FIP

Flight Instrument Panel

330: FIP Toolkit is now P3D Compatible

| Tom Tsui

Alexey has just reported that the GPS support for Prepar3D is pending for the moment due to some unexpected issues.   Fix will be provided once ready.

Alexey has just updated his FIP Toolkit and FIP Customizer.  The new FIP Toolkit, now P3D compatible, can correctly display serial numbers and device information and assign action to the device with defined serial number.

Do note that the new version requires the latest FIP drivers: 7.0.47.1 (or later) which can be downloaded from Saitek’s website.
FIP-Toolkit
To download the toolkit, just click on the image above, or click here.

To download the bug-fixed version of the FIP Customizer, click here.  Continue reading →

328: A36 Bonanza Gauges Ready to Release

| Tom Tsui

I was planning to have the Baron B58 Gauges to release first.   However, due to some unexpected issues, it has been delayed (shouldn’t be long) and gives way to its sibling A36 Bonanza.

A36_EXTD_resize

In general, the gauges on the Carenado A36 (also come with Prepar3D by default) are pretty similar to those on the B58, except that the number of the engine gauges is half of those on the B58.

Due to the same reason, Continue reading →

322: Wind Indicator on C172 Heading Gyro

| Tom Tsui

Different to the Integrated version, the design of my Standalone C172 Heading Gyro doesn’t come with anyC172_HDG_Wind_Taxi indication of wind direction so as to render a more realistic appearance.

Many users, however, have been requesting to include such a feature because it is a useful reference while taxiing on the ground so that proper aileron and elevator actions could be conducted against strong headwinds, crosswinds or tailwinds as in the real life situation. Continue reading →

C172 Gauges Updates Delivered

| Tom Tsui

Download links for my C172 gauges updates have all been sent by emails.   Any users who don’t receive my mails should contact me directly or notify me via the Comment Section below.

321: C172 Gauges Price Reduced

| Tom Tsui

Due to the coming of Christmas and the new A36 and B58 gauges, plus the C172 gauges have been released for nearly a year, prices of both the Integrated and Standalone C172 gauges have been reduced up to 25% off.

In addition, the latest versions of both series, now equipped with the newly written installer, are fully compatible with both the file structures from the old and the new Saitek drivers as well as the SPAD.neXt driver as mentioned in the previous post.

Installation is even simpler.   Continue reading →

320: SPAD.neXt with FIP Support Released

| Tom Tsui

SPAD.neXt (Saitek Panel Advanced Drivers neXt Generation) by Ulrich Strauss is a replacement driver for Saitek’s Flight Simulation Panels.   The just released version 0.8 now provides full support to Saitek’s Flight Instrument Panels as well.

HDCMPIndeed, the recent drivers from Saitek have brought improvements over older versions.  That’s no doubt about it.  But they are still lack of flexibility and configurability.   Especially, the company’s FIP driver still only support a subset of the simulation variables.  This has caused incompatibility issue among those 3rd-party aircrafts which use the simulation variables extensively in their designs. Continue reading →

319: B58 and A36 FIP Gauges Preview

| Tom Tsui

B58 ENGLately, half of my minimal flightsim time were spent on creating new FIP gauges for Baron B58 (both default & Carenado versions) and Bonanza A36 simultaneously as they share many similarities.

Different from the last C172 gauges which categorizes into Standalone and Integrated versions, and charges separately, the new B58 and A36 gauges to come will include both Standalone and Integrated or Extended gauge face-plates altogether in a single package, when applicable.

This includes customization for both default and Carenado aircrafts, making some of the gauges consisting of up to four different versions.

In addition, the installer for the new gauges will be compatible to Windows 10 and the new Saitek drivers file structure as well.

Followings are a few more preview screenshots of the gauges already completed or about to complete.   Continue reading →

314: Connecting FIPs on Networked PC

| Tom Tsui

TechLevel02W
Running Flight Instrument Panels (FIPs) will drag the performance of the simulator to some extent.   To minimize the impacts on some not so high-end PCs, off-loading them to a spare computer isn’t a bad idea.

FIP B_Gauges
Off-loading FIPs to Another Computer Could Minimize Performance Hit to the System.

To those who are “network-phobia”, here’s an example how I put the FIPs (with some help from Ricardo in the first place) to work on a spare computer in my family network. Continue reading →

308: Switching Between inHg and mBar

| Tom Tsui

A friend recently asked if there is a simple way to change the barometric units from inHg to mBar on the Altimeter.   Unfortunately, no, it is NOT possible on the earlier free gauges.   But YES, it is possible on the paid gauges as their codings and image designs have been rewritten.

This automatic barometric unit switching feature should have been implemented earlier.   Anyway, here it comes at last.

C172_ALT_inHg-mBar

Users of  the current Continue reading →