lensman

I had this problem also. The FMC was asking for position initialization. I clicked on the GPS position immediately above the blank boxes, and loaded the position into the blank boxes. The message appeared again "SET GPS POSITION" and I ignored it.It turns out that you have to set the GPS position ***twice***. Click on the GPS position to copy it into the scratchpad and then click on the same (R5K?) button as you did the first time. Once that is done, *then* the IRS clock starts. If you go to the PMDG wiki, do a search on "pos int", you'll find a longer description. It's also in the PDF manual, chapter 12 I think, but not enough emphasis is placed on initializing the position twice.dan

Hi Mike,OK, on to email it is. Yes, FS9 makes a difference in locations. It's also a different download at the AVSIM Library. Make sure you're downloading the FS9 version...the filenames are very very close.dan

Hi Mike,Until my power supply smoked and took my motherboard, CPU, and graphics card with it, I wsa testing the iFLY terminal procedures.First, I looked over all the data and there's nothing to worry about in this cycle.Next, (and remember I'm doing this from memory, the desktop machine is dead), when I installed the iFLY procedures I was off by one level. I chose Program FilesMicrosoft GamesFlight Simulator XiFlynavdata as the installation path when I should have left off the "navdata". So, since you have the original data backed up, rename any...Flight Simulator XiFlynavdata directories, and move the original distributed navdata back to its correct location. If you're not sure where that is, just use Add/Remove Programs (Start>Control Panel> Add/Remove Programs to remove iFly completely and re-install. It's much simpler and faster than trying to fix a goofed-up directory structure.Re-install iFly, then install the new data from Terry right over top of the existing navdata directory. Any updated files will overwrite old files. Any old files that have not been updated will still be available. That's what I did. I then did a flight KORD-KJFK. I first used the MS FSX Flight Planner, then used that route into the FMC. The flight went well, I was able to do a CATIII (LAND3 autoland), and taxi to the gate. As I was shutting down, following the checklist. there was a pop from y 5-year-old machine and the "magic smoke" started coming out of the case. Display blanked and end of computer. So it goes.I'm using a borrowed laptop, but I'll still be looking in on avsim. Let us know how it goes.Best,

Hi Mike,Not to worry. You're not being a bother, you're being introduced into the wonderful world of the 747 FMC. Personally, I've gone from "it's my enemy all the time" to "it's my enemy if ATC changes routing in the last fifty miles". The PMDG and iFLY FMC both auto-tune VORs and ADFs, as I believe the real-world 747 FMC does. You can watch the tuned VORs change at the bottom of the ND display, especially during takeoff and climb, and descent & crash, I mean descent and landing if ATC leaves you alone. The auto-tuned ADFs are on the "NAV RAD" or "NAV RADIO" button. The frequencies are usually in the 2xx.x to 3xx.x range, at least along the areas I tend to "fly". My vague understanding is that some new frequencies in the 1xxx.x range have begun use since last fall.If the PMDG 747 FMC has come across a 1xxx.x ADF, it hasn't caused any problems. The iFLY 747 FMC doesn't emulate the real-world B747 FMC quite as closely as the PMDG. I think what the developers were saying is that if their sim auto-tunes a 1xxx.x ADF, the navigation radios will go bye-bye, and possibly crash the sim. I will do some testing over the next few days and try to fly though an area with 1xxx.x ADF beacon. You're right to be cautious about the editing. I'm sure you know the drill - make a backup of the file, make a copy of the file and edit the copy, put the copy in as navdata, and cross your fingers. I am not on the computer with FSX at the moment. I'll take a look and post a reply. Since I use four different FMCs - PMDG, iFLY, FriendlyPanels, and Abacus - I don't want to work from memory on this. I goofed up one edit and would up having to painfully re-install the iFLY. Re-installing also means doing some registry editing, and that is not something done trivially. If I can work up a script to "automagically" do the editing, I will. dan

Hi,Go to www.planepath.com, select "Terminal Procedures", the select "iFly" (it's usually at the bottom of thie ilst.Be sure to follow Terry's directions carefully and exactly.First, back up your previous navdata, I just rename the navdata to navdata.Next, follow Terry's directions to install the latest cycle.You may need to edit the NDB section to remove anything that has four digits on the left. There aren't many. You can edit the file with any text editor, but do not save it in any format other than '.txt', i.e. not as a MS Word or OpenOffice document.The SID/STAR data & directory will be ignored.dan

Hi,Is there any way to increase the resolution of the COM panel, perhaps using the SDK? Even the most trivial of magnifications results in unreadable numbers on the squawk display. It just dissolves into pixels.TIA,dan

The wobble always occurs as long as I have any weather turned on other than "clear skies". However, after a recent disk failure resulting in a complete reinstall, I found that clicking on Addons>FSUIPC>Clear all weather *seems* to have fixed the problem. I have the non-registered version of FSUIPC.danp.s. the up-and-down has been so bad at times that it's made me motion sick.

Hi,In the fullness of time, please consider including the USCG station at Wood's Hole, MA. It has docking for one medium and one small boat (sorry, don't know the real name, no offense) and the dock doubled as a helicopter parking place (not the super-big size one). Sorry I don't know the real names. thanks,danI spent eleven summers teaching there and even got to look around inside a chopper and a small boat. When the QE2 went aground in the channel between Woods Hole and Martha's Vineyard, that station got very busy. Also after Hurricane Bob in 1991. I had no idea those boats [ships? certainly not cutter-sized] could tow sailboats half-filled with water out of the main channel. Those boats must be all engine. That station also brought in Coast Guard skyhooks(?) skycranes(?), to lift fairly large yachts. Even half a mile away, the noise was deafening. The staff there were very nice, unless Clinton was visiting MV. After 9/11 they pretty much became a closed and much-more-guarded dock.

Hi Steve,In my experience and in what I've read on tweaking FSX, messing with sound will get you in a world of hurt, fast. If you look at the customer support wiki at www.precisionmanuals.com, select "all articles", then "FSX tweaks", there is a brief discussion of how to change sounds.This is guesswork from memories of threads in other forums here, but I think you have to change the aircraft.cfg file, the config file in the main Sounds folder, and one other place.A way to figure it out might be to search the AVSIM library for the utility that lets you add your own airline call signs into the ATC dialog. I can't remember the name right now. It was mentioned in a recent issue of PC Pilot.I'll see if I can find the file in the library and repost if I can. Oh, if you have FSX Deluxe, the instructions are in the SDK Mission builder about how to link audio files to specific triggers. I think the tool is called ODT, (object dialog tool?) but I was never able to get it to work right in the missions I tried to design.dan

Hi Barry,As far as I have been able to tell, if you want to start cold & dark from a default FSX heli, no joy. Jordan Moore's addin 412 can do a startup from cold and dark, but it has a starter. The Bell and the Robinson don't :-( Heli stuff is newish and not yet well supported in FSX. In the Bell 206, once you land, you can shut down the engine and restart it, but that is only toggling the fuel switch. I *think* all the components are there in the Augusta, but my vision is too poor to be able to see which parts are active. It always comes up running, and you can "shut it down" in free flight mode, but again, you're only dinking with the fuel, AFAIK.This is a common complaint...Good luck,dan

Hi Clive,Then don't worry about the registry changes. I took a look last night and there wasn't anything that would goof up the navdata. If it gets to the point where a registry key change is needed, I can always send you a .reg file that does the backup and then makes the change. You save the file and double-click on it, and that's it.Good luck with the uninstall-reinstall.dan

The only easter eggs I know of are 1) The can of PMDG Cola ("only 1250 calories")2) When the can disappears, a pogo stick appears in the crew compartment just ahead of the crew toilet.dan

>Hi folks,>>-- I am still puzzled about adding PMDG sids and stars to>IFLY. I have the latest (0803) which PMDG0803.exe placed in>the FS2004/pmdg/Sidstars folder. I have copied all the sid and>star files to FS2004/Ifly/B747/Navdata/Sidstars, but as .txt>files they are a different format to the original ****.sid>files, which were divided into *.sid, *.sidtrs,*.app and>*.apptrs. I ask all this because Sids and Stars still rarely>show up when flight planning with the FMS. Does anybody know>what should go where?The first thing to do is to go to Terry's planepath.com site and download the iFly-specific navdata. Inside that zip file is a readme that explains the sequence of updating data in iFly. As you noticed, the iFly and PMDG data do not share a format. >-- I keep finding that I cannot enter VORs into a flight plan>even thought they are in the IFLY navigation database. For>example, I wanted to set up a departure from EGKK with the>first waypoint being Seaford VOR (SFD) but I simply get an>error message. But if I tune the radio panel to 117.0 it finds>SFD straight away. I have had this problem at numerous>locations. Entering fixes such as Bogna and Hardy is not a>problem, this only seems to happen with VORs.>>Is this another bug or am I doing something wrong?Yep, it's a bug. In another thread, it was mentioned that there is no workaround for it right now. Plus, I suspect having some navdata in the right format and some in the wrong format is adding to the, umm, fun. Given what you've described, you should probably completely uninstall iFly and reinstall it. Be sure to create a system restore point before the uninstall and before the re-install. If you are up to such things, it would be good to check your registry and remove any references to iFly. Do the usual before messing with the registry - back it up, create a system restore point, the usual. The other iFly threads are in the main FSX forum. This subforum was created by Tom because of the number of questions that keep coming up. I'm sorry about the delay in answering. Monthly chemo a few days ago slows me down.Post again if you continue to have problems or questions.danp.s. definitely uninstall/reinstall or the navdata info could get really messed up...

>Just jumping in here. What if you uncheck "Pause on task>switch?"I never knew what that checkbox was, so I've always left it alone. Now I do - thanks!dan

Mats said:>Couldn't you use AdvDisp instead of the FS messages? In>AdvDisp I think you can change font type, sizes and colours>just like a regular Windows program. Worth a try perhaps?Hey, that worked! Thanks very much. Only oddity is thatthe sim stops "simulation paused" when I click in that window.thanks again,dan

Hi all,I tried WHITEMESSAGES=YES in the FSUIPC.ini file, but the color did not change. I did hear (read) the FSUIPC documentation that there are no other choices, it's a MSFS limitation. I'll have to experiment a bit, or park RC for a few months until after all the eye surgery. So it goes. thanks,dan davison

I just downloaded, activated, and tried RCV4.3 Is there any way to change the colors and font size of what the manual calls the "adventure" wondow? Right now, even if I undock it and put it on the second LCD, there is not enough contrast for me to see what it says. (BTW, it is hard to tell when the manual is talking about FS9 features and FS10 features, although that could be my screen reader)I could best use yellow on black in a large non-serif font. I have started listening to the manual but at 300 pages, that's three weeks of listening. I couldn't find anything yet about changing colors.Is there a log file of transmissions created anywhere? I am constantly starting an stopping the sim to catch up with verbal instructions, and I really need them in text form for a text-to-speech program to go over. RCv4.3 is an amazingly executed, highly professional program. I fear that it may not be for low-vision folks, though.tia,danp.s. for those who haven't tried it, the latest adobe reader has excellent text-to-speech. still doesn't read graphics, though.dan davison

Hi,4.I just downloaded, activated, and tried RCV4.3 Is there any way to change the colors and font size of what the manual alls the "adventure" wondow? Right now, even if I undock it and put it on the second LCD, there is not enough contrast for me to see what it says.I could best use yellow on black in a large non-serif font. I have started listening to the manual but at 300 pages, that's three weeks of listening. I couldn't find anything yet about changing colors.I realize this second request is a long shot, but is there any way to make the input screens black and white instead of black on grey? As with the pmdg pdf docs, there are some things which are not treadable graphics) even when enlarged. sorry about typos, this computer screen reader will only read MS apps.tia,danp.s. for those who haven't tried it, the latest adobe reader has excellent text-to-speech. still doesn't read graphics, though.

You're probably right that it is the driver. Have you tried to lift off using the keyboard "controls"? If that works, you may want to ask over at hovercontrol.com about the correct config for your stick. There's a lot of good info there. dan

Hi Kirster,I checked the manual for the large LCD (Hann-G) and played with the nVidia driver. The maximum resolution on it is 1280 x 1024 via the driver. The manual doesn't list any higher resolution either. Thanks for suggesting I check.dan

Hi,Thank you for the suggestion. I really don't know. I'll check the doumentation & post back here. I don't think I've ever been "offered" a resolution of 1680 x 1050 by the monitor driver or the video card. (I'm in another room on the computer which has a better screen reader).More soon,dan

Alex, Again, great suggestions, thanks! I'll make those changes later today and let you know what happens. AFAI can tell, there are no overlaps panel overlaps between monitors. The just-plain-old video performance goes down if the desktop is stretched.The light flashes appear to be random, and so far are only on the main monitor, and when the focus is on the main monitor. I almost always leave the mouse on the main monitor except when using EICAS or the CDU. However, I'll make the setup as you suggest. I see the eye MD on Friday to check on the eye pressure, so I'll ask about the 6' range glasses. I will have to go back to the documentation to find out what the stabilizer is and how it's controlled. There do not appear to be any clickable points on the stripes or immediately above and below it.Thanks again & more soon,dan

Matts, Bill, and Alex.Wow. I have the 22" LCD at 1280x1024 and the 15" LCD at 1024x768. Mats - for a given flight, the undocked displays (PFD, ND, MCP, and FMC) *are* kept across sessions. I've named a special saved panel state but not tried it yet. Running with 2 monitors the frame rate is cut in half to about 10 when Alex's hardware acceleration decrease is added, and there is no stuttering. I'm getting what looks like flashes of lightning on the primary display but they happen in clear weather, turbulent weather, and real-world weather. It's only very mildly annoying, but not enough to set of my seizures. I didn't spread the desktop across both screens because both would turn white (except for "reverse video" of the characters in the red font. The screens stay white for a minimum of five seconds, and sometimes almost 2 minutes. When the picture comes back, no flight time has elapsed, though.I found a way to maginfy the MCP. One of the counselors at the low vision center at the hospital told me about a "Powertoy Taskbar Magnifier" which can be downloaded from Microsoft for free. (It took FOREVER to find it with the screen reader on). It magnifies the area around the pointer (like the MS mouse Bill mentioned) *and* you can set the amount of magnification (1x, 2x, 4x, anything more is pretty useless). To paraphrase Alice B. Toklas about Oakland, there's no there, there. The magnified letters, numbers, dials are just not readable. I have no idea what the "bank limit" is set to. Alex mentioned that the (long-lost-to-me) stabilizer setting is to the left of the throttles. Don't bother magnifying them, there's nothing to see. Well, all I see are the letters "APL". I will have to scan through the manual (with the screen reader, sigh) to find out how to change the stabilizer setting. The eye surgeon made an interesting suggestion today. I have "continuous" bifocals, and because the cataracts are all attached to the ciliary strings at the bottom of my field of vision, he suggested wearing my glasses upside down. The optics don't make sense to me, but it definitely helps. Do all y'all think it would be useful to collect this thread into a page on the wiki so that others with low vision don't have to go through the extended experimentation we did? Mats-who would I ask to do so?Oh, one question: the "Stall" and "Overspeed" messages in red text just slightly overlap the second monitor (which is placed on the right). Is there a way to move those messages, maybe on top of the "parking brakes/simulation paused" message area? I looked at various .cfg files and tried to look through the wiki but having to use the screen reader all the time means such lookups are s-l-ooo-ooo-w. (not been a good couple of days, maybe the eyedrops are working). Again gentlemen, my deepest thanks and please enjoy a virtual beverage of your choice on me. Best,dan davison

Hi Alex,If I wasn't sure I would crush pins I would be hooking that second screen up right now. Patience, dan. I took your pic and enlarged it a lot and there's things there I've never noticed before. What is the white stripe on the left-hand-side of the throttles? I thought it was a sign, but in your pic it looks like it might be something important.Do you get the same frame rate with 2 or 3 monitors as with 1? Not that I care, since I'll take 10 FPS if I can actually see the whole thing. Thanks a lot, and pray for those monitor pins. I may not be able to wait. arggghhh. But many, many thanks!dan

Alex,Holy frijoles! That is amazing. After seeing (well, sort of) your setup I called a friend and he's going to come over this weekend and help me add the second screen - the 7900 will do dual monitors. I have an old graphics card but I'm not sure if I have an available slot for it. I might be able to see in VC mode. I've never been able to do that. What is the black thing overlapping the left edge of your keyboard? A paper holder? (Sorry if that's insulting - vision not very good this morning). Did you need a special driver to get the three monitors to play well together? Also, is your resolution set to be the sum of the pixels across all three monitors (for example, is it 800x600 or 800 x 1800?).I'm going to buy one of those swing-arm round lighted magnifier things and see if that does any good for viewing the MCP. Maybe it will cut down on the number of times I ask the ATC to "say again". Hmm-if the kneeboard is un-dockable, I can resize that and read the ATC info in the "messages" section. All my computer equipment is bordering on the geriatric, but the low frame rates in FSX don't bother me much because they give me more time to better see what I'm doing. I probably spend more time in pause mode than I do sim-flying.Thanks for the great ideas!