CH USB Rudder Pedals & FS98 Problem

[scottmiller]

Help! It seems that I can't use my CH USB Rudder Pedals and either my CH USB Flight Yoke or USB Fighterstick at the same time (though my old serial versions of all three were happy as clams with FS98)!

When the USB Rudder pedals and either the USB Flight Yoke or USB Fighterstick are connected to my system at the same time, FS98 thinks the rudder pedals are a throttle control. Even with the throttle wheel on the Fighter stick or throttle on the Flight Yoke in the full idle position a plane's throttle(s) will leap to the mid or full throttle position. I have to keep the F1 key pressed continuously and/or keep the right fuddle pedal pushed fully forward to keep a plane from suddenly going into full throttle and shooting across the tarmac and/or flying through buildings.

The only solution I've been able to come up with is to disconnect the rudder pedals while using FS98 (which of course means having to use auto-coordination). If anyone knows how to get FS98 to see the CH USB Rudder Pedals *AS* ruddler pedals rather than a flight yoke/stick, I've to hear about it!

[fxsttcb]

Yep! My old CH serial stuff worked good too! Weird that you asked now, as I just changed to a new Thrustmaster joystick to use with FS98/9/FSX and yesterday had to MANUALLY map each axis and button to use it in FS98. It took some time, especially with the hat switch, but now it works in all my sims. I had to leave the new stuff's internal programming set as default and map everything from within the Sim(options/custom controls/assignments). You may have to re-map every axis and button for all your controls. I'd try just the pedal mapping first.(See Pic) If you need to "Calibrate", or change null zones/sensitivity, do that from the Sim menu after you map everything...Don

[scottmiller]

Thanks for the help (again!), Don. I'll let you know how it goes...

Scott

[scottmiller]

Got the rudder pedals mapped and working with FS98, Don! Thanks for the help again! In the process, however, I discovered that buttons 5 through 12 don't work in FS98. I can't seem to be able to change those that do (couldn't change the rocker switches on the right handle, 3 & 4, to raise/lower the nose trim instead of raising/lowering the flaps (which I use buttons 7/8 in FS2002, 2004 & FX).

Oh well, everything else works and I can use the rudder pedals now so I'll just learn to live with it (G)!

Scott

[fxsttcb]

Scott, did you use the CH products Control Manager? I'm considering the USB pedals for FS98/9/X also. CH website has a download by operating system for the software. I put my Windows 98 drive in(1 minute swap) and it seems to run FS98 better than Win 7. Let me know how the pedals work out for you...Thanks...Don

[scottmiller]

Hi, Don

No, I didn't use the CH Control Manager. I really don't trust it all that much. I just went to the "Customize Controls" panel as you suggested. I was able to get the rudders working properly finally. BTW, I discovered that most of the buttons/switches, beyond the essential ones, on my Fighterstick USB don't work either. Maybe I should take another look at the CH Control Manager...


Incidentally, in rediscovering FS98 I rediscovered the fact that only the default aircraft seem to have working landing lights (and that using the L key to try to turn them on causes the engines on the B737-200adv panel to shut down just as if I had opened the overhead panel!). Kind of makes a night landing using an addon aircraft a rather dicey affair. In fact, it pretty much limits light landings to airports with runway lights!

Do you know of anyone who managed to come up with a fix for this?


Scott

[fxsttcb]

Scott, The landing lights work with the "Wheel Well" switch on the overhead panel and "Control L" toggles the Landing Lights also.
Neither "L" or "shift L" worked right for any of the lights.
"O" is fine for strobes("Position" on overhead panel).
I couldn't get any of my archived Nav Light switches to work properly either. For the Panel/Nav Lights I guess we're stuck with the Anti-Collision switch, also on the overhead Panel.
I removed 2 gauges from the Pedestal Panel [Window04] in panel.cfg, which helped keep the engines running when clicking other switches.
gauge08=732nc_flsw.1, 82,305,49
gauge09=732nc_flsw.2, 201,305,49
and renumbered the rest.
I then added A Fuel Tank Selector(from ace337_2.zip) to the same window
gauge36=GbyJFuel_sw_Cntr, 28,191,60
Now I don't have to fiddle with menus to start the darn thing!
I'm still having fun with FS98...Don

[scottmiller]

Interesting, Don! Thanks for the heads up. I'll check it all out!

In the meantime, I decided to weed out most of my FS98 737s because they have a problem with the vertical stabilizer (misshaped when viewed from the right side, ok when viewed from the left). I posed a message about this not too long ago that I'm sure you probably saw. Anyway I downloaded a whole slew of "new" 737s from Flightsims library file (over 60!) and discovered that, so far (I've still got about 20 to install), 11 of them have a working center tank (10 300s, 1 400). I'd love to know how the authors did it. Since these planes are of a more recent vintage than the ones I tossed I'm hoping the authors are still available. It's nice to see that there are still people designing scenery and aircraft (repaints anyway) for FS98...

Meanwhile, how can the contents of the *.air file be read? I assume thats where the information about the center tank is. Can't be in the panel.cfg file for the panel I'm using since most of the new 737s still don't have a working center tank...

Yeah, there's still a lot of life (and challenges) in the old FS98 gal, isn't there (g)!

Scott

[fxsttcb]

In my 1st reply to your Center fuel tank problem are links to the .air file editor and instructions. Real easy and free!

If you want to try and fix the Vert Stabs find a copy of MdlDisAs v3.04 by Trevor de Stigter, you can open the .mdl, save the source(scasm text file), edit and reassemble it. I found that if I searched inside the source file for the texture that coincides with the part I'm looking for, I could usually find the errant code. Right side points are positive and left negative so when you find the Stab you just make sure there is a mirrored set of points. The texture mapping is by point number to pixel coordinate. Not hard, but tedious. The beginning of the source code gives a list of the parts that make up the model.
The following is for the FS98 Default 737

; Comprises 30 Individual Structures as follows:
; All dimensions in Feet
; Start Points Fore Aft Bottom Top Port Stbd
; :L00198C 389 0.00 104.38 0.00 14.83 -46.12 46.12
; :L000E72 54 4.39 17.41 6.98 14.67 -6.15 6.15
; :L0054CE 20 4.44 10.94 9.90 12.18 -4.84 4.84
; :L000FBC 33 37.33 65.63 5.60 9.42 -46.12 -5.47
; :L002BCE 59 37.87 107.49 4.57 34.89 -46.12 19.97

and so on. It helps find the ":Line number" and points definition for each component...Don

[scottmiller]

I'll go back and take another look at the editor you suggested to fix the center tank problem (I did download it and installed it). I tried a suggestion by Andre Lederer to simply swap out the air file of a 737 with a non-working center tank with the air file of a 737 with a working center tank (making sure both 737s were the same model). This appeared to work initially, but then I noticed that most of the 737s I did this with appeared to float few feet above the ground (which Andre warned might happen).

I found out in the process that the left and right tanks on FS737s are about 1100 gallons too much for each tank. the combined excess nearly equals the real life capacity of a 737 center tank. Consequently, the easiest solution to the problem, in light of this, may be to simply do nothing! After all, as long as the total fuel capacity of a FS98 737 is correct, or nearly so, divided between 2 fuel tanks instead of 3, I live with not having a working center tank!

It was easier, too, to simply replace the 737s with the vertical stab. problem with planes that didn't have the problem. Nearly all the replacements I found in Flightsim's file library are of a more recent vintage than the planes I had with the vertical stab. problem (which may explain why they don't have the problem)...There are over 1,000 737s in Flightsim's file library so there is no shortage of 737s with correct vertical stabs. Fortunately, it wasn't necessary to download all 1,000 of them to find a sufficient number that didn't suffer from the problem! Out of the 60 plus planes I picked at random, only 2 or 3 had the vertical stab. problem....

Scott