Aerosoft EFIS/EICAS

[Guest TheJones]

Hi captains,Anyone using Aerosift EFIS/EICAS with PIC? I'd like to exchange some info on this issue...Thanks!

[Guest rhys13]

Hi, I have recieved The efis/eicas hardware fromn aerosoft and have been trying to use it with PIC.I say try as I am pretty busy at the momant and have not had much chance to try it out.What i can say is that the programming of the keystrokes is pretty straight forward and Aerosoft have programmed some keystrokes themselves (dh/baro/ehsi range and hsi mode). I have tried the ehsi mode and range functions and found these to work flawlessly providing your range and mode is from the outset correctly syncronised with the initial PIC setting. However, for the baro and dh dials i still have to do a bit of testing as they don't appear to work as advertised despite what has been said. Perhaps am I doing something wrong...The possibilities with this hardware is definitely interesting and I look forward to having the time to get to know it better. What would really be a big help would be to know if certain functions like tose shown on the attachment if they have a given keystroke in order to programm the efis unit. If you know of them I'd be glad to know...If I can help you further, drop me a linehave a nice dayHappy landings

[Guest TheJones]

Hi,The display buttons has no keystrokes, but I used key2mouse and made it work flawlessly. I also used key2mouse to program some other functions, like VOR/ADF left and right. Also no problem to program recall/cancel as PIC has a keysroke for it.DH works perfect for me, while BARO doesn't do anything. Can you tell me if it really works for u?I also have some problems with MCP display, which I'm trying to verify now (speed and hdg window displays disapear sometimes).Another problem I have is that some keypreses I program cause FS to go from foreground to be a background application (loses focus). This is really annoying...I'll keep you updated ;-)Thanks,Ilan

[Guest rhys13]

Hi Ilan, Sorry for the belated reply...i'm always kinda a busy with 2 young girls at home!THANKS for your tip on key2mouse...I didn't know it...I do now and I use it in conjunction with efis/eicas. It works well !!I'm still not getting the DH to work for me...if I understood correctly this DH should correspond to the keystroke "D"(+) and "tab+D"(-).Nothing happens when I turn this dial on the efis. Furthermore I concur with the BARO as this also does not visibily do anything.I sent an email to Aerosoft a day ago asking for some more information and I await there reply...I'll keep you posted !As you've probably seen, they have a firmware 1.7c out and this should take care of the problems that you were experiencing with the MCP display. This has cured the problem for me as I was getting similar display readings...As for the last problem pertaining to foreground/backround I'll have to try and to a bit more "flying" to see if I have similar problems.in the meantime happy landings...Cheers,

[Guest TheJones]

Hi,I solved the fore/background problem - it was caused by using x, c and k buttons - when I changed it to tab+x tab+k and tab+c problem was solved.I'll have a quick check on new software, will see how it goes.Very strange about dh not working for you - never had trouble with it. maybe you are using a non default keyboard settings? Off I go to test it ;-) I like PIC with the new hardware!Ilan

[Guest rhys13]

Hi,Hope that the new firmware will prove useful to you. I have heard from Aerosoft in the meantime but Andrew still has to check a few things out...He should get back to me in the near future.Once again, I'll inform you when I get a reply !To get back to the keyboard settings, you are right I do use nondefault settings...I'll give that a check !Thanks for the tip and happy landingsCheers,

[Guest rhys13]

Hi, Check out the Aerosoft website for the newest firmware. I installed it and all seems to working fine...DH / Baro problems seemed to be fixed and working as advertised !Regards,

[Guest TheJones]

on a first look it is! what a great addition to fly PIC!I temporarily made this setup:EFIS EICAS on top of MCP:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/32116.jpg"modified" EFIS/EICAS :-)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/32117.jpg

[Guest ATPBVC]

bump

[teropa]

Hi,I'll be posting pictures of my new PIC hardware, self-made with FSBUS, once it's fully ready. I already have an MCP, but I have just recently expanded my HW panel. The new panel incldes 128 new functions... Price for the whole deal is ~ $200, of which the biggest part is the expensive rotary knobs :).The kind of EFIS/EICAS (btw why is it called that ?) box Aerosoft is selling would take approximately $30 to do with FSBUS. I think it's amazing you guys buy that stuff... But.. to each his own. AND I'm sure they are of high quality too.Tero

[Guest TheJones]

>The kind of EFIS/EICAS (btw why is it called that ?) box>Aerosoft is selling would take approximately $30 to do with>FSBUS.It is a b744 hardware, this is how it is called on that bird.30$ would be the cost after you have the basic FSBUS components...EFIS/EICAS price is a bit too high - people mainly buy it to copmlete the set of MCP+EFIS+EICAS which looks great together.> I think it's amazing you guys buy that stuff... But..>to each his own. AND I'm sure they are of high quality too.>FSBUS requires investing many hours, ordering a PCB (which can get very expensive) and wasting a lot of time on experimenting rather than flying.I doubt you get the same quality in the end, though I couldn't find enough info on FSBUS: will it read data from 767PIC? i.e. will your mcp show the HDG you set, or will it only be seen on screen?Can you use the FSBUS hardware you make with windows focus not on FS?many questions still need to be asked... PIC isn't an easy addon regarding external hardware good luck with your project, looking forward to seeing some pictures soon! ;-)

[teropa]

Hi Ilan,Ok some facts.$30 is the cost it would take ME to build such EFIS/EICAS unit. I perhaps gave the impression that it would be so cheap for everyone.It's because:1. I do my own PCBs with professional equipment.2. I graduate within one year to get M.Sc in Electrical Engineering, so I know what to do.There is no experimenting in the work. Everything that needs to be known is very very simple, and it doesn't take a genius to setup the FSBUS software.WRT quality. IF I wanted, I could easily exceed Aerosoft's quality. Why ? It's because I'm not manufacturing hundreds of those units. When I'm doing one single piece of equipment, I sure will do it the best as I can. I really don't consider it a waste of time if I save hundreds of euros in the process. Hardly a waste.WRT PIC. PIC767 is the single most difficult panel to work with in this regard. And it's exactly because of the difficulties in extracting information from it. Currently my MCP has everything that the Aerosoft one, EXCEPT the displays. However, I could have implemented HDG and ALT displays easily, but decided not to do so, because I couldn't get them all. I'm sure PICv2 will be a LOT better in this regard, and the ability extract data from EVERY function (be it switch, light, event etc.) will be there. I hope.I'm in the process of building a full-sized B757 simulator with two friends. We aim to reproduce a B757 cockpit in every other respect expect the motion. It's a loooong project, but it will pay off eventually.The home panels I'm making are just for my personal enjoyment, so I won't have to use the keyboard or the mouse. They don't resemble REAL a/c parts to color and layout, BUT rather represent ultimate functionality for each flight.At the moment I have the MCP, which I've been using 6 months now. It's GREAT!My next multi-function panel will include these:- complete hydraulic system - no smoking & seat belts signs- Battery SW, Stby pwr SW- APU controls- ignition controls- complete fuel system- pack controls- isolation sw controls- anti-ice controls- master warning & cancel sws- recall sw- a sw to set speedbugs- RTO switch- Gear lever- L & R EICAS display controls- complete clock controls- L & R vor/adf selectors- HSI range & mode selectors- L & R cutoff switches (with lock, ie. one has to pull to turn)- parking brake- rudder trim control sw- LDG lt, pos lt, a-c lts, wing lts, panel lt switches- a COMPLETE radio / nav panel with: * COM, display and controls including stby freq sw. * NAV1 & NAV2, displays and controls including stby freq. sw, AUTO/MAN control and course selector * ADF, display and controls * XPDR, display and all controls, including TCAS controls - a separate QNH display with qnh setting knob- DA and DH controlsIn all: 41 pushbuttons, 9 switches, 27 rotary encoders, 6 display units (each has 5 * 7seg displays).regardsTerops. I will post pictures later :)

[Guest TheJones]

Great and promising project you have there! I am making a 763 cockpit, still on paper though until I finish building my new home up in the country :-)Making PCB's can get very expensive - I have some access to all electronic equipment, still it is not an easy task. ordering a PCB from a local store will cost about 200-250 USD (not a cheap country I live in...).The 2-way communication was the reason I chose aerosoft - it is very important to me and was worth the extra 250-300 dollars.BTW 1.3 patch allows "external 3rd party hardware communication". Did you ever try exploring this issue yourself? it might be easier than you think...Anyway drop me a mail if you want to explore further...Cheers,Ilan

[teropa]

Ilan,Would you believe that I pay $0 for my PCBs. I actually have access to very nice equipment AND the "empty" PCBs themselves through my school :). And it's perfectly allowed thing to do too! Making the PCBs is very easy here.1. print out the wiring schematics with a laser printer2. expose the empty PCB to UV light through the schematic (machine)3. develop the PCB wiring pattern (machine)4. Etch out the exess copper (machine)5. Remove the protective lack in a stripper solutionthat's it! To make a PCB from scratch, it takes me 10 minutes!Yes, very interesting that you mention the 1.3 patch. I have thought about that myself, and I KNOW that some DLL enables the Aerosoft HW to extract the "missing" data that is NOT accessible through FSUIPC.... This was actually as next in my things to do list.. to explore that road, and maybe do some reverse engineering :). I actually asked Wade several times on the forum early on this year, if he would help me with my problems regarding the data, but he never replied.I'll contact you later on about that one... !Tero

[Guest rhys13]

Hello there,Thanks for the pics...and the tips !Well the latest firmware for efis/esicas has solved some problems but seems to have rendered the interface with the keyboard u/s.I certainly don't seem to be able to assign anything at the moment !I believe you are having the same difficulties...? I guess we'll have to see what happens !Tero,Nice project you seem to have going ! Wish I had the level of expertise to do something of that magnitude not to mention the time...I guess it'll have to wait another 10 years at least... In the meantime all the best for your simulator !