Ramjett

By "for FS9" are you referring to the ISG gauges or the CLS gauges? The ISG Gauges work in both FS9 and FSX. I use them in both sims. If CLS, then some of their aircraft may not be compatible with FSX unless they have specifically mentioned in the description that it will. Don't have or use P3D so can't help there. Some of the Wilco aircraft are like that also. I had their B737 PIC for FS9 and WinXP, but when I switched to Win7 the gauges quit working in FS9 so I ended up rebuying the entire aircraft because by then I had added FSX as my list of sims. Now I use both, but not all addons "go both ways". Having one aircraft that works in all three (FS9, FSX, and P3D) is probably unheard of, except maybe the POSKYs. Randy

Okay, so it has been almost a week and no one has commented on this or answered my question. I realize this is an "Unofficial" forum and FS2004 support is non-existent, but no one from PMDG has the "corporate knowledge" to remember back to 2009...seven years ago? Wow, you guys take "non-support" seriously. Glad I can still get support and parts for my 1971 Ford 4X4 pickup. Even the PMDG House texture for both the -800 and -900 has the Approach plate .bmp file. So now I have a new question... If the approach plate is not visible in the PMDG B737NG (for FS2004) -800/-900 Expansion pack and never has been...apparently since no one has piped in saying they see it...then why did PMDG put the approach plate bitmap in the house texture folder? Can't understand why it's there if it is not used, especially since someone at PMDG went to the trouble of adding the directions on how to change the approach plate right on the bitmap file image. Why would you want to change an image you cannot see? Randy Tyndall

I have the PMDG Legacy FS9 version of the B737-600 and -700 as well as the expansion -800 and -900. Bought them back in 2009 I believe. The -600 and -700 use the -700 panels (-600 aliases to either -700 2D or -700 VC panel) and the -800 and -900 use the -800 panels, likewise aliased in the -900 to the -800 2D or VC panel. When using the -700 panel.vc there is a Baltimore Approach plate that displays in the VC cockpit of either the -600 or the -700. There is a bitmap in each texture folder that includes instructions on how to change the approach plate by creating a new bitmap image. Although there is also an approach plate bitmap (with instructions on how to change the plate) in the -800 and -900 texture folders, the approach plate never displays in the either VC cockpit when panel.vc is selected as the active panel. Only a clipboard where the approach plate would be clipped. I know it's an old bird and support is no longer active for it, but I'm curious if anyone has working approach plates visible in the -800 or -900 aircraft? Randy Tyndall

And the sim community can get just as vocal when no date is given. It's a "no-win" situation for developers sometimes. I "tinker" with my own versions using ADE9X, GMAX, Sbuilder, and others and then patiently wait, giving developers all the time they need to put out a fantastic product. That's a "win-win" for me. I'm learning about scenery design and ultimately getting a great product that puts mine to shame. Still...I try. :smile: Randy

Atlanta, GA USA to Johannesburg SA in the PSS B777-200LR (FS9, sorry, not FSX). 16+ hours. Back story is I work for three bosses who own the company. Two of them arranged an African Safari and hunting trip in South Africa. One was afraid the plane would run out of fuel. They all knew about my flight simming addiction and wanted to know how accurate the sim was. I told them with a good payware and real world weather from Active Sky Evolution it was pretty close to "real". They gave me the next day off...with pay...and I flew non-stop using the previous day's real world flight plan (Delta Airlines). Made it there with lot's of fuel to spare and reported back to my bosses. They were pleased. Neither will ever do that flight again...16 hours on a plane, even a huge B777, is too much and, according to them, fatiguing. Randy

I think vasFMC also uses Level D data. Randy

Actually it is quite possible to navigate by Celestial Navigation in Flight Simulator 2004 and FSX. A little tool called the Bubble Sextant is available right here in the AVSIM library. The documentation with the Sextant has very detailed instructions and an external link to the Celestial Navigation tables...managed by NOAA I believe but don't quote me on that. I once flew with only CN from Denver to Twin Falls, Idaho in a DC3 in FS2004. Never peeked at the GPS or Map once and arrived with 20 miles of KTWF. There used to be an equipment code to specify Celestial Navigation and the FAA gave you a 20 mile either side of your intended flight path "allowance" (if I remember correctly) Pretty pleased with myself. I think the Constellation from CalClassics comes with the sextant already installed. Randy

In ADE, when you look at an runway's properties, the heading given is based on True North, so Runway 31's "True" heading is 315.735 degrees. The arrows you are talking about show the variance between True North (the double pointed arrow) and Magnetic North (the single-sided arrow), so 3.1 degrees East. Also notice the annual rate of change of 0.1 degree West every year. That's how much magnetic north will change relative to True North, which never changes. The variance noted was as of January 2015. Since that is an annual change and the change is to the West, as of January 2016 the variance was 3.0 degrees East Therefore, the magnetic heading given for Runway 31 of 312.6 is only one/tenth of a degree off from magnetic north (315.7T minus 3.0 equals 312.7 degrees). The runway is fine just the way it is. And remember, runways don't change direction. The magnetic pole is constantly moving so the runway heading changes, but not it's true direction relative to true north (unless they dig it up and build a new one). That's why every so often, like at Oakland Metropolitan in California and John Wayne Orange County recently, the runways are renumbered. Not rebuilt, just renumbered. KOAK's 11/29 became 12/30 and KSNA's 1/19L/R became 2/20L/R. A couple of years ago Fairbanks 1/19's did the same and not too long ago Anchorage change 14/32 to 15/33. But in every case the runway stayed right where it was. The magnetic Pole moved enough to finally justify renumbering. If the aeronautical charts are in anything other than Magnetic North it will specifically say something along the lines of "Headings and Bearings are relative to True North". You see this a lot once you get past 60 degrees North or South Latitude. Randy Edit: Joe beat me to it. Guess I'm just long-winded. ADE9X shows my default FSX runway to be 135.74005/315.74005 also.

Okay, I have to eat a little crow, but I also still have a "bug" issue, even when the 2012 v11 cab file is in place. First, I removed the Jun 2015 one from the B748i panel folder and lo and behold the fuel levers on the B737-800 pedestal, the starters, and the fuel pump switches all started working like they were supposed to...sort of. Clicking the starters to "FLT" with the fuel levers off now spools up the engines. I always start FSX with the default Cessna in cold and dark and then switch to the aircraft I want to fly. Many payware require that it seems so I have gotten used to doing that every time I start FSX. Once I have switched to the B737-800 (or an aircraft that is aliased to that panel) simply turning on the fuel pumps, switching the starter to "FLT", and flipping the fuel lever to "run" does not let the engine fire. I also have to press the key command for mixture full rich, CTRL+SHFT+F4. I thought the pedestal fuel lever took care of that, but apparently not. I can live with that. Problem solved Randy

Thanks Charlie, I did a search of both my hard drives C and Z (FSX is on Z and FS2004 is on C). On C:\ the B737_800.cab file was found several times in my documents section where I save all the downloads for both FS9 and FSX in one folder called "Flightsim Downloads", including the 2 Overhead bug fixes for FSX that I know of. Again, FSX is on the Z:\ drive and surely it is not smart enough to read a cab file on a completely different drive than the one FSX is on...right? All total, on Z:\ where FSX resides it found 6 different files called "B737_800.cab". They were dated Feb 2007, May 2007, Dec 2007, Jul 2009 (the original bugfix that I know of), Dec 2012 (the bugfix you referenced above as version 11), and one from Jun 2015. The Jun 2015 one was in a freeware B747-8i panel folder. Not sure why. The Dec 2012 v11 file was in FSX/gauges. It is the only one named "B737_800.cab" in the gauges file. The one dated Jun 2015 is also called "B737_800.cab", but it is in a panel folder within the B747-8i aircraft folder. Will other aircraft try to access that B747 file before going to the gauges folder for "B737_800.cab"? The other four are within a subfolder in the FSX/gauge folder that I named "Unused Gauges" and have all been renamed to the original name plus the date, i.e., "B737_800_22007.cab" and so forth. That alone should preclude aircraft from trying to use those unused gauge versions shouldn't it? The reason I ask is that, with the exception of that one gauge in the B747-8i panel folder, the only gauge named "B737_800.cab" on the Z:\ Drive where FSX is resides in FSX\Gauges and is the version 11 one you referenced above. I can go to the overhead and hover over the fuel pump switches and the "hand" appears, but clicking them does not turn them on or off or move them in any way. I can hover over the engine start switches on the overhead and click each one and the switch moves from "GND" to "FLT" or "FLT" to "GND", the only two settings, but the starters do not engage. The default position on startup of FSX is on "GND". There is no "Off". Other panels I have used such as the Tinmouse B737-200 have a three position switch, GND/OFF/FLT, and the default position is "Off" and switching to "GND" engages the engine starter and spins the engine. Even with that 12/2015 cab file I still have to click the fuel switch on the pedestal to start the engines and begin spooling them up. They sit stationary until the pedestal switch is moved to "Run" and that is not correct. They should begin to spool up when the Overhead starter is engaged and fire when the pedestal switch is set to run. So how can you say the v11 cab file fixed that issue? It fixed 26 issues if I read the text correctly and number 21 said it fixed the problem of the fuel valve levers acting as master starters. I definitely do not see that in my sim. What have I done wrong? Randy

I posted the following in the FS Developer's Forum, but thought I might post it here also in the hopes it will get twice the visibility. "As many if not most of you know, probably due to Microsoft's drive to bring FSX to us way back when, the Overhead on the default B737-800 leaves much to be desired. Just one of many issues is using the fuel switch on the pedestal to start her instead of the starters on the overhead. Also, APU generator switch, the Overhead fuel switches, light switches, starter light warning on ECAM never going out, etc. But thank goodness they made the seatbelt/smoking switch work so we can control the urges of virtual passengers that don't exist. I have searched the various flightsim addon sites and downloaded the B738gaugefix file from 2009 and the next one from 2012. I've tried substituting other overheads and making appropriate changes to the panel.cfg and aircraft.cfg files. None of them accomplish the biggest irritation of all these overhead gauge issues, the starter switches on the overhead not spinning the engine and waiting until N2 comes up to throw the fuel switches on the pedestal. I can live with the fuel pump switches being of incorrect number and so forth, but I really would like to start her the right way. Anyone know of an overhead addon that will work correctly or a definitive fix for the existing default one?" Randy

Joe, When I installed and opened CCleaner there were two tabs I could choose from. One was Clean and the other was Registry. I chose Registry and the result was a list a gazillion entries long and when it finished scanning and gave me the option to "fix" it said it could free up 5.4 GBs of space by fixing the entry problems. That's all I know... I will definitely back up the registry and then do some "elective" fixing on things I know won't hurt my system...I hope...and go from there. Randy

Okay, so this thread intrigued me and made me wonder just how badly my system needed cleaned. I regularly run Flight1's Registry Repair Tool, but it's focus is on Flight Sim, not the entire system. I downloaded CCleaner and ran the registry scan only and it found a ton of "issues" that if I fixed them all would free up 5.4GB of space. Just a drop in the bucket on 2 1TB hard drives, but still...5 gigs is 5 gigs, right? What worried me is it considered my aircraft texture folders and custom sound folders and custom panel folders as "unused file extensions". If I "fix" that will my "texture.UAL" folder become just "Texture"? I don't want to lose all my textures! There was also a long listing of "missing DLL" entries, mostly with the FS2004 version of the PMDG NGX, but a lot of freeware aircraft too. I don't want to lose those aircraft either. It also found a bunch of Installer reference issues, something called MUI something on things that seemed pretty important. It called some of my nearest and dearest flight sim programs like SBuilderX, ADE9X 1.65, etc obsolete. Man I don't want to lose any of that so I am quite honestly "scared" to run the "fix" tab. I don't really understand what all these "files" and "issues". Many of them, the majority actually aren't even in a file with an "HKEY" reference, which is where I thought all the registry entries resided. Silly me, huh? Randy

Brian, I don't have P3D, but when I installed Megascenery PNW into my flightsim the install notes said to disable the Seattle city folder in addon scenery. All I did was remove the "red" checkmark by the title and selected okay. Is there a similar city folder in P3D Addon Scenery? If so, try disabling it by removing the checkbook. Randy

Thank you Lisa, for being so helpful over on the HiFi Community Forum. I posted there that the issue was resolved by an uninstall/reinstall. For those who don't go to the HiFi Forums, the issue was caused...apparently...by the year-end rollover and a date issue that was fixed by HiFi ASE Update B709. When I tried to install B709 it could not find my ASE Installation and would not let me point to it through the browser. I ended up having to completely uninstall ASE, sweep my drives for any leftovers, and then reinstall. Works fine now. Randy

Thanks for the prompt reply Andy. I have posted on the Official HiFi Forums, but no results yet. A little more background if it will help. When I start ASE I have it set to ask me which sim I will be using, FS2004 or FSX. If I tell it FS2004 the dashboard begins it's startup dialogue, checking for license, FS2004 location, etc, etc. Once ASE is complete it shows me the current weather. The settings are as you said, "GMT" and "Force to Real Time" are both checked. "Automatic Downloads" is also checked (even when I fly on VATSIM...the difference is never that great in my experience). If I tell it I will be using FSX the startup dialogue finds FSX and goes through it's motions, but it always ends up stating "Using Offline Mean Valid Time". As with FS2004 I have both "GMT" and "Force to real Time" checkmarked and until recently was using "Automatic Downloads". Once I realized the weather was not correct and never seemed to download weather updates I tried "VATSIM Online Weather". Neither selection makes a difference. In either case the current time and date is correctly indicated on the dashboard and the time changes as it is supposed to. Hopefully Daveo will see my post over at HiFi and I can get this sorted out. Thanks again, Randy

I have been Active Sky Evolution user for many years now, first with only FS2004 and now with both FS2004 and FSX. I decided not to use ASN because it did not support FS2004. When I use ASE with FS2004 it always loads the current weather for the location of my aircraft in the sim. It updates that weather in real time as I move through the virtual sky. However, when I use ASE with FSX it always loads weather "Using Offline Mean Valid Time". Today, 1/5/2016, it loaded weather for 1/3/2016 as of 0300 GMT. Saturday 1/2/2016 I flew in a VATSIM event to "Bring Santa Home" with the ZAN ARTCC and the oflline mean time it loaded was for 1/29/2016. How it could pick a date in the future is beyond me. I am confused why it always loads current weather with FS2004, but always uses Offline Mean Valid Time that is never current with FSX? I have tried changing the setting to both Automatic Downloads and to VATSIM Online Weather. Neither setting makes a difference and the weather remains at whatever Mean Valid Time ASE used upon startup, even if I fly 3,000 nm and 6 hours away. If AVSIM Forums would let me paste a quote I would copy and paste the startup dialogue from the ASE Dashboard Home Page, but since it won't, if you think that info would help I will write it down and manually type it in here in a second post. Any Ideas? Randy

Just curious, I notice your FS9 still says version 9.0 in one of the event logs. Don't know for sure, but don't the Wilcos require 9.1 update version? Perhaps that could be it. Randy

Are you adding the modified airport to your addon scenery library? ADE9X does not do this automatically. I have created my own scenery folder inside the addon scenery folder of FSX (and FS9). I called it "ADE Airports". Inside that folder is one called "scenery". I place all my ADE modded airports inside that scenery folder (I compile them to a temp folder and then move the final mod once I am done into ADE Airports/scenery). I've already added "ADE Airports" using "Settings" and "Scenery Library" from the main startup screen of either FSX or FS9. That way every time I do a new airport mod and place it in that scenery folder it has already been added and FSX generates it without me having to add a new airport each time I do one. Randy

Captain Sim C-130 has a very nervous looking copilot looking out the side window at who knows what? Randy

The .pdf manual that comes with the ADE9X download explains a little bit of what the exclusion polygons do. Exclude AUTOGEN removes building, trees, and other objects I believe. Flatten merely creates a flat surface underneath your airport runways and taxiways so your airport is level, but does not remove AUTOGEN. Flatten Exclude Autogen does both Mask Class "hides" the landclass that underlies your airport, such as medium town, agricultural, forest, etc. The 225 page user's manual discusses this around page 220, so not much detail, but I think you will figure out what each does based on the manual and what I have mentioned above. I encourage you to read the manual unless the English language is not your first language. Even if it is not, I believe there is an option to display the manual in several different languages. Randy EDIT: I just realized you posted elsewhere and got almost the identical suggestions, but more detailed, as I have given you as well as a suggestion to post in the relevant section and visit FSDevelopers website.

For a real thrill I drag out my Connie and the Bubble Sextant addon available here at AVSIM and do celestial nav. What a hoot! Randy

I was under the distinct impression there were no landable aircraft carriers in FS2004, so I loaded up at SFO and took a look. Sure enough, there is one due west of the Golden Gate and you can land on it although there are no arresting gear. There are three scenery addon carriers that I know of in the AVSIM Library. One is located off Roosevelt Roads NAS in Puerto Rico, one installs near Thailand I believe and I can't recall where the third installs. I believe one is the JFK and the second is the Nimitz. Again, not sure what the third one is. To my knowledge none of these is actually "under sail" or have the ability to "turn into the wind" so real weather can play havoc with your landings. There is also an addon arresting gear download, I believe it was called 3Wire or 3rdWire...something like that. Alas, the Library is not working for me right now so I cannot verify any of this. Randy

You know, I saw an earlier thread about the September Win7/8 update that "killed" many "read from disk" applications like FS2004. I hadn't done the September update yet...I typically wait a week or two and watch the forums to see what chaos Microsoft has wrought. Needless to say, as an FS2004 user, I skipped the September and October "Tuesday" updates. Later on I decided to selectively update based on what I read that each update did. Never ever before looked that in depth at them update by update. Then I noticed, The one that "killed" FS2004 wasn't on the list anymore. It wasn't hidden and I checked, it hadn't been installed. It just was no longer there. I created a User Restore Point and then installed all the updates Windows Update found. No issues...FS2004 and Medieval Total War both still start from disk. Surely Microsoft didn't realize what a boner they had pulled and got rid of that update? Randy

Never mind Randy