Author: Tom Tsui

566: Assign HoneyComb Alpha Yoke to P3Dv5 Manually

| Tom Tsui

Since Aerosoft hasn’t updated the driver utility for its HoneyComb Alpha Yoke for P3Dv5 yet (by the time of this post), here’s how to assign the device’s Bridge Module manually for the simulator.

Open the add-on.cfg in “C:\ProgramData\Lockheed Martin\Prepar3D v5” folder, which is where the scenery.cfg is located.

Then add the following to the file:

[Package.0]
PATH=X:\Aerosoft\Honeycomb
TITLE=Alpha Flight Control Bridge Module
ACTIVE=true
REQUIRED=false

I tend to put this script to the beginning of the file above all other sceneries.  Continue reading →

565: FSUIPC5 Works on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

While waiting to purchase the FSUIPC6 as mentioned in last post, I popped up an idea: “Why not test the existing FSUIPC5 with the new P3D first?”

So I copied the DLL.XML from the configuration directory of P3Dv4 to the directory of P3Dv5.

Bingo!

They work together nicely.   I don’t even need to modify the file at all.   Just copy and paste the DLL.XML from the v4 directory to the new v5 directory and then all is set.

The two folders involved are as follows: Continue reading →

564: A Quick Impression on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

I ran the new P3Dv5 for a few hours this morning with many addons (such as Orbx scenery and Carenado Aircraft) I used on P3Dv4.  As expected, it didn’t give me too much excitment, including the new logo and the new design of the option menu in the program, for which I am well prepared from what I experienced from the company’s previous updates in about every two years.

But to be fair, there are still many improvements and some are very nice indeed,
for example the Enhanced Atmoshperics feature, from which I get the sky color tone on my HDTV more true to the reality.  This is the first time from all the flight simulators I’ve ever played so far. Continue reading →

Misc: No Rush – When it comes, it comes

| Tom Tsui

Now is 3:05pm 14-April in Hong Kong or 3:05am the same day in Orlando, Florida, where Prepar3D of Lockheed Martin is located.

Normally it took seconds to enter the Prepar3D website and now it takes minutes or sometimes it even gets an “Error establishing a database connection”.   There must be a lot of people around the world like me trying to get a copy of the newest version 5 of Prepar3D as earlier as possible.

Unfortunately, there’s still no sign of it.

No sure if it is because the P3D team is still working hard to get the shop ready to catch up with the launched date?  Or the new version will only be available starting from office hour 9:00am in the area?

So, no rush!   When it comes, it comes.

Edit: It’s finally arrived at about 4:00pm EST US – almost time for home ;)

563: My Cockpit Rev #11 – Control Cluster

| Tom Tsui

After talking all these year about my cockpit rebuilding, it’s really making progress this time and it should be completed within the next two months if no unexpected issues coming up.

The equipment I finally picked are as follows: Continue reading →

562: Turn Off FIP Button Light the Hard Way

| Tom Tsui


Many friends asked if it is possible to turn off the light of the buttons on the Flight Instrument Panels (FIPs) and continue to keep their functions active at the same time.  The answer is NO under the Logitech driver as described in Post 215.

However, from the teardown of the broken FIP reported in last post, I came up a hard(ware) way to do it. Continue reading →

561: FIP Teardown

| Tom Tsui

One of my FIPs was broken down recently after serving my flightsimming system stably for more than a decade.  I opened its case to see if it is self-serviceable.  Unfortunately all electronics components, except the LCD screen, were surface-mounted onto the circuit board.

Followings are the teardown pictures of the unit for those who are interested to see what are packed inside the FIP. Continue reading →

News: Prepar3D Version 5 is Coming

| Tom Tsui

If you are a friend of Prepar3D like me, mark on your calendar that version 5 is coming in a week’s time (14-April).  Not much about the details of it so far but here’s the video Lockheed Martin posted on Youtube.  The ground texture of the airport runway at the end of the video looks amazing.

A good news at least for many of us needed to stay@home these days.