Ground Power

[uriahms 3]

Does anybody know how to get ground power?

[edpatino 1,964]

I'm not sure that this is modelled so far. We have the ground power unit, but to me it has no effect into the plane.

Cheers, Ed

 

[FDEdev 955]

In FSX/P3D a GPU is only available for jets, not for turboprops. If you don't do any external programing outside of the FSX SDK, a GPU will not work.

That's why GPUs are only working with Carenados jets 😉

[el_kab0ng 29]

It's my understanding that the ground power switch only prevents the battery from draining. Doesn't simulate real world GPU ops, but at least your plane won't starve out of power in less than 10 minutes.

[edpatino 1,964]

39 minutes ago, el_kab0ng said:

It's my understanding that the ground power switch only prevents the battery from draining. Doesn't simulate real world GPU ops, but at least your plane won't starve out of power in less than 10 minutes.

I agree, anyway I'm just checking that. Have to leave now for one hour and left the Skyway SD360 parked at TNCM (St Maarten) with batteries and the GPU connected to confirm this.

Will report back.

Cheers, Ed

 

[edpatino 1,964]

1 hour ago, edpatino said:

I agree, anyway I'm just checking that. Have to leave now for one hour and left the Skyway SD360 parked at TNCM (St Maarten) with batteries and the GPU connected to confirm this.

Will report back.

Cheers, Ed

 

Well, things are not as expected. Batteries are drained even with the GPU connected, in less than one hour. It seems that the GPU actions are not modelled. Please check for yourself and please report to confirm I'm not alone.

Cheers, Ed

Edited August 27, 2018 by edpatino

[el_kab0ng 29]

1.1 or 1.0?

[Guest]

I'm not aware of any "Jet Only" restrictions in P3D SDK?

ELECTRIC GPU ACTIVE Ground Power Unit active Bool N (read only)
ELECTRIC GPU SWITCH Ground Power Unit switch on/off Bool N (read only)
ELECTRICAL BATTERY IS CHARGING Is battery currently being charged or not Bool N (read only)
KEY_ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_TOGGLE ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_TOGGLE Toggles the Ground Power Unit if conditions permit: Stopped and generators offline. Shared Cockpit 
KEY_ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_SET ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_SET Sets the Ground Power Unit on/off if conditions permit: Stopped and generators offline. 

Only restrictions I see are that the generators must be off.  I've asked LM, if this is a bug they maybe we get them to fix it as it seems important to me ... I think most of us might spend some time in the cockpit prior to flight and don't want to waste precious fuel to power aircraft systems while we go thru our checklists and/or sort routes out and get weather reports, etc. etc. 

Cheers, Rob.

[FDEdev 955]

I don't know if the P3D SDK is different from the FSX SDK in this area, that's what Carenado told me about the GPU.

If you have to turn off the generators to receive ground power then it's a bug since you e.g. never turn off the generators on e.g. an A320 or a 767.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, J35OE said:

If you have to turn off the generators to receive ground power then it's a bug since you e.g. never turn off the generators on e.g. an A320 or a 767.

These aircraft use an APU which is NOT the same as a GPU.

LM got back to me and the ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_SET will work with ANY aircraft (no restrictions).  After searching thru FSX SDK it appears this event is specific to P3D and not available in FSX.  Perhaps the folks at Carenado could take a quick scan thru the FSX and P3D SDKs to compare/discover differences and hopefully leverage what P3D can do that FSX can't.

Cheers, Rob.

[FDEdev 955]

32 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

These aircraft use an APU which is NOT the same as a GPU.

That's wrong. On almost every major airport APU use is prohibited from engine shutdown until 20min before planned engine start, so you have to use the GPU.

In many cases the APU isn't even started after landing because a GPU is usually immediately available after the chocks are in place. 

Edited August 28, 2018 by J35OE

[Guest]

24 minutes ago, J35OE said:

That's wrong.

Not really sure how that is "wrong"?  I just said APU and GPU are not the same, and they aren't.

Anyway, interesting info you provided, but not really relevant to this issue ... ELECTRIC_GPU_SWITCH_SET is available in the P3D SDK (not in the FSX SDK) which Carenado can use to keep the aircraft powered regardless of Jet/TurboProp/Piston etc.  ... I'm hoping this will help Carenado resolve this issue moving forward. 

Cheers, Rob.

[FDEdev 955]

9 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

 I just said APU and GPU are not the same, and they aren't.

Well, if you are leaving out the first part of your sentence it does sound different of course 😉

For the aircraft it is basically the same and it doesn't make a difference if the power source is the APU or a GPU.  

Looks like someone needs to provide this vital GPU info to Carenado!

Edited August 28, 2018 by J35OE

[Guest]

They are different, APU is internal to the aircraft and I would imagine electrical systems are very specific to that aircraft.  A GPU is external and varies from airport to airport ... yes they both provide power to the aircraft.  Pointing being that the P3D SDK differentiates APU and GPU.

Yes it would be nice if Carenado took a look at the P3D SDK and it's differences if they plan to sell aircraft for P3D.

Cheers, Rob.

[FDEdev 955]

21 minutes ago, Rob Ainscough said:

They are different, APU is internal to the aircraft and I would imagine electrical systems are very specific to that aircraft.  A GPU is external and varies from airport to airport … 

The APU has nothing to do with the electrical system. It is as 'external' as an GPU concerning power supply. 

Take a look at this diagram.  http://wtruib.ru/training_A320F/electrical-power-system-diagram-description/

Concerning power distribution there's no difference between the APU GEN and EXT PWR.

GPUs might look different but they all have to provide exactly the power needed. In most cases 28V DC and/or 115V 400HZ AC.

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2018 by J35OE