Originally Posted by David Gower

OK gotcha ... I think??? ... Thanks for the link back to what Peter did, I appreciate it ... but obviously, although not spelled out specifically, it actually means that a specific INTERFACE USB cable with incorporated electronics built in IS required, and not just an simple lead with a USB plug one end and a JR/Spektrum compatible stereo plug at the other.
Am I right this time ... ... 'cos if so I'll have to buy one?
Told'ja I was PC/and electronically deprived, and really just wanted something to simply plug'n'play but using my own Tx.
Therefore, in your opinion, would the SimBlaster type be suitable? Because this was what I used with FMS some years ago.
Apparently it is still available in two types, with the less expensive version able to handle 4 channels and the other at $40 having 7 proportional channels plus 4 buttons ... far more than I'd ever really want or need!
ref: http://www.simblaster.com/servlet/Ca...ory=Interfaces

The original Interface I had originally was the second one, but it's been mislaid somewhere when the old PC went belly up, and has yet to be located, so I may be forced to buy a new one.

However, perhaps you or any others more learned types reading this thread may have a better, and maybe cheaper suggestion. I don't really want to go out and buy an expensive commercial Sim package, now that I've found yours which by all accounts, reading most of the thread, is pretty darned good, Davy.

Regards - Daffy.

Hey Daffy,
see my link above. A lot cheaper.
Cheers, Peter

Originally Posted by pghern

Hi David and Davy,

This is the setup I originally got for a Walkera Heli controller I had.
http://www.724depot.com/en/flight-si...ontroller.html
They are available at many different sites.

I never did get the Walkera to work on FMS but when I bought the DX6i I found that the basic cable had the right plug (stereo) for the DX6i.

Hope this helps.
REMEMBER - plug the USB into the computer first, then plug into the DX6i (must be turned off), then start the DeskPilot program.

Cheers,
Peter

Thanks Peter

You've just answered my last question in my post that immeditely followed yours, and appeared while I was writing it.

A much less epensive option, which obviously works, although hopefully with all six channels on the DX6i?

Appreciate your input ...

Daffy.

FYI Peter ... I just ordered the interface you suggested from 724depot.
Hopefully everything will work when I get it and connect everything up ... the same way as it was with FMS actually, with the USB end plugged in first, and the other end plugged into the trainer port ... with the Tx OFF. Power obviously coming from the PC to drive the mechanicals, but the RF signal circuitry disabled ... right?
If I have any problems I'll lean on Davy again!
Daffy.

Originally Posted by j3tman

hey general failure i tried to install the beta, i already have the first one and ihave installed the direct x stuff. it didnt work but does it require an internet connection, if it does will you be able to fly with other people?

Hi j3tman, if the installer says it needs to install DirectX, you'll need an internetconnection during the install since it will need to download DirectX.
You don't need an internet connection for the sim, although it will download the news text on the startup screen and the images for the billboards at startup. But, if no connection is found, it'll still start. If you're having problems installing or running the sim, could you be more specific? Details about the error (message) and your system will come in handy.

You can't fly in multiplayer yet, as this would require a costly server if done properly. But it's on my wishlist!

Cheers,
Davy

I give up ... Told 'ja I was PC deprived.
No joy with either or Desk Pilot or FMS using the DX6i Tx.

My wife, bless her, remembered where the SimBlaster Interface was located, and I installed it as it came with a USB patch cord and attempted to activate the Desk Pilot program which I'd pre-installed while waiting for an interface.

It sort'a worked but the aircraft went every which way with no way I could work out what control did what, with the poor old Cessna doing ground loops nose down, with no input from any stick making things any better, only worse. No fiddling around with the Controls programming made any improvement. So much for that, I thought!

So I tried re-installing the FMS program version 2.06. which had worked previously with the DX6i on my old PC, thinking perhaps that Desk Pilot was incompatible with this Interface.
However this time there was no reaction at all when the program was opened and everything properly connected sequencially with no reaction at all from the aircraft, which just trundled off down the runway and into the distance ... no stick input doing anything. ...
However I could not get either program to calibrate, with most messages eventually saying 'ref to Device Manager' ... and

The instructions in regards to Calibration itself and how they relate to each required control had it seems absolutely no effect ... for the life of me I don't know how I installed and got the SimBlaster Interface to work with FMS in my old PC.
I'll wait until the other Interface arrives to see if that's any better. If not I'll just go out and crash real aircraft ...

Dunno what I'm doing wrong, and any assistance would be appreciated, although I still think the set up and Calibration Instructions leave a lot to be desired ... in both programs for a PC/electronically deprived old codger like me.

Not a happy camper!

Daffy

Originally Posted by David Gower

I give up ... Told 'ja I was PC deprived.
No joy with either or Desk Pilot or FMS using the DX6i Tx.


Dunno what I'm doing wrong, and any assistance would be appreciated, although I still think the set up and Calibration Instructions leave a lot to be desired ... in both programs for a PC/electronically deprived old codger like me.

Not a happy camper!

Daffy

Hi Daffy,
First up.... did you go into Windows control Panel and confirm that the Rx is being recognized?
It should show as a "PPM" controller.
BTW - you go to "Game Controllers".
If you are not seeing "PPM" when you are all connected then you won't be flying. Probably the USB dongle
If Ok there, then start up DeskPilot go to Menu , Controls, and see if you are getting any movement of the dial when you move the sticks?
If yes, then select the correct channel for the relative movement you see.
If no, then I am

Cheers,
Peter

BTW - did you set up and save a new model on the DX6i for "SIM"??? If not then the TX could be looking to 'pair" to the Rx and won't transmit.

Originally Posted by pghern

Hi Daffy,
First up.... did you go into Windows control Panel and confirm that the Rx is being recognized?
It should show as a "PPM" controller.
If you are not seeing "PPM" when you are all connected then you won't be flying. Probably the USB dongle
BTW - you go to "Game Controllers". If Ok there, then start up DeskPilot go to Menu , Controls, and see if you are getting any movement of the dial when you move the sticks?
If yes, then select the correct channel for the relative movement you see.
If no, then I am ...
Cheers,
Peter
BTW - did you set up and save a new model on the DX6i for "SIM"??? If not then the TX could be looking to 'pair" to the Rx and won't transmit.

OK Peter, thanks for your input, which was most helpful. ...
It also helps if the bloke here had followed the SimBlaster interface instructions more closely too! ... ... Put it down lack of expertise.

Though in hindsight it didn't seem as difficult assigning a Sim program (FMS), using the SimBlaster interface, to my old PC a few years back, which also had WIN XP SP2, the same as my new PC. Perhaps it's 'Old-Timers' setting in, and I've just forgotten, together with a current patience shortage.

However, quite logically I had already assigned a 'SIM' model in the DX6i, making the Sim program another 'model'. One good thing about Spektrum 2.4GHz sets is that, as you pointed out, only the one specified model can be 'flown' at a time.

Couple of points ... PPM or PCM did not appear, maybe because it's a 2.4GHz set perhaps?
Also the SimBlaster instructions said not to touch any buttons during the basic setup, but just hit 'Next'.

After that it was merely a case of assigning the correct channel to its proper control, and adding such things as Reverse where required and Expo for the flight controls to make them just a little less sensitive around neutral, although I'll have to read up my DX6i's manual on how to make all the controls less sensitive overall, especially Thro. ... the sailplane flies far too fast for my taste, even with throttle off, requiring quite a large lump of up trim to slow it down.

Really appreciate your interest and assistance mate.

Regards from Oz

Daffy.

[QUOTE

Really appreciate your interest and assistance mate.

Regards from Oz

Daffy.[/QUOTE]

No problems ... pleased that you're now flying!
Cheers, Peter

Been messing around with the helicopter and having a blast. Only critism I would have is landing issues with helicopter. Most landings I have done result in crash and restart, no matter how soft I come down. Been chasing birds also, what a blast. Keep up the good work and thank you very much for providing a free sim. I am disabled and can't afford a sim or a helicopter, but this allows me to enjoy.

Apparently it is still available in two types, with the less expensive version able to handle 4 channels and the other at $40 having 7 proportional channels plus 4 buttons ...

The main difference between cheap and good interfaces is not the number of channels (it costs nothing to support up to 8 channels!), but the signal resolution, channel mapping, internal calibration, and extra features.

Take a close look at any Chinese interface, like most of the vendors are selling, and notice its resolution in Windows control panel/Game controllers/Calibration while 'show raw date' checkbox is checked--you'll see that the signal level changes at most within 0...255 range (8-bit resolution). Most likely the range will be less, something like 60...180 (about 7-bit resolution), since the PPM pulse duration is usually hard coded for maximum channel travel, +-140%, while your transmitter is set to normal travel volume. Most modern transmitters have 10-bit resolution, so, using them with one of these cheap interfaces means that the joystick moves with considerably, 5...8 times, lower precision than you are moving your TX sticks! One can argue that 7-bit resolution is ok for flying a trainer plane in a sim, but as soon as you switch to a 3D plane or heli, this will become a problem.

There's only one interface sold today (a shameless plug...), which digitizes PPM signal at 16-bit resolution, then does digital signal filtration, and sends 10-bit signal to the computer:
http://milehighwings.com/index.php?cPath=35
In addition to the higher resolution, this interface offers internal calibration, which ensures that each channel, no matter what channel travel is programmed in the TX, spans the whole 0...1023 range. It also offers arbitrary channel mapping, flexible button assignment, PPM output mode, and ESC programming feature (with an extra cable):
http://milehighwings.com/manual_usb_v4.htm

Boris
MHW R&D

when going in the menu to select the joystick input and theres no joystick gives this error
after this, if u click back to menu program crash

See the end of this message for details on invoking
just-in-time (JIT) debugging instead of this dialog box.

************** Exception Text **************
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at ak.a(Object A_0, EventArgs A_1)
at aq.a(aq A_0, Boolean A_1)
at aq.a(a A_0, Point A_1, IntPtr A_2, IntPtr A_3)
at a5.a(IntPtr A_0, a A_1, IntPtr A_2, IntPtr A_3)
at cl.a(IntPtr A_0, a A_1, IntPtr A_2, IntPtr A_3)
at as.a(Message& A_0)
at do.a(Message& A_0)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.O nMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.W ndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


************** Loaded Assemblies **************
mscorlib
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/Framework/v2.0.50727/mscorlib.dll
----------------------------------------
RCSim
Assembly Version: 0.1.2.33944
Win32 Version: 0.1.2.*
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/RC%20Desk%20Pilot/RCDeskPilot.exe
----------------------------------------
Bonsai
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/RC%20Desk%20Pilot/Bonsai.DLL
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 9.05.132.0000
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC/Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3D.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Drawing
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Drawing/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Drawing.dll
----------------------------------------
System
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Windows.Forms
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Windows.Forms/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Windows.Forms.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3DX
Assembly Version: 1.0.2911.0
Win32 Version: 9.12.589.0000
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC/Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3DX/1.0.2911.0__31bf3856ad364e35/Microsoft.DirectX.Direct3DX.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Data
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_32/System.Data/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Data.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC/Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/Microsoft.DirectX.DirectSound.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC/Microsoft.DirectX/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/Microsoft.DirectX.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Xml
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Xml/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.Xml.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 5.04.00.2904
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC/Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput/1.0.2902.0__31bf3856ad364e35/Microsoft.DirectX.DirectInput.dll
----------------------------------------
System.Configuration
Assembly Version: 2.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System.Configuration/2.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/System.Configuration.dll
----------------------------------------
Microsoft.VisualC
Assembly Version: 8.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 8.00.50727.4927
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/Microsoft.VisualC/8.0.0.0__b03f5f7f11d50a3a/Microsoft.VisualC.dll
----------------------------------------
cudfqp5t
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
87n4lhnx
Assembly Version: 1.0.2902.0
Win32 Version: 2.0.50727.4927 (NetFXspW7.050727-4900)
CodeBase: file:///C:/Windows/assembly/GAC_MSIL/System/2.0.0.0__b77a5c561934e089/System.dll
----------------------------------------
RCDeskPilot.API
Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
Win32 Version: 1.0.0.0
CodeBase: file:///C:/Program%20Files/RC%20Desk%20Pilot/RCDeskPilot.API.DLL
----------------------------------------

************** JIT Debugging **************
To enable just-in-time (JIT) debugging, the .config file for this
application or computer (machine.config) must have the
jitDebugging value set in the system.windows.forms section.
The application must also be compiled with debugging
enabled.

For example:

<configuration>
<system.windows.forms jitDebugging="true" />
</configuration>

When JIT debugging is enabled, any unhandled exception
will be sent to the JIT debugger registered on the computer
rather than be handled by this dialog box.

Originally Posted by bluesky123

The main difference between cheap and good interfaces is not the number of channels (it costs nothing to support up to 8 channels!), but the signal resolution, channel mapping, internal calibration, and extra features.

Take a close look at any Chinese interface, like most of the vendors are selling, and notice its resolution in Windows control panel/Game controllers/Calibration while 'show raw date' checkbox is checked--you'll see that the signal level changes at most within 0...255 range (8-bit resolution). Most likely the range will be less, something like 60...180 (about 7-bit resolution), since the PPM pulse duration is usually hard coded for maximum channel travel, +-140%, while your transmitter is set to normal travel volume. Most modern transmitters have 10-bit resolution, so, using them with one of these cheap interfaces means that the joystick moves with considerably, 5...8 times, lower precision than you are moving your TX sticks! One can argue that 7-bit resolution is ok for flying a trainer plane in a sim, but as soon as you switch to a 3D plane or heli, this will become a problem.

There's only one interface sold today (a shameless plug...), which digitizes PPM signal at 16-bit resolution, then does digital signal filtration, and sends 10-bit signal to the computer:
http://milehighwings.com/index.php?cPath=35
In addition to the higher resolution, this interface offers internal calibration, which ensures that each channel, no matter what channel travel is programmed in the TX, spans the whole 0...1023 range. It also offers arbitrary channel mapping, flexible button assignment, PPM output mode, and ESC programming feature (with an extra cable):
http://milehighwings.com/manual_usb_v4.htm

Boris
MHW R&D

Hi Boris,
I have had no end of trouble with RealFlight G3 and getting correct operation using my DX6i. Can you confirm that this USB will work correctly? By the time I get it Jakarta it will cost $55 and I want to be sure it works.
(Davy, sorry for hijacking your thread)

Originally Posted by pghern

I have had no end of trouble with RealFlight G3 and getting correct operation using my DX6i. Can you confirm that this USB will work correctly? By the time I get it Jakarta it will cost $55 and I want to be sure it works.

Please check your PM!

Boris

Originally Posted by jimbob00

when going in the menu to select the joystick input and theres no joystick gives this error
after this, if u click back to menu program crash

Thank you for the excellent bug report. It will be fixed...
Davy

I installed the program and am having stuttering problems when the plane is near the ground. The plane's shadow flashes from dark to white. I have tried windowed and full screen with no difference.

I am running windows XP, 2.4 ghz P4, 1 GB ram and an NVidia FX5200

Any idea on what might be causing this?

Thanks, Dave.