Arduino Mega 2560 and FSLabs

[Vincent Twisker]

Hi all,

For my homecockpit up to now I've been using mainly LeoBodnar control cards together with SpadNext to interface my hardware (buttons and LEDs).

I would like to start using the Arduino Mega 2560 card with Mobiflight for my future MCDU project because I don't think SpadNext (fully) supports Arduino. Does anybody have any experience with this combination that he could share?

I think the 2560 board has 52 PWM/Digital/communication pins that can all be use to assign to buttons?

All MCDU buttons have rotorbrake codes that can be assigned using FSUIPC. Will these work with Mobiflight?

Thanks for any help.

Vincent

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

Hi Vincent, i use the same setup.
Mobiflight in combination with Mega2560 works fine in the FsLabs. No problems in general. Unfortunately the Led offsets are not available yet. I hope in future it will be possible to use them.

The only problem i have is the use of maintaining korrys On/Off. I have to push them twice to set it to OFF position again via Rotorbrake codes. I don’t know if it is possible to create a macro for these.

Greetings from Germany

[Vincent Twisker]

13 minutes ago, Anastasios Kalimeris said:

Hi Vincent, i use the same setup.
Mobiflight in combination with Mega2560 works fine in the FsLabs. No problems in general. Unfortunately the Led offsets are not available yet. I hope in future it will be possible to use them.

The only problem i have is the use of maintaining korrys On/Off. I have to push them twice to set it to OFF position again via Rotorbrake codes. I don’t know if it is possible to create a macro for these.

Greetings from Germany

Thanks for your reply Anastasios. Indeed yesterday I've been able to succesfully experiment with the available rotorbrake codes for FSLabs using the Mega 2560. So I am confident that I will be able to use Mobiflight with the Mega boards to construct a MCDU.

All my LEDs are succesfully controlled by Packled64 cards through SpadNext. For the korry switches and macros, I will continue to use my LeoBodnar BBI32s.

Vincent 

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

Do i understand right? You are getting led outputs from FsLabs through Spadnext?
i always thought it is a software for saitek panels.

[Vincent Twisker]

11 hours ago, Anastasios Kalimeris said:

Do i understand right? You are getting led outputs from FsLabs through Spadnext?
i always thought it is a software for saitek panels.

That is correct, almost all my hardware is interfaced through SpadNext. Especially the Packled64 support is a very nice feature.

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

Now you have my attention ;))

How does it work? The offsets of the Fslabs Airbus aren’t known for the led's.

for example the Apu “On” Led.

or do we speak from different things? I have a complete overhead panel and get only the buttons to work.

kind regards

[Vincent Twisker]

2 hours ago, Anastasios Kalimeris said:

Now you have my attention ;))

How does it work? The offsets of the Fslabs Airbus aren’t known for the led's.

for example the Apu “On” Led.

or do we speak from different things? I have a complete overhead panel and get only the buttons to work.

kind regards

[Vincent Twisker]

As far as I''m aware, using the LVAR, I can control all the FSLabs LEDs, including DIM/BRT variations. They all work perfecty in my homebuilt FCU/EFIS and ECAM control panels. Soon to be followed with my overhead panel which is a WIP at the moment. I am still tweaking the korry switch design. For me the key was the combination of SpadNext and Packled64 cards. I've been using them for 3 years now.

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

Seems that with SpadNext it is possible to programme “if” events. So you use them with your saitek panels. I have my led 's connected to Mega and works fine. The only thing is, that i can't configure something like that with MobiFlight.

and how do you get Led Output and responses from Fslabs into your panels? Does SpadNext continuously checking the status in sim?

 

sorry for all my questions, but i have no experiences with spadNext. It seems, that i reach the limits of MobiFlight. Thanks in advance.

[Vincent Twisker]

On 5/11/2020 at 5:50 PM, Anastasios Kalimeris said:

Seems that with SpadNext it is possible to programme “if” events. So you use them with your saitek panels. I have my led 's connected to Mega and works fine. The only thing is, that i can't configure something like that with MobiFlight.

and how do you get Led Output and responses from Fslabs into your panels? Does SpadNext continuously checking the status in sim?

 

sorry for all my questions, but i have no experiences with spadNext. It seems, that i reach the limits of MobiFlight. Thanks in advance.

SpadNext controls much more than only Saitek/Logitech panels. All my LEDs follow instantaneous their state in FSLabs. The Packled64 controls the LEDs without the need for resistors.

[Phil Lutz]

10 hours ago, Vincent Twisker said:

SpadNext controls much more than only Saitek/Logitech panels. All my LEDs follow instantaneous their state in FSLabs. The Packled64 controls the LEDs without the need for resistors.

how are you reading FSlabs state of say e.g. FCU AP1 LED or FCU LOC Led switch?

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

6 hours ago, pvjen1 said:

how are you reading FSlabs state of say e.g. FCU AP1 LED or FCU LOC Led switch?

That's what i want to know necessarily.

[Vincent Twisker]

It has been 3 years since I've interfaced my LEDs, but I remember the following tutorial showed me in the right direction how to make the appropriate settings in SpadNext. Even though it is not the Packled64 in the video, the principle is the same. Without the Packled64 I would not be able to have my homecockpit LEDs follow exactly what they are showing in the VC.

The Packled64 card was not cheap, but in my opinion well worth the investment and it does give you control over 64 LEDs

[Phil Lutz]

17 hours ago, Vincent Twisker said:

It has been 3 years since I've interfaced my LEDs, but I remember the following tutorial showed me in the right direction how to make the appropriate settings in SpadNext. Even though it is not the Packled64 in the video, the principle is the same. Without the Packled64 I would not be able to have my homecockpit LEDs follow exactly what they are showing in the VC.

The Packled64 card was not cheap, but in my opinion well worth the investment and it does give you control over 64 LEDs

sorry to bother you. I am still confused how you read the state of the LEDs from FSLabs as no one knows there EventID and there is no SDK. What are you linking the LED states too?

 

[Vincent Twisker]

21 hours ago, pvjen1 said:

sorry to bother you. I am still confused how you read the state of the LEDs from FSLabs as no one knows there EventID and there is no SDK. What are you linking the LED states too?

 

No problem. Using SpadNext I can add or edit every LED control with the following steps:

1. Add condition

2. Select data

3. Select the relevant LVAR from the list

Once again, this does require SpadNext and the Packled64 card.

[Phil Lutz]

7 hours ago, Vincent Twisker said:

 

No problem. Using SpadNext I can add or edit every LED control with the following steps:

1. Add condition

2. Select data

3. Select the relevant LVAR from the list

Once again, this does require SpadNext and the Packled64 card.

 

Thanks vincent for taking the time to do that. Am I right in saying that the LEDs are tied to the state of your physical buttons and switches? e.g. you would not be able to display the red warning LED for MASTER WARN when the aircraft overspeeds? 

 

[Vincent Twisker]

2 hours ago, Phil Lutz said:

 

Thanks vincent for taking the time to do that. Am I right in saying that the LEDs are tied to the state of your physical buttons and switches? e.g. you would not be able to display the red warning LED for MASTER WARN when the aircraft overspeeds? 

 

You're welcome. No the LEDs are NOT tied to the physical buttons...what would be the fun of that? They follow the state of the Virtual Cockpit state. Eg when the annunciator test switch is on in the VC, all my LEDs come on. And when AP1 is on, the AP1 LED will go out when I push AP2 or both will light during APPR mode when applicable.

So also the Master Warning will light, whenever it does it in the VC.

[Phil Lutz]

37 minutes ago, Vincent Twisker said:

You're welcome. No the LEDs are NOT tied to the physical buttons...what would be the fun of that? They follow the state of the Virtual Cockpit state. Eg when the annunciator test switch is on in the VC, all my LEDs come on. And when AP1 is on, the AP1 LED will go out when I push AP2 or both will light during APPR mode when applicable.

So also the Master Warning will light, whenever it does it in the VC.

this is what we don;t understand, how you got the event ids as it should be impossible unless you have the SDK or you know the them. No one i know has had any success, can you share your files or show them working? 

 

how did you find the LVAR?

cheers

[Vincent Twisker]

1 hour ago, Phil Lutz said:

this is what we don;t understand, how you got the event ids as it should be impossible unless you have the SDK or you know the them. No one i know has had any success, can you share your files or show them working? 

 

how did you find the LVAR?

cheers

Here you can find a list with the available LVARs. Unfortunately this topic had to been un-pinned and in my opinion it should be in the Homecockpit section of this forum. 

You might also want to check out the Linda module for FSLabs. A lot of work has been done by other very clever people who deserve all the credits.

For me, SpadNext and the Packled64  made it very easy to use those resources...I have never written any script and have only experimented briefly with Linda myself.  I have set things up 3 years ago and so far they keep functioning after every FSLabs update. I am however on P3Dv4 pre-HF3.

[Phil Lutz]

20 hours ago, Vincent Twisker said:

Here you can find a list with the available LVARs. Unfortunately this topic had to been un-pinned and in my opinion it should be in the Homecockpit section of this forum. 

You might also want to check out the Linda module for FSLabs. A lot of work has been done by other very clever people who deserve all the credits.

For me, SpadNext and the Packled64  made it very easy to use those resources...I have never written any script and have only experimented briefly with Linda myself.  I have set things up 3 years ago and so far they keep functioning after every FSLabs update. I am however on P3Dv4 pre-HF3.

so you are using the link above solely or a combo of both that and Linda? Key binding and macro from what I understand does not read a switch state so lets say the aircraft loads and the engine switches are off but in your Sim the switches are on. Then FSUIPC will not correct the Sim as its a macro binding simulation. Whereas with Linda I understand it does. But Linda does not have a list of LVARs for LED states. 

Can you provide an example for say AP1 LED state? I did you setup, where did you find the ID. That would be super helpful 

[Vincent Twisker]

8 hours ago, Phil Lutz said:

so you are using the link above solely or a combo of both that and Linda? Key binding and macro from what I understand does not read a switch state so lets say the aircraft loads and the engine switches are off but in your Sim the switches are on. Then FSUIPC will not correct the Sim as its a macro binding simulation. Whereas with Linda I understand it does. But Linda does not have a list of LVARs for LED states. 

Can you provide an example for say AP1 LED state? I did you setup, where did you find the ID. That would be super helpful 

The 3 screenshots above are from SpadNext. As you can see, it has LVAR support. All the LED magic is supplied by SpadNext in combination with the Packled64 card. I don't use Linda at the moment, but I briefly experimented with it a few years ago. I do have FSUIPC installed. The LVARs are selected in a dropdown menu in SpadNext...I don't have to individually insert the LVARs. If my memory serves me right, SpadNext takes care of the "LVAR bridge" by giving the option to install it. That is the beauty, no need for any complicated scripts etc.

[Phil Lutz]

1 hour ago, Vincent Twisker said:

The 3 screenshots above are from SpadNext. As you can see, it has LVAR support. All the LED magic is supplied by SpadNext in combination with the Packled64 card. I don't use Linda at the moment, but I briefly experimented with it a few years ago. I do have FSUIPC installed. The LVARs are selected in a dropdown menu in SpadNext...I don't have to individually insert the LVARs. If my memory serves me right, SpadNext takes care of the "LVAR bridge" by giving the option to install it. That is the beauty, no need for any complicated scripts etc.

so if I understand it correctly SpadNext has the LVARs for FSLABs? So I can for example find the Altitude set on the FCU or if the state is the "dot" following the flight computer parameters?

[Vincent Twisker]

1 hour ago, Phil Lutz said:

so if I understand it correctly SpadNext has the LVARs for FSLABs? So I can for example find the Altitude set on the FCU or if the state is the "dot" following the flight computer parameters?

I wish that was true, only all the LEDs in the pushbuttons. Not the FCU values unfortunately. However if you search the post I quoted, someone else has found a way to retrieve even most of the FCU values.

[Vincent Twisker]

Update on the information above:

It is still good information regarding LED control for EFIS, FCU and ECP. However in SpadNext, I can't select LED LVARs for all the other korry switches. I am convinced, that three years ago when I was still using FSLabs on FSX they were available.

[Tim Vancauwenbergh]

Any news on this?

[Anastasios Kalimeris]

Hello guys, does somebody know how to find out the Rotorbrake codes for the Center Tank Buttons in the A321?

L+R XFR Buttons

The codes work fine with the A320, but not the A321. Maybe because of the different fuel system.

 

Thank you all in advance

Anastasios

[Tim Vancauwenbergh]

On 6/17/2020 at 10:36 AM, Vincent Twisker said:

Update on the information above:

It is still good information regarding LED control for EFIS, FCU and ECP. However in SpadNext, I can't select LED LVARs for all the other korry switches. I am convinced, that three years ago when I was still using FSLabs on FSX they were available.

I suppose the buttons you are referring to are part of the lvars: glareshield, ovhd comm3, pedestal, vc front.

[Vincent Twisker]

On 5/11/2021 at 5:43 PM, Tim Vancauwenbergh said:

I suppose the buttons you are referring to are part of the lvars: glareshield, ovhd comm3, pedestal, vc front.

That is correct.