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GF46 Numeric Keypad Transponder setup in X-Plane 11

musicfliegermusicflieger
edited December 2017 in GoFlight Interface Tool - Technical Support
Hello community,

I´ve spent hours and wasted billions of brain cells about the following problem (?):

The FF777 (X-Plane 11) has a numeric keypad from "0" to "7" for the squawk-code.
How can I setup the coding to work on the rotary like: pressed to incr / decr 1000s and 100s and unpressed to incr / decr 10s and 1s?

The following example sets the squawk to "1234" by clicking the numeric buttons "1" "2" "3" "4" while the dataref only shows "xpndr/dig" ..... :s


0005529114 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 1
0005529344 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 99
0005529368 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1000
0005529435 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1000
0005556401 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 2
0005556611 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 99
0005556641 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1200
0005556707 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1200
0005608885 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 3
0005609006 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 99
0005609037 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1230
0005609098 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1230
0005641820 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 4
0005642053 DataRef : xpndr/dig DataRef Data: 99
0005642081 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1234
0005642144 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1234

Any help would be highly appreciated!!!

Thanks a lot and happy holidays,

Alex


Comments

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    Hi Alex,

    Have you simply tried to add the event "GF45/46_TRANSPONDER_SET" to the GF46? See the GF45/46 section here: https://www.pollypotsoftware.org.uk/support/user-guide/goflight-interface-tool-x-plane/35-operating/88-configuring-goflight-devices-additional-information.html

    Best wishes
    Steve
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Hi Steve,
    thanks a lot for your quick response!

    Did what you said, started with squawk 1111

    1st turn cw:

    0001006784 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1211
    0001006849 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1211
    0001006997 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1111
    0001007062 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1111

    2nd turn cw:

    0001047634 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1211
    0001047702 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1211
    0001047863 DataRef : sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1111
    0001047924 DataRef : sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code DataRef Data: 1111

    so it´s always hopping back to prev. setting (e.g.1111) until I really click on the numpad of the cockpit to change the value. :'(

    GF46 displays correctly though and even ADF works fine on option 2
    Maybe I just have to live with the fact that the mouse will never leave me ;-) , I just hoped to get an easier solution than a LUA script, which is really not my thing!

  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    edited December 2017
    I have had a go at trying to get this to work for you via Lua, but the nature of the process for changing the xpdr code means anything written is too unreliable for practical use.

    It may be worth asking Flight Factor if they would add specific Commands to the aircraft to allow changing the xpdr in the way you need it to work.

    Best wishes
    Steve
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    edited December 2017
    Wow,
    I appreciate your help so very much, Steve, even if it didn´t work this time!

    Thank you for your "wasted" time - I will ask FF about those facts and keep you informed!

    Happy holidays!!!
    Alex

    P.S.: Since today in use:
    3 x DIO Board for the complete DIY Overhead Panel 777 (96 switches, buttons and rots and 103 lamps
    1 x EFIS
    1 x MCP pro
    1 x WP6
    2 x P8
    2 x T8
    1 x RP48
    1 x GF46 (no xpdr for the moment)
    ...and all twelve of them do their job absolutely perfect in X-Plane 11 thanks to GIT!!!!!

  • SlayerSlayer
    edited December 2017
    I remember when I made my profile I considered putting that in. There is a way to do it if i remember correctly. You will have to go hunting with the detective because that is not the only dataref you need to work with.

    Need to reload that aircraft again and take a peek. It would require several if statements and some special coding but it can be done. How about this? set 1st digit with rotary , press, set 2nd digit, press, set 3rd, digit press etc?

    Also with their planes and many others modifying 1 dataref will trigger an automatic change in the others, you just have to experiment to see which one that is.

    Keep in mind what you send to the hardware doesn't have to exactly match what you send to the plane

    It almost seems like you need an "array" if that is the proper term from programming, so you could first set and write each digit, then finally send it to the plane, while you could show what you are setting on your transponder as you are setting it.

    the datarefs on this plane are very misleading and generic ie "lamp/1" through "lamp/270" same with all the anims that push the buttons etc :/
    Steve McNitt
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Thanks a lot for sharing your thoughts with my problem, Slayer!

    "set 1st digit with rotary , press, set 2nd digit, press, set 3rd, digit press etc" - would be my favourite solution... I am really thinking about a kind of array made by several if-statements in the programming, but I´m still far away from "perfect with GIT" so all I can do is try and try and try...

    about the detective:
    in my 1st and 2nd post are all the drefs I could read out from clicking the numpad of the xpdr, didn´t see anything else so I´m not sure how to read out other drefs than those ones being displayed...

    I´ll keep on trying anyway as I won´t be satisfied before that is solved - still glad for any further help or hints!

    Best greetings from Salzburg
    Alex

  • SlayerSlayer
    edited December 2017
    the dataref you want to write to is xpndr/dig

    only send it one number at a time with a short pause in between    , once you've reached the last digit, it will start replacing again from left to right.

    The default x-plane datarefs , although they do get written to , are secondary. in other words modifying xpndr/dig will set the default laminar datarefs, but not in reverse.

    The trick here is to create a bespoke variable, then modify to contents of that bespoke variable, then you set xpndr/dig = bespoke variable

    if you had a keypad that had the same keys you could simply make one bespoke event for each key but that would be a real waste of buttons.

    If you are using a GF46 I would use the left display to show a number that you are incrementing using a rotary, then on the right display I would just set that to display the default: sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code

    So using the method I mentioned above: turn a rotary, increment a bespoke variable and display said variable in left display. Set the push function of the rotary to simply set xpndr/dig = bespoke variable. So set 1st digit, push rotary, 2nd digit push rotary etc.

    I dont have one of these units so I can't make it work for you, sorry, but it should be straight forward.
    Steve McNitt
  • SlayerSlayer
    edit: I wonder if you could make a script in LUA that would take a keyboard input - that would be cool but I don't know if it can be done. You would just need a short delay between sending each digit.
    Steve McNitt
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Hi Slayer,
    thank you so very much for all the provided informations!

    I have already "played" with xpndr/dig, but until now without any noticeable success...
    (maybe I was too fast in incrementing?)
    I will give it a very intense try today to figure it out ;-)

    about your edit: I can´t write or even speak any LUA - I´m just so glad I´ve found PollyPot to get all GF stuff working and it even took me quite a long time to find out about bespoke events, datarefs, commands,....

    but with your assistence I think my xmas wish might come true finally!


    Merry xmas, thank you once again! I´ll post my updates in here.

    Alex
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Maybe I just need to get used to the fact that I must set the xpdr via mouse in the 3d cockpit - couldn´t get it to work in any way...
    That "xpndr/dig" tries to kill me, but I´ll stop working on it and survive ;-) Thanks for all the assistence, maybe one day the solution comes in my dreams...
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    This is the Lua code I wrote, but its very unreliable. Maybe someone can play around with it and get it to work:

    function wait(transCode) --print("waiting") --sleep(100) count = 0 set = false while count < 100 do ok = getdref("xpndr/dig") if (ok ~= 99) then set = true end --print(ok) if (ok == 99 and set) then while transCode ~= getdref("sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code") do setdref("sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code", transCode) sleep(250) end --print("returning") return getdref("sim/cockpit2/radios/actuators/transponder_code") end sleep(25) count = count + 1 end --print("ending") sleep(100) end xpdr = getdref("sim/cockpit/radios/transponder_code") firstPairDiv = xpdr / 100 firstPair = firstPairDiv - (firstPairDiv % 1) firstPair = firstPair + getlastinput() if (firstPair > 77) then firstPair = 77 elseif (firstPair < 0) then firstPair = 0 end firstDigit = tonumber(string.sub(firstPair, 1, 1)) secondDigit = tonumber(string.sub(firstPair, 2, 2)) thirdDigit = tonumber(string.sub(xpdr, 3, 3)) fourthDigit = tonumber(string.sub(xpdr, 4, 4)) newTransCode = string.format("%02.0f%1.0f%1.0f", firstPair, thirdDigit, fourthDigit) print(newTransCode) setdref("xpndr/dig", firstDigit) xpdr = wait(newTransCode) setdref("xpndr/dig", secondDigit) xpdr = wait(newTransCode) setdref("xpndr/dig", thirdDigit) xpdr = wait(newTransCode) setdref("xpndr/dig", fourthDigit) xpdr = wait(newTransCode)
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Wow Steve...

    this really kicks me off my seat now!
    I´ve never expected that this would happen, and all I can do for now is to say THANK YOU!!!

    Right now I started to rearrange all my USB hubs and cables and add some new powered hubs to ensure sufficient electric power for all the GF devices.

    But right afterwards I´ll have a deep look into the LUA section of the GIT manual to find out how to use that code and to see what a great job you have done !

    For the moment: THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN - I´ll keep you updated about my success.

    Greetings from Salzburg,
    Alex
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    edited January 2018
    Sorry, no update available yet...

    I just can´t make friends with that LUA programming... No idea if Steve wrote one command or more to be assigned separately, read all the manuals up and down several times but I might be too stupid for that. So reading one more time now. -
    All the rest is working so pretty fine, I just don´t want to do somethging wrong in LUA to not destroy my other setup...
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    The script will only work when assigned to a rotary control as it reads in the value from the control.
  • robainsrobains
    I don't have the FF777, but had no problem setting the XPNDR for JF's PA28R that uses a 4 dial .. setup two increment and decrement bespokes, on that increments/decrements by 100 and the other by 1 setting the transponder_code value (Set + and Set -) and assign to the two increment rotary states for GF46. I'm almost done with a full XP11 PA28R set and can post this weekend ... but since it looks like your dataref is the same I would "think" it should work for you.
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Hi Rob,
    thanks for your comment!
    I'm currently very strongly bound to my job, but asap I'll try to get into the LUA thing. current status: I don't even know how to bring Steve's programming into one (or two?) bespoke event (s)...
    Hope to find some time next weekend!

    btw: Wasn't it you who made that fine youtube tutorial about GIT? - However: that tutorial made me purchase GIT and I'll always be thankful for that!
  • robainsrobains
    Glad you enjoyed the video ... I don't think you need to use LUA for what you are trying to do, but I could be mistaken. I'm a little late on deploying my JF Arrow III files for XP11 ... one DataRef I can't seem to identify, the PEAK EGT dial, everything else is mapped including the GF46 for XPNDR, it was fairly straight forward. BUT, that was the JF PA28R Arrow, the Flight Factor 777 could be an entirely different beast.
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    edited January 2018
    Rob,
    when I started with GIT I used several Saitek panels with Sparker's plugin and had absolutely no idea how to get GIT running. But using your vid parallel on a different screen made me program my first bespoke event!
    Meanwhile I have finished the entire 777 using 3DIO boaeds for my DIY-overhead panel, as well as efis, mcp, t8's, p8's and 166 - after setup a flight no more nwed of mouse at all. It's only the xpdr left to mouseclick...
    When I can find some more time I'll try to proceed with Steve's LUA code, as many attempts by myself with different BE's didn't succeed at all.

    Best greetings from Salzburg/AT
    Alex
  • robainsrobains
    Wow, great work with the overhead, very impressive!! Mind telling me your sources for knobs and switches?

    Cheers, Rob.
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    That overhead is fantastic. Well done!
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    Thanks Rob, thanks Steve!

    This OHP is one of my wishes that have come true thru your both people's hard work! - But now I want more!!! One day the cockpit mist be full size and full scale!

    @ Rob: all switches and LEDs are Conrad Electronic used with 3 DIO boards, I can send you art# from the Austrian distribution if you want..

    @Steve: is there any known issue using GIT together with SIOC software? - That's the standard from Spanish company Opencockpits, who produce a lot of panels and displays for my 777 project! (I would also appreciate any other company suggested by you from experience)

    Greetings
    Alex
  • admin_ppsadmin_pps
    Hi Alex,

    I don't know, however its unlikely there would be any issues.

    Best wishes
    Steve
  • robainsrobains
    Alex, thank you for source, I've added their web site to my hardware favorites list ... very interesting. Enjoy!
  • musicfliegermusicflieger
    To all who helped me - update:

    After long periods of trying I have finally given up now.

    In the A/C slide-down-menu there´s a checkbox called "plugin radio".
    When I check this box I can use stuff like Saitek radios for xpdr and com, and also use the GF 46.
    But checking this box also disables GF166 so I will just live with that minor issue of setting the xpdr via mouse in the 3d cockpit.
    All the rest of equipment and GIT itself work absolutely perfect :-)


    Once again THANK YOU for all the assistence!

    Alex
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