Alternative to PDF Kneeboard?

[armchair_pilot 54]

Reviving this thread since I'm still on the lookout for an app that does what PDFkneeboard did prior to v4. I know there are alternatives but none of them are as practical and they can't be added as an addon in P3D..

[ark 1,288]

8 hours ago, armchair_pilot said:

Reviving this thread since I'm still on the lookout for an app that does what PDFkneeboard did prior to v4. I know there are alternatives but none of them are as practical and they can't be added as an addon in P3D..

If you haven't tried it you may want to take a look at Kneeboard Viewer 2 (KV2) which I developed as a PDFkneeboard replacement for P3Dv4. KV2 is in the AVSIM library as Kneeboard Viewer 2 for P3D/FSX/X-Plane under P3D Utilities (a setup manual is included). If you have tried it, never mind!  😉    The AVSIM library description is:

Kneeboard Viewer 2 (KV2) allows the user to open one or two ‘on-top-windows’ to view programs of choice, such as a web page like SkyVector, or a pdf reader for approach charts, in ‘kneeboard windows’ on top of FSX/P3D/X-Plane. The kneeboard windows may be sized and positioned as desired, and will stay visible on top of FSX/P3D/X-Plane while you fly, or may be toggled on and off (shown or hidden) by user selectable keys (or key combinations). There is also an option to control both kneeboard windows together as a unit with a single key. KV2 works in window or full screen mode with FSX/P3D/X-Plane. KV2 was developed as a possible replacement for the PDFkneeboard program which, unfortunately, does not currently work in the latest versions of P3D. However, KV2 does not depend on FSX, P3D or X-plane in any way, and in fact can be used as a general ‘window-on-top’ type of utility.

The original PDFkneeboard functionality was based on the PDF reader called SumatraPDF. So if you assign SumatraPDF (or its lite version called PDFlite) to KV2 and then load your charts into the reader, you can use most of the same commands that you used with PDFkneeboard to manipulate the charts. You can then use a single key or button to pop the charts up or hide them as with PDFkneeboard.  For example, here's how it would look with a SID, STAR and ILS Approach loaded into a single KV2/SumatraPDF display:

 

You can quickly switch between the different charts just by clicking on the appropriate tab at the top (or using keys).

KV2 does not meet your requirement of being a P3D addon, but it's the closest utility to the original PDFkneeboard I know of. When flying I use a single display the same size as what I used with PDFkneeboard, hide or show the display with my Hat switch, and find the functionality to be almost identical to PDFkneeboard. Of course, in the end it is a matter of  "to each his own".

Al

 

Edited April 30, 2019 by ark

[armchair_pilot 54]

Disregard.

Thank you @ark! I will stick with KV2. Great app by the way 🙂

 

Edited May 1, 2019 by armchair_pilot

[ark 1,288]

On 5/1/2019 at 1:46 AM, armchair_pilot said:

Disregard.

Thank you @ark! I will stick with KV2. Great app by the way 🙂

 

You are most welcome. Glad to hear you find KV2 useful.

Al

[armchair_pilot 54]

@ark I noticed that with the PMDG 737 NGX for example, the sound gets partially cut when I switch to the KV2 window and I need to click on the simulator window to get the audio back again.

The mute option when switching focus is unchecked in P3D.

Any tips to avoid those annoying cuts?

[ark 1,288]

1 hour ago, armchair_pilot said:

@ark I noticed that with the PMDG 737 NGX for example, the sound gets partially cut when I switch to the KV2 window and I need to click on the simulator window to get the audio back again.

The mute option when switching focus is unchecked in P3D.

Any tips to avoid those annoying cuts?

I don't have a solution for the issue you described.  I do know that some sound levels are controlled by the sim's sounds sliders, and others by the Windows sounds system (i.e., see the Open Volume Mixer and Open Sound Settings options by right clicking on the speaker icon on the taskbar). Under Open Sound Settings you might check if adjusting the defaults under Other Sound Options helps at all.

I mainly use Flysimware aircraft, such as the Lear35, and it uses a lot of custom sounds. The level of these custom sounds is controlled by the Win10 sound system, and are lost when Win 10 switches to a different app (such as KV2). I try to set up the info on KV2 as much as possible before the flight which minimizes having to use it other than showing or hiding it.

Sorry I could not be more helpful.

Al

[SolRayz 392]

12 hours ago, armchair_pilot said:

@ark I noticed that with the PMDG 737 NGX for example, the sound gets partially cut when I switch to the KV2 window and I need to click on the simulator window to get the audio back again.

The mute option when switching focus is unchecked in P3D.

Any tips to avoid those annoying cuts?

This particular sound issue is unavoidable with NGX, unfortunately. 

[armchair_pilot 54]

That's quite unfortunate as it takes away some of the immersion, oh well 😐