frantzy

Hi Craig - I don’t have the DIO but own just about every other GoFlight product. i strongly encourage you to head over to PollyPot software and use their GoFlight Interface Tool (GFIT). It’s a lifesaver for interfacing to PMDG aircraft. Also their support forum is active and helpful. Good Luck, Mike

Hi Rockliffe, what you’re envisioning is very close to my setup. I have a Sismo single-side cockpit (captain and middle) but so far without most of the actual switches because over the years I acquired GoFlight units for the MCP and EFIS, throttle, flaps/gear, plus lots of buttons/toggle modules I run 3 x 27” monitors for the cockpit outside view, plus 3 more monitors for the 2D in-cockpit screens. I use an old Android tablet for the FMC. All of this runs today on one PC, an 8 yr old i7-2600K with two GPUs (not SLI), an Nvidia 960 and a 750Ti. With all the high complexity add-on airplanes and scenery in 4.3 I have to dial graphics options way down to get good performance. But I’m upgrading now to an i7-8700k with GTX-1080Ti (plus keeping the 760Ti) and of course P3Dv4.4 so I hope to get much better performance overall. I’m thinking about possibly increasing monitor size soon or ditching 3 monitors in favor or a large TV. I also may selectively add Sismo devices like the gear lever and flap gauge. (I actually fly the sim as a 777 or 747 more than a 737, in part because things like the flap positions are displayed on screen). Anyway because we have similar visions in cockpit design, please feel free to use me as a sounding board any time. Mike

I read this just before clicking "Submit" on a new PC order on Saturday. Went back and tripled the size of HDD capacity I was ordering. Today I see why!

Similar to Markus, I have 1 PC with 2 GPUs running P3DV4 on 6 monitors: CPU is an 8 year-old i7-2600K; 16GB RAM, Win 7 on SSD and P3D on HDD. GPU1 is GTX 980. One output is to a Matrox TH2GO and 3 x 27” widescreen monitors. The other output from that GPU is to a 2D cockpit display monitor. GPU2 is GTX 760ti. Both are connected to 2D cockpit display monitors. I fly PMDG 737/777/747 into only payware airports with Active Sky weather and an AI traffic addon. I also have a yoke and pedals and 17 GoFlight modules including throttle. And i use an Android tablet with the wonderful Virtual Avionics apps to run the FMC. Since my cockpit displays popouts displayed on monitors, i don’t fly in the virtual cockpit - only the straight ahead blank cockpit view (toggling as needed to the OH panel now that PMDG made it 3D only). I get smooth 25-30 fps mostly with occasional dips into 10-15 fps at busy airports. My graphic settings are very modest - in most cases about 25% of full right. Some weather settings are higher but notably dynamic lighting is off. I am in the process of replacing my PC with a modern CPU i hope will allow me to improve these visual effects, but flying fluidity and operational complexity is what’s most important to me. I limit graphics features to preserve that. The key to multiple GPUs in my experience is that only 1 GPU drives a 3D output. As Markus said that no longer requires the Matrox triple head device but i have it so i use it. Good luck to all who read this! Our hobby is challenging but rewarding... Mike

I owned the FSX version and now the P3D and I remember the issues you describe, but a major update in March fixed them. It also dramatically improved performance, at least in P3D.

Thanks Chris I appreciate that. I unfortunately can’t help with technical details other than to say he’s looking for the command that turns the range between 10-20-40-80-160-320-640 miles when the dial on this device is rotated: GoFlight EFIS

Hi Chris - yes that’s right, and I relayed that information in their support forum to Steve from Pollypot software, the developer of GoFlight Interface Tool, who has become de facto support for linking GoFlight modules to complex add-ons. (GoFlight itself seems to have gone largely dormant on the software development front). But I can’t compel how and when the companies I buy from to work with one another. When I asked again today he replied today that he is working other issues and will get to it in the New Year. Don’t get me wrong- I’m extremely satisfied and amazed with the past collaboration among PMDG, GoFlight and Pollypot which allow me to fly the other PMDG with these hardware add-ons. I’m sure this one will get sorted in time, I was just trying to accelerate the process and understand the issue better myself. I had been holding off on flying the -8, thinking this might be a quick fix since everything else works with the GoFlight modules. I think the modeling of the EFIS Range knob DID change from a selector in the -400 to a rotary in the -8, right Chris? If so wouldn’t that mean the SDK - or at least the values supplied by PMDG to add-ons - would need revision too? Thanks, Mike

Thanks - I actually did open a ticket about 2 weeks ago. But they replied “the SDK is available” - so I’m caught between the hardware vendor who needs something new from PMDG and PMDG who says (I guess) they provided it. It works in the 747-400, 777, and 737 just fine so something must’ve changed...

I use hardware including the GoFlight EFIS, but with the -8 the Range knob (only) no longer works. Can PMDG provide a selector type we can map the hardware to? Thanks, Mike Frantz

Claude thank you for solving the APU puzzle for me too! Another way to do Autobrake is to assign one button to counterclockwise rotation and another button to clockwise rotation. Since the 777 EICAS enunciates when the autobrake is set, I don’t bother with the light. Louis, I agree with you this should all be easier, but thank heavens GFIT and the Pollypot site even exist. My speculation is that GoFlight (the company) builds & supports excellent hardware but aren’t equipped to handle the software complexity for interactions with ever changing 3rd party add-on aircraft. So the awesome Pollypot guy Steve and power users like Rob Ainscough are filling the gap.

Claude is right. I continue to fly the PMDG 777 and 747 on my GoFlight setup which has 15 modules. I have swappable magnetic label strips - not the individual cutout labels provided, but a magnetic backed paper I load in my printer and custom create for each airplane type. Inspired by Rob Ainscough, whose laminated version is even better (see his tutorial videos for more info). Good luck! Mike Frantz

I began simming in 1987 but it became a real hobby for me after FS98. Got my private pilot license in 2001 and then added ratings for instrument, commercial, multi engine, and seaplane soon after. Co-owned an airplane from 2004-2017.

RESOLVED - it was user error on my part. I believed I had properly installed P3D v 4.3 but in fact my installation was still 4.1. When I properly installed Prepar3d the PMDG 777 worked normally. My sincere apologies to PMDG Support. Mike Frantz

Kyle, I'm not being dishonest. In 13 years as a customer I've had enormous pleasure well in excess of my $1,038 investment and look forward to adding future new releases. I still don't think a minor update thru the Ops Center should render my 777 AOG for 2 weeks and counting, and I don't think having multiple monitors and GoFlight hardware constitutes a "pretty customized setup". Thanks, Mike Frantz

An interim progress report: I am receiving guidance from Paul & Chris through the support ticket, but after a full delete and clean install, the problem still remains. The behavior I'm seeing sounds just like Ron's. Thanks, Mike Frantz