Nav systems go dead

[OBIO]

Flying the C-130E, from the freeware Alphasim C-130 Pack 1. Shortly after I get airborn, I lose all my nav systems (auto pilot, GPS, and what ever the rest of those things are). I added a Nav Power Swith to the panel...it turns on and off just fine. Maybe 5 minutes into a flight, I lose all power to the nav. I am sure this is a battery/eclectrical thing....but have no idea where to look to fix it.

OBIO

[Motormouse]

Flying the C-130E, from the freeware Alphasim C-130 Pack 1. Shortly after I get airborn, I lose all my nav systems (auto pilot, GPS, and what ever the rest of those things are). I added a Nav Power Swith to the panel...it turns on and off just fine. Maybe 5 minutes into a flight, I lose all power to the nav. I am sure this is a battery/eclectrical thing....but have no idea where to look to fix it.

OBIO

check the aircraft.cfg file, under 'electrical' section, add the line:

electric_always_available = 1

that should do it.

ttfn

Pete

[stansdds]

Do the lights go out as well? If so, that would indicate that the battery is not being charged by the generators. Either the generators have failed or they are not turned on.

[OBIO]

Motormouse

Thanks for the tip. The electric_always_available = line was set to 0. I changed it to 1.

OBIO

[srgalahad]

Motormouse

Thanks for the tip. The electric_always_available = line was set to 0. I changed it to 1.

OBIO

Of course, one could always just add four generator/alternator switches (which were either not built in or not supplied with the freeware a/c - Not having the original payware version I can't say which is the case.) and make it more like a real aircraft. There is room in the VC as well as numerous places they could be added to the panels.
However, I do understand that it's easier to "fix" planes so they don't require human intervention.

Note that the default King Air (among others) suffers the same 'problem' even though it has generator switches... 5 min to run down the battery and :pop4:.

Rob

[Dangerousdave26]

That is actually what the problem sounds like to me Rob.

4 Generator Switches and it would have been fixed. I don't think one would have worked.

[aeromed202]

I was about to start my own thread but here was the answer, I think.

Question: what if there was no ELECTRICAL section in a CFG? I have now had two aircraft black-out after landing (not hard ones) and neither has an electrical section. Should I just add one with the above always_on line?

[OBIO]

I will be working on the C-130 panel set ups, adding switches and such on pop up windows. Just wanted a quick fix for now so I can fly the plane. Also have planes to update the panels of the Alpha C-141 and Short Belfast as well. I have exhaust smoke added to the three planes...and what a difference that has made in the planes.

OBIO

[srgalahad]

I was about to start my own thread but here was the answer, I think.

Question: what if there was no ELECTRICAL section in a CFG? I have now had two aircraft black-out after landing (not hard ones) and neither has an electrical section. Should I just add one with the above always_on line?

As far as the requirements for having an electrical section, or what needs to be included, one of the first places to look would be the SDKs. I don't have them available on this machine so I can't give you a reference. Someone may pop in with an answer...

Then, it would depend on the planes (we can't test and compare if we don't know what they are)... did they actually have an electric system (in real life) to begin with? Did you start the session with a different, fully-powered aircraft then switch? Also, when after landing? The moment wheels touch? or after you stop? are there any other signs of malfunction (power loss, ineffective controls, etc.) or any visible anomalies seen in spot view? Are the aircraft original downloads or have they been modified already (leading to the possibility of cut & paste errors)?
On a model (without electric_always_available = 1) if you shut down the engine(s) but not the systems-draining bits the battery will drain (in usually about 5 minutes). In most cases, an easy fix = add a Master switch (so you can stop battery drain) adding a bit of realism --instead of emulating a nuclear-powered aircraft with an eternal, automatic, infinite battery and charger.

If the aircraft indeed does have real life electrics which got missed or deleted in a cfg file, and you wish to rectify an identifiable omission in the aircraft cfg, why not build at least the essential and realistic parts of an electrical section, add the appropriate gauges and switches... Then add a couple of lines to the checklist pointing to things like : "After engine start, select Generator(s) to ON."

Rob

[Motormouse]

I was about to start my own thread but here was the answer, I think.

Question: what if there was no ELECTRICAL section in a CFG? I have now had two aircraft black-out after landing (not hard ones) and neither has an electrical section. Should I just add one with the above always_on line?

You can do, it won't hurt anything, for a 'quik fix' if you don't want to spend time messing with panel.cfg and gauges etc,etc

hope this helps


ttfn

Pete