Hello,

 

How can edit a tacan into a vor ? p3d mil planes can't simulate true tacan ie they only get DME info on a tacan beacon. I think ADE should be able to do the job but have no clue how to use it. For example , I'd like to convert orange in south of France.

 

Thanks a lot

Not sure but try the ADE forums at FSDeveloper

http://www.fsdeveloper.com/forum/forums/airport-design-editor.95/

TACAN does not really exist in FSX/P3D. However, what I did for the Milviz T-38 was to take advantage of the fact that most TACAN installations are "paired" with a VOR frequency.

 

This allowed me to simulate TACAN X/Y "channels" for the control head of the nav radio.

 

See this PDF for the full list of channel/freq pairs:

http://www.e-haf.org/PublicFTP/320/UPLOAD_FOLDER/Charts/VOR%20Frequencies%20to%20TACAN%20Channel%20list.pdf

It's actually very simple to edit the 'TACAN' channels.  At least it is in FSX, and it should be the same in P3D.

 

As Fr. Bill pointed out, TACAN is not simulated in the simulator.  What they did in FSX, is to try and emulate the idea that a regular VOR receiver can get DME info from a TACAN channel by tuning into it's paired frequency, but not bearing info.

 

So the existing TACAN channels in the sim are simply a DME at the paired frequency.  EG. the TACAN channel 17X is frequency 108.00 in the sim, but without bearing info.

 

By editing a source xml file to include the bearing component, and compiling it through BglComp.exe from the SDK, you can effectively reinstate bearing info on the TACAN channel.  Then, since most military aircraft emulate TACAN by simply using the paired VOR frequencies, presto, you are able to tune your TACAN, and receive both distance and bearing info.

 

I've done this for the entire US, the UK, and Canada.  You can find the finished files for those countries in the Avsim library.  However, I've yet to bother with anywhere else.

 

If you want to do your own, here's an example of a source xml file (this one was for the 070X Cottesmore TACAN in the UK):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<FSData version="9.0"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="bglcomp.xsd">
<Vor
dme="TRUE"
dmeOnly="FALSE"
lat="52.73540115"
lon="-0.650768995"
alt="452.0F"
type="HIGH"
frequency="112.30"
range="195.00N"
magvar="2.405"
region="EG"
ident="CTM"
name="COTTESMORE (070X)">
<Dme
lat="52.73540115"
lon="-0.650768995"
alt="452.0F"
range="195.00N"/>
</Vor>
</FSData>

All you would do is replace info with such as pertains to the TACAN you want to fix or adjust.  Note that you have the ability to fine tune position, transmission range, and altitude.

 

The compiled file then gets added to your scenery library the way you would add any other scenery.

 

The main caveat is that part of the TACAN channel range falls outside of the VOR frequencies you can tune in the sim.  When this happens, you'll have to pick another channel!  Also, there are spots occasionally where the newly fixed TACAN channel may interfere with a landing aid or a nearby VOR.  Again, in those cases you have to decide what is better or more useful to you.

 

Anyhow, this may of been more info than you wanted, but you should be able to fix your TACAN issue.

It's actually very simple to edit the 'TACAN' channels.  At least it is in FSX, and it should be the same in P3D.

 

Thanks a lot Jimmy ! Indeed that the solution. How can I find a the hml of a particular vor ? I recall there is a decompilter from bgl to hml. But how do I find the file with the stock vor. Once modified and recompile in a bgl where do I put the file so the p3d over rights the stock vor ?

 

Best

 

Karim

 

 

How can I find a the hml of a particular vor ?

 

Well, since you're interested... here's where it gets fun.  While you can, as you suggest, de-compile a stock navaid, I don't.  Instead, my suggestion is to use the example I've given, and replace all of the info with the particular TACAN you want to edit.  Unfortunately, that involves some research online to find the correct info.  If the TACAN is current, it's usually not too hard to find.

 

The fields you want to replace are:

 

lat=""
lon=""
alt=""

frequency=""
magvar=""
region=""
ident=""
name=""

 

And again for the DME section.

 

The only one that you don't draw from real world data is the region. That's a FS thing, and can be found by opening up an airport in the vicinity of your navaid in ADE, and looking under airport properties.  Also, if you don't want to mess with the magnetic variation, you can use the mag var as well from the airport properties of a nearby airport.

 

Once you have all your data in place, you compile the .xml file to a .bgl.  Then, you can simply place that .bgl in somewhere that will get loaded by your scenery library.  Either make a new folder with a scenery sub-folder and add the file to there, and then add it to the scenery library, or drop in someplace that already gets loaded.

Dear Jimmy,

 

Many thanks for your help ! All works fine. I manage to convert my Tacan's into VORs. Really appreciate your guidance !

 

Greetings from sunny Switzerland

I'm glad it worked for you!

 

Happy flying!

Why not just install the vNATO Tacan file, as it covers all the Tacans around the world.  Just do a google search for vnato tacan and you should be able to find it somewhere.

Why not just install the vNATO Tacan file, as it covers all the Tacans around the world.  Just do a google search for vnato tacan and you should be able to find it somewhere.

Here:

http://hellenicwings.com/HWS/index.php/homepage-3/hw-downloads/viewdownload/2-hellenic-air-force-v/7-vnato-tacan-fs9-x

 

 

as it covers all the Tacans around the world.

 

Not quite.  I found out about it while researching the replacement of Tacan's for the US.  While it's a very commendable work, I had been part way through researching and compiling data for the US when I discovered it.  Comparing the data, I came up with about 20 more Tacan's in the US than what was contained in the vNato download. So I proceeded with my work.

 

That said, it's a quick and easy download that's covers a lot of 'em.  ^_^

On 4/7/2015 at 1:17 PM, n4gix said:

TACAN does not really exist in FSX/P3D. However, what I did for the Milviz T-38 was to take advantage of the fact that most TACAN installations are "paired" with a VOR frequency.

 

This allowed me to simulate TACAN X/Y "channels" for the control head of the nav radio.

 

See this PDF for the full list of channel/freq pairs:

http://www.e-haf.org/PublicFTP/320/UPLOAD_FOLDER/Charts/VOR%20Frequencies%20to%20TACAN%20Channel%20list.pdf

That chart is password protected. Can you share it freely? Please send it to my email: [email protected]

Edited December 10, 20196 yr by Rich_777

I use tools from Herve Sors such as the BGL Navaids Direct Editor for existing navaids, or the EasyNavs tool to add navaids not already existing.

fsaerodata also implements 370 TACANs worldwide:

Quote

Are TACAN simulated?
fsAerodata provides aprox. 370 TACAN worldwide for military operations, which were not included on default FSX/P3D.
TACAN/VORTAC facilities are implemented on P3D. A VORTAC will simulate two elements: a VOR/DME and a TACAN for military operations.
On FSX, TACAN is not simulated and will not be displayed either on map or GPS; VORTAC is implemented simply as a VOR/DME.

https://www.fsaerodata.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3&p=3&hilit=tacan#p3

Of course, the same caveats as stated in previous posts apply.