Ed,

 

Thanks for the follow up on the light switches.

 

Also, I tried the RealityXP 430's. Three problems.

1. When 430 (Com/NAV1) is powered up (self test) it does not "sync" the HSI properly. No glideslope indicator (HSI) and I see a red flag (HSI).

Edit: Actually I seen it "sysc" with glideslope one time and did a screenshot of it.

 

2. It follows the GPS flight plan but I see a red flag in HSI.

3. The RealityXp will give an LPV status but the HSI will not show the gligeslope indicators (HSI).

I'm still trying to figure out where the GNS430 User Guide is?

It's supposed to be somewhere in the download...

 

Meantime, I pulled out the Dreamfleet Baron for a quick comparison.

 

 

No contest, the Carenado model is superb, and deserves pride of place now.

It's a little twitchy on the ground so I might lift something from the DF FDE.

Otherwise, I can't find a reason to keep the older model anymore.

Edited January 17, 201313 yr by firehawk44
Image removed. Far exceeds 400KB weight limit.

User guides, e.g. on my PC:

F:\FS9\Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator 9\Carenado\B58 Baron

Ah yes, where all the other Carenado stuff is, that I've never read.

Thanks!

 

Photobucket is meant to resize the pics, so sorry about oversize above.

Haven't found where it tells you what size actually appears... this is supposed to be 800x600

Edited January 17, 201313 yr by firehawk44
Image removed. Far exceeds 400KB limit.

I guess I was setting my pixels to like 1200 wide .. so now I try "resize" =800..

 

On your Nav1 and Nav2 .. do you have red flags?

*****

Also.

I got one good power on sysc with glideslope present followed by a good GPS flight and a good LPV approach with good glideslope indication on HSI.

 

On the second flight and another (3rd) test flight after PC reboot .... no Sync and no LPV glideslope.

 

Something is "almost" working.

If you edit a photo in MS Paint, resize the photo to show the pixels as 1600. The height figure will be selected automatically. Once complete, click on file and click on properties. It will show you the KB weight of your image. If it is still too large above KB weight, I crop the image first then resize. The weight of the image is usually way below 400KB. You can also try resizing the image again to say, 1200 pixels wide. Hope this helps!

 

Best regards,

Jim

Jim,

 

I will do it that way .. thanks.

Forgot to post the good power on Sync with Nav1 at the start of the one flight that worked (shown in previous post above).

Ed,

 

I could not get used to the entire panel getting lit up by turning on any one of several switches e.g. the beacon or other switches (Nav/Strobe/Dome etc.).

 

So, I edited your 3_night.bmp alpha.

 

So now I am just using only this one modified bmp in each of the aircraft texturs folders.

 

Now when I turn on the beacon, only the beacon light turns while using the RXP430 WAAS (alpha).

Or, if I turn on the Dome or Nav e.g. then it will turn on while using the RXP430 WAAS (alpha).

 

The modified alpha looks like this now:

I bought the Carenado B58 last week, and have been busy flying it and exploring the features. Pretty neat, I would say. I also own the Dreamfleet FS2004 Baron (Lite), and have also been happy with it. First observations:

 

The Carenado textures are clearly superior, inside and outside. The VC looks very good.

Just about everything in the VC seems functional/animated.

The handling seems very similar to the Dreamfleet, which has an excellent reputation for flight model.

The stereo engine sounds are excellent. But the Dreamfleet stereo engine sounds are good as well. (They sound similar, actually).

I like the dual GNS 430's. WingZ asked what is the advantage of the Reality XP units, and I am wondering the same, but am told by people who have the Reality units that there is nothing that compares with them. However, I have been going through the Carenado units, using the actual Garmin handbooks, and so far haven't found any missing features, but I haven't really got into the Procedures yet.

 

However:

TheCarenado model taxes the performance. If you have a really powerful PC this is probably no problem, but when I fly my Carenado B58 in add-on scenery areas of high density (France VFR, for example), it really slows things down. Maybe this is not surprising when you consider the fidelity of the Carenado model - it is obviously going to require some megabytes to make an aircraft model of this refinement.

The Dreamfleet has a radar altimeter, the Carenado doesn't. The Dreamfleet has audio warnings (Gear Down, Decision Height); the Carenado doesn't.

The cockpit audio (sounds of flap movements, switch flipping, etc) seems superior in the Dreamfleet to the Carenado. When you flip the switches in the Carenado, there is very little audible sound.

 

I like both models, and will probably continue to fly them both. For me the best thing of the Carenado, is the general visual impression of the VC and the interior of the airplane. You get the impression you are actully in this airplane. And finally, I want to buy from a developer who continues to make aircraft for FS2004. It seems that Dreamfleet, FSD International, and Eaglesoft and others have thrown in the towel as far as FS2004 is concerned.

Following up to my post yesterday, where I said that so far I hadn't found any features in the real GNS 430 not present in the Carenado model. I spoke too soon. For example, with the real GNS 430 (as per the Garmin handbook) when you go to the NAV Page Group you find seven pages. But the Carenado version does not have Terrain, Position, nor Satellite Status. Likewise the Carenado NRST Page Group does not have all eight pages of the actual Garmin. And it doesn't seem to have all of the information on some of the airports in the NRST group. I do not have the Reality XP, but I understand that it has all of the page groups, including the Jeppeson database..

"I do not have the Reality XP, but I understand that it has all of the page groups, including the Jeppeson database.."

 

True.

Nice take on the models, AviatorMan.

I always found the DF model somehow intimidating, taking over the sim as it does!

The Reality XP gauges also do things to my system that I cannot explain, so I uninstalled the lot long ago.

 

I must say that for anyone used to a MFD, or touchscreen, these GPS units have the most clunky interface, especially in FS.

You drill down with multi-clicking into incomprehensible menu structures, some of which don't seem to work... and then to get out you have to remember the path you clicked down!

I gave up.

 

Someone made a little tutorial clip on the basic GPS functions once, which I found helpful.

I wonder if there's one to be had for the Baron's unit?