Tower View

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hi,  

I've been trying  to use PSX as a plane spotting tool rather than something to fly with the traffic.  To accomplish this, I tried to set myself in "Control Tower" view - like the one you would see in multiplayer.  Unfortunately, on the Simulator side of PSX, it said something along the lines of  that the aircraft was invalid.  Can this be fixed?  I think the Tower View would be perfect to demonstrate the capabilities of this software!  Any help you can provide is appreciated. 

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

Edited June 29, 2019 by kiek

[kiek 1,215]

1 hour ago, kevinmdavis2010 said:

I've been trying  to use PSX as a plane spotting tool rather than something to fly with the traffic.  To accomplish this, I tried to set myself in "Control Tower" view - like the one you would see in multiplayer.  Unfortunately, on the Simulator side of PSX, it said something along the lines of  that the aircraft was invalid.  Can this be fixed? 

No that cannot be fixed I'm afraid, you have to select an aircraft. The whole concept in PSXT is that you see live aircraft around a user aircraft (a technical limitation).

However, that should not be a problem. Just select an aircraft, place it (steady) where you want to spot. Then select a nearby Tower or view in Outside-Spot mode or define a camera position at an interesting place nearby.

Edited June 13, 2019 by kiek

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hi, 

Thanks for the reply!  I also tried to go into P3d's custom view screen, look on Google Maps, and find the GPS coordinates of the observation area from the airport I want to plane spot at.  Unfortunately, since I did that, all I'm seeing is grass.  Are you familiar with the custom views section of P3d?  Thanks again for your help! 

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

[kiek 1,215]

Hi Kevin,

Look for the file c:\user\<you>\AppData\Roaming\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v4\Cameras.cfg

Add at the end, replace 025 with the right sequence number, and update the following with your position (Title, Description Latitude, Longitude):

[CameraDefinition.025] 
Title = Camera Kaagbaan 
Guid = {64ca4a30-6afe-44c6-814a-124f383f1250} 
Description = Kaagbaan 
Origin = Fixed 
InstancedBased = No 
SnapPbhAdjust = None 
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel 
Track = None 
ShowAxis = No 
AllowZoom = Yes 
InitialZoom = 1.0 
SmoothZoomTime = 2.0 
ShowWeather = Yes 
XyzAdjust = FALSE 
Transition = Yes 
ShowLensFlare=FALSE 
Category = Custom 
FixedLatitude=N52.292483 
FixedLongitude=E4.74736 
FixedAltitude=10 
InitialPbh=0, 0, 60
HeadingPanRate=100
PitchPanRate=40
Panacceleratortime=2.0
 

The camera willo become visible in the Custom menu.

For more info: http://www.fstipsandaddons.com/understanding-cameras-fsx/

Nico

Edited June 14, 2019 by kiek

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hi Nico, 

This is what my camera.cfg file is like now, based on my understanding of your last post: 

[CameraDefinition.024] 
title = KMKE 
Guid = {835BFC1C-1A03-994A-A176-49318FEB094E} 
Description = Aircraft Observation Area at KMKE 
Origin = Fixed 
InstancedBased = No 
SnapPbhAdjust = None 
PanPbhAdjust = Swivel 
Track = Track 
ShowAxis = No 
AllowZoom = Yes 
InitialZoom = 4.0 
SmoothZoomTime = 1.0 
ShowWeather = Yes 
XyzAdjust = FALSE 
Transition = Yes 
ShowLensFlare=FALSE 
Category = Custom 
FixedLatitude=42.958617
FixedLongitude=-87894962
FixedAltitude=230 
InitialPbh=0, 0, 0

How does this seem so far? 

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

 

[kiek 1,215]

1 hour ago, kevinmdavis2010 said:

FixedLatitude=42.958617
FixedLongitude=-87894962
 

There is a decimal point missing in your Longitude.

Edited June 20, 2019 by kiek

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

I added the decimal point and saved the camera, but I can't find it in P3d.  What could be the problem here? 

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

[kiek 1,215]

1 hour ago, kevinmdavis2010 said:

I added the decimal point and saved the camera, but I can't find it in P3d.  What could be the problem here? 

Don't know, this is how it should work, save the Cameras.cfg, Restart P3D, then View->Change View->Custom

Did you use Notepad++ as editor? Configuration files in P3Dv4 are not Ansi texts, cameras.cfg is in character set UCS-2 Little Endian 

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hey Nico, 

I got it set up.  Thanks!  I do, however, have one more question.  In the camera.cfg file, how do I enable rotation (like a hat switch or mouse look)?  Right now, all I can do is zoom in and out.  

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

[kiek 1,215]

In my example my Yoke's hat-switch controls rotation...

For more info: http://www.fstipsandaddons.com/understanding-cameras-fsx/

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by kiek

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

Hi Nico, 

I looked at the example on the link you posted, but I can't seem to find where the hat switch is configurated.  Where is that option? 

Regards, 

Kevin Davis 

[kiek 1,215]

2 hours ago, kevinmdavis2010 said:

I looked at the example on the link you posted, but I can't seem to find where the hat switch is configurated.  Where is that option? 

The hat switch is configurated in P3D:  (not in cameras.cfg)

P3D->Options->Controls>Key Assigments->Controller[CH FLIGHT SIM YOKE USB]

 

[kevinmdavis2010 0]

The only issue with that is that I disabled joysticks in P3d because I was doing the Saitek calibration in FSUIPC.  The hat swatch works on all of the other views.  That's why I thought you meant I had to do something with the camera.cfg.