Standby ADI V1.00 Completed
My Learjet 45 Standby ADI (Attitude Director Indicator) Program V1.00 is now completed and available to download from the Software section of this site.
Artwork for my Standby ADI
The Artwork for my Standby ADI program is complete, so ready to start coding.
Happy Xmas + ADI
First of all I would like to wish anyone visiting this site a Very Happy Christmas.
I have started work on my second Learjet 45 Standby Instrument, the ADI. If all goes well then I should have it finished by the end of the holidays.
I am concentrating on the Artwork at the moment and trying to get it to look as close to the real thing as possible. Check back for regular updates.
Standby Altimeter V1.00 Complete
My Learjet 45 Standby Altimeter Program V1.00 is now completed and available to download from the Software section of this site.
Standby Altimeter Started
I've started work on the Standby Instruments and I have decided to write the Altimeter program first. I have already drawn some of the artwork so can give you a taste of what it should look like.
RMU V2.00 Completed
I have finished version 2.00 of my RMU (Radio Management Units) & K8055 interface control program. See Software section for details.
I have also issued an updated CWP ( Crew Warning Panel ) program ( now V2.01 ) this fixes a bug that caused some of the CWP to be missing on certain graphics cards and also changes the 'd' key which was decrease window size to the 'r' key for reduce window size. This brings it in line with the new RMU program. Again, you can download this updated version from the Software section.
Note: Remember to Uninstall the old versions before installing these new versions.
Vocal Warning Sounds
I've had a play around with the Vocal warning sounds in FSX and produced a replacement set for either a Male or a Female Voice. You can download these from my software section.
Still working on the RMU (Radio Management Units) & K8055 interface control program. Just when I think its done, I think of something more to add. The K8055 interface support can now operate all analogue controls and I have just added the option to calibrate them to make it easier to set them up.
RMU Progress
I'm a couple of weeks late now with the latest release of my RMU (Radio Management Units) & K8055 interface control program. It is now completed and I am in the process of giving it a thorough test before I release it. It will run as a keyboard controlled RMU if no K8055's are added but if all four K8055 interfaces are added it gives you loads of useful inputs and outputs that will help to make building a Learjet 45 Simulator easier and cheaper. I will list all of the features when I release it but just to wet your appetite I have just added support for Engine Autostart and it will also drive the Warn / Caut display with the ability to acknowledge the warning.
More Learjet builders have been added to the Links section.
CWP V2.00 Released
V2beta1 of my CWP ( Crew Warning Panel ) has been tested and found to be working correctly ( Thanks Kris ). Therefore I have now released V2.00 see Software section for details. I have now tested that it works ok in Windows Vista and it was fine but if you want to compile the Source Code then copy the 'source_code' directory to the Desktop or it will not compile correctly using wx-DevCpp.
CWP - New Feature
I had a request to add a feature to my CWP ( Crew Warning Panel ) that displays blocks of colour on a black background for each warning instead of the writing. This will allow builders to have a mask in front of the monitor which will be illuminated via the coloured blocks. I also added features to display the writing on a black background and also a test mode that displays all warnings.
I have tried the mask and coloured block method using a sandwich of printed Over Head Projector Transparencies and it looks quite good.
Thanks go to Ron Rollo and Kris Stow for this suggestion. I will release this version when Kris has tested the prototype and confirmed it works correctly.
RMU Progress
Not a lot to report. I'm still finishing off the RMU (Radio Management Units) program. It has taken a lot longer than I thought. I have basically merged my K8055 program and the old RMU program together. You can still control it via the keyboard but you also have to option of adding up to 4 K8055 interfaces which allows you to control it via switches connected to the K8055. With k8055 interfaces connected you also get a number of useful outputs for things like Gear status, the LED's on the switches for the autopilot controls, generator & battery switch LED's, anti-icing switch LED's and the really useful one, the Warn/Caution light with a button to silence the alerts. There are other features too but I will wait for the release to list them all.
I'd say it is 95% functioning properly now but need to spend some time adding comments to the code and tidying it up a bit.
RMU Progress and Junk Sale Bargains
Updating / Improvement of the RMU (Radio Management Units) program is progressing well and at this rate should be available over the weekend.
I went to computer and electronics junk sale last Friday and managed to pick up a few bags of components very cheaply that may be useful when I start the MIP & centre console construction.
V1.00 of my CWP Completed
I have completed Version 1.00 of my Learjet 45 Crew Warning Panel and it is now available to download from the Software section.
Cockpit Instrument Tutorial Updated
I have updated my tutorial on writing your own cockpit instruments as I found out what was causing the 'Data Execution Prevention' Error. It was a problem with alleg40.dll file that came with the Allegro package. I have now included a better alleg40.dll file with the tutorial. Its actually alleg43.dll renamed to alleg40.dll and seems to work fine. Get the updated tutorial from the 'Tutorials Section'.
RMU & CWP
I have started to tidy up the code for my Radio Management Units program and have made a few improvements so look out for a release of this ( with source code ) sometime at the weekend, I have also been busy writing a CWP ( Crew Warning Panel ) program. Its about 75% complete and I and should be finished either at the weekend or early next week. The layout and alerts are the same as a real learjet 45 so differ from the FSX one. You can change the warning light colour to either red or amber and there is also the option to add some other alerts to the panel ( L Eng Fire, R eng Fire, Stall & overspeed ).
Cockpit Instrument Tutorial Completed
My tutorial on how to write your own Cockpit Instruments that will interface to the Sim via FSUIPC / WideFS is now complete and available to download from the Tutorials section. It has taken me a couple of weeks to put this tutorial together so hope you like it.
My next programming projects will be Learjet 45 specific and will include tidying up the code for my Radio Management Units program then writing a CWP (Crew Warning Panel) program ( Thanks for the idea Scott ). Then if I cannot find suitable free standby gauges I will have a go at writing these too. ( knew I should have started stamp collecting instead of this :)
Cockpit Instrument Tutorial Progress
I thought I had better give an update on where I am with the tutorial on how to write your own cockpit instruments that interface to the Sim via FSUIPC / WideFS.
The tutorial is about 75% complete and will show you how to program a simple Airspeed meter. It describes how to set up your programming environment using free software and there is a detailed description of the source code.
Here is a picture of the instrument that you will learn how to create.
RMU / K8055 Combined
I have combined the RMU (Radio Management Units) program with the program I had written for the K8055 interfaces. This allows me to control the RMU from switches connected to the interface card. Had it all running with FreeFD and Alpha FMC the other night and it looked great. I did have a few network issues but raising the task priority of WideClient fixed it. Thanks for all the feedback regarding my Learjet 45 Radio Management Units program ( see below ). Over the next few days I hope to put together a tutorial to show how to write a program that gives you a simple cockpit instrument that connects via WideFS / FSUIPC using only Freeware.
RMU Version 1.00 Released
Version 1.00 of my Learjet 45 Radio Radio Management Units is completed.
If you would like to have a play around with it then you can download it from the Software page.
Note: You need to be running FSX ( may work with others ) and you must have the registered version of FSUIPC / WideFS running ( See links page ).
I have only tested this with XP so if it runs on VISTA ok them please let me know.
I have written this to work with my simulator so keys etc may not be suitable for yours. However I will be writing a tutorial on how to write your own cockpit display programs and will include the source code so you can modify it for your own needs so watch this space.
RMU Progress
The Radio Management Units display program now connects to the sim PC via FSUIPC / WideFS and after loads of head scratching, displays the correct values.
I have also added the Radio Audio Switches status.
RMU Progress
Done a bit more to my Radio Management Units display program.
Added the second display and they now show the frequencies.
You can also now increase / decrease the vertical and horizontal size and change the distance between the two displays. When exiting the program this info is stored in a .ini file along with the location of the window. When restarting the program, this info is read back in and the program appears as it was before it was closed.
The next step is to integrate it into my I/O interface program and get it to set / display the frequencies read from FSX via FSUIPC / WideFS.
RMU Progress
Work on the Radio Management Units display program is going well. Still loads to do but its starting to take shape.
Inputs / Outputs & RMU
Been quite busy programming my interfaces. All required outputs are programmed and I am now working on the inputs.
I have decided that all the interfacing and cockpit displays will run off one PC networked to the main FSX PC. Most push button inputs will be sent to FSX via a standard USB keyboard encoder ( from an old PC keyboard ). These key presses will send commands to FSX via a WideClient button screen using AutoHotKey to intercept the key press and click on the correct WideClient button. All other buttons that require you to hold them down will be connected to the K8055 interfaces.
The learjet 45 Radio Management Units is causing me a problem as the commands to select the required tuner cannot be sent and is handled within the aircraft model.
To get around this I plan to use an input on the K8055 card to select the tuner and 2 more inputs to increase / decrease the value. The other problem then is how to display the Radio Management Units on my networked PC. I have decided that the only way forward is to add a display for the Radio Management Units to my program. ( should be fun as wouldn't know where to start at the moment ). I have updated the K8055 code download with my latest version, see software section.
Xmapsy
Been playing around with a great piece of software called Xmapsy. This software transmits GPS data from FSX to any GPS navigation program running on a PocketPC.
I am currently using this to give me a GPS screen on a HP iPAQ running a demo version of PocketFMS. I have also been playing around with WideClient and I am experimenting with the feature that lets you put Buttons on the WideClient screen that you can click on to send commands to FSX via FSUIPC. I am using this along with AutoHotKey to allow me to send commands by pressing keys on the keyboard. This will allow me to use a cheap USB keyboard controller on the networked machine that is connected to the FSX machine and hopefully help to keep costs down.
So far the PC networked to the FSX machine is providing the Glass Cockpit, the EFIS, the FMC, the Radio / Nav displays, all cockpit indicators via 4x K8055 Velleman interfaces and all switch inputs with 'push to make' switches using a PC USB keyboard chip and 'toggle' switches using the K8055 Velleman interfaces.
K8055 Interface Program Changes
Made some more changes to my K8055 Interface program. It now gives a Gear indication and Warning Alert when the landing gear is up and the flaps are fully deployed. Had problems with the Glass Cockpit displays loosing connection with FSUIPC. To fix this I had to raise the task priority to 'Above Normal ' for WideClient.exe. The changes Pete Dowson made to FSUIPC in order for me to read the state of L IGN and R IGN is working a perfectly.
K8055 Interface Program
Been very busy over the last few days getting my K8055 interface control program the the state where it gives an output on the interface for every cockpit indication that I require. The only indications I have not done is the anti-ice as I have now run out of outputs. I had problems with reading the state of the L IGN and R IGN using FSUIPC but Peter Dowson who wrote FSUIPC is very kindly adding these offsets for me.
Anyone following this build who would like a copy of the program executable and source code can download it from the Software section. I will update this as I change it or add more features. Also for details of the K8055 interface kits see the Electronics section.
Photographic Scenery
FSX graphics with the Just-Flight photographic scenery installed has been driving me mad. The graphics were so jerky that it looked totally unreal. After hours of playing around with detail levels and Nvidia settings I have finally found the problem, it was my CPU.
It seems that FSX's dual processor support is a bit flaky when dealing with a AMD 64 dual core processors. The way to fix it is to force FSX to run on a single core by adding the following lines to the fsx.cfg file:-
[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=1
While I was at it I also added FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.50 to the [Main] section of the fsx.cfg file as this gives more priority to scenery loading and prevents it looking blurred.
Note: There is a number of sites that say to fix the jerky graphics you have to install the AMD driver and AMD optimiser. I tried this but it had no effect.
K8055 Kits Built
Just built up the last two K8055 Kits so looking forward to a bit more programming later today.
AutoHotKey
Breakthrough with the EFIS and FMC. I found a great program called AutoHotKey that has allowed me to create a script that automatically moves the mouse pointer to a specified location within a window and clicks when a keyboard key is pressed. This has allowed me to control P8R software's EFIS and FMC from a standard USB keyboard interface.
K8055 Program Progress
Now got the K8055 interfaces showing warnings for the following:- eng1 & 2 oil pressure, Eng 1& 2 fuel pressure, Eng 1 & 2 Fire, up / down or traversing for each gear, Generators, Emergency Battery, Gear Fault, Warning Alarm & flashing fault alarm. Also the fault / warning alarm condition can be silenced by via the 1st boards digital input 1.
Grrrrrrrrrr!
I hate software! After 5 nights trying to find a bug in my program I have discovered the problem with the K8055 kits. My program was fine, Velleman have released a version 3.0.0.2 of the DLL file and with this installed it now works correctly.
K8055 Problem
The other 3 K8055 kits have arrived but there's a problem. I have only 2 kits built up but with 2 kits connected incorrect outputs are being set. Spent hours looking through my code but can't sort it :( .
Cheap K8055 Kits
Found the K8055 kits £10.00 cheaper at www.esr.co.uk so have ordered another 3.
Bought a K8055 Interface Kit
Purchased a K8055 Kit from Maplin Electronics. This is a USB interface kit that gives 8 digital outputs, 5 digital inputs. I have written a program to test the interface and it works really well. I have it displaying the Gear status and engine 1 oil.
FSUIPC
Purchased Peter Dowson's fantastic fsuipc4.30 & winFS7, a must have purchase for any cockpit builder.
FreeFD & AlphaFMC
Discovered FreeFD and P8R Software's Alpha_FMC_v3.0.4 Package. As they are both free, these will form the basis of my Glass Cockpit.
Start of Project
Purchased Microsoft FlightSim X and after seeing other cockpits on YouTube ( YouTube Cockpit Builders )I decided to build my own. I also joined www.mycockpit.org with the username TasKiNG.
