Here is a bit of fun for you ... herein resides instructions on how to modify Navigraph's data for all PMDG products so that you can enter gate information into LSK 3L on page 1 of 3 on the POST INIT page of the CDU ... ENJOY!

Great find!  Thanks!   It has always annoyed me a little bit that I couldn't enter any gates into my CDU when doing my pre-flight work.   I am going to get the latest cycle and pack in those gates at my most common airports.

I've been using gate numbers for years with the NGX and other aircraft that support it, perhaps this is just a navigraph issue in the US, I dunno!

 

Aerosoft's Navdatapro certainly has gates in all of the relevant airports. They have 107 gates and their coordinates listed for KATL.

The navigraph data I have has never had the gate info in there, but I've only checked a few times over the years.

 

Either way, the aircraft-reported GPS position is generally more accurate than the gate position in the data file (or at least just as good).  Back when GPS didn't feed into the IRS, it was more relevant.  Now?  Not so much.

 

If it adds to your sense of realism though, go right on ahead.

In europe a lot of navigraph data has gate nrs. In merica they don't

I use it all the time and it pretty much always reads the same as your current position anyway so there isn't much point to it really, but it is nice to have an added bit of realism that does actually work. I am using Navdatapro though, not Navigraph.

Some of the <ICAO>.TXT files do contain the gate information ... but they are few and far between (that is how I found out what the format of the data should be) ... as a matter of fact KATL.TXT had a gate defined of zero.

 

After playing with it I did notice that the reference airport Lat/Long actually ends up being exactly the location of the gate.  So, this is more of a realism exercise than anything else.  Also I thought people might be interested in seeing from whence some of the data that drives the CDU originates.  

 

The other directory and file content is the NAVDATA folder.  It contains the NavAid and NavFixes as well as all the information required to create routes using the "via" and "to" part of the Route setup.  If the FIX you enter doesn't exist along the jetway then (as defined in the wpnavrte.txt file ... you get the Not In Database error message.

 

I'm currently writing a data conversion routine that parses all of the information out of these text files and places them inside a normalized database which will support a little app that I'm writing.

 

 

I'm currently writing a data conversion routine that parses all of the information out of these text files and places them inside a normalized database which will support a little app that I'm writing.

 

Sorry - didn't mean to be dismissive earlier.  Although I'll still restate that a lot of operations simply just load the reported GPS position, it's never a bad practice to check that position against the gate data to ensure it's reporting properly.  Additionally, if you're using it to do something cool in an app, database or otherwise, more power to you.

 

Heck, I've written apps for things that already exist simply to challenge myself, not that I'd ever release what I've done for most of them.

 

Good luck!

Kyle ... never thought you were ... you are an incredible asset to the forum as well ...slowly working my way through your videos.

 

The app is basically a localized ACARS for people whose virtual airline does not store any telemetry data.  I'll be tracking the following (and accumulating it every 10 seconds during the flight):

 

• Date/Time
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Altitude
• Heading
• Air Speed
• Ground Speed
• Mach
• Vertical Speed
• N1
• N2
• Bank
• Pitch
• Flaps
• Wind Speed
• Wind Heading Visibility
• Fuel Flow 
• Fuel
• G/S
• AOA
• Framerate
• COM1 frequency
• ATC
• ATC Warnings

I'll then take all of that data and use it to make criticisms concerning the flight ... like:

 

Did you blow through the 250K/10,000ft. rule?

Did you drop flaps at a speed that would damage them?

Was your G-Forces excessive during maneuvers?

Did you exceed bank angle?

Did you miss the altitude constraint on an approach (which is what the database is for).

 

I'll then put this on a map with points that define the characteristics of each piece of telemetry data.  For example, each point, when the mouse is hovered over it, will show the following:

 

1.  Warnings for this particular data point 

2.  Location (Lat/Long)

3.  Time

4.  Bank Angle

5.  Speed

6.  Heading

7.  Vertical Speed

8.  N1 and N2

9.  Fuel Flow

10.  Fuel Left

11.  COM1 frequency and ATC controlling you

 

I'll design it so that the user can open the raw Excel file ... as well as create a KMZ file that will allow you to view your flight using Google Earth.

 

Yes ... I get bored once in a while and have to keep my programming skills up.  

 

 

Kyle ... never thought you were ... you are an incredible asset to the forum as well ...slowly working my way through your videos.

 

Thanks!  You're about to have one more to suffer through  :diablo:

 

 

Sorry - didn't mean to be dismissive earlier.  Although I'll still restate that a lot of operations simply just load the reported GPS position, it's never a bad practice to check that position against the gate data to ensure it's reporting properly.  Additionally, if you're using it to do something cool in an app, database or otherwise, more power to you.
 
Heck, I've written apps for things that already exist simply to challenge myself, not that I'd ever release what I've done for most of them.
 
Good luck!

 

Funny that you mentioned that Kyle...Today I was parked at A gate in Chyz Airport when

the fmc asked for my position the one it gave me was off a bit and I did not realize it until I looked in front of me were the Gate sign gave me the correct position which I used to fill in my Position.

Yea ... but it is so much more fun to waste time on Google, convert Lat/Long values and enter them into a file that's just going to be overwritten on the next AIRAC update! :lol:

Yea ... but it is so much more fun to waste time on Google, convert Lat/Long values and enter them into a file that's just going to be overwritten on the next AIRAC update! :lol:

 

The power of CUT & PASTE and saving your gate work to a separate file to be cut and pasted back in after update.  

 

 

The app is basically a localized ACARS for people whose virtual airline does not store any telemetry data.  I'll be tracking the following (and accumulating it every 10 seconds during the flight):

 

Oh, cool.

 

I have actually started working on a backside of a DFDAU-like unit myself, plan to proceed with it after the SDK is out.

 

 

I'll design it so that the user can open the raw Excel file ... as well as create a KMZ file that will allow you to view your flight using Google Earth.
 
Yes ... I get bored once in a while and have to keep my programming skills up.  

 

Nice. What are you writing it in?

C# ... .NET 4.5