Tips & Tricks - I

After pushing it out for so long, yesterday i started re-installing the OS on my computer that is temporarily doubling as the FS9 computer as well as my main home system.

During this process, to my frustration, I realized that I forgot many simple things that I originally took trouble to figure out the very first time. So, this time, i decided to document these here as Tips & Tricks for simmers. Once again, this is to help me as much as it might others. So, here is the volume I of my tips and tricks. Let's see how this list evolves over a period of time..

Project Magenta
----------------
1) To make the FS9 Flight Plans available in CDU..

a) Share the directory into which FS9 saves your flight plan files as "FSPLANS" with full read/write access enabled.
Typically this directory is:
C:\Documents and Settings\\My Documents\Flight Simulator Files

b) Share the main Flight simulator program directory as "FS9" with full read/write access

FS9
-----
1) Where is my FS9.cfg file?
C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Microsoft\FS9. This directory may be hidden. In that case, you need to first select the "show hidden files" option from the folder view options in the explorer.

2) Where is "no CD FS9" hack?
Not sure i can mention it here. But i know where it is :-).
If you don't know what is "no CD Fs9" hack means.. It allows to launch and play FS9 without having to insert the CD #4 into the cdrom!!

3) If you have added FSSound.dll to FS9 either knowingly or otherwise while installing your favourite aircraft/gauges and suddenly started getting the invalid dll message during FS9 startup..

then add the following lines to the bottom of your FS9.cfg file:

[oldmodules]
fssound.dll=1

This dll is perfectly ok to user for FS9. The above lines will suppress the annoying startup warning.

Meljet Aircraft model
--------------------------
In the 777 VC mode, pilot side view is blocked and cannot see outside..
modify the eyepoing value in the aircraft.cfg file to the following:

[Views]
eyepoint = 92.0, -2.65, 2.25

If the above didn't fix the problem, try changing the first value from 92 to 96 in the increments of 1 until it works..

My CDU is ready

Two weeks ago I purchased the CDU kit from FDS. Since i already worked on the PSone display mod problem, I was ready to assemble the CDU as soon as it arrived. So, I did. As you can see below, it looks very real.



I also purchased the PSOne display holder alongwith the CDU so that I can secure the display in place easily. Notice the red insulation tape strips on either side to prevent the metal frame on the display to short the soldered pin connections on the back of the CDU.



The cool part is the default backlighting for the keys. Night time it is looking very impressive.



And btw, last time when i visited James, he generously gave me his old throttle and said - just play around until you get your own. It is quite unexpected and i was shocked at his kindness. Here it is.. I hooked it up to my computer and configured it using FSUIPC. And the throttles are working just fine. I used the console to temporarily mount my new CDU. Here is how it looks on James's console..

My first encounter with a home built 737 Sim

On Augutst 27th, I drove approximately 3.5 hrs each way to visit a fellow new england builder's home to see his 737 sim.

First, James..a big thank you for letting me have the time of my life and for your kind hospitality. You are amazingly kind to spend a lot of time with a total stranger and at the same time making me feel at home all the time.

After imagining how it looks for so long, finally it was exciting to see it in real. In terms of reality, it is more than what i imagined (see the pic for yourself). I jumped into the pilot seat and we tried a brief flight. But since i am not apt at flying, we didn't do much. James has built throttles all by himself and they were really cool and worked great. Overall, the cockpit looks so real, that it is surreal.

I stayed until late into the night and the long drive was worth every minute in my book. After visiting James's, i am eager to start building mine soon.

The first year in review

I just can't believe it is already one year since i started on this journey. What a surprising year it was!!

Did I complete my sim in this one year? No, I haven't even started building yet.

Even though i knew a year back, that this is going to take time, i now have a clear idea of what lies ahead and what to expect realistically.

Besided hours and hours of research and reading posts on various newsgroups, here are my major accomplishments in the last one year:

• built the computer(s) and setup the network
• getting better at flying
• selected IOCards as the hardware interface system and built the cards
• bought Project Magenta, set it up and started climbing the steep learning curve
• started programming the iocards for various panels
• met some great, helpful builders online and made some good friends across the globe.

The best reward in this hobby, surprisingly came in the form of the last one in the above list, totally unexpectedly. I have never met so many helpful, generous and contagiously enthusiastic souls in my life before, than I did in this last one year. It almost feels like membership in an exclusive global club, where almost everyone knows the other. Major part of my learning came from these fellow builders, who happily shared their treasured collections, years of their research information, all just for simply asking (in somecases even without asking!!). A big thanks to you all.

In particular, i cannot miss this opportunity to thank the following folks individually.

• Chris W Balmer - for kindly sharing your docs
• Daniel, Tegelen - for the incredible information on the shell construction
• Hans Schuetz - for all your help and importantly introducing Klaus :-)
• Johan Nauwelaertz de Agé - for patiently explaining and helping me with the pedals design
• Klaus Troemer - thanks my friend for being the kind soul you are
• Thomas Konditi - still can't believe you took the trouble to setup a ftp site, just so that i can download information..
• Matthias Spahrmann - the very first builder friend who taught me a lot patiently
• Manuel Vélez - amazing example of how much difference one person can make in this world. Thanks for your iocards project and your relentless, day-in day-out support to builders all across the globe.

All of you made me a better person. You made me wanting to share more and help other builders in anyways i can. Thank you.

Last but not the least, this hobby demanded whatever the little free time, if at all any, that i have in my busy work life. That, need for time, is the hard part in this hobby. And it was harder on my sweet wife Vijaya than it was for me. Thanks Chinna, for all your understanding and support. You even learned how to solder!! and helped me with building the interface cards, just to spend more time together!! Thank you Chinna.

Looking into the future year, hopefully, i get to finish some area in my basement so that i can start the construction. One good improvement in this one year as i noticed is - panels market is further maturing and improved panels from FDS and others are coming into the market. So, currently i am not minding the wait.

In all, it was an intese research/learning phase of the project. So the new builders out there - be prepared for a looooooooong time before you see an AirBus or Boeing parked in your basement!!

See you all here with a similar report in a short year!!

GenEx - My opensource contribution to IOCards Project

This weekend, I finally gave something back to IOCards project by writing an opensource program that will automatically generate SIOC configuration programs. This tool, I believe will bring a new level of user friendliness to IOCards project and bring it one step closer to the other commercial vendor's plug&play type solutions. Thanks to my friend Klaus Troemer for giving me the reason to get back at writing this program which I originally dropped immediately after conceiving it.

I named this program "GenEx" as it 'generates' SIOC programs from simple 'Excel' spread sheets. Users enter their iocards setup information(their input output connection numbers) in a spread sheet against a pre-identified function names. For example, this spread sheet contains a list of all functions such as IN and HPA selector or ND range 10,20,40 selector etc found on EFIS panel, one functin per row. For each function, users are expected to enter thier iocards connection number. For example, if you have connected ND range 10 selection switch to iocard input #32, then simply enter 32 in the cell against the function named 'ND range 10' in the spread sheet. That's it. And run the 'GenEx' against this spread sheet now, and GenEx generates a complete working SIOC program that works out of box with Project Magenta. No more need for knowing the details of IOCards programming or FSUIPC offsets.

A couple of following things motivated me to write this program:

First, when i started to write sioc program for my 777 efis panel, i realized that i was combing through a lot of example files from other users and also pouring over the project magenta offsets documentation. And then it struck me that many other iocard users before and following me will have to do the same. But in reality, there is no reason for that, since only difference between one users program and another's is really the connections information.

Second, I noticed the major trend in commercial interface cards vendor space with general curiosity. Most of their claim for charging premium is their software's user friendly claim of - "just connect, assign position numbers and go running without worrying about fsuipc offsets". It seemed, this kind of easy up and running nature is desirable for many builders and they are paying comparatively big bucks for these commercial solutions. While projects like IOCards are without doubt - better value and functionally competitive, if not better than any of these commercial solutions, but they still require some level of programming competency and not as user friendly as these other commercial solutions calaim themselves to be. So, future focus for these free projects such as IOCards should be of making them much more user friendly than they are today.

Third, i watched Project Magenta's PMSystems marketing video and one sentence Jonathan said caught my attention. While refering to Phidgets, he said - "programming with offsets is fast becoming a thing of the past". I thought - "yes, it can be done with IOCards too".

And finally, right when i thought no one would actively wish to distance away themselves from the programming fun (i obviously assumed that everyone would be dying to program their interface cards, and they'll laugh at me if i tell them to just forget about all the offsets and enter their connection numbers into a spread sheet), one of my builder friends told me that he is considering a more expensive commercial solution for precisely the same reason. Which made me believe that GenEx has a need and so then i decided to code it.

So, as a first step, in this regard, i thought with GenEx I can address all the above issues. It makes the IOCards simple by a) eliminating the need to learn and worry about SIOC programming b) no need to deal with Project Magenta/Fsuipc offsets and c) brings IOCards one step closer to commercial vendors claims.

Also, one more bonus advantage of using GenEx to generate your SIOC programs is - the excel file (that is used for generating the sioc program file) is also the automatic documentation of your cockpit project, since it neatly captures the information about every input/output connection on your iocards and it's assigned function.

So, by now if you are wondering what stage the program is? It's coding is complete in all aspects, except that it needs sioc program templates for various aircrafts and panels. Currently, it has template for generating sioc program for B-777 EFIS panel only. Adding these templates to cover more types and panels is external to the program code and will be taken up in the next couple of weeks.

I have sent the beta copy to IOCards team to evaluate and comment. Hopefully they'll accept the program and make it officially a part of IOCards project. If they like it, the program can be further improved. Currently it generates SIOC program file as ASCII text file. This generated file still needs to be compiled with the regular Config_sioc.exe compiler. This extra step can be eliminated if the sioc program compiler is also integrated into GenEx. Then it can directly generate the '.ssi' file directly from the input excel file. Sweet! I am only hoping IOCards project folks bless this.

So, now imagine - all you need to do is: connect your panels hardware to input/output ports on the iocards cards. Then open the included excel file and just type these connection numbers in the well identified cells and save. Run GenEx against the excel file. And you are ready to be up and running with Project Magenta. Sounds exactly like one of the commercial card vendor advertisments correct? But this time it's free, and it's IOCards.

Finally, I am glad that i am able to contribute something back to the IOCards project team whom I respect for what they gave us all for free.