I asked more than once if there was ANY chance of having an ACARS SDK available, unfortunately i got no answer. I think i could find a place on a server to put some METAR and ATC interaction code. :( My hope is that PMDG is leaving some interface open to possibly add this at a later time.

To make it workable and practical ACARS would have to be a completely independent application running concurrently with FSX to which other entities (like aircraft, ATC, VATSIM, dispatch, etc.) could connect to and use it as a conduit to exchange data between themselves. If PMDG implemented ACARS only within NGX it would be but a tiny step - it would be like having a telephone receiver at home with no telephone communication lines. Taking some ARINC docs and doing some programming based on it is really just scratching the surface of the problem. Ultimately if fully implemented I guess only those using VATSIM or virtual airlines could make use of it.

Hi Michael,you are bringing up a very important point. An ACARS environment for FSX would only be practical if it works concurrently from FSX. That's exactly what I aimed at when I planned my little project. The dll file acting as the CMU (or ACARS MU) does exactly that. Once you initialize this file you will have to make basic data input e.g. which aircraft type is it used for, what is the registration number etc. Just like a real MU would request data from the avionics upon power up. Once this is done the the dll file establishes a connection with the server side app (acting at the datalink service provider). The DSP then processes the messages and forwards it to the different ground apps (e.g. ATS apps). What I could think of for the future is to make the ground app side available for third party developers just like I did with the airborne side ACARS MU.Ideas are very welcome. Maybe I'll set up a little demonstration in the near future if anyone is interested.Best RegardsFrederik

Hi Michael,you are bringing up a very important point. An ACARS environment for FSX would only be practical if it works concurrently from FSX. That's exactly what I aimed at when I planned my little project. The dll file acting as the CMU (or ACARS MU) does exactly that. Once you initialize this file you will have to make basic data input e.g. which aircraft type is it used for, what is the registration number etc. Just like a real MU would request data from the avionics upon power up. Once this is done the the dll file establishes a connection with the server side app (acting at the datalink service provider). The DSP then processes the messages and forwards it to the different ground apps (e.g. ATS apps). What I could think of for the future is to make the ground app side available for third party developers just like I did with the airborne side ACARS MU.Ideas are very welcome. Maybe I'll set up a little demonstration in the near future if anyone is interested.Best RegardsFrederik

Then of course there is the very useable ACARS system from Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers at http://www.hoppie.nl/acars which a number of pilots have been using.

Simulating the pilot to ATC interactions of - say- the CPDLC would be straightforward too, but building it so that real VATSIM controllers could actually utilise it would be a big project to say the least.

A little like this perhaps? http://img141.images.../4396/cpdlc.jpg (top left windows)My implementation of CPDLC and ADS-C in the next version of my plugin for EuroScope (a VATSIM ATC Client). Based on hoppies ACARS network - http://www.hoppie.nl/acars/Hoppie also has his own standalone CPDLC client that controllers can use, and the network is growing in popularity / use by the VATSIM community. I would love some form of implementation (even if PMDG "just" made an SDK so someone else could program it into the CDU) into FS. Presently pilots have to run a number of external applications to use this, as it was originally designed for PS1 and then adapted to MSFS.