33 Radios and Autopilot Project: Mobiflight Configuration of 7 Segment Displays

7-segent displays can be connected to the Arduino via the MAX7219 controller with which Mobiflight can communicate. PCB modules with eight digits and a MAX7219 controller are available around $1,-. These modules can be chained with max eight in a row whereby the three connections Data, Load, CLK run from one module to the next. This makes it possible to control 64 digits with just three Arduino outputs. The video shows how to configure four modules to show CRS(3), HDG(3), IAS(5), ALT(5) and V/S(5).

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

 

 

Flight Sim Navigation 34 Radios & Autopilot Panel Mobiflight LEDs and Buttons

In the previous videos we configured the encoders and the 7 segment displays for the radios and autopilot panel. What's left are the push buttons and the LEDs for the autopilot functions like AP on/off, heading, speed, altitude, vertical speed and more, 12 buttons and LEDs in total. A list of the Event ID's and the FSUIPC offsets that are used is included in the blog post.

Link to the video.

Link to the blog post.

 

Edited September 22, 20205 yr by RudyB24

I have begun going through this series. I used to sim about 10 years ago (FSX) and enjoyed VOR flight and drawing up flight plans from printed maps. But I have forgotten most of it now and its good to get a refresher. 

However I have a question. Other than the joy of plotting a VOR / NDB route and using the panels to navigate (or autopilot - never got into that but want to now) should flights now be planned GPS to replicate real life ?

On 2/27/2021 at 8:00 PM, ceebee58 said:

should flights now be planned GPS to replicate real life ?

I guess it all depends upon what type of aircraft you want to replicate real flights in, and/or the country's regulations (is a GPS mandatory to use, or just mandatory to have on board for an emergency?)

Microsoft Flight Simulator 01 Cockpit Camera Control

Finally as of April 2021 I have a new rig: i7 10700KF, 32GB, RTX3070, LG OLED CX48 4k.

I plan to commence the video series on Flight Sim Navigation. And because the quality of some of the old videos was in fact sub par I also plan to redo most of them.

Before instrument navigation commences I planned on doing a couple of videos on basic operations in Microsoft Flight Simulator.

This is the first of those: Cockpit Camera Control
- Rotation
- Translation
- Quick View
- Instrument Views
- Custom Views (save / recall your own camera views)

Link to the video.

 

Edited April 29, 20215 yr by RudyB24

I liked to add the link to the blog post that was made today on Cockpit Camera Control. It demonstrates all shortcuts used but I couldn't edit the previous post anymore.

Here's the link to the blog article with an overview of all the shortcuts for Cockput Camera Control.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 02 External Camera Control

The external camera can be controlled via the mouse (right click hold and move) and it also has quick views (Ctrl Arrow) and Instrument Views (Ctrl 1,2,3…).

What it lacks are keyboard shortcuts for moving the camera. These can be added in the Control Settings by configuring keys for move up, down, left and right. The Arrow keys seem a logical choice.

Keyboard camera moves are rather fast. Much smoother control can be achieved using a second joystick and create the bindings for it in the Control Settings.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Edited May 6, 20215 yr by RudyB24

Microsoft Flight Simulator 03 FSRadioPanel and Mobiflight

The Radios & Autopilot Panel Project I had been working on the past months performs well with FSX. I had not yet had a chance to test it with Microsoft Flight Simulator though. Until now … yesterday I was able to put it to the test and I can gladly confirm FSRadioPanel (Android app) and Mobiflight (Windows app to connect hardware) both work well with MSFS.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Edited May 8, 20215 yr by RudyB24

Microsoft Flight Simulator 04 Drone Camera Control

MSFS contains a camera drone that can be controlled fully independent of the airplane. The drone can follow the airplane, but it can also move (far) away from it. This makes it possible to create cinematic shots from the flying plane or from beautiful places on earth.

The drone can be controlled via keyboard commands, however, for butter smooth control that enables wonderful cinematic camera work, a joystick or an Xbox controller is highly advisable.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 05 Fixed Camera Views

Besides the Cockpit-, External- and Drone cameras MSFS also contains a series of fixed camera positions whereby the camera is mounted at several spots on the exterior of the airplane. The Drone also has three fixed camera options. The video shows all this.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Edited May 13, 20215 yr by RudyB24

Microsoft Flight Simulator 06 Smart Camera to View POI’s 

The S key toggles the Smart Camera on/off. The Smart Cam automatically focuses on a nearby airport or a POI. Ctrl Page Up/Down can be used to cycle through the list of available targets. A target can also be created manually using the T key and the right mouse button to move the target ring to the position we want to point the camera at.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 07 Slew Mode to Move the Plane

The Y key toggles Slew Mode on/off. It allows us to quickly move the plane to a new position and attitude. This comes in handy when we like to fast forward to the next waypoint of a flight plan, or when we want to position the plane at a certain spot on the ground.

The keyboard controls don’t allow for accurate positioning because of the high movement speed. To position the plane with higher precision we can create slew bindings for a joystick or yoke and rudder pedals in the control panel.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 08 Instrument Navigation, NDB, VOR, ILS, GPS, SID, STAR

Navigation nowadays is primarily based on GPS (Global Positioning System). It can be fun to plan a GPS flight, load the waypoint data into the flight computer, take off, engage the autopilot and watch the plane follow the line. On the other hand it can be more fun to have some more interaction and fly the plane ourselves and navigate the old fashioned way, using NDB (Non Directional Beacon) and VOR (Very High Frequency Omni-directional Range) radio beacons. And to land the plane with the ILS (Instrument Landing System) is fun too.

The locations and the radio frequencies of the beacons can be found on aeronautical charts. These are available on the internet and there also are some wonderful apps which also cater for the creation of flight plans. Among the best are Skyvector, Plan G, or, my personal favorite, Little Navmap.

This video is an introduction to the videos that are about to follow on flight planning and instrument navigation with NDB, VOR, ILS, GPS, SID, STAR.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 09 Little Navmap VFR Flight Plan

In this video we install Little Navmap, create a plan for a visual flight (VFR), save it, load it in MSFS and fly it.

Navigation is performed via timing of the plan legs with a stopwatch, combined with the visual clues of the landmarks we picked as reference points along our route: canal, highway, city, lake, bridge, coastline.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Microsoft Flight Simulator 10 NDB Navigation with Little Navmap Flight Plan

Non Directional Beacons (NDB) are one of the two types of radio beacons used for air navigation. In this video we’ll make a flight plan with Little Navmap that solely uses NDB’s. We’ll then fly the plan in the Cessna 152 in Microsoft Flight Simulator using the Automatic Direction Finder (ADF). When we tune the ADF radio to the NDB frequency, the ADF indicator points to the location of the NDB.

Link to the video.

Link to the article.

 

Edited June 4, 20215 yr by RudyB24