Carrier Tacan available on RFN

[robertorizzo]

Now available on RFN site.
Thanks Sylvain!!!:salute:

[fsafranek]

Now available on RFN site.
Thanks Sylvain!!!:salute:

For those who don't know where RFN is: http://royalefrenchnavy.gratisim.fr/FSX_Creations.htm
Scroll to bottom of the page.
:ernae:

[crashaz]

Very interesting..... love the new gauge. Is it possible to get a IFLOLS or an animated LSO functioning on a moving carrier?

[crashaz]

Particularly if you build it into the carrier model.

Someone has to have the answer.

[SkippyBing]

or an animated LSO functioning on a moving carrier?

http://www.flyingstations.com/victorious-44.html

[sparouty]

Hello,
SkyppiBing is perfectly right: her HMS Victorious integrate Tacan/ILS variables to animate a 3D batman!!

I worked all this last summer in adapting my Clemenceau's miror with this brillant idea: the challenge was, to my point of view, to find a way to improve the visibility of the signal...
I moved to something else before releasing it, but if I find time I'll try to package it and share the result with you...

Anyway, the goal of this small gauge was to allow to add to any aircraft a tacan feature that can work with any list of carriers of your choice (and even with fixed geographical coordinates) thanks to a xml file of parameters. It's the system used by EtendardIVM and Zephyr packaged as a stand alone gauge.

This 2D gauge is done in xml so any airplane creator could look at the variables I used and integrate it in their 3D gauges if they want: feel free to ask me!

Last, with this gauge, you have also a LSO voice simulation during final approach using the standard Acceleration sound file. Check CVS Ad on WeeklyAds2.
At the RFN team, we're looking for recording more realistic sounds for a French navy point of view but I'm sure that one could create a better US Navy and/or RN sound sets?


Regards,
Sylvain

[robertorizzo]

Sylvain wrote "any list of carriers".
My list of carriers is longer than tcn gauge one.
I may say Mistral, Bonhomme...

Any chance to add them?
In carrier.xml i saw the name of the carrier does not fit with its title in sim.cfg.
Where it comes from?
Thanks.

[sparouty]

Sylvain wrote "any list of carriers".
My list of carriers is longer than tcn gauge one.
I may say Mistral, Bonhomme...

Any chance to add them?
In carrier.xml i saw the name of the carrier does not fit with its title in sim.cfg.
Where it comes from?
Thanks.

Hi,
Good question!
You can add in Carrier.xml any "carrier" of your choice but... (there's always a "but")
...but not any ship.

The brillant code, wrote by Neutrino (how grateful I am!! Thank you again!!), that I use in my gauge is abble to identify "Carriers" as they are AI objects with 1 catapult at a minimum.
So in order to have the gauge to "catch" a specific ship, check that 1 (or more) catapult is defined into the model whatever it is used... I didn't try to add dummy catapult attachpoints into a ship model but it should work...

For the name used in Carrier.xml , it comes from nowhere... It helps fro reading/managing the file, but as L:Variable don't manage string value the carrier's name is loeaded in the dll but not forward to the xml gauge... I read some interesting way to manage string value from C++ to xml but I don't have time to try it... So, at this point it is a unused field...

Regards,
Sylvain

[Dave Torkington]

Thanks to you Sylvain and Neutrino for this excellent little gauge. It's made our carrier op's much better...

The code in the xml is so easy to replicate that even I managed to make a FCLP zone at a remote field that a few buddies and I use. Also got your gauge working in the 'Sludge' Hornet by merging the .ini file as you suggest.

Best regards and keep up the great work,

Dave :salute:

[robertorizzo]

A dummy lil tutorial on how to?

[Dave Torkington]

A dummy lil tutorial on how to?

Hi Roberto, I'll try my best...

I assume you already have your FCLP wire / wires scenery set up and that you have some experience with FSX Coordinates and simple editiing of .xml files.

To determine the exact 'lat' - 'lon' position in FSX and the Runway angle, I recommend using the TCalcX tool - available HERE

The COP3 gauge set made by Rob Barendregt combined with a set of Crosshairs [search Avsim or Fsim.com] work just fine too.

First, BACKUP the file 'Carrier.xml' found in your FSX\Gauges folder.

Now, using Notepad, open the Carrier.xml file. Scroll to the bottom and you'll see this data:

<carrier name="Istres_36"
CarrierType="2"
Frequency="110.60"
RunwayAngle="332.68"
GS_Angle="3.00"
Lat_coord="43.512544174"
Lon_coord="004.931069585"
Alt="87.9"/>



Now, we want to copy, paste and edit this information to suit our FCLP wires. So, doing this we end up with:

<carrier name="Istres_36"
CarrierType="2"
Frequency="110.60"
RunwayAngle="332.68"
GS_Angle="3.00"
Lat_coord="43.512544174"
Lon_coord="004.931069585"
Alt="87.9"/>

<carrier name="MyFCLP_05"
CarrierType="2"
Frequency="110.70"
RunwayAngle="48.74"
GS_Angle="3.00"
Lat_coord="46.333544174"
Lon_coord="014.9455069585"
Alt="312.2"/>



Save the modified 'Carrier.xml'

I've put ficticious data above, but you can see the information you need to enter. All entries except the CarrierType and GS_Angle has been edited.

Carrier name - Your choice to match the Airfield / Runway
Leave CarrierType="2"
Frequency - Decide on a unique freq.
RunwayAngle - Get from your actual runway
Leave GS_Angle="3.00"
Lat, Lon and Alt - Get from your FCLP wires scenery using TCalcX

Looking at the original 'Carrier.xml' file, I compared the 'Nimes' data to the actual scenery in FSX and found a slight offset. I hope the picture explains... I don't know how precise the Landing Point / Crash Point has to be, but I found that the LSO is quite happy! I can imagine that the 'Alt' - Runway altitude may need tweaking so the LSO doesn't give a 'Wave off' signal.

Attachment 51210

Hope this helps - if I can clarify anything then let me know :salute:</carrier></carrier></carrier>

[Dave Torkington]

To successfully add the RFN TACAN gauge to the Sludge Hornet, I merged the 'dsd_sonsRFN.ini' with the Sludge 'Panel_Sounds.ini' files and omitted the 'gauge74' line from the panel.cfg as described by Sylvain in his Readme.

So, I end up with a modified 'Panel_Sounds.ini' file [found in the Sludge Hornet Panel\Sounds folder] that looks like this:

[Config]
MaxSounds=100
VolumeVar=dsd_volume


[LVars]
Lvar00=Sound_BINGO
Lvar01=Sound_ALTITUDE
Lvar02=Sound_ROLL_OUT
Lvar03=Sound_POWER
Lvar04=Sound_FUEL_LOW
Lvar05=Sound_CHECK_GEAR
Lvar06=Sound_PULL_UP
Lvar07=Sound_RALT
Lvar08=CableNo1
Lvar09=CableNo2
Lvar10=CableNo3
Lvar11=CableNo4
Lvar12=TooHigh
Lvar13=TooLow
Lvar14=TooRight
Lvar15=TooLeft
Lvar16=PaddleContact
Lvar17=CallBall
Lvar18=WaveOff
Lvar19=Catapult


[Sounds]
Sound00=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/bingo.wav, 100
Sound01=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/altitude.wav, 100
Sound02=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/roll_out.wav, 100
Sound03=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/power.wav, 100
Sound04=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/fuel_low.wav, 100
Sound05=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/check_gear.wav, 100
Sound06=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/pull_up.wav, 100
Sound07=./SimObjects/Airplanes/Rogues Navy FA-18 FSX/Panel/Sounds/RALT_Tone.wav, 100
Sound08=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_21.wav
Sound09=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_22.wav
Sound10=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_23.wav
Sound11=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_24.wav
Sound12=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_16.wav
Sound13=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_17.wav
Sound14=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_19.wav
Sound15=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_20.wav
Sound16=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_06.wav
Sound17=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_33.wav
Sound18=./Missions/Military/CarrierPractice/Sound/CarrierPractice_09.wav
Sound19=./Sound/CatapultLaunch.wav

Again - hope the information helps. Please let me know how you manage... :salute:

[robertorizzo]

Thanks Dave!:salute:

But I wrote DUMMY!

Ok now i've something to do in the next hours/days.

When at home i'll have a look at the programs and start working on it.
For now i wonder why do we have lat long coordinates when applying to moving carriers. Most of the time (Bob Dylan's words, btw i'm going to have a nice next wednesday in Padova concert togeter with Mark Knopfler and i'm yet in the right mood) i use AI moving carriers.

[Dave Torkington]

Thanks Dave!:salute:

But I wrote DUMMY!

Ok now i've something to do in the next hours/days.

When at home i'll have a look at the programs and start working on it.
For now i wonder why do we have lat long coordinates when applying to moving carriers. Most of the time (Bob Dylan's words, btw i'm going to have a nice next wednesday in Padova concert togeter with Mark Knopfler and i'm yet in the right mood) i use AI moving carriers.

Oops!! A bit of non capisco from me there - sorry.

The AI carriers don't have lat & long coordinates Roberto, just data for the ILS and TCN etc. I really don't know how these numbers apply, but I guess we can see they're relevant to the carrier model... I use AIBTC and a kml file made in Google Earth [well, my buddy Guy does all the AI boat traffic planning etc. for a group of our friends].

Hope you enjoy the concert! One of my first CD's [wow they seem so old now] was Brothers in Arms. Excellent :salute:

Regards, Dave.

[sparouty]

Hi
to complete what has been said the coordinates entered is the point you want your plane's ref point be when touch down. Regarding altitude, it should be the ground altitude.

Regarding Carrier's parameters:

• Name="Foch_1975" => free name (unused)
• CarrierType="1" => 1 for carrier / 2 for FCLP zone
• Frequency="109.00" => free but unique frequency
• Radius="148" => property of the carrier model calculated by FSX. You can found it thanks to FSX Explorer Traffic Tools
• RunwayAngle="8.5" => given by the model designer
• GS_Angle="3.6" => glide slope angle, usually dependant to the optical system used
• ILS_Xcoord="-1.574" =>offset (in meter) of the thouch down target point on the flight deck given from the carrier's xyz ref point : (x,y,z)=(right/left, alt, front/rear)
• ILS_Ycoord="16.771"
• ILS_Zcoord="-83.098"
• TCN_Xcoord="15.187" =>offset (in meter) of the Tacan Beacon's location given from the carrier's xyz ref point : (x,y,z)=(right/left, alt, front/rear)
• TCN_Ycoord="66.84"
• TCN_Zcoord="2.44"

Note: for the gauge, a "Carrier" is a AI model that contents 1 or more catapult...


Regards,
Sylvain

[expat]

As far as carrier ops, I am still not clear what this gauge actually does. What I understand is that moving (AI) carriers in FSX -either "placed" in game using Aircraftcarriers2 by Lamont Clark or with pre-set carrier tracks - cannot have any working navaids (a fixed carrier can have an AFCAD=airport= see it on the map/GPS/ILS etc . .) BUT this gauge emulates or simulates a TACAN or similar signal such that it shows the direction and distance (?) to the carrier to the pilot. Especially useful in IFR and/or night conditions and more generally as it can be hard to find "the bloody boat" even in good visibilty in FSX. Have experienced the same or similar gauge in the Smudge Hornet.

Ideally I would lke to install the gauge in a 2D panel and/or VC and be able to find the Javier Nimitz class and Clemenceau boats. Is this possible and what does one need to do?

Thanks in advance,

expat

[sparouty]

...What I understand is that moving (AI) carriers in FSX -either "placed" in game using Aircraftcarriers2 by Lamont Clark or with pre-set carrier tracks - cannot have any working navaids (a fixed carrier can have an AFCAD=airport= see it on the map/GPS/ILS etc . .) BUT this gauge emulates or simulates a TACAN or similar signal such that it shows the direction and distance (?) to the carrier to the pilot.

Yes, you're right, FS navaids works only with geographical coords, so the workaround is to simulate moving beacon by calculating similar navaids variables beetween airplane's player and AI carrier. Then it feed a complete set of custom variables : distance, bearing, loc, glide slope error, etc...

... Have experienced the same or similar gauge in the Smudge Hornet....

I guess you're speaking about Neutrino's HUD? Yes, it is even more than similar, because my gauge is based on Neutrino's code which I had enriched with a parsing dll in order to have a configuration file (Carrier.xml) for a more flexible carrier management.

...Ideally I would lke to install the gauge in a 2D panel and/or VC and be able to find the Javier Nimitz class and Clemenceau boats. Is this possible and what does one need to do?....

This is the goal of the gauge, and Javier's carrier is already defined in the packaged conf file. After that, you just need to modify your panel.cfg to use the gauge in a 2D panel. For a VC usage, it should be possible (by replacing an existing gauge), but 3D cockpit is generally something more depending on the plane author's will...

Regards,
Sylvain

[expat]

Very helpful Sylvain, many thanks!