Hello guys,

 

Just need a bit of help, i am thinking about networking two computers together so i can have, PFPX, ASN and Vatspy running on a single computer so the main computer can fix on running my FSX, PMDG aircraft and other addons.

 

How would i go about achieving this and would i need any software?

 

Many thanks

 

John Freeeman

See Froogle's video here.

He explains how to and the various means necessary (Wideserver, WideFS, SimConnect, etc)

Cheers KiwiKobi

 

I wasnt aware Froogle had a video up on that. Is this a good idea and do u know if it boosts performance?

 

John Freeman

 

 

Is this a good idea and do u know if it boosts performance?

 

I run a split setup with Squawkbox, TOPCAT and PFPX on a separate computer, but I moved ASN back onto my sim computer.  My SB3/TOPCAT/PFPX thing is more a matter of convenience than one of performance.  It allows me to work with each program in full screen, without worrying about FSX getting upset about it and locking up (the generic FSX black screen problem).

 

Sure, a decade ago, it made sense to move things over to another computer to save processor power.  Now?  Not so much.  The other programs can be tasked to the unutilized/underutilized cores, and you really won't see too much of a difference with FSX.  Additionally, if you have ASN, you're much better off leaving it on your main computer.  Unless you have a very fast home network (wired), you may see lag issues, and precipitation errors with the weather depiction.

I run a split setup with Squawkbox, TOPCAT and PFPX on a separate computer, but I moved ASN back onto my sim computer. My SB3/TOPCAT/PFPX thing is more a matter of convenience than one of performance. It allows me to work with each program in full screen, without worrying about FSX getting upset about it and locking up (the generic FSX black screen problem).

 

Sure, a decade ago, it made sense to move things over to another computer to save processor power. Now? Not so much. The other programs can be tasked to the unutilized/underutilized cores, and you really won't see too much of a difference with FSX. Additionally, if you have ASN, you're much better off leaving it on your main computer. Unless you have a very fast home network (wired), you may see lag issues, and precipitation errors with the weather depiction.

Thanks for the reply Kyle, I think i will probably just leave everything where it is for now. I mean my sim runs fine with everything running on same computer but thought i would ask the question.

 

Bit off subject now Kyle but hows your beta testing going with the 777? Dont be mad i just thought i would ask you while you were in my thread : )...and Im not one of those wild animals that sometimes find their way on here and start ripping you apart for your honesty. I can take it : )

 

John Freeman

 

 

Thanks for the reply Kyle, I think i will probably just leave everything where it is for now. I mean my sim runs fine with everything running on same computer but thought i would ask the question.

 

You're welcome.  It's definitely convenient for me to have SB3 on a separate laptop (I can bring it upstairs with me and watch TV and see any "Contact Me" messages from controllers, if one gets sent), along with TOPCAT and PFPX (can easily get briefings, and push data - routes/weather - to my sim laptop through the appropriate network shares).  Otherwise, it's not really worth the effort anymore.

 

 

 

Bit off subject now Kyle but hows your beta testing going with the 777? Dont be mad i just thought i would ask you while you were in my thread : )...and Im not one of those wild animals that sometimes find their way on here and start ripping you apart for your honesty. I can take it : )

 

haha - it's going nicely.  The plane flies amazingly, and we're ironing out the rest of the issues.  That's about as much detail as I can give, though.

You're welcome. It's definitely convenient for me to have SB3 on a separate laptop (I can bring it upstairs with me and watch TV and see any "Contact Me" messages from controllers, if one gets sent), along with TOPCAT and PFPX (can easily get briefings, and push data - routes/weather - to my sim laptop through the appropriate network shares). Otherwise, it's not really worth the effort anymore.

 

Actually now you've said that about having SB3 on your laptop so u can go and chill and get updates on where your aircraft is on PFPX anywhere around the house is immense!

 

 

haha - it's going nicely. The plane flies amazingly, and we're ironing out the rest of the issues. That's about as much detail as I can give, though.

Thanks mate, appreciate it.

+1 to what Kyle does - I also left ASN on main PC, and run PFPX, Topcat, Vatspy, EFB and vPilot on second PC.  Just make sure you set up ASN properly with flight plan before launching FSX.

Thanks for the reply Kyle, I think i will probably just leave everything where it is for now. I mean my sim runs fine with everything running on same computer but thought i would ask the question.

 

Bit off subject now Kyle but hows your beta testing going with the 777? Dont be mad i just thought i would ask you while you were in my thread : )...and Im not one of those wild animals that sometimes find their way on here and start ripping you apart for your honesty. I can take it : )

 

John Freeman

What i like is that you can leave your main FSX PC running on full screen (or windowed ) without having to alt-tab to other applications and cause issues. I have Active Sky next/ REX 4 and vatspy on another PC and all my flightplanning stuff like PFPX, fscommander and similar on a 3rd pc but the combinations are infnite. The most difficult part is setting up simmconnect but froogles video is spot on

 

Best of luck

 

Ceri

makes sense simply for convience. No switching from fullscreen to windowed mode. Not tieing up a second monitor etc. Plus, it DOES help with performance and relieving sim work load. I never have crashes.

 

 

Unless you have a very fast home network (wired), you may see lag issues, and precipitation errors with the weather depiction.

Hi Kyle,

I have ASN on my client laptop, wired (Not wireless) and you have me thinking. What sort of errors would I get if there is any lag ? For example, no rain when they should be ?

I am just wondering if I should move ASN to my FSX machine. And if I do, what core should I run it on ? CPU is a 2600K.

 

Appreciate your advice.

This is great information; I've made feeble attempts to network my computers and the frooglesim video is a huge help.  My client computer is XP (FSX is W7) which hasn't helped.  I may just bite the bullet and pick up 7 for my client machine.

 

77west - 

I'll be using similar programs as you and Kyle on the client computer: PPFX and vPilot.  Can you tell me what needs to be done with ASN and the flight plan as you mentioned?

 

Thanks, Chris K.

This is great information; I've made feeble attempts to network my computers and the frooglesim video is a huge help.  My client computer is XP (FSX is W7) which hasn't helped.  I may just bite the bullet and pick up 7 for my client machine.

 

77west - 

I'll be using similar programs as you and Kyle on the client computer: PPFX and vPilot.  Can you tell me what needs to be done with ASN and the flight plan as you mentioned?

 

Thanks, Chris K.

I have a set up similar to you and run PFPX and vPilot on the second WinXP computer.  My FSX computer is Win7.  No issues at all.  ASN is on my FSX computer.

 

I build flight plans using PFPX/FSBuild on the XP computer and then copy those flight plans over to my FSX pc before a flight via a small batch script I wrote.  The script is very easy and I could probably even make it generic enough that I could share it too I think if anyone would be interested?.  An alternative to this would be to share your flight plan folders on your FSX PC and then just have ASN point directly to them for where to export the plans it generates.  Anyway, after copying the files over, I then launch ASN and load flight plan.  Then launch FSX.  No problems whatsoever.

 

I mention FSBuild in there because if I fly using Radar Contact, I create a plan with FSBuild since as far as I'm aware yet, PFPX can't build a flight plan that Radar Contact is happy with(i.e. no SID/STAR waypoints included.  I believe that's the problem there if I remember correctly).

Hi Kyle,

I have ASN on my client laptop, wired (Not wireless) and you have me thinking. What sort of errors would I get if there is any lag ? For example, no rain when they should be ?

I am just wondering if I should move ASN to my FSX machine. And if I do, what core should I run it on ? CPU is a 2600K.

 

Appreciate your advice.

 

It's not so much of a matter of errors, really, as none of the developers can program around the issues of basic networking.

 

At its base, think of it like this:

I want you to draw a picture, so I begin explaining what I want you to draw - standing right next to you, seeing what you're drawing in real time.

I want you to draw a picture, so I begin explaining what I want you to draw - yelling the instructions out, while waiting for confirmation you've received each instruction.

 

Which one's going to take longer?  The latter.

 

Additionally, the very fact that the computers have to communicate increases the latency as well.

 

What you end up seeing is that the weather radar sweeps get very spaced out (it's supposed to be a pretty constant sweep back and forth - networked, I was seeing several second gaps).  Additionally, for some reason, my sim computer decided that it was going to block ASN from triggering the rain effect from the external computer (I'm sure I could've gone further into troubleshooting, but when I found the radar refresh rate improved after I checked if a local install triggered the effect, I just never went back).

 

 

 

Can you tell me what needs to be done with ASN and the flight plan as you mentioned?

 

Just load a regular FSX PLN file into ASN to get it to create a flight briefing (which also creates the WX file, or at least makes the WX file more relevant to your flight...never bothered to check more specifically).

 

After loading the plan - set it and forget it.

I guess some captains may not appreciate the convenience of using a second, cheap PC/laptop to off-load much of the software used, and the cheapness of second-hand flat screens as additions..

 

I use a powerful PC for PFPX, FSX/PMDG, ASN and vPilot; and a very ordinary laptop for VatSpy, Virtual AWOS, Navigraph Charts, Google Earth and Wikipedia.

 

I have FSX/PMDG displaying on a wide screen on the powerful PC, and have two other conventional format screens on the same PC - one for vPilot and the other for ASN. I can then run PFPX and print and export the flight plans to PMDG, ASN and vPilot. PFPX can then be shut down. Because the apps are displaying on different screens, I have no concerns about windows overlaying each other.

 

On my laptop, I then have what I think of as an 'electronic flight bag' - VatSpy to follow my flight on VATSIM, Virtual AWOS to see my departure/destination winds, Navigraph for all my charts, Google Earth to see points of interest near my route, and Wikipedia to read about those places as I fly by.

 

It's just incredible how many combinations of PCs and applications are possible. The difficulty often comes from deciding which combinations are the best for your individual requirements.

 

I hope that this helps.

Cheers, Richard