Radio stack background image and pushback gauge

[Hakkie 0]

Hi again!First of all, I know modifying bitmaps of the PMDG aircraft is not officialy supported here. I try to find an answer anyway :+ I've put the great freeware 'ATN v1.2 pushback gauge' by Etienne Martin into the radio stack. This works fine. To make things look pretty I tried to paint some lines in the area of the data printer (lower right corner of radio stack). The thing is that my modifications do not appear in the panel itself. When I open the 737NG_RADIO_BACKGROUND.bmp in Photoshop, I do see my changes. I've replaced all occurences of the original file with my modified one. Still I see no change in the panel? :-hmmm Anybody got an idea why? Is it loading from cache somewhere?Now my second question, which I've also sent per mail to Etienne: is it possible to change the color of the pushback gauge? I would like to match the gauge color with the background color of the PMDG panel. See below screenshot.Thanks all for any suggestion I (might ;-) ) get!Henk-Janhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93385.jpg

[crvm 0]

The thing is that my modifications do not appear in the panel itself. Having not looked at it in a while I suppose the BMP is locked in a gauge file that you cannot get into. SO changing the bmp will do nothing. Of course there are areas of the main panel that do not have a gau overlay bmp but once you hit the lights at night the night overlay sets. Yes it is a simple matter to change that pushback to match. Open up your paint program and highlight (SELECT TOOL) a piece of the PMDG's radio stack (little blank area) then copy and paste unto your PB bmp then be creative ;-) at least the dropper will give you a rough idea or there should even be enough blank PMDG panel to totally cover all the areas.... Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/Animation1.gifCaution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

[Hakkie 0]

Thanks Randy, I guess I won't be able to adjust that part of the radio stack then :-(About the pushback gauge color: this is also a GAU file without a bitmap. So I'm afraid the same goes here. Not possible to modify myself... :-roll Kind regards,Henk-Jan

[Guest rlsrlj]

Can you please tell me how you moved it to the radio stackThanks!http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/ng_driver.jpgRichard Jacks

[Hakkie 0]

>Can you please tell me how you moved it to the radio stack>>Thanks!>>Richard JacksHi Richard, sure I can tell you. But first of all the famous disclaimer: no PMDG support anymore when user modifies his files!This edit can easily be undone, as all that is required is a simple one line addition. Here we go:- download the pushback gauge v1.2 here (login required) http://library.avsim.net/download.php?DLID=54200- place files as instructed in the included manual- locate the panel.cfg of your PMDG 737. There are 4 of them in below folders. You can modify all of them, or just the ones you fly most. Make a backup before you edit them!1 'your fs9 main'AircraftPMDG737-700panel2 'your fs9 main'AircraftPMDG737-700panel.vc3 'your fs9 main'AircraftPMDG737-800panel4 'your fs9 main'AircraftPMDG737-800panel.vc- Add following line at the bottom of the radio stack section of the panel.cfg:gauge01=Atn!Pushback, 329,510,285,76The radio panel section then looks like this://--------------------------------------------------------[Window08] // PMDG_RADIO_STACK_PANELfile=737NG_RADIO_BACKGROUND.bmp file_1024=737NG_RADIO_BACKGROUND.bmp size_mm=625,600position=8visible=0Background_color=0,0,0 ident=27gauge00=PMDG_737NG_Main!RadioStack, 0, 0, 625, 600gauge01=Atn!Pushback, 329,510,285,76- Save the panel.cfg- Done!I hope I did not forget anything. Let me know if you need help.Regards,Henk-Jan

[Guest wee_davie_2612]

Hey Henk-JanThere is a way to modify the gauge bitmaps that are locked in the compiled .gau files. Infact it is pretty simple if you use the right tool. That right tool would be GAUBmp by Chuck Dome available at [a href=http://www.simviation.com/fsdesign_panels1.htm]simviation.com[/a]. That link will take you to the panel design utilities page. The program you need is sixth from the top. It says in the readme that you need VB files but it will run without them just fine (it'll look like the program has frozen when you select a gauge but just give it a minute and it'll work)CheersDavid

[Hakkie 0]

Thanks David,Unfortunately I am unable to get BMP's from the pushback gauge. I only get a small black square. I guess this tool is incompatible with FS2004 gauges? Or the gauges are protected? Anyway, I hope the developer of the gauge can help me out. I do not want to 'hack' his gauge... Thanks for the link anyway!Henk-Jan

[crvm 0]

>Hey Henk-Jan>>There is a way to modify the gauge bitmaps that are locked in>the compiled .gau files. Infact it is pretty simple if you use>the right tool. That right tool would be GAUBmp by Chuck Dome>available at [a>href=http://www.simviation.com/fsdesign_panels1.htm]simviation.com[/a].>That link will take you to the panel design utilities page.>The program you need is sixth from the top. >>It says in the readme that you need VB files but it will run>without them just fine (it'll look like the program has frozen>when you select a gauge but just give it a minute and it'll>work)>>Cheers>>David That will not work on PMDG's gauge file trust me. As for the pushback gau, it might be easy for me to do it for you. I will give it a shot since it would not take me but a few minutes to get it right..Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/Animation1.gifCaution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

[crvm 0]

Here is it since I posted, only a few minutes into it ;-). The gauge has a few other bmps so I will have to spend a few more minutes on it than I originally thought but hey no problem..http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93422.jpgBest Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/Animation1.gifCaution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

[Hakkie 0]

>I will give it a shot since it would not take me but a few minutes>to get it right..Thanks for getting it done, Randy. I'd like to know how I can do this myself. Can you explain to me, please? Never too old to learn.... ;-) Just FYI below the modified radio stack background I was planning to use. Both would nicely fit together. No, not true to life but real handy. :-zhelp Henk-Janhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93423.jpg

[crvm 0]

Well the only way I know that you could get into that gauge is to purchase this http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=FSP-CDE-001. As to your desire I have deleted my work on it ;-). Good luck!Best Wishes,[h4]Randy J. Smith[/h4]http://www.rawbw.com/~bdoolin/shinault/Animation1.gifCaution! Not a real pilot, but do play one on TV ;-)AMD 64 3200+ | ASUS KV8 DELUXE | GFORCE 5700 ULTRA @535/1000 | Maxtor 6Y080M0 SATA 80 GIG | 512 DDR 400 | Windows Xp Pro | Windows Xp Pro 64 |

[Hakkie 0]

Good morning,Whooow, I guess you misunderstood my last one. :-) I was hoping to get both from you: your work on it AND an explanation how you've done it. I might be able to do it myself in future then. I guess my English let me down this time (I'm Dutch, no native English). So Randy, if you can modify the color of the pushback gauge for me, I will be very gratefull!Henk-Jan

[Guest thscholz]

>I'd like to know how I can>do this myself. Can you explain to me, please? Never too old>to learn.... ;-) You could download a program called "Resource Hacker" from here:http://www.users.on.net/johnson/resourcehacker/With this utility you can open the atn.gau, find the bitmaps, save them to the disk, modify them and then replace them.It could look like this:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93472.jpgCheersThomas

[Hakkie 0]

>It could look like this:>>Cheers>>ThomasYou teaser! :+ OK, I'm gonna try it. Thanks.BTW: Got a mail from Etienne stating he's working on an update of his gauge that allows user customisable colors, probably via an INI-file.(Edit) BTW2: That resource hacker tool did the trick. Thanks a lot for the tip!Henk-Jan

[Guest zip]

Hi, I'm only visiting :)As stated, the plan in a future release is to provide support for a custom "skin" that you provide. More on this later - and let me borrow a line from PMDG on this: we do not comment on release dates.