RealFlight G3 USB interface

[Rox]

I have few questions about the USB interface of RF G3

1) What kind of data format do the Interlink Plus(R) exchange with PC... is it PPM or some special coding?

2) Could it be possible to modify Futaba or JR Tx to have a USB interface to use with RealFlight G3 (without using Interlink Plus(R))

3) I am new to USB interface... is there documentation/specifications?

[Mark J]

unfortunately, what your asking is basically 'can i bypass the protection of the sw' which is frowned upon by most people.
as the reason for the interlink is not only to give you a basic Tx to use etc, but also part of the copy protection for the software itself, so bypassing the interlink would mean that ppl who dont own the sw but download it can play it for free etc.

you will notice that all 3 of the main simulators (reflex G3 and AFPD) all have hardware with them to stop people just plugging in their own Tx with a generic USB interface and getting them running which would open up the dodgy downloads if it was.

As for USB interfaces, a good search on google will bring up loads of USB schematics etc, as I have been looking at making a USB interface to help break me into PIC programming, but they wont allow you to play the simulators as theyre not specific interfaces that are needed for the relevant simulator.
Ive decided to leave the USB interface project for now as reading up on it etc, seems a bit more than anticipated as a starter project for learning PIC stuff, so doing the infamous blinking LED/battery alarm stuff instead hehehe...

[Malc C]

Mark, sounds like you are jumping in the deep end by maing a USB interface as your first PIC project :) - I'm progressing from the basic "Flash an LED" to writing to a 16 x 2 LCD pannel (with the help of a friend who is tutoring me) and that seems complicated enough.

Rox,
As Mark explained, the top three sims all use their own hardware to interface between the PC and the TX. Whilst the signals from the transmitter will all follow a standard 20ms PPM signal, the protocol used to send the data from the interface to the PC will be propriotry and is used as the main means of providing the copy protection for the application.

As Mark has stated, what you are asking for Rox, would circumvent this copy protection, and is technically in breach of RCG rules let alone breaking the law (just as well you were not using Reflex otherwise you would of had your post reported long ago by a very loyal Reflex owner who frequents this board a lot (and no its not me !) :) ) The other issue is whilst I no doubt that someone somewhere in the world has indeed worked out how to dulplicate or "crack" the way these interfaces work, but assuming that it could be done, asking them to post it on a puplic forum which is monitored by representertives of these company is rather stupid really dont you think ??

There are loads of schematics for USB TX-RC interfaces on the web, most are based around the Microchip 16C745 or the newer 18F2550 PICs and are designed to emulater a standard Windows Joystick, so they will work fine with FMS, Clearview and any other application that has a joystick option. They won't work with XTR, AFPD or G3, as a direct replacement for the "dongle" interface that is supplied with the full retail versions of these sims.

[Mark J]

hehe yeah hence why i havce shelved the idea for now and going for the LED project instead!
btw, got my programmer yesterday, just need to get my own bits for the LED alarm to be made as was my mates stuff tested b4 etc (dont wanna leech his bits off him so getting the bits together myself)

[mike50]

I don't know about G3 (I don't have it), but Realflight G1 and G2 both support use of any game adapter or USB connected controller, not just their own. I run both G1 and G2 with a Dave Brown controller attached to a game port.

So certainly for G1 and G2, the controller was not a part of the copy protection.

Mike

[Malc C]

Mike,

G2 came out in two versions, one was non-interlink which allows the use of a "windows joystick" and thus will work with any PIC based TX-PC interface that emulates a windows joystick. The other was the inter-link version which came as a complete package with its own controller, which I understand also acted as an interface to allow your own TX to be used.

G3 continues with the interlink method, which in in effects acts like a hardware dongle and unless the software detects its connection, will not play. So not only will the data between the interface and software be encrypted in some way, it will also check for the connection on a regular basis. Rox in his original post effectively asked for someone to work out the algolrythems used to encrypt the data and post it so that he could then circumvent this copy protection (or at least that is how I and Mark interpreted his posting)

[Rox]

Sorry Malc C, I don't have any intentions of breaking the copyright law! This is a DIY forum and we have the "right" to explore or discuss the devices :rolleyes:

There are loads of schematics for USB TX-RC interfaces on the web, most are based around the Microchip 16C745

Can you give me just one link with the souce code available as free!!!

[Malc C]

Can you give me just one link with the souce code available as free!!!

Type in "RC-USB interface" into Yahoo or Google and you'll get loads of hits. I found three within the top 10 listed !! :rolleyes:

But as I'm a nice chap I'll save you the trouble. Here's one for you (http://alessioandrea.altervista.org/project_1.html), the one based on 16C745 appears to be more stable than the version that uses a 18F2550 If you have any problems Alessio and Andrea are really helpfull guys and do reply ro e-mails.

[Malc C]

This is a DIY forum and we have the "right" to explore or discuss the devices :rolleyes:



Actually if you read of this (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138300) sticky post the Mods have put in the simulator forum you'll see that your original post could be in breach of one of the "rules" I quote

As a result any posts which appear to be about ways to copy commercial software, break the manufacturers copy protection schemes, connect controllers to illegal copies or otherwise steal software are liable to be deleted without notice.

So whilst I agree with you that we have the "right" to discuss how to interface a transmitter to a PC, discussing how a commercial interlink controller works in a public forum is not really the done thing. :rolleyes:


I have few questions about the USB interface of RF G3

1) What kind of data format do the Interlink Plus(R) exchange with PC... is it PPM or some special coding?

2) Could it be possible to modify Futaba or JR Tx to have a USB interface to use with RealFlight G3 (without using Interlink Plus(R))

[mike50]

Mike,

G2 came out in two versions, one was non-interlink which allows the use of a "windows joystick" and thus will work with any PIC based TX-PC interface that emulates a windows joystick. The other was the inter-link version which came as a complete package with its own controller, which I understand also acted as an interface to allow your own TX to be used.

G3 continues with the interlink method, which in in effects acts like a hardware dongle and unless the software detects its connection, will not play. So not only will the data between the interface and software be encrypted in some way, it will also check for the connection on a regular basis. Rox in his original post effectively asked for someone to work out the algolrythems used to encrypt the data and post it so that he could then circumvent this copy protection (or at least that is how I and Mark interpreted his posting)


Yes, I know that G2 came in two versions, but the software is the same. I have the interlink version, but prefer to use the Dave Brown controller through the game adapter interface.

As I said, I don't have G3, but I know that both G1 and G2 did not use the interlink hardware as a copy protection mechanism.

Mike

[Rox]

Thanks Malc C for the link. Yes I admit that I asked that was somehow violating the rules... that was ignorance rather than intension.

One of the guy at the field told me that he has RealFlight G3 with Interlink Plus and he can fly with the same Interlink Plus for FMS... is that correct? Those were the questions he asked me that I posted!

[Malc C]

Hey no worries, glad we cleared up that issue :)

I don't own G3 so I'm not the best person to answer your post, and see you've posted the question in the Sim forum (best place :) )

I'm fairly sure that the G2 interlink won't work with the G3 version of Realflight, but I could be wrong !