Possible GTN650 integration?

[MarkS]

@Black-Square thus far I've only been able to get the GTN650 to replace the 430 in the N2000A plain livery, which is the panel folder without a tail number, and then only after configuring a hardware switch in AAO to turn on the avionics master (I don't think you're using this switch, but the GTN unit needs it). I've had a series of, shall we say, "adventures" with the other liveries, depending on which method I use. If I put everything in an external mod (like you're supposed to), the GNS430 continues to show up in the non-plain liveries. If I make the changes directly inside the aircraft folder (bad bad bad), the GTN650 appears but cycles on and off at short irregular intervals. I suspect this latter item might have something to do with the dual-GPS implementation. The GTN replacement method is one I've used on over 70 other aircraft in both 2020 and 2024, including other Black Square offerings, so I'm at something of a loss to understand why this plane is so different.

[Black Square]

Sorry to keep this short for now, but I can't think of any reason the other panel.cfg's would behave any differently, unless your mod is not being loaded into the virtual file system at all. I don't know if you're familiar with the VFS inspector in Developer Mode, but that's where I would be looking. Once you located the panel.cfg in the right Starship sub-folder, hover-over to see where it's being pulled from. If it doesn't have the name of your mod in the file string, then it's not being ingested.

[MarkS]

Success! Thanks for the VFS tip @Black-Square, it helped set me on the right track. I now have the GTN650 working in all liveries in both 2020 and 2024. The GTN also appears to be able to control the autopilot without any significant issues.

Two minor issues:

1. The GTN powers on with the main battery instead of the copilot avionics switch; this is because the GTN needs the 'standard' avionics switch for power, which the stock Starship does not appear to use, so the switch is forced on in the apron.flt and hangar.flt files.
2. Any custom settings you make to the GTN (display fields, etc) will need to be made twice, because there are two GPS units defined depending on whether the GPS is enabled for autopilot control.

I'm going to let this simmer for a day or so and get a few more testers' eyes on it before putting it up on fsto.

[Dingle]

Wow, nice. I would be happy to test it aswell.

[patchadams502003]

Oh nice! I’m willing to upgrade my starship to the GTN650

[Black Square]

You can fix the electrical problem by adding the following lines of code to Starship_Interior.XML, after 0 (>L:var_ManualExtensionHandleFailure, bool)

@GpsCircuit(>L:TDSGTNXI650U1_ElectricalCircuit, number)
@GpsCircuit(>L:TDSGTNXI650U2_ElectricalCircuit, number)

HOWEVER: I still suspect the unit will not know when to turn on and off, or when to control the autopilot without some more code changes. You're welcome to have fun for the time being, but please be aware that you are changing things that were never meant to be changed in Starship if you have crazy autopilot problems.

[MarkS]

@Black-Square the lvars you provided look to be for the TDS GTN unit, I'm using the PMS50 GTN. Since the PMS requires AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH for power, it seems reasonable to have that switch track the value of var_AvionicsCoPilotSwitch so that it powers with the copilot avionics like the GNS does, something like this (RPN is not my strongest language) in the interior xml:

(L:var_AvionicsCoPilotSwitch, bool) (A:AVIONICS MASTER SWITCH, bool) != if{ 
   (L:var_AvionicsCoPilotSwitch, bool) (>K:AVIONICS_MASTER_SET)
}

I've done several flights to test the interaction with the autopilot. No issues so far with power or switching between FMS and GNS. Is there a particular scenario where you think things could go sideways?

[Black Square]

Ah. You should be able to solve that too by adding these sections to all the panel.XML's. I might not have that 100% correct, but give it a try.

	<Instrument>
		<Name>GTN650_INT</Name>
		<ComIndex>1</ComIndex>
		<NavIndex>1</NavIndex>
		<Electric>
			<Simvar name="CIRCUIT ON:135" unit="Boolean"/>
		</Electric>
	</Instrument>

	<Instrument>
		<Name>GTN650_INT</Name>
		<ComIndex>2</ComIndex>
		<NavIndex>2</NavIndex>
		<Electric>
			<Simvar name="CIRCUIT ON:135" unit="Boolean"/>
		</Electric>
	</Instrument>

I will also try to fix the "avionics switch" problem. I've fixed that in other aircraft, but I guess it never made it to Starship. Often, hardware will still fight with those events.

[MarkS]

I added those sections to the panel.xmls but then something was preventing livery selection (weird), so I took them out. On the plus side, the code snippet to have the avionics master track the copilot avionics switch works, so the GTN power behaves the same as the GNS.

[Black Square]

I'll have the avionics switch fixed for you in the next update too. Did you rebuild the Layout.json after making those changes, if you're testing in MSFS 2024? That might have caused the livery problem.

[Dingle]

Did you observe a loss of the flight plan when the Power goes off and on aswell as in the GNS430?

[MarkS]

@Black-Square I did rebuild the layout file. I'll hold off on publishing this until after your update, so we don't inadvertently step on each other's work.

@Dingle no loss of flight plan in the GTN on power cycle or switching between FMS/GNS.

[steveonatorer]

@Dingle
@Black-Square

I have the same issue with the standard GNS. I wanted to try to utilize a hybrid system, switching to the GNS for RNAVS, but whenever I change the fd source to GNS it restarts and deletes all the inputs. Please let me know if you found a solution to this! Otherwise phenomenal aircraft!

[Dingle]

@steveonatorer I don't have a solution, nor an idea if it can be fixed. But it would be very cool of it kept the input.

[MarkS]

The GTN650 mod is working well in Starship version 1.1 in both 2020 and 2024. Barring any issues, it will be released on flightsim.to following FSExpo on Monday 30 June.

I don't have image posting privileges but here's a link to a preview pic: https://i.postimg.cc/xTgfRpJq/Starship-GTN650.png

You will also need to have the following folders installed in your Community folder:

• PMS50 GTN750: "pms50-instrument-gtn750" from https://pms50.com/msfs/
• JayDee's GTN750 mod: "ZZZ JD 00 GTN750 MAIN MOD 2.3 - PMS FIX" from  https://flightsim.to/file/13415/jds-gtn750-on-gns530-mod

[Jan Nek]

Cool, thank you.

[SebAvi]

Hello, next will be perfect with TDS650 integration if it is possible please

[MarkS]

@SebAvi sorry, I don't own the TDS unit, someone else will have to take that on.

[Rhinozherous]

@MarkS You are my Hero! I was already at the point of despair because it seems I just hate the WT GNS430 (it is the first time I really had to deal with it). Cant wait for the release! Do you need a tester?

[SebAvi]

@MarkS thanks for info, for me defauld 430 is so bugged that alternatives will be great to have