GeneW

I would like to add my request that an add-on to allow the instruments for the A2A PA28 Cherokee be supplied. I have the A2A 172 add-on, and would very much like to see an instrument set for the A2A Cherokee. thanks.

I made a mistake. I downloaded the latest A2A C172 add on yesterday, the same problem is there. Looking into it I realized that the Nav flag problem is on the "Nav1Needle" gauge, not the Nav1 gauge as I previously reported. With an active VOR the Nav flag shows red. With an active ILS the Nav flag does not show. The GS flag shows correctly (not red anytime the GS is in range.) The problem appears to have crept in about the time I reported the FSUIPC update issue.

The A2A 172 add on v 2.99 that you recently fixed when I reported the issue with FSUIPC 4.962 has a small issue with the Nav1 gauge. When NAV1 is operational and receiving a signal as shown by the needle working, the flag shows red. If NAV1 is tuned to an ILS the glide slope flag and the main flag both do not show red. NAV2 flag behaves as it should. Prior versions NAV1 flag worked completely as it should.

The problem with some gauges working and some not turned out to be a firewall issue on the instrument computer. I'm not sure where it happened but some of the gauges had the firewall setting removed. So all is now working. Thank you for your help. Gene

Before this episode I was not aware of the difference between ipcinit and ipcready. I'm guessing that Pete changed something in the way (or when) ipcinit starts. Regarding the gauges that are not working, I meant to ask, should I rebuild my A2A 172 panel with the gauges you supply? I don't understand why the gauges in my panel have all worked ever since the A2A add-on was released but some are not working now. I updated the A2A planes to the 1-17-17 update but I don't think they changed variable names. Is your A2A 172 up to date? I can't test this theory until tomorrow.

This is the answer I received from Pete: -------- Without knowing what "ipcinit.lua" is doing I cannot help at all. I don't know why it is so secret! Nor do I understand why it needs to run before much else is ready in FS -- most everything should be started at ipcReady or later. When ipcInit is executed FS isn't ready at all. All it is suitable for is initialising some FS offsets. -------- Then I changed ipcinit.lua to ipcready.lua and retested. I should have done that with my previous tests. Sorry. Changing ipcinit.lua to ipcready.lua brought my controls back, and the guages that worked matched the plane's guages. I was able to make a test flight. However some guages did not work at all, the ones previously mentioned, plus the airspeed indicator. Do I need to do a re-build of the guages for the C172?

OK, I guess my next step is to contact Pete Dowson again. It can't be my lua scripts because I removed them. They are not there. There is nothing fancy about my use of FSUIPC either. I have a PFC yoke and Saitek throttle quadrant, standard axis assignments. I see that AVSIM forum may be down part of tomorrow. It may be a couple days before getting back on this. Meanwhile I will contact Pete.

I did have a bad install the other day, this morning I had time to do a complete re-install of simplugin and the A2A 172 add-on. Better, but still not completely working. Following are all the steps I did and the results. All testing with the A2A C172 and FSUIPC 4.962. 1) No lua, no simplugins. All flight & engine controls work. I did not fly the plane, just mechanically checked the controls. 2) Completely uninstall simplugins from both computers, through control panel. 3) Download & install Simplugins, and A2A add-on and interface, dual computer setup. 4) Start SP on instrument computer with 172 panel. 5) Start SP A2A FSUIPC interface on FS computer. Came up as v 2.99 6) Start FSX. Connect & start the interface. All guages load and appear correct. 7) Load A2A C172. 8) Flight controls (yoke, rudder pedals, throttle, mixture) do NOT operate on the plane. I open FSUIPC axis assignment. I use the "send direct" option. I tried changing the control to "send to FSX" option. Also controls did not work, made no difference. Checked the ipcinit.log file, no error posted. Also checked the FSUIPC log, no error there either. 9) Using the mouse to handle the throttle & mixture from the screen, I was able to start the 172. Here is the result of guages: RPM, oil pressure, oil temp, altimeter, Nav 1 & 2, all operate correctly and match the plane. The following guages did not operate at all: fuel level, fuel flow, egt, amps, vac, flaps, heading indicator. I could not test other guages since I had no operating controls. Where do I proceed from here?

I will go back & reinstall simplugins from scratch, & then test again. It was late last night when I was testing, maybe my frustration level was clouding my work. i will post when I go through testing again.

I hate to tell you I have bad news. Not quite there yet. I downloaded the update A2A C172 & installed. When I tested this version my flight and engine controls that I have configured through FSUIPC were disabled. The ipcinit.log showed no error, just "thread killed" when I terminated the program. I did the following tests: 1) Went into FSUIPC to see if FSUIPC could see the controls, which it did. FSUIPC showed the controls operating as they should but they did not move anything on the plane. 2) I tested the controls with the FSX default 172, no simplugins running, and the controls work as expected. 3) i removed all .lua files from the modules folder to a save area. Then the flight & engine controls worked on the A2A 172 and other planes as expected, no simplugins running. 4) I restored ipcinit.lua to the modules folder, but left off all other lua programs that I have written (only a couple anyway) to make sure they were not a source of the problem. Then I initialized the A2A 172 guages, loaded the plane, and started it using the mouse to operate the throttle & mixture. The plane started, The RPM guage operated but did not match the plane. Some other engine guages did not operate, but the ipcinit log did not show any error. I am at a loss as to what else to test. I wait to see what you might suggest. Thanks for looking at this. Gene

I had been using FSUIPC 4.949f until 2 days ago when I upgraded to 4.962. Obviously something changed but I do not know when or what. The implication from Pete's reply to my post on the simflight forum is that it might have to do when Lua is started. In his reply to me Pete offered to communicate with you if it would be helpful.

I have installed upgrades to my sim over the last couple days and encountered a problem with A2A C172 simplugin. I found the problem when I upgraded FSUIPC from 4.949f to 4.962. I had constructed my own set of guages for the A2A PA28 using guages from the A2A C172, plus a few others. This arrangement has been working fine since 2014 for both planes, I have been very happy with it. My sim: FSX with Windows 7, A2A latest update (1-17-17), FSUIPC 4.962, and just updated simplugin to 2.97 today. The failure is the same with previous simplugins 2.94 which I have been using for the last couple of years. The problem popped up when I upgraded FSUIPC from 4.949f to 4.962 a couple days ago. The PA28 RPM guage & a few other guages stopped working. Same result with the A2A C172. After trying various restore & updates I found the problem in the ipcinit.log here: ********* LUA: "ipcInit" Log [from FSUIPC version 4.962] ********* 2480 System time = 20/02/2017 10:38:04 2480 LUA: beginning "D:\FSX\Modules\ipcInit.lua" 2480 *** LUA Error: ipcinit_SOURCE.lua:36: attempt to perform arithmetic on global 'HOBHR4' (a nil value) 2480 >>> Thread forced exit <<< 2480 System time = 20/02/2017 10:38:04 ********* LUA execution terminated: Log Closed ********* Since this worked with the previous version of FSUIPC I naturally contacted Pete Dowson on his forum (You can check my posting & his response there). Pete suspected a timing issue and suggested I rename "ipcinit.lua" to "ipcready.lua" and re-test. The guages then worked & the LUA error went away. However the real problem is failure to initialize HOBHR4 in your Lua program. Pete said that if you have any further question you may contact him via private email. I hope I have explained this sufficiently, I did a lot of testing to arrive at this conclusion. I also have some of my own controls coded in Lua. Gene

Thanks for your reponse. Since the ATC part is what I really want I am relunctant to shell out the $70 without knowing that it will work as I expect. The FSX ATC handled both sides of the comm & expected a number to select a response. I tinkered with the FSX settings and the MCE settings but apparently could not hit the correct combination. (Yes I did the setup & read the various manuals).

I have had my eye on MCE for a while, & just got to the end of my 3 day trial. My interest is ATC communication for VFR GA aircraft. I found that the voice recognition for the copilot functions is very good. However I could not get the ATC function to work at all. Today I managed to get ATC to work with the default FSX ATC, but not with any voice recognition. When I read through the ATC commands manual I was impressed with the coverage. Looking through all the option screens and the manuals I could not find any way to activate ATC within MCE. And I browsed this forum as far back as 12 pages but could not find a solution. So what did I miss? I have used VOXATC but found that it has trouble understanding me, and the dialogue is quite restrictive. I was hoping MCE would give me an easier ATC experience. My demo has expired but I would still like to know what I missed (or mis-understood). Gene

Reinhard, thank you for a prompt reply. I understand & concur that it is a network issue. I always start the client computer first, the one mistake that I sometimes make is that I "Load" my airplane before starting the connection to the client. I also do have a hardwired dedicated network with static IP addresses. However, my router is old, I'm not sure if a new router would help at all. I am computer savy but not a network specialist.

Here is my problem that I have not seen written anywhere. I have Simplugins v 2.94 and A2A C172 add on running on client computer. FSX & the A2A launch program run on the main computer. Occasionally I make a mistake and start up something out of sequence. When this happens, then some, but not all, guages on the client get messed up. For instance, altimeter hands might be missing. When I start a plane the rpm guage might oscillate rapidly between zero and maximum, or the airspeed guage might oscillate rapidly between zero and maximum. etc, etc. The solution that works is to stop FSX and disconnect the A2A client on the main computer. It appears that I do not have to shut down the client computer (running the simplugin guages). Pertinent information: Main computer, I7 cpu o/c to 4.0, 6GB ram, Windows 7 64bit, FSX gold, etc, FSUIPC 3 monitors with TH2GO. Client computer, AMD A10-5800k running at 3.8, 4GB ram, windows 7 64 bit home edition. Does anyone know if additional ram in the Main computer will fix this problem, or has anyone seen this problem? This is not a show stopper, but an annoyance. My thinking is that additional ram on the main computer might help, but I don't know. Normally my setup works quite well & I am pleased with it. I also managed to construct a panel for the A2A Cherokee using mostly the C172 guages, plus a couple regular guages that do not work. (Separate post to follow!) Thanks for any guidance. Gene

I have VOXAtc 6.2, having trouble with it. Just getting started with it so I do not know what is the problem. I am flying GA planes (F1 172, Carendo Beech 58, etc). With a flight plan from a controlled airport (KAVP) it seems to work ok. But from some small GA airports I cannot get VOXAtc to work, I get the "NO ATC unit found" message. I have run the indexer, no addon airports. Here is the scenario I have been working with: 1) Flying from N13 to 3G3 with flight plan, I get unicom, FSS, handoff to Harrisburg, then to Cleveland, but no handoff to approach. ATC works for both 172 (2D mode) and Beech 58 (3D mode). VOXATC also works with the default FSX scenery and with photoreal scenery. I run Indexer each time I change scenery. 2) Flying from KFKL to 3G3 with new flight plan, I get "NO ATC unit" no matter what I do. KFKL is not a new airport, it is default in FSX. 3) Flying from 3G3 to KFKL I get instruction to contact Cleveland approach before departure. That is ok 4) 3G3, N13, and KFKL are all CTAF airports. KFKL uses 122.7, the other 2 use 122.8. No other differences I can detect. Any thoughts? Thanks for anyone's help. Gene