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KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

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KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

Postby pgflmac » Tue Dec 16, 2008 4:04 am

I was beginning to learn how to program the 172's KLN89 on FG version 0.9 but when I upgraded to FG version 1.0 there is no digital display - it is dark. Control-C does show the clickable areas on the KLN89. I'm not sure if it is on or not. Yesterday I search for "KLN89" in all the files in the FG v0.9 and FG v1.0 and could not find any differences in any of the found files except in the preferences.xml files. I looked and looked at these differences and just could not see anything that would suggest what is causing the KLN89 to be dark. Any ideas? I'm on Macintosh. I was wondering if Windows or Linux users of FG could tell me if they had a working KLN89 on their FG. If anybody has any ideas I would love to do more work on this but I am stumped.

Thanks, Rob
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Re: KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

Postby zakalawe » Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:29 am

The KLN89 hasn't had much attention in CVS, since the original developer is no longer involved with the project. I'm working on updating the GPS code - it'll actually be a complete re-write of the KLN89, but will make supporting other units, such as the KLN90 and KLN94, possible as well. This is a medium term project, however, since these units are pretty complex!

I've been trying to find anyone who actually used the existing KLN89, and without success so far, so it's great that you are. Can you tell me 'how' you use it? Do you create a flight-plan, are you trying to use GPS approaches, how much do you use the NAV4 moving map page, and so on? The reason for these question is, it will be straightforward to create some (about half, I think) of the KLN89 pages - then there's more work to do 'most' of the others, but a few (especially the NAV4 page, and the equivalent pages on the KLN90) are tricky, since I can't render them using text.
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Re: KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

Postby pgflmac » Tue Dec 16, 2008 2:25 pm

I have not be able to use the KLN much, so far. I just was just learning to fly on FG 0.9 and got this idea to use the GPS to go cross country. I am not a regular pilot but am a licensed CG captain so I have used lots of GPS machines in a marine environment. Today they are pretty much electronic chart oriented. I had found a KLN89 user manual and a help file for it from the original developer. I thought it would be an interesting challenge to learn to use. However when 1.0 came out it would not turn on (or the digits do not display). This got me thinking it would be fun to actually figure out how FG worked and it would be a useful project to debug why the KLN was not working from a learning perspective.

I was concerned the problem is with transparencies and/or the KLN's, or some other .rgb files. I have a tool to look at these (GraphicConverter) but I am not very knowlegable on this topic. Although, I did copy the 172 from FG 0.9 to FG 10.0 and vice versa and the KLN came up in FG 0.9 and not FG 10.0 so I don't think it is the aircraft files per se. Also note the AP is not displaying digits either in FG 10.

Since I am such a lousy pilot working with the SIM in this way is interesting. However, at this point, I am kind of frustrated I cannot figure this out. What could possibly be different between the two versions? I am starting to look for more fundamental documentation on FG design and development.

Just curious, is this a Mac problem? Does the KLN work in both FG 0.9 and FG 10.x on other than Mac? I have posted a request for info on the Macflightgear forum but no replies.
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Re: KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

Postby zakalawe » Tue Dec 16, 2008 5:40 pm

We're a few weeks (hopefully) off FG 1.99.5, where the KLN89B will be in an more perilous state, so I'd suggest digging into some other piece of functionality than this one for the time being. The rendering issues you described (missing text) could be Mac only, but rendering has completely changed since 1.0. Once I begin creating the new KLN89 instrument in earnest (probably early next year) I'll appreciate any help I can get with it, but I don't think there's anything useful you can do with the current version.
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Re: KLN89 GPS on 172 FG v1.x (vs FG v0.9) is OOC

Postby pgflmac » Tue Dec 16, 2008 5:49 pm

I have noticed one other issue. With FG V 1.0 the throttle does not respond to the mouse clicks like most other click areas (i.e. altimeter, coms, brakes, etc.), even though under control-C it shows as clickable. I'm wondering if there is something amiss in the "transparency" of that part of the panel. Can you point me to documentation on how this all works?
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