Bendix king radio and XP11

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

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stephane130281
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Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:54 pm

Bendix king radio and XP11

#1 Post by stephane130281 »

Dear all,

I come from Flight Illusion's website. I own almost all the gauges from FI to run my C172 cockpit. However, I ve been using FI's gauges since 5 years with XP11 and I ve never been able to properly use the following using the GStep software:

1. RMT-Freq-GS/T switch does not allow to switch the source of the DME (1 or 2) despite asking the software to displays DME1 when the switch is set to RMT and DME2 when sets to GS/T. Very annoying to properly fly IFR especially without GPS.

2. The Ident switch does not trigger the ident function of the transponder in XP11. Really annoying as I fly on PilotEdge. I had to assign a switch on my yoke. It s not unrealistic as some complex planes such as the Bonanza and Mooney have a switch for this on their yoke too. However, the C172 does not and I d like to make it work if possible.

3. Most importantly, the AP is not fully working too. The Approach mode cannot be properly activated even following accurately the KAP 140 manual.
The Alt and VS mode along with Arm does not work properly either. It s a shame that FI does not do anything about it given the price of those products. One would expect that everything work as intended but unfortunately it s not the case. Not mentioning the non-user friendly way to assign new dataref. It was a nightmare to properly assign the custom dataref of the REP by simcoders to my engine gauges and 6 pack.

Is Air Manager the way to go to eventually have 100% of the radio stock working properly? How does it work? I did not find anything with actual examples on FI nor Air Manager' websites. I Contacted FI's customer support about it, basically the answer was that the GStep version for XP11 is outdated. The newest is the one for MSFS2020 also compatible with XP11 but it proposes a significant lower amount of functions (so not really an updated version of the soft for XP11 if eventually there are a lower amount of functions available...it s a step back imo) and they advised to go through Air Manager that offers more flexibility. That s it...no example, no manual with step by step explanations to get those expensive instruments working correctly. FI is over for me and next update will be RealSimGear products. But in the meantime, if someone could provide some help, that would be wonderful!
Thanks a million in advance.


Regards
Stephane

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Ralph
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#2 Post by Ralph »

1. I'm not sure which instrument you're talking about exactly and which switch. Please give more information and understand that we cannot see what you are seeing.

2. It triggers the default ident command, I'm pretty/absolutely sure about that. Maybe PilotEdge needs some kind of custom command.

3. You have an old version the instrument. It needs a firmware update from FI. Then it becomes V2. This update is available since one or two months. You will have to ask FI.

stephane130281
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:54 pm

Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#3 Post by stephane130281 »

Hi Ralph,

Thanks for the reply.
For the point 1. I have this module from FI:

https://www.flightillusion.com/product/ ... me-module/

2. I am also sure about the ident not bbeing triggered it is not about Pilotedge whatsoever. Just sitting in anyplane, if I ident via my yoke, the transponder light remains on for few secobd and confirmed with an audible click in some plane. Using the ident of the transponder does not do that. As you said for point 3, maybe my instruments need to be flashed.

3. I ll ask Matthijs about. Thanks a lot!

So I understand between the lines that I better stick to the GStep software from FI rather than using Air Manager to drive the gauges?
Since Air Manager is already running my JPI EDM, maybe I just can add the DME, Transponder and autopilot from air Manager to drive only these three and get them fully operational.

Cheers
Stephane

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Ralph
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#4 Post by Ralph »

Depends what you want, but the V2 autopilot is much more advanced.

But please forward all of these questions to Flight Illusion. They have the hardware to test it, we don't have anything.

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Ralph
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#5 Post by Ralph »

To be exact, when the IDENT button is pressed, this happens:

Code: Select all

fi_gauge_command_subscribe(__fi_gauge_id, "IDT_PRESSED", function()
    xpl_command("sim/transponder/transponder_ident")
    if (fsx_connected() or p3d_connected() or fs2020_connected()) and gbl_mode > 0 then
        gbl_idnt = true
    end
end)
So you can clearly see that the ident command is fired, there's no condition around it. I suggest adding a print there to see if your hardware is still functional. So it becomes something like this:

Code: Select all

fi_gauge_command_subscribe(__fi_gauge_id, "IDT_PRESSED", function()
    print"Ident pressed"
    xpl_command("sim/transponder/transponder_ident")
    if (fsx_connected() or p3d_connected() or fs2020_connected()) and gbl_mode > 0 then
        gbl_idnt = true
    end
end)
If that works, then it is probably a network / firewall issue. Which also might explain the issue you have with the DME.

stephane130281
Posts: 11
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#6 Post by stephane130281 »

Hi Ralph,

I think I was not clear in my initial post.
What I meant is that so far I m runni g GStep software only. The ident issue is happening with the GStep and hence considering switching to Air Manager to drive the transponder rather than via the GStep to solve the ident issue.
I mnnot at home at the moment, but this week end I ll try Air Manager and see if that can solve the issue.

Thanks a lot!
Regards
Stephane

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jph
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#7 Post by jph »

In that case I am sure you will be fine with Air Manager.
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

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Ralph
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Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#8 Post by Ralph »

Aaah sorry, I did indeed miss that. As Joe said, you should be fine with Air Manager. Except for the autopilot, that one requires a firmware update.

stephane130281
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:54 pm

Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#9 Post by stephane130281 »

Hi all,

Thanks for your answers.
The transponder works very well in Air Manager.
Now the main issue, is for me being able to replace the dataref with the one from Simcoders. They use custom dataref for the oil pressure/temperature, fuel quantity, airspeed, attitude indicator, vertical speed indicator, altimeter, and eventually RPM.
I need to ask Matthijs some help to replace the standard ones with the ones mentioned above or could you provide some help here?
I listed the dataref here if needed. I tried myself but there is something I m not doing correctly as the gauges don t read anything.

For the C172 REP by Simcoders



Fuel left tank:

simcoders/rep/indicators/fuel/fuel_quantity_0

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Fuel kg in tank 0



Fuel right tank:

simcoders/rep/indicators/fuel/fuel_quantity_1

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Fuel kg in tank 1



Oil temperature:

simcoders/rep/engine/oil/temp_c_0

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: L oil temp (C)



Oil pressure:

simcoders/rep/engine/oil/press_psi_0

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: L oil press (PSI)



Airspeed:

simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/airspeed_kts_pilot

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Pilot airspeed



Altimeter:

simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/altitude_ft_pilot

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Pilot altitude



Vertical Speed Indicator:

simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/vvi_fpm_pilot

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Pilot VSI



RPM:

simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/engine_0_rpm

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: L RPM indicator



Attitude Indicator:

simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/attitude_indicator_0_pitch

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Main attitude indicator pitch



simcoders/rep/cockpit2/gauges/indicators/attitude_indicator_0_roll

• Type: float • Writable: No • Contents: Main attitude indicator roll



Thanks.
Regards
Stephane

stephane130281
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2022 9:54 pm

Re: Bendix king radio and XP11

#10 Post by stephane130281 »

Never mind the post above.
I continue to use the GStep to drive the engine cluster but I m using Air Manager for the rest of the instruments.

I managed to replace the correct dataref except for the RPM. Could you help me just on that one please?

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