Duenna Updates

[JohnM]

Hi SOH-Pilots!
I just wanted to let you know that I've put a new version of the Duenna online ( http://johannesmueller.com/fs/web/duenna/ ) which has one main, visible change: it can automatically pick up the baton (and drop it), if you "arm" it accordingly. I hope that solves some of those "forgot to press the button" issues, I know it's happened to me too many times :costumes:

I've also included the real-time transponder, which can transfer your position to a server to be displayed on a map in +/- real time (even if you are not flying online, as long as you have an internet connection). However, for that I need to set up accounts. If you want to try it out (the map isn't visible yet, but the data is collected properly), please send me a PM so that I can set up an account for you. Without an account it will not send the data anywhere, but will display location-information in the text-log file for every 15 minutes of flight.

Let me know if you run into any problems! Thanks.

Have a good run!
John

PS This is probably not going to be the "official" Duenna for this year's race, the judges are still on vacation, but it would be nice to start early with the testing :D

[dcc]

sounds great! will give the new version a try. Thanks for all your hard work

- dcc

[Panaka]

downloaded and installed. will try it in the comming days

[JohnM]

One thing I'd love to get some feedback on is the way the baton is dropped automatically (if armed) at the end of the flight. It opens up the analysis and the text-log automatically just as if you would have pressed "drop baton" as soon as you have slowed down to <5 kts GS. On one hand that is useful because you know you can push "post" in the forum right away, on the other hand it might be a bother, if you had wanted to continue rolling on the runway (with the windows in front, you would have to click them to the side).

I haven't flown any real legs with it, so it's hard for me to say - what do you think?

John

[Panaka]

Would it be possible to make the pick up automatic but the drop manual?

[fliger747]

Johannes:The problem I have with my home computer and the Duenna has to do with the fact that my FS installation refuses to remember anything as to previous settings. Because of this, even though I have all current settings correct, it does not read them as such. If I were to re-start FS, same problem occurs, I have to rebuild all the correct settings and am where I started.I know this is a FS problem, and it is a frustrating one as I have tried re-installing FS several times without avail. FS does work correctly on my laptop, which is much less capable.Is thre any way I can work around this?Cheers! Tom..............

[JohnM]

Hi Flieger
I have the same problem on a new computer I set up for the FS, well actually - I copied the installation from my existing computer to it and it works all except it forgets the settings on each new start (sometimes it remembers, but usually it resets them all to default).

The problem is that the FS does not update the settings file until it is closed down. That means the Duenna can not check the "real" settings unless you start the FS with them already. What you can probably do, however, is manually change the FS-configuration file to include the desired settings and keep that file read-only so that the FS can't overwrite it. Actually, I'll have to try that on my new PC as well :costumes: . For me it's not so much of a problem because that PC is just one of three I use in the office with FS on it, so I can use the other ones if it doesn't work (but it's so much nicer on the new one)...

What settings are all being reset each new start on your PC? If I can get it to work with a manually changed configuration file, I can try to adjust yours as well, perhaps that will work.

Otherwise, perhaps the judges will allow you to fly with the Duenna showing "incorrect settings" if you make a screenshot of the settings-page (with time/date visible) and use that as part of your validation? You might want to ask MM about that..

Cheers
John

[Gnoopey]

John - thx for the Duenna update - got it and already logged a leg in the current practice - I cannot see much good in that 'auto pick-up' feature - it throws you back from FS9 that was running full-screen when the Duenna picks up the baton - so this is only usable when already lined-up - and should possibly only be used with FS9 in window mode - otherwise there's a risk of messing up the T/O - I messed up lining up - lol

Tom - perhaps we could finally work out your troubles with your 'read-only' FS installation, couldn't we?

Have you ever checked if your FS9.cfg is read-only or in a read-only directory due to incorrect access rights?

[dcc]

I tried for a few very short legs. I tried it with FS9 fullscreen and windowed. I didn't experience what Gnoopey did -- my FS9 stayed full screen after lift off and when I went to window (after taking off in full screen) I verified that it had indeed grabbed the baton. I also tried it with FS9 in window mode the whole flight. Both auto-grab and auto-drop worked great! But I think I too would prefer to have an option for manual drop.

- dcc

[Gnoopey]

aaaah I c Dave and John - it auto opened my log file into my ASCI editor because I have .log files configured to open with an editor - that is causing the 'window switching stuff' - so it's my 'fault' ;)

[JohnM]

Hmm, I only fly in the window mode, so it's something I didn't test, thanks for testing :costumes: - I'll see what I can do about that... Yes, it is meant to be used when you are lined up and ready, waiting for the baton takeover (because it triggers at 5 kts GS and I usually taxi faster, so it would trigger when I'm taxiing to the runway if I armed it there...). Have you tried the "always on top" mode in the Duenna? Perhaps that would solve the issue (though I haven't tried it either).

Regarding Tom's "read only" configuration - at least on my system where it also does that the file is definately writeable; the FS even resets it to default settings if I manually change it say in Notepad... Really wierd... but I think I caused it myself by copying the FS installation instead of installing it normally, so I feel - at least on my system - it's something I could avoid by reinstalling the FS normally. However, I don't know how it is on Tom's PC and I don't want to talk anyone into reinstalling the FS, heh heh.

Cheers
John

[JohnM]

Hi everyone
just a quick note - I now have rev 55 online - which allows you to unarm the automatic baton grab / drop when flying, so you can have it armed to take off and unarm it before landing to do the drop yourself.

Cheers!
John

[JohnM]

Just wondering, I'd love to hear your thoughts:

Should the data collected from the real-time transponder be visible for everyone? Should it be "private" on a team basis, with just the official baton holder being visible to the public? Though I can't think of any other good reasons, perhaps there are some that feel that training flights, etc. should not be visible to all (but still visible to the other team members).

What do you think?

John

[JohnM]

Just for fun, I'm having it fly on a/p in the background (work, what's work? :d :d )

I have the transponder tracker now running online at http://fsrtw.meine-sucht.ch/MapCurrentLoc.aspx (layout not even started, just making sure it works first). As soon as there are more people flying with it, it will display their positions (either real time or the last position in 24 hours). It works surprisingly correct, I didn't think it would match up so good (see the screenshot for EGLC).

Let me know if you need an account :icon_lol:

Cheers
John

[Panaka]

On first reaction I'd say, keep the map to team only. But since everybody can check our position with the airfield codes, it doesn't matter.

What the heck. Set me up with an account.

[Panaka]

Is it working?

[JohnM]

It should be working :-) -- though I haven't tried it from "outside" yet... I hope you got the access data.

The map URL is: http://fsrtw.meine-sucht.ch/MapCurrentLoc.aspx

Please let me know if you "get stuck", I haven't tested it that much yet...

Cheers
John

[Panaka]

It isn't showing me.
I did test the connection and it says it's working, but can't see myself on that map.

[JohnM]

Hi Panaka
Just checking - you also have "Send position to server" activated? (probably)

If that is all ok and the check went ok, then it will start tracking once you've grabbed the baton - it should send the first position right away, and from there every 15 minutes (or what ever you have set up) - it will stop tracking when you drop the baton. To get a better feel for it, you can reduce the interval to say 1-2 minutes (though that will probably be too much for later during the race = too much data for everyone to download, once I have it set up to transfer the full paths along with the positions).

Let me know what happens -- I'll be offline for the next approx. 5 hours, but I can check the detailed logs afterwards if it still doesn't work..

Cheers
John

[Panaka]

I'll try later. Thew baton was already in the air by the time I filled in the fields and checked that option.

[JohnM]

Hi Panaka
I noticed what was happening -- it should work now.. I'll have to update the Duenna version again :-)

Cheers
John

[Moses03]

John,

Attached are the text files from my hop last night. Thought I would post here to not clutter up the race practice thread.

Thanks-
Moses

[fliger747]

John:

I re-re-re installed FS on a different HD and finally got it to work after reinstalling the MS FS update. My FS was so bad before that I could never shut it down, always crashed on shutdown. Previously I tried all of the usual attempts at manual entry etc.

That's the sum of the good news. Sure messed up everything else including some WIP planes, which I though were correctly backed up.

Thanks for the hard work!

[Panaka]

Possible bugs:
-I had real weather but Duena said I didn't. Had to restart.
-Overspeed 0.0 sec keeps invalidating flights on a regular basis.
-Ferror got bumped from netwings. No direct proof, but he feels it could be Duena.

[Ferry_vO]

I tried to connect to netwings during a flight, but couldn't(Not all players were able to connect.): The Duenna registered that as an error.

I can fly for hours without Duenna in multiplayer without a problem, but I have too many disconnects and crashes when I do run with the Duenna. Thinking of flying my legs offline now..

[JohnM]

Hi Guys
I'll look into it.

I also noticed that +30kts head/tailwind on Ed's flight, but I'm not sure if it is perhaps being caused by the pitot being blocked (ie no IAS available -> no aircraft heading available?), I'll have to play with that (never can get my pitot iced up when I want to :d )

Regarding the settings: The FS does some strange things that nobody seems to understand. It updates the settings in the files only after you have closed down the FS, therefore the need to restart it when the Duenna can't confirm the settings. There's probably not much I can do about that, sorry ..

"Overspeed 0.0 sec" is actually always shown and is not an error, so it shouldn't invalidate the flights. Do you have other information?

I have been flying online with the Duenna for most of the year now and I haven't been able to see (or guess) that it would block my server access; it wouldn't make sense, since it is only in contact with the FS itself (edit: have you tried to increase the FS sampling period, to say 5 seconds?)... BUT I have noticed that it doesn't like it when you get thrown from a server or when you can't connect to a server. I'll see if I can get that behaviour a bit better (or at least make it so that it doesn't count something like that as an error).

Keep the feedback coming, guys! (and don't forget to try the new version ;) )

How do you like the map, Panaka? (with the new version your position would be preciser)

Cheers
John

[JohnM]

Attached are the text files from my hop last night. Thought I would post here to not clutter up the race practice thread.
Moses, it's showing that you changed aircraft on the way (4 times..) - is that possible? I have no idea about the simFlight Do 335 (I can't even reach their home page at the moment, lol). Does it have any special features that could trigger something like that, anything that you might have done at that moment? Drop-tanks? It still lists the same aircraft, but the FS-internal "aircraft-change-counter" has gone from "0" to "4". Hmm...

03.01.2006 20:56:34 ERROR NEW: [Same A/C]
03.01.2006 20:56:34 AT S32° 05.9' / W70° 44.9' at 21986ft GS:418kts, IAS:314kts, VS:0ft/min
03.01.2006 20:56:34 STATE
03.01.2006 20:56:34 AIRCRAFT simTECH_Do335 / Counter 0
03.01.2006 20:56:34
03.01.2006 20:56:34 ERROR RESOLVED: [Same A/C] (Duration 00:00:00)
03.01.2006 20:56:34 AT S32° 05.9' / W70° 44.9' at 21986ft GS:418kts, IAS:314kts, VS:0ft/min
03.01.2006 20:56:34 STATE
03.01.2006 20:56:34 AIRCRAFT simTECH_Do335 / Counter 4

Thanks for your feedback!

John

[Moses03]

BUT I have noticed that it doesn't like it when you get thrown from a server or when you can't connect to a server. I'll see if I can get that behaviour a bit better (or at least make it so that it doesn't count something like that as an error).



That would be great if you can tweak this since it's becoming a big player of late.

As far as the 335, I didn't switch planes and it does not have drop tanks modeled or even an entry for it in the cfg. That's really strange. One other thing, when I lost dsl connection the real wx could not connect of course and I got the "real weather unable to connect" message 4 times when trying to reconnect. Could this have coincided with the plane change error somehow?

Thanks for looking into it John-

Moses

[fliger747]

So far I haven't had any errors show up in Gramps D't planes other than the (easily fixed) nuscance tool tips message. Have there been any DT plane errors reported by the Duenna to date?

[JohnM]

I just put rev 64 online -> http://johannesmueller.com/fs/web/duenna/

What's changed:
- Added a fudge factor for fuel / weight tests: 0.1% per cycle weight variance is tolerated
- The weight / fuel tests are ignored when on ground (eg. last years landing on the filling station by TW)
- Added a fudge factor on altitude change tests: 1% in opposite VS direction is allowed (eg. last cycle: at 10'000ft with a VS of -1000ft/min, this cycle up to 10'100ft will be allowed) - this covers turbulence and sudden altitude changes within a cycle.

What I can't recreate:
- the "change aircraft" flag (if any of you can re-create it, please let me know)
- the handling of the multiplayer disconnect (I need to find a server that will throw me out all the time :d - which is best (ehm, worst)?)

Cheers
John

[fliger747]

John:

Was getting the fuel errors (PMDG 747-400) pretty consistantly with the Duenna, just downloaded the latest one and will test it out.

Thanks:

Tom...

[fliger747]

John:

Loaded the latest Duenna and was able to complete a short flight in the PMDG 747-400 without a fuel error.

So far so good!

[Senator_Tehocan]

John, i've go a problem with duenna: it doesn't seem to sync the correct time. date is ok, but it always sets the UTC time to something near 18.00. Dunno why this doesn't work. (/me is UTC -1)

[JohnM]

Dies it always set it to 18:00 or does it have that much offset to the real time? What does it say when you do a flight like that (in the duenna graphics)? Does it also show the "wrong" time or does it show it correctly there? Have you tried different locations in the FS (ie London / Los Angeles) to see if it sets the time differently? Has this popped up lately or has it always been that way? What does Windows use as a time zone? (all these questions, sorry :-) - I hope I can find it!)

Cheers
John

[Senator_Tehocan]

duenna shows the correct time in the Flight analysics, but if you choose an airport (such as EDDL) at 16.00 UTC, and click on Sync Time, it sets the clock in FS to 18.47 GMT. same does it for LA, NY and eyery other city.

[JohnM]

Can you check to see which FSUIPC version you're using? I'm seeing something strange as well, but it doesn't look like the same problem .. Hmmm.. Anyone else have trouble with the sync-time button?

Thanks!
John

[Senator_Tehocan]

i'm using the 3.52 version, but i just saw that there's an update.

just tried the new 3.53 version. doesn't work either

[Senator_Tehocan]

i finally found a solution to that problem:
sync.zip (http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kdl/main/3/sync.zip?ezSZB08h) at Flightsim.com

[JohnM]

Sorry ST, I forgot to post here -- I fixed it in Rev 80; I don't know why, but in the older FSUIPC you had to set the aircraft local time, in this one you have to set the UTC time (different settings in different locations -- theoretically they should both work, ahhh "theory" :D)

John

[JohnM]

Hi guys
I just wanted to mention that rev. 85 is now online. It will most likely be the last version before the race, I fixed a few small issues (thanks, Gnoopey!).

It would be great to see more of you guys flying with the online tracking so that I can test that out a bit more -- you can see the current status at http://johannesmueller.com/fs/rtw06/MapLegs.asp - let me know if you need an account for the realtime tracker ;-)

Cheers!
John

[PRB]

[edit] - nevermind, dumb question :)

- Paul