Problems with mapping throttle/prop axes to the full range

[alehead]

Dear Team,

I have been trying to get my head round the controllers.xml file a bit. One issue I have is calibration of the throttle unit, which is a VirtualFly TQ6. I have been using FSUIPC with separate profiles for a couple of years now. I cannot see how I might be able to calibrate the range of the levers in the controllers.xml file...

If I use FSUIPC, I cannot use the beta range at all, I have no ability to map the throttle lever to the beta and full reverse range. The same is for the propeller and the feather range.

How can I do this in FSUIPC alone? I really want to avoid having to set the axes in P3D, as they will interfere with every other addon aircraft I have, including the Beaver, DHC-3, C310R and so on...

Thanks in advance for any tips or assistance

Andrew

[Taguilo]

Hi,

I think I am not sure of your problem.
Are you asking for help on configuring controllers.xml gauge, or you actually configured it and had trouble with FSUIPC?

Tomas

[alehead]

Thanks for replying.

I use FSUIPC systematically with all aircraft purchases, creating an indivual aircraft control profile in FSUIPC.
I saw the controllers.xml and tried configuring with that, firstly without the FSUIPC axis assignment for throttle and propeller, which did not work as expected.

The problem appears to be some sort of calibration issue.

Because I use FSUIPC for all other addon aircraft and thus there are no assignments in Prepar3D for any of the axes, I cannot calibrate the controller (in this case the VirtualFly TQ6) in Prepar3D. When I use controllers.xml, the full axis range of my hardware is not the full travel of that lever in the sim. For example the propeller lever is short of full fine at the top end by maybe 5% or so and short of fully feathered at the bottom end by aboput the same amount, when my hardware lever is either fully up or fully down.

In FSUIPC alone, I am unable to map the levers accordingly to get the beta and reverse ranges on the throttle lever and the feathering position on the propeller lever.

I understand from the information basically how to assign the hardware, though the FSUIPC IDs did not match up. FSUIPC reported my VF TQ6 to be ID 1, though it turned out to be ID 5 for controllers.xml to work...

Does that help in explaining my problem?

Andrew

[Taguilo]

Andrew,

I now understand your problem.

First of all, controllers.xml works by masking P3D levers events, so you need to have the levers mapped in Controls... menu.
I see you actually configured them right, and that 5 % of null zone top-bottom is because you need to set Sensitivity to MAX and Null Zone to MIN in P3D menu.

Anyway, if you send me by PM a group of print screens of your FSUIPC configuration for other aircraft you are using that includes reverse/feather on same lever, I can take a look and see if I can find a way to set it for the Turbine Otter.

Tomas

[gk850]

Hi Tomas,

I also have an issue with setting up my throttle control. It may be related to what Andrew is dealing with.
I run P3D v4.2 with Saitek Throttle Quadrant. I use FSUIPC to send input to the sim and the controllers are DISABLED in the sim.

I managed to get throttle to work except that I cannot get the thrust reverser to operate.

For other aircraft (e.g. Carenado PC12), if it is a single-engine plane, I can just select “Throttle 1” in FSUIPC and then can assign the reverser operation by checking “Rev” box & defining the point where reverse activates. However, I found that for Turbine Otter, it does not recognize the “Throttle 1” and instead works only with plain “Throttle”. However, with this selection, FSUIPC does not have the “reverser” feature.

I tried adjusting the settings in the “controllers.xml” file but my understanding is that it works only when P3D is monitoring the controllers, and I don’t want that to be activated, just for this plane. So, that did not have any effect for me.

So, can you please make a change to T. Otter that would allow it to monitor the “Throttle 1” input? This must be possible as other companies are able to do it (e.g., Carenado).

Gene

[Krazycolin]

Just to be clear... Carenado doesn't do what we're doing here... so we might not be able to replicate what they do.

Our engine control(s) are completely out of the sim.

Much like Accusim... (or, to use a better choice, Majestic).

[alehead]

I am in the office in a completely different part of the country I live in today, so I won't get any chance to look at this until tomorrow unfortunately.

Thanks for getting back to me though Tomas (and Colin...)

With each new plane addon, I assign the axes directly in FSUIPC. Each axis (throttle, propeller, mix/condition, ailerons, elevator, rudder, brakes (left and right), flaps, and so on) is mapped directly through FSUIPC, that is, the axis is sent direct to FSUIPC calibration and not to FS as a normal axis.

What I haven't tried yet is to send the axis to FS as a normal axis. Maybe that will work. I can try maybe later tonight or tomorrow.

I really need the profiles function for FSUIPC, as I have a VirtualFly TQ6, separate rudder pedals with toe brakes, two Saitek trim wheels, and a Warthog HOTAS. The myriad buttons and axes are set up completely differently depending on whether I am simulating jets, warbirds, bush GA, GA, or commercial twin operations...

I'll get back to you with my findings...

A

[alehead]

Just to be clear... Carenado doesn't do what we're doing here... so we might not be able to replicate what they do.

Our engine control(s) are completely out of the sim.

Much like Accusim... (or, to use a better choice, Majestic).

Now, the Majestic engine lever mapping I really do like...

A

[alehead]

I sat on this problem last night and have solved it for my hardware.

I have assigned a number of the axes as always through fsuipc, but left out throttle and prop levers. I use the controllers.xml for that and played with the numbers in the xml script lower down in the file. Obviously, this is not how milviz would have intended this, and I do not expect specific support on this, but I played around with the numbers in in the lines if and els

@TableRow(32768,130,0,50) 0 max sp5 (line 118 in the xml file...)
@TableRow(130,32768,50,100) 100 min sp5 (line 121 in the xml file)

and the corresponding lines 142 and 145 in the propeller section...

I changed the 32768 for 29000 everywhere, including the negative values. This gives me the range of 0-100 for both levers. Your mileage may vary with respect to the numbers you may require, so it is a case of trial and error to find the sweet spot. It works for me, I am happy. I hope others may be able to use my experience to enjoy this beautifully modelled aircraft. I love the way the pt6 has been done and really look forward to seeing this modelling in the 350 soon...

I will try and answer any questions anyone has as best as I can...

Andrew

[Taguilo]

Andrew,

Glad you found a solution for your levers. And yes, some controllers might have a different range than default -32768 to 32768, as it is your case.
As you've noticed, it is very easy to replace that range in the macros for the correct one.

Thanks for sharing!

Tomas

[Taguilo]

So, can you please make a change to T. Otter that would allow it to monitor the “Throttle 1” input?

Gene,

Throttle1 event is indeed monitored, as wel as Throttle.
If you send me by PM some screen images of you FSUIPC configuration for Axis and Joystick, I can see if it would be possible to adapt it to Turbo Otter's configuration.

Thanks!
Tomas

[JonathanBleeker]

FSUIPC users MUST use Send to FS as normal axis for throttle and other assignments. Otherwise it will not go through our processing system which is used to handle our custom turbo prop simulation.

[alehead]

My throttle and prop levers are controlled through the milviz controllers.xml file. There is no assignment of those axes at all in P3D or FSUIPC on my system for this aircraft (as I used profile-based assignment in FSUIPC). With my adjustments (yes, it is easy to fit to any hardware it would seem, I like that!), the levers work really well. I just need to add a few more switches. This is a lovely rendition of a venerable workhorse. It is nice to able to compare the two versions as well...

A

[YoYo]

BTW.

SP1
...
Engine Logic Update
...

Good news from tests for FSUIPC owners (full version). Now "Reverse" could be asigned for FSUIPC Axis as Direct function, so no problem to set up whole axis range for whole range of lever of throttle .

Short video:
https://youtu.be/7H7YPModzOU

[ChuckOman]

Hi YoYo -
Your YouTube video shows you've got the throttle reverser working smoothly via FSUIPC using the SP1 release of the turbo otter.
Can you provide a little more detail on how you did it ? Were you using P3D4 and FSUIPC5.132 ? Did you change controllers.xml ?

I have my throttle (and prop and mixture) axes unassigned in P3D4, and use FSUIPC profiles for all my aircraft.
Controls are disabled in P3D4. I have not made any assignments in the controllers.xml.

For the DHC-3T, in FSUIPC I assigned my CH Yoke controller throttle axis, and sent it direct to FSUIPC calibration, tried using the checkboxes to assign two functions to the axis, Throttle and Reverser, so the two functions are tied to the same axis. Is that the way you did it ? Worked, but not smoothly - guessing you did something else.

Suggestions ?

Chuck O

Update: Discovered my mistake. In my FSUIPC5 DHC-3T profile, I should have mapped the throttle axis direct to the FSUIPC Throttle 1 calibration, using the calibration tab to set full foward, idle and full reverse. Send prop and mixture direct to FSUIPC calibration PropPitch1 and Mixture 1 respectively. No need to do calibration. Seems to work smoothly, as YoYos did. Incidentally I don't have controllers ticked active in P3D4, and don't have the throttle, prop or mixture axes defined in P3D4. All analog axes, buttons and keys are handled by FSUPC.