For non-commercial home users they have a 4 annual update option which is much more reasonable, price-wise.

 

Can you provide a link please. I could not find it on Garmin's website..

Can you provide a link please. I could not find it on Garmin's website..

Not from Garmin!

 

See here: http://www.realnavdata.com/homesim.html

Why? Because modeling houses would have an easier path? Wouldn't that be Mindstar doing other folks work for them? B)

 

Yes, exactly.

 

Because a GNS530 is a GNS530 is a GNS530, no matter how often you re-model the thing in 3D. No reason, and no product differentiation, in creating the umpteenth 3D model of that unit; provided the initial model is of sufficient quality for everyone, that is (and that might well be the challenge).

VC designers can still go crazy over lighting and stuff like that.

 

And it can make sense for Mindstar to actually have this done and offer it as a integration kit, because the easier they make the integration of their unit, the more plane builders will put their product in as an option, the more customers they will have. Basic rule of business: make it as easy as possible for people to give you money.

 

The situation we have in this industry today is as if Cessna were creating their own Navigation unit software to put in their planes, Piper have some supplier to create it for them, Beechcraft put in a crappy nav software that has been implemented 15 years ago, and of course every one of them is designing and building their own (but identical looking) hardware and plastics panel for their units. I'm exaggerating, but you get the idea...

I must say it is pleasure to see 4 developers having a discussion about improving our sim experience and including P3dv2 in the discussion,so can we now assume that ,some of the best developers are now Developing  for P3d v2 :Applause: as well as FSX ,life is getting better and better every day

thanks guys

peter

Look, if you want a 3D model of a GNS... hire a modeler, last I checked that stuff isn't free. Expecting Mindstar Aviation to provide for free something that simply isn't free for anyone is unrealistic, to put it mildly.

 

Couple that with the fact that any 3D model provided isn't going to be "up to spec" for any aircraft addon developer because they each have their own level of expectation for complexity, etc, yada... and you get something that borders on the absurd.

 

Mindstar Aviation will provide the simplest and best possible solution: Support of custom events/keys to get our units to respond to VC input (already done and in place) and a special version of the gauge that is literally just the screen output (work in progress) so that the only part that has to "match up" is the placement and size of the screen.

 

That really is the best solution. Period.

Look, if you want a 3D model of a GNS... hire a modeler, last I checked that stuff isn't free. Expecting Mindstar Aviation to provide for free something that simply isn't free for anyone is unrealistic, to put it mildly.

 

Couple that with the fact that any 3D model provided isn't going to be "up to spec" for any aircraft addon developer because they each have their own level of expectation for complexity, etc, yada... and you get something that borders on the absurd.

 

Mindstar Aviation will provide the simplest and best possible solution: Support of custom events/keys to get our units to respond to VC input (already done and in place) and a special version of the gauge that is literally just the screen output (work in progress) so that the only part that has to "match up" is the placement and size of the screen.

 

That really is the best solution. Period.

Simple and straightforward is always the best path... B)

Guys,

Having an up to date data base is important to me so I decided to replace my Reality 530 with Mindstar.  Bought it yesterday and kicked off the install.  All looked good but at the end of the install I received a "Unable to install CANCEL\gauges\gaugemapmpi.bin".  I manually kicked off the "Activate Flight Simulator Add-On" and received a "The add-on software for MSFX is not installed properly".  I ran the install and the register programs as Administrator.

 

I deinstalled and reinstalled with same result.  I ran the install and register program as Administrator.

 

Anyone else have this problem?  I sent an e-mail to Mindstar.  No response yet.

 

Thanks!

Here's an update to my experience.  I had not had a response by Monday afternoon so I sent another e-mail.  No response two days later so I called the number listed.  Was told that the person answering that the tech guy that could help me was not answering the phone.  Ok, I left my name & number.  No response.  Called the next day and was told again that the person that was responsible for tech support could not be contacted.

 

Unbelievable.  I sent an e-mail today asking for a refund.  Very dissapointing.

Send a PM to Ed Wilson "WarpD" he should be able to help you. Just look three posts up. ^^^^

Update to this issue. Things are looking better. Mindstar has contacted me and is going to set up a remote session to get the 530 installed.

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1) Aircraft that have both VC and 2D GPS entries but the VC is not compatible (probably the most common scenario)

 

In the case of aircraft like the Aerosoft Twin Otter or RealAir Turbine Duke, where you cannot integrate the Mindstar gauges into the respective VC's,  you can just replace the default GPS gauge in the [window] section with the Mindstar entries. You then need to disable the default GPS entry in the VC, as you don't need it, plus the default GPS doesn't always play nice when something better is being used, and your sim will likely crash. 

 

2) Aircraft that have no GPS in either the VC or as a 2D popup

 

If you have an aircraft like the Razbam Metro III that has no Garmin GPS unit modeled in either the VC or as a 2D popup, then obviously you can't have a VC entry. You can, however, add a single unit or a combination of 2 of the units as a 2D popup window. Simply copy the [window] entry from the aforementioned C172 panel.cfg file and paste that entry into the [window] section of your aircraft's panel.cfg file. Again, be sure to disable the GPS in the VC (by placing '//' in front of the default GPS gauge line in the [virtual cockpit section].)

 

3) Aircraft that have a Garmin GPS in both the VC and as a 2D popup. These are the ones we hope become more and more prevalent as time passes. These panel.cfg files are probably the easiest to edit.

 

If I understand scenario 1 correctly. I cannot use the default GPS in VC while using the Mindstar gauge as a 2D popup with the RealAir Turbine Duke. I was hoping to be able to keep the terrain and airspace visible in the virtual cockpit's default GPS and simply us the functions of the Mindstar gauge as a popup. What if I didn't "use" the default GPS, but rather left it alone during flight. Would I be able to see the terrain on it or will it crash the simulator if left enabled. I would like to do the same with the A2A Cessna 172. I have no interest in integrating the gauge into the VC as I enjoy the look of the developers units.

If I understand scenario 1 correctly. I cannot use the default GPS in VC while using the Mindstar gauge as a 2D popup with the RealAir Turbine Duke. I was hoping to be able to keep the terrain and airspace visible in the virtual cockpit's default GPS and simply us the functions of the Mindstar gauge as a popup. What if I didn't "use" the default GPS, but rather left it alone during flight. Would I be able to see the terrain on it or will it crash the simulator if left enabled. I would like to do the same with the A2A Cessna 172. I have no interest in integrating the gauge into the VC as I enjoy the look of the developers units.

 

In this case, you might want to look at the new Flight1 GTN750 - it can be installed to be visible in the Duke VC and A2A are saying that they will integrate it over time..

In this case, you might want to look at the new Flight1 GTN750 - it can be installed to be visible in the Duke VC and A2A are saying that they will integrate it over time..

This thread isn't about Flight1 products. Please refrain from hijacking.

This is the 2D popup GPS in the Duke

 

[Window01]

size_mm=456,378

position=2

visible=0

ident=GPS_PANEL

BACKGROUND_COLOR=0,0,0

gauge00=fs9gps!gps_500,0,0,456,378

 

(standard default 500)

 

and this is in the VC

gauge19=fs9gps!RAS_gps_500, 1, 607, 502, 416

 

I want to leave this second one, VC, alone. They both call fs9gps!, but gauge 19 is named RAS_gps_500.

I'm just not sure why adding the Mindstar gauge to window 1 would cause the system to crash.

If you look in your Duke panel folder, you'll find an fs9gps.cab file - that is where the RAS_gps resides.. it is a modified version of the FSX GPS500.  Whether it would interfere with the Mindstar gauge, only Mindstar can answer..