Beacon light not "flashing" Correctly

[trulsp 0]

Beacon lights is not flashing realistic as they do in real life. Will it be fixed?

 

Regards, Truls Petter

Edited December 4, 2018 by trulsp

[Jetlinker 13]

 

What do you mean? They appear realistic to me. They are traditional “strobe light” style beacons on the 747 that both flash quickly in unison. Unlike the 787, the 747 (including the -8) does not have the LED beacons with the longer flash. On the -8 the strobes are LED, but not beacons.  

Jeff Williams

Edited December 4, 2018 by Jetlinker

[trulsp 0]

Hello!

 

I am not talking about the strobe lights, i know they are flashing correctly as they do realistic, but the Beacon lights are much slower and should flashes much more quicker.

[Jetlinker 13]

2 minutes ago, trulsp said:

Hello!

 

I am not talking about the strobe lights, i know they are flashing correctly as they do realistic, but the Beacon lights are much slower and should flashes much more quicker.

If I’m understanding you correctly you are referring to the interval between flashes being too long I think. I’ve never paid it that much attention I guess. I have noticed that every now and again the beacons will “miss a beat” so to speak, but then again the real airplane may do the same thing sometimes. Is that what you mean? 

 

[trulsp 0]

Yes😊

[Olympic260 415]

This effects of missing a "beat" is due to FPS. If you ave FPS variations then there is a chance a "beat" is lost.

[worker@CGN 24]

The beacon works good, but I think that the strobe light is not correct because the light-on time is a little bit to long.  

I know it is LED, but it's a way to long. 

 

Regards

Tobi 

Edited December 4, 2018 by worker@CGN

[downscc 1,327]

1 hour ago, worker@CGN said:

I know it is LED, but it's a way to long. 

This will require a technical reference, such as an equipment specification, to back up your claim.  I wouldn't want PMDG to modify their design based on user opinions of what is too long, too short or just about right.

The miss a beat thing can be observed by varying the locked simulator frame rate.  I used to lock my frames at 20 fps but found that the strobe will miss a beat much less if I used a frame rate lock of 24 fps.  That had little impact of the performance issues for limiting the frame rate in the first place so that is where I've left it.

[JRBarrett 3,050]

There is nothing wrong with the basic flash rate of the red beacon, on the 747-400, but I do note that there are pauses where it does not flash for three or four seconds, then commences flashing again for several seconds, then pause etc...

This seems to be directly tied to the in-sim frame rate setting. I normally run P3D 4 locked at 30 FPS, and when I have that setting enabled, I do see random pauses where the beacon stops flashing. If I change the in-sim frame rate setting to “unlimited”, there are no pauses, and the beacon flashes continuously.

If the flash rate in being affected by the simulator’s internal graphics settings, there may not be much PMDG can do to correct the problem.

[mmaier 5]

A modest question. I found several fx_PMDG_ files in the FSX simulator Effects directory,
including fx_PMDG_747_vclight.fx and fx_PMDG_ beacon.fx.
However, there is no fx_PMDG_ file in the P3Dv4.4 simulator Effects directory, .
In C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\SimObjects\Airplanes\PMDG 747-8F\aircraft.cfg,
the following can be found under the section
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing, 6=taxi, 7=recognition, 8=wing, 9=logo, 10=cabin
light.0 = 8, 91.0000, 0.0, 16.000, fx_PMDG_747_vclight
light.1 = 9, 91.1874, 0.0, 16.522, fx_PMDG_747_vclight

Do I have a faulty installation?

Manfred Maier

[Ephedrin 418]

13 minutes ago, mmaier said:

A modest question. I found several fx_PMDG_ files in the FSX simulator Effects directory,
including fx_PMDG_747_vclight.fx and fx_PMDG_ beacon.fx.
However, there is no fx_PMDG_ file in the P3Dv4.4 simulator Effects directory, .
In C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\SimObjects\Airplanes\PMDG 747-8F\aircraft.cfg,
the following can be found under the section
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing, 6=taxi, 7=recognition, 8=wing, 9=logo, 10=cabin
light.0 = 8, 91.0000, 0.0, 16.000, fx_PMDG_747_vclight
light.1 = 9, 91.1874, 0.0, 16.522, fx_PMDG_747_vclight

Do I have a faulty installation?

Manfred Maier

No.

P3D v4 works completely different from FSX. It’s another simulator, even though the folder layout might look familiar. The lights are no effects anymore, that‘s the sense of all that dynamic lighting stuff. If you see the strobes, nav lights etc you‘re good.

Edited December 5, 2018 by Ephedrin

[Olympic260 415]

12 minutes ago, mmaier said:

A modest question. I found several fx_PMDG_ files in the FSX simulator Effects directory,
including fx_PMDG_747_vclight.fx and fx_PMDG_ beacon.fx.
However, there is no fx_PMDG_ file in the P3Dv4.4 simulator Effects directory, .
In C:\Program Files\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\SimObjects\Airplanes\PMDG 747-8F\aircraft.cfg,
the following can be found under the section
[LIGHTS]
//Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit, 5=landing, 6=taxi, 7=recognition, 8=wing, 9=logo, 10=cabin
light.0 = 8, 91.0000, 0.0, 16.000, fx_PMDG_747_vclight
light.1 = 9, 91.1874, 0.0, 16.522, fx_PMDG_747_vclight

Do I have a faulty installation?

Manfred Maier

Not being in the aircraft.cfg it does not mean it is not used. We do a lot of custom coding outside the sim.

[mmaier 5]

Thank you very much, I see all my internal and external lights.

Manfred Maier

[adl320 3]

I recall posting the same a while back. If the thread still exists, search for my post using my username. There are plenty of videos which show the timing and sequence. The timing, in my opinion, based on visual reference to real-life aircraft both on video and seen at LAX, is far too long for both wingtip LEDs and red beacon. See the examples below. I admit the 8i may be difficult to model as the sequence is very different than the other Boeing aircraft including the 737 NG with LEDs which would be the closest related flash pattern.

Links:

1. https://youtu.be/C03fuR0XiJ4
2. https://youtu.be/zvctf3WkqU4
3. https://youtu.be/9IRz9HPB6fE
4. https://youtu.be/aeeJ2DSVehg

I know there was mention of "technical" references. The devs knew to program the lights as such and that the wingtip is a "long-flash" LED. So perhaps they have access to the same technical reference which discusses light timings from the folks at Boeing? If not, I'd say these videos of RW aircraft or a visit to an airport with 8i traffic would show that the timing is indeed longer than it should be.

Aaron

 

[JRBarrett 3,050]

35 minutes ago, adl320 said:

I recall posting the same a while back. If the thread still exists, search for my post using my username. There are plenty of videos which show the timing and sequence. The timing, in my opinion, based on visual reference to real-life aircraft both on video and seen at LAX, is far too long for both wingtip LEDs and red beacon. See the examples below. I admit the 8i may be difficult to model as the sequence is very different than the other Boeing aircraft including the 737 NG with LEDs which would be the closest related flash pattern.

Links:

1. https://youtu.be/C03fuR0XiJ4
2. https://youtu.be/zvctf3WkqU4
3. https://youtu.be/9IRz9HPB6fE
4. https://youtu.be/aeeJ2DSVehg

I know there was mention of "technical" references. The devs knew to program the lights as such and that the wingtip is a "long-flash" LED. So perhaps they have access to the same technical reference which discusses light timings from the folks at Boeing? If not, I'd say these videos of RW aircraft or a visit to an airport with 8i traffic would show that the timing is indeed longer than it should be.

Aaron

 

In this case, the issue is with the PMDG 747-400, not the -8, and concerns the red beacons only. Their flash rate (when flashing) is more than adequate. They are strobes, not LEDs. The problem appears to be that they occasionally stop flashing completely for two or three seconds, then start back up.

On my own system, it appears to be directly related to using a locked frame rate of 30, vs. unlimited. With frames locked, I see pauses. When unlocked, they do not pause. I really never noticed before, and really don’t care one way or the other. I checked how the lights worked on my own P3D installation out of curiosity after someone else mentioned it.