News:

Precision Simulator update 10.173 (24 February 2024) is now available.
Navburo update 13 (23 November 2022) is now available.
NG FMC and More is released.

Main Menu

How to get new USA & Pacific nav data

Started by Hardy Heinlin, Wed, 28 Apr 2021 01:23

Hardy Heinlin

Introduction

PSX update 10.134 has introduced the option to load custom nav databases. Custom nav databases can be built in a new program called Aerowinx Navburo. It's based on the ARINC-424 format and makes the whole system more independent:

• PSX users can now add private nav data and edit it
• Other companies can produce and sell nav databases for PSX
• SID/STAR/approach designers can test their procedures in PSX in flight
• Airlines that get their own ARINC-424 data can use that in their PSX training classes

This tutorial assumes you already have PSX update 10.134 or higher, and that you have installed Aerowinx Navburo.



Where can I get the USA & Pacific data?

The FAA provides the data free of charge on their web site:
https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/digital_products/cifp/
On that web site, click Download CIFP. Please read their Customer Agreement, then agree or cancel. If you cancel, the tutorial will end here.



Where should the file be downloaded to?

Click the latest zip file on the FAA's product list, for example CIFP 210422. Your browser will ask what you want to do. Please click Save and OK. Then select a folder, for example, your Desktop. When the zip file is completely downloaded to your Desktop, unzip it by a double-click. A new folder will appear named, for example, CIFP_210422. Go into that folder and find the file FAACIFP18. That's your ARINC master file. Keep it ready.



How do I start Aerowinx Navburo?

Go to Aerowinx/Navigation/-Custom/ and double-click Navburo.jar. If your Mac won't open it, right-click Navburo.jar (or left-click while holding the CTRL key) and select Open from the pop-up menu. On that menu click Open again.



How do I make a new custom database?

In Navburo, go to Step 1, and in the edit field enter a new subfolder name, for instance, 2104 FAA mixed, then click Make. Now you are on the Step 2 page on which you see a blue box. Hold the downloaded FAACIFP18 file with your mouse, and drag and drop it in that blue box.

Go to Step 3 and click Extract all. Sit back and relax for a minute. When the extraction is done, go directly to Step 6 (steps 4 and 5 can be skipped as in this tutorial we won't edit anything).

In Step 6 uncheck the Block all fillings option. Then click Autostart. When all Build buttons are renamed to Rebuild, you can select this new custom database in PSX on Instructor > About.



What if I use a network with multiple Aerowinx folders?

Find the folder 2104 FAA mixed here:
Aerowinx/Navigation/-Custom/List/2104 FAA mixed
Copy 2104 FAA mixed to the same path in the other Aerowinx folders:
Aerowinx/Navigation/-Custom/List/
All networked PSX instances must use the same nav database, selected on the About page of each PSX instance. You need to select it once, manually. When restarting PSX, the last selection will be set automatically.



Why does the FMC IDENT page disagree with the About page?

The FMC IDENT page in PSX has always been and will remain a simulation for FMC training. So you can swap databases on the IDENT page even if PSX contains just one database. Secondly, the database in PSX does not only feed the FMC simulation but also the simulation of the radio stations on the planet, the scenery runways, the COM radios, the EGPWS alerts, navaid stations, and other things. If you were able to select the actual database on the FMC IDENT page, you could change the entire simulated world; that is, the runway you are seeing in the windshield, for example, may disappear, or the tuned ATIS may stop talking, or a VOR signal may vanish, and so on. In PSX, an FMC database is just a fraction of a whole PSX database. Therefore, a PSX database can only be selected on the About page on the Instructor screen.



Over half a million procedure and airway records; why so many?

The SID/STAR/approach and airway record numbers you see on the table in Step 6 refer to legs, not to entire procedures or airways. For instance, a SID with ten legs will have ten records.



Why does Navburo convert just 7000 of 14000 runway ARINC records?

Navburo excludes airports whose longest runway is shorter than 1400 meters. Precision Simulator has been using this limit since 1997, as it's a B744 simulator. Navburo also includes shorter runways, but only if they belong to an airport that has at least one valid runway.



Why are there no marker, COM, and gate records in the FAA file?

The FAA data is intended for use in products where marker, COM, and gate data is irrelevant. Navburo fills these data gaps with data from the default database during the build process (if fillings aren't blocked). The default database is the one indicated on the left side on the Instructor's About page. For example, if you bought the last Aerowinx Nav Database Update 2020, the default database is from Navblue and contains ARINC cycle 20-03. Note that many nav objects haven't changed in the past twenty years anyway.



Why are there no enroute holds in the FAA file?

I don't know, but please note that the FAA file does include all holds in SID/STAR/approach records. They are coded within the respective procedure legs. Even in the default database from Navblue, most of the holds coded as enroute holds, are in fact holds that are already coded in missed approaches; so, in many cases, there are just duplicates of them in the enroute section of the database.



Am I allowed to share my nav data with other users?

It depends on the method. When you make a custom database folder with Navburo, the program will create two subfolders named Source/ and Binary/. You are not allowed to share the files stored in Binary/ as these include copyrighted fillings from the default database. But you may share your self-made ARINC files stored in Source/. Other PSX users can copy your ARINC files to their Navburo, and their Navburo will then build their binary files, with any gaps filled with data from their default database (or without any fillings at all).



Are the rounded 4-digit localizer courses precise enough?

Navburo calculates the true runway heading using the precise locations of the two runway thresholds. If the difference between the true runway heading and the ARINC localizer course is less than 1.5°, PSX will get a localizer course that is exactly equal to the runway heading. Otherwise, it will get the ARINC value and consider it an offset localizer course, like on the KSFO 28R LDA approach, for example. The localizer course in the ARINC file also depends on the local magnetic variation which is usually stored in the same ILS record. If a record doesn't include the local variation, Navburo will get this record's variation from the variation database stored in Aerowinx/Terrain/igrfgridData.csv. If that file doesn't exist either, Navburo will use its internal magnetic variation database which refers to 2020.





Kirk.Ennis

When I open the folder Aerowinx > Navigation > -Custom there are two folders listed.

> Listed - which is empty
> Misc - which has the file: listSelect "Text Document"

I don't have a file named NavBuro-Jar in any of my files.

Looking for assistance in installing the FAA's data base.

Jeroen Hoppenbrouwers