Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

Everything about Flight Illusion hardware in combination with Air Manager or Gstep.

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FordT
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Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#1 Post by FordT »

I've had an FI Bendix radio-stack for a while, using it with MSFS. I used to use an older version of G-Step from Flight Illusion, to manage the devices. FI has launched a new version of this software, which I'm told is an extraction of Air Manager.

My problem is that, no matter if I use this new version, or if I use the actual Air Manager, my two COM/NAV radios don't work - when changing frequencies on the radios, this doesn't show up in the sim (using the default Cessna 152 for testing).


When I use other panels in the Bendix-stack, these work fine - fx, I can change the ADF frequency, and change the Transponder mode and code just fine. But the two radios refuse to do anything in the sim.

1) What could I be doing wrong here?

2) Would LOVE to be able to modify what the panels do in the sim - f.x change the frequency-interval on the knobs, and add some simconnect events. I'm used to "programming" custom panels through Spad.Next, but I'm new to Air Manager. Does anyone know if I would be able to customize the Flight Illusion Bendix panels through Air Manager? And if yes, please guide me to some getting-started place :)

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Ralph
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#2 Post by Ralph »

Did you also file a support ticket at Flight Illusion?

FordT
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#3 Post by FordT »

I did :) No reply yet, though

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Ralph
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#4 Post by Ralph »

Matthijs is looking into it, so I rather stick to one support channel.

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Ralph
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#5 Post by Ralph »

An update has been published. Somehow the FS2020 part fell out or has never been there, I'm not sure what happened. But it is working now.

FordT
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#6 Post by FordT »

@Ralph That's awesome, thanks! I just tested it, and it works like a charm 8-)

The fact that the radio-panels work now does highlight another serious issue when using the FI radio-panels with MSFS - I'll put in a new support-ticket for this (has to do with MSFS tendency to use non-0.025 interval frequencies, like 119.410, which are now impossible to tune with the panels). Also, the trim-wheel is reversed.... always something to do, I guess :D But, thanks for the update on the panels, took them from dead to very much alive in MSFS!

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Ralph
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#7 Post by Ralph »

Frequency is going to stay like it is. The hardware does not support 8.33 kHz spacing. They would have to make a new version of the hardware.

FordT
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#8 Post by FordT »

That would be a bummer for MSFS users - it basically makes a lot of areas and airports unflyable. I think I get what you're saying, but sounds odd to me if it's limited by hardware - the rotary encoder on the radios is identical to the ones used on the ADF and AP panels, and these are obviously programmed to something completely different. I don't see how it wouldn't be adjustable through firmware or software updates. Anyways, I guess this is not your problem, so I'll bark up another tree :D Thanks for the quick responses, much appreciated!

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Ralph
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#9 Post by Ralph »

The encoders aren't the problem. The 3rd digit just isn't physically there on the hardware.

I do not know if they have any plans for a 8.33 kHz version. But aside from that, it would require you to purchase new hardware.

FordT
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Re: Flight Illusion Bendix Radios not working

#10 Post by FordT »

Right, makes sense. What I'm saying however, is that I made this work just fine with my old Saitek panels, which also only have 2 decimals - it's "just" a matter of making the decrements 0.1 instead of 0.25 in the code, and things work fine. If the choice is between "all our customers now have useless panels" versus "we've made the panels usable, sacrificing a tad of realism", I know what I'll go for :) And if not, then at least let the customers decide if they want to make that trade-off.

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