Instruments VS Hardware

Questions about deployment and use of Air Manager Instruments

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Kaellis991
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Instruments VS Hardware

#1 Post by Kaellis991 »

It seems that all of the examples and videos I run across and indeed the general "Instrument" help section of this forum is all geared towards the making of instruments vs hardware. Which makes sense for what Air Manager was designed to do.
Tell me if I am clear on this....Instruments are functions that include graphics to display virtual instruments on a monitor and the hardware is the background script to make them operate...correct?

Since I am not doing any virtual instruments all I require are the hardware scripts to integrate my real world "instruments" / switches to Xplane via air manager.
I have a PA28 panel that has mostly hardware assigned to it but also (2) instruments that also show in the panel list.

My Autopilot code, with a lot of help from Keith, was created in the Instrument section when he helped me initially set it up. My ELT switch was also created as an instrument.
Since I am not using any virtual instruments, does it matter those two sets of switches appear in my panel list as instruments with the round dial icon rather than hardware with the plug symbol?

They are working as they should, but is there any advantage to transferring the code from an instrument to stand-alone hardware?

Kirk

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jph
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Re: Instruments VS Hardware

#2 Post by jph »

As an overview Kirk,

in Create/Edit, select hardware, new, then give it a name and write your code and test it,
hardware ce.jpg
then you go to the home tab, select a panel, click hardware then select your newly created masterpiece.
As it was created as hardware, it will show the 'tazer' symbol .. or is it a plug ? :) and will look something like this -
hardware home.jpg
For what you are doing you might as well create a single hardware code unit - call it panel or fred or anything and put everything in there but of course it
can be much easier for some having small sections. Whichever you prefer ?. Same as naming it all and having the symbols that you prefer. Up to you really - edit - but the convention is to have hardware as hardware :)

I am sure Keith will fill you in on the niceties.



Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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Sling
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Re: Instruments VS Hardware

#3 Post by Sling »

Kirk,

It doesn’t really matter if you have no graphics. Hardware functions are a relatively new thing. Before them we just used instruments without graphics as you have now. You can create hardware functions for them and just copy the code over if you want to keep things better organised but they will work as instruments.

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jph
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Re: Instruments VS Hardware

#4 Post by jph »

Sling wrote: Mon Sep 19, 2022 5:29 am Kirk,

It doesn’t really matter if you have no graphics. Hardware functions are a relatively new thing. Before them we just used instruments without graphics as you have now. You can create hardware functions for them and just copy the code over if you want to keep things better organised but they will work as instruments.
As I said, the preferred convention is to have hardware as hardware.
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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