PSXseecon version 3.23 released

[kiek]

Off-topic question: do you still interface hardware with PSX yourself?

No, I dismantled my home cockpit when I moved house 4 years ago ...

[QuadFan]

No, I dismantled my home cockpit when I moved house 4 years ago ...

Ah, too bad (I suppose). Your software is still going strong though 

[asboyd]

Thank you Nico.
All is good now!

Cheers,
AlexB

[b744erf]

Hello Nico
I am building a standby IAS indicator, which need to read the IAS data. And I just search all the variants that PSXseecon provides. I can't find one match the IAS data, except a Qi131 name "Ias". But it is just a IAS data at first connection. It won't change during the flight. I think the data from Qs483 name " MiscFltData" is the one I need. Would you please add this variable? That would be wonderful if I could drive my Standby IAS Ind with SIOC and PSXseecon~!
. Thank you very much.

Regards
Jack

[kiek]

Hello Jack,
Are you sure Qi131 does not provide what you want? I Mean what would be the use of it otherwise. Please check with Hardy first.
Nico

[Hardy Heinlin]

Qi131="Ias"; Mode=START; Min=0; Max=999000;

Qi131 is just for initial synchronization at situation and network start. It won't update thereafter.


Qs483="MiscFltData"; Mode=DEMAND; Min=12; Max=300;

Qs483 provides the IAS at 1 Hz (when difference > 0.1 kt); you can use that for your airspeed indicator:

https://aerowinx.com/board/index.php/topic,2514.msg25223.html#msg25223


Regards,

|-|ardy

[kiek]

Thanks Hardy for your explanation.

@Jack, download new version 3.38 (from my site) with 6 new SIOC variables:

4990 PhysIAS
4991 PhysOAT
4992 PhysTAT
4993 CompWndDir
4994 CompWndSpd
4995 MagVar

All containing the exact data from QS483

I am not able to test here, so I'm curious to your findings.

Regards,
Nico

[b744erf]

Nico and Hardy
That is wonderful! Thank you very very much! I just can't wait to test it now.

But, Nico, I found that I can't run the .exe file, while I always successfully run the older version. After double clicking the icon, nothing happen. I am using windows 10. Is the new version run in specific windows system only? Or did I miss any thing?

Regards

Jack

[kiek]

Did you install the latest Visual C++ runtime, see the Manual 1.2.

It runs well over here,double clicking the .exe file

[b744erf]

Hello Nico
So stupid am I... |_|
Right. After updating the V C++ runtime, everything runs perfectly!!!And my OEM standby IAS indicator works!

Hello Hardy,

 I found that the data updated every 1 second. So that the indicator dose not move smoothly. I believe it is the result of PSX data output rate.  I checked the Network Documentation. The description of the Qs483 shows that " ..., but at an update rate not higher than 0.3 Hz 1 Hz. ...". How to set a higher update rate at 0.3hz. For now PSXSeecon with sioc is at about 1hz output rate.

Regards

Jack

[kiek]

I found that the data updated every 1 second.

FYI: PSXseecon updates information variables 5 times/sec. Hence it must be PSX that updates only once a second at the most according to the PSX documentation.

[Hardy Heinlin]

Hello Jack,

I'm sorry, the update rate cannot be changed. The smoothing needs to be programmed on the add-on's software side.

Another option, which also needs to be programmed, would be this:

Qs121="PiBaHeAlTas"; Mode=ECON; Min=9; Max=200;

Get the TAS (the 5th variable after pitch, bank etc.) of Qs121. That is updated at 5 Hz. Whenever you receive an updated IAS from Qi131, in that moment compute the difference between the current TAS and current IAS. This difference varies very slowly with the aircraft's altitude and with the weather conditions. It varies so slowly that the 1 Hz update rate won't make any jumps. Now, for your instrument, just use the "TAS Minus Difference" at the 5 Hz rate.

Can you program this in your interface?

Edit: Please disregard. During high acceleration or deceleration, the difference will also make jumps because the difference also increases when the airspeed increases.



Regards,

|-|ardy

[b744erf]

Thank you Nico and Hardy.
Actually, before Nico released the new version, I did tried to interface the  indicator by calculating the IAS from TAS (QS121). I used a simplified formula, which may have a big difference when the QNH is far from 1013. I can't find a variable to show the current position QNH, so I can't calculate the IAS precisely. But I did find that the update rate is much better than the Qs483.

With your way that calculator with Qi131, because the Qi131 will only show the IAS at the moment the plugin connects. It won't change with the Alt or QNH changes. So I don't think I can make a good IAS with it.

Right. Seems the only way to figure out is to wait for someday PSX changing the Qs483 update rate.

Here is the link of the video showing my OEM indicator running with PSX and PSXseecon.

https://youtube.com/shorts/wZht_kfmWx4?si=xKW1WAfY7AJWnt0h

Appreciate your help, Nico and Hardy.

Regards
Jack

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

Actually no, the data that PSX sends is simply not intended to drive a display directly. Also all PSX clients themselves don't use this data directly to update their display: they interpolate, like they interpolate nearly everything else. Only this way, the data traffic over the network can be kept reasonable.

So if you want to drive something off this data, your "something" needs to interpolate smoothly over time. PSXseecon is not the right spot to do this (in my opinion) because its task is to relay, not to display or control directly (I may be wrong here).

What exactly are you driving (not the final OEM indicator but the electronics)? Does it have any brain? Does it have a microcontroller? Is SIOC the spot to do this?


Hoppie

[b744erf]

Thank you Hoppie
I actually replaced the pneumatic-mechanical parts with a servomotor, which is driven by opencockpit servomotor board and controlled by SIOC and PsxSeecon. So, is it possible to solve the lag problem caused by update rate by optimizing scripts?

Regards

Jack

[Hardy Heinlin]

With your way that calculator with Qi131, because the Qi131 will only show the IAS at the moment the plugin connects. It won't change with the Alt or QNH changes.

Right. In my last comment I forgot this fact too.

Anyway ... Well, I'm thinking about adding a special IAS Qi for you in the next PSX update. What update rate would be reasonable? 20 Hz, 10 Hz?

Yesterday I discovered a Qi in my code which I introduced 15 years ago:

Qi37="StbyIasError"; Mode=ECON; Min=-1000; Max=1000;

This was intended for use as a "difference" value at a low update rate, which was intended to be added to airspeed data streams that run at higher update rates. But I never implemented any write action to this Qi. Up to the latest PSX version, it always contains "0".

I could use this existing unused Qi37 now for a standby-instrument IAS output. It would include instrument errors and malfunctions. I would keep the name "StbyIasError" for compatibility reasons, but it would be the final IAS value in knots, and no further computations would be required.

If you need Nico's software, maybe he even added Qi37 in his system already because Qi37 has been on the PSX list since the release of PSX 10.0.


Regards,

|-|ardy

[Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers]

I actually replaced the pneumatic-mechanical parts with a servomotor, which is driven by opencockpit servomotor board and controlled by SIOC and PsxSeecon. So, is it possible to solve the lag problem caused by update rate by optimizing scripts?

As far as I can see, yes: SIOC is a programming language and you should be able to enter time-based small increments to an event, maybe even schedule the next event. I am not familiar with the internals of SIOC so somebody else probably has a better suggestion.

Hardy's suggestion to have a higher-rate variable of course also would work. I understood PSXseecon runs at 5 Hz so more than 5 Hz would be a waste.

Personally I still would prefer a SIOC smoother instead of more data per second from PSX. Move processor power use as far away from the server as possible. That lasts longer when your setup grows beyond initial imagination.

[kiek]

If you need Nico's software, maybe he even added Qi37 in his system already because Qi37 has been on the PSX list since the release of PSX 10.0.

Indeed it is, but at 5 Hz

[simonijs]

I used a simplified formula, which may have a big difference when the QNH is far from 1013. I can't find a variable to show the current position QNH, so I can't calculate the IAS precisely.

Hi Jack,

Why do you need QNH to calculate IAS? I can't think of any formula - to calculate speed - that uses QNH. Yet...! 

Kind regards,
Simon

[b744erf]

Hardy
Thank you so much! That is an existing news that you are going to add a Q variable for a higher update-rate IAS. Yes, PSXseecon works at 5hz, which is enough for building the sim hardwares.

Hoppie
I totally agree with you that the a lower rate would be much efficient. But, please forgive my poor programming skills. I can't write a script for a smoother IAS indicator, since we need every single IAS data updated from PSX. I think a higher update rate the best and easiest way.

Simon
Oh. You are right. My first thought is when QNH change, the difference between IAS and TAS will also change. But it seems to more relate with altitude then QNH. Haha. And it seems that the temperature is also related?

Regards
Jack