FCDE page ....

[kalleh]

Hi all,
I'm a very excited new user. I haven't made a flight yet, but am still reading the manual.

This might seem like a silly question... but some content of the manual makes me think this may be important....

I keep seeing references in the manual to things like "FDCU page 13" etc.  In one place it says to go to FDCU page xx.
I haven't found these pages defined in the manual. Is there another document that has them all listed?  Is there a way (and maybe i just haven't read this yet) to choose which FCDU page to go to by entering a number somewhere?

Thanks much!
K
P3Dv4

[peter]

Hello Kalleh,

welcome to the FSCaptain forum. The numbers on the FCDU display are mainly there to clarify which page we are referring to. Or, if a user needs support, they can tell us exactly on which page the problem occurred. I never had the need to enter a specific page number during a flight. All pages that you need to access can either be reached by a special button (e.g., "Menu") or are 1-3 clicks away from where you currently are.

FSCaptain is a very complex program with a large number of features. It is good to read the user guide, but I would suggest to start with the document Tutorial.pdf and just try a flight using an airplane that you know well. Yes, things may not be perfect (FSCaptain may not know payload limits or fuel consumption of that plane, may not have access to weather except for where your plane currently is, options may not be set to your liking, ...), but you will become acquainted with the main procedures.

Cheers,
Peter

[Travis]

Hi Kalleh,

Short answer: There is no such reference, but it's something I've wanted to work on.
-----

Before the FCDU became so popular, FSCaptain used a device called the FCOM. It had a wide text layout, but only F1... F9 keys for input.

Dutch did have a FCOM Reference Guide for that gauge which started off with a simple flight and then ended with a reference for each screen / page.

We do need a revised Quickstart or FCDU Tutorial, and now might just be the time to work on that. I want to keep the code frozen starting today March 31st for several weeks as we plan what to do for our next version.

Until then, if you have a particular question, don't hesitate to ask here or in email!

Best regards,

[kalleh]

Thank you both very much, Peter and Travis.

I think in asking this question, I was looking for more trees than forest. I see there are ways to get through the process without knowing all of the numbers for the screens.

I've gotten through the manual which is quite helpful, but still trying to put it all together for a flight. I suppose an updated walk-through might be helpful but a lot of work.

Right now, I seem to be held up by "GSX Catering available" and the plane does not seem to load.

I fly Friday and Saturday nights, so trying again right now!

Thanks again, fellas,
karl

[kalleh]

I have run into the same problem again that i have been having in the past and wondered if you can help?
I was able to complete one flight last week but am not sure how I messed around randomly to get it to start.

For background: I have p3dv4, GSX level 2. I have "honor other gournd services" set to 0.

The latest attempt is with a release "logged 06 apr 19 0437z"

I set my sim to 30 minutes before this (and check many times p3d is set there)

I do GSX catering, open doors, board via GSX (because i do not see anything offered via FSCaptain), and the FCDU just remain passing past 06 apr 19 0451 and beyond. I get a message that catering is complete, but do not ever have the option to depart.

I have tried the walk-through but it does not match what I see. I fear I am missing something obvious in setting up. i would be grateful for any ideas. thanks, karl

[peter]

Hello Karl,

just to clarify: you get to the "GSX Catering available", but then you cannot proceed because the buttons are grayed out? Or could you proceed by ignoring GSX?

If you want to use GSX, you need to set HONOR_OTHER_GROUND_SERVICES=1 or 2 (I recommend 2). With a value of 0, FSCaptain will simply ignore what GSX is doing and also not send the number of passengers to GSX.

Cheers,
Peter

[kalleh]

Hello Peter,
Thank you so much for your reply. I am embarassed to report a beginners mistake: I read the dispatch time from the upper right side of the dispatch (0437z), but noticed today on the administrator that the time was different (1200). This is why my flight did not proceed.

The good news: I set ground services to 2 as you recommended and this went much more smoothly. I have still done horribly on my 2nd flight, but it was a successful flight, I learned more, and my excitement of FScaptain is greater.

One problem that is not a software problem - flying landmark, I cannot board until 10 mins before block off time, but it takes 25 mins, so I am very late!

Thank you - this is very fun and challenging guys, and adds a wonderful element to my flights,

And- despite my blushing about a beginner mistake -- I am really impressed by the support here and do thank you.  

Karl

[peter]

Hello Karl,

excellent that you resolved the GSX issue. No need to be embarrassed at all; FSCaptain is difficult to master since it tries to add realism to your flights, which means your task as a pilot will become more complex. However, it just feels great if you get it all right

The difference between Zulu and local time is something that only affects scheduled flights, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong with those. You discovered the first stumbling block: you need to be at the airport on (local) time for the flight to proceed. You also discovered a second problem: you can be late in arrival, late in departure, and your block time may be too long or short on a scheduled flight. Another issue with scheduled flights are time zones: they are wrong in FSX and P3D, unless you use TimeZoneFixer (a commercial addon program).

As for the time when passengers can start to board: you can change that. Open the Administrator and go to "Airline Definitions". At the bottom of the page you can manipulate all times related to scheduled flights.

As you can see, scheduled flights are not that easy. I would therefore suggest to start with charter flights. You can still be late or early with your block time, but all the additional issues are gone.

Thanks for your kind words about support. We are simply enjoying FSCaptain and like to share that enjoyment

Cheers,
Peter

[skycamel]

Hi Peter,
could you tell me what HONOR_OTHER_GROUND_SERVICES=2 invokes?
I don't find any reference to it in the manual.(or the options file)
I'm now testing the GSX trial with the parameter set to 1.
Cheers,
Luc

[peter]

Hi Luc,

this is an option for GSX that is described in the readme file:

-- If you have HONOR_GROUND_SERVICES=1 and you use GSX to board your passengers, stop when you reach the Load Confirm screen (#42) and begin your GSX boarding. The FCDU will automatically commit when the first PAX is boarded, and the exits will remain open until GSX has loaded the last bag.

Cheers,
Peter

[skycamel]

Hi Peter,
I know, but what is =2? That I didn't find in the readme.
Cheers,
Luc

[peter]

Oops, you are right, that's not in the manual yet it seems. We recently noticed that in some cases the timing of FSCaptain boarding and GSX boarding was way off (e.g., FSCaptain only started boarding when GSX was nearly done). Option 2 makes sure that FSCaptain tracks the GSX count of passengers that are already aboard and follows it closely. I'd recommend to use 2 unless you have issues with it.

Cheers,
Peter

[skycamel]

Hello Peter,
yes, that's exactly what I noticed with the boarding.
I did reduce the number of ticks per passenger but that doesn't seem to have any impact when boarding with GSX
I will try with =2 on my next flight.
Thanks for the info.
Cheers,
Luc

[Travis]

Hi Luc,

Yes, our documentation could stand major improvement. 

If you don't have this text in your options.cfg file...

1 = Other ground service pre-boarding actions will block certain of your flight's pre-boarding actions. 2 = Match boarding & deboarding pace. Default is 0.

... then check the build date and update if necessary.

If '2' is the option value, we will pause loading until GSX has reported the first PAX has boarded, we will not regard the "Ticks per PAX", and we will pace our loading to "never exceed" the GSX passenger count.

Please note that we begin loading cargo / baggage before PAX, so there may be a delay of up to a minute between the first GSX passenger and the first FSCaptain passenger. (I will butt heads with Dutch soon to see what we can do about that.)

And please be aware that it is possible GSX may not accept our declaration of how many PAX are to be boarded. If that occurs and GSX decides to board fewer passengers, then I'd suggest to use the "<RESET GND SVCS" option in the FCDU's "Main Menu" screen to jump out of the loop.  (You could also use the "Reconcile" option to simply load everything now.)

Best,