state but when i enter the event id/control and set parameters accordingly i get nothing. Also a similar problem with 66702 EXTERNAL_SYSTEM_SET  - for the external power source which is a 3 position switch.  (i have also tried the toggle version of the turbine ignition event)

also do you know of an offset to separately control Avionics 1 and 2. There just seems to be a master avionics that turns both on and off at the same time.

Hope my attempt to explain what i am doing makes sense and that you can clarify if it is possible or whether we have to wait for MSFS to make the controls accessible

 

[John Dowson]

2 hours ago, kiwipilot said:

First problem im having when setting the offset for the Left and Right fuel selectors (running on two separate switches) it will allow me to turn them on individually but not off, when i switch one off it also either toggles the other one too or does nothing.

It seems that the Fuel Selector Set Command works with the following parameters:
   0 - turns left and right off
   1 - turns left and right on
   2 - turns left on, right off
   3 - turns right on, left off

So, turn one off without changing the state of the other, the command to send would depend on the state of the other.
So, if left and right were both on and you wanted to turn left off, use parameter 3, and parameter 2 turn right off.
If left was on and right was off, to turn off right you would use parameter 0 (both off).
etc
So you need to know the actual state and send different controls if you want individual control. I haven't checked any of the many other Fuel Selector controls.

2 hours ago, kiwipilot said:

Second problem is with the programming of the start switch panel on the left hand side of the cockpit i cant seem to find a working offset or event id for the Ignition switch. In the MSFS controls list there is an option for 67016 TURBINE_IGNITION_SWITCH_SET which theoretically would be the correct one?? Using the parameters 0 and 1 to set the state but when i enter the event id/control and set parameters accordingly i get nothing. Also a similar problem with 66702 EXTERNAL_SYSTEM_SET  - for the external power source which is a 3 position switch.  (i have also tried the toggle version of the turbine ignition event)

Activating logging and flipping the switch in the UI shows the Turbine Ignition Switch Set Ex1  control being triggered, with a parameter of 2 for On and 1 auto Auto. However, sending these controls via SimConnect/FSUIPC doesn't have any effect.
I've had a quick look at the available lvars as well and there doesn't seem to be anything there that works either.
You could try to see if you can assign for this to a key press (or key press combination) om MSFS itself. If this works, you can then assign your button/switch to the MSFS assigned keypress.

2 hours ago, kiwipilot said:

also do you know of an offset to separately control Avionics 1 and 2. There just seems to be a master avionics that turns both on and off at the same time.

 Have you tried the Avionics Master 1/2 On/Off/Set controls? Is anything logged when you switch them in MSFS? The general method is the same - see if anything is logged and try them. If they don't work, try the various available controls. If non work, see if they work via MSFS assignments, and if so, assign to a keypress in MSFS and then assign your button to that key press in FSUIPC. Also, check available lvars and try setting those (initially using the Add-ons->WASM->Set Lvar... menu option to see if they work).

 Note also that many stock MSFS aircraft are missing quite a bit of functionality.  There are various mods available for this aircraft (and most others) that improve on the stock functionality. Check for any available mods (SU6 compatible) that may improve on these functions.

John

 

[kiwipilot]

Hi John,

Thanks so much for your reply!

So I have got the fuel selectors working correctly now.

Still no luck finding a working FSUIPC control set for the ignition switch. I can assign it in the sim itself to a button on my bravo throttle quadrant however i have built a caravan start panel the same as the actual aircraft so ideally want to control it with that but i cant seem to find what the offset is. I have FSUIPC set to log IPC Reads & Writes and also buttons & keys but when i activate the switch/button in the sim it doesnt seem to log the offset so just wondering if i am trying to log the correct thing or not??

If i understand correctly to use the Avionics master 1/2 On/Off/Set controls i can only see them in the FSUIPC button & switch assignments section. Currently my arduino is running the mobiflight firmware for use with mobiflight (im not sure if this makes a difference or not) but it doesnt show up as a "device acquired for use" in FSUIPC so i am currently unable to assign any of the switch panels i have wired myself in FSUIPC. I have just been using FSUIPC offsets/presets in mobiflight to program them to the sim. Do i need to do something to make it recognizable in FSUIPC?

I have enabled WASM in FSUIPC but none of the menu options are available to click except for "disable" is it maybe not installed properly?

 

Thanks so much for your help this newbie really appreciates it!  🙂

 

[John Dowson]

1 hour ago, kiwipilot said:

set to log IPC Reads & Writes and also buttons & keys but when i activate the switch/button in the sim it doesnt seem to log the offset so just wondering if i am trying to log the correct thing or not??

IPC reads/writes logs reading and writing of offsets from external 3rd party FSUIPC clients, so you certainly don't need those activated. Try logging of Events.

1 hour ago, kiwipilot said:

I can assign it in the sim itself to a button on my bravo throttle quadrant

If you can assign it in the sim, you can assign it to a keypress (or keypress combination) in MSFS, and then assign your ignition switch/button to the keypress in FSUIPC.

1 hour ago, kiwipilot said:

I have enabled WASM in FSUIPC but none of the menu options are available to click except for "disable" is it maybe not installed properly?

Did you have an aircraft loaded and ready-to-fly? The options are only available in this state, not when in the MSFS menu.

1 hour ago, kiwipilot said:

If i understand correctly to use the Avionics master 1/2 On/Off/Set controls i can only see them in the FSUIPC button & switch assignments section. Currently my arduino is running the mobiflight firmware for use with mobiflight (im not sure if this makes a difference or not) but it doesnt show up as a "device acquired for use" in FSUIPC so i am currently unable to assign any of the switch panels i have wired myself in FSUIPC. I have just been using FSUIPC offsets/presets in mobiflight to program them to the sim. Do i need to do something to make it recognizable in FSUIPC?

You can send any control via offset 0x3110. To send keystrokes to the FS, you can use offset 0x3200.
To use the arduino directly with FSUIPC (i.e. to get it recognised so that you can assign to its buttons/switches in the FSUIPC assignments panel), it needs to be recognised ass a HID joystick type device, or over connected via COM ports and programmed using lua. I can't really help you with this, but google should help you get started, ot maybe look/ask on https://www.cockpitbuilders.com/.

John

[John Dowson]

1 hour ago, John Dowson said:

or over connected via COM ports and programmed using lua. I can't really help you with this, but google should help you get started

Maybe this is helpful: http://thegeekforge.com/2017/11/10/arduino-lua-fsuipc-tutorial-001_a/

John

[kiwipilot]

Thanks again John, will give all of these a try 🙂

[Velasco]

Does the above suggestion use solving your problem? Please let me know because I have to face some of those problems. If it works, then I will try.