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A few observations/quirks ..

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If you are reporting an issue with PF3 please remember to Zip and attach the Debug_Monitor.log file from your PF3\Logs folder. Thank you.

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vololiberista
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 8:29 am
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I set my conflict monitor to 5kts or less. AI pilots will do strange things unfortunately but as Dan says thatàs not PF3.

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Dave March
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 10:02 am
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Hi Martin,

#1 and #2 I've never seen happen and it has absolutely nothing to do with PF3 (I wonder if it's anything simple like your FS settings re: crash detection - just thinking aloud)

#3 Dan and the manual cover that one... you just need to configure things to suit the way you taxi

#4 Again, absolutely nothing to do with PF3. All we do is basically 'report' on what AI are doing. The ONLY time we freeze ground AI traffic is (a) just prior to you being cleared for takeoff and (b) during your final approach, both of which to prevent runway incursions.

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Dave March

Email: dmarch@oncourse-software.co.uk

I don't know if my memory is getting worse as I get older...
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martinlest
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:06 pm
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Hi. Thank you for the replies...

#1 & #2:
I have always used the 'recommended' combination/settings of AISeparation and AISmooth. Perhaps those programmes are doing more harm than good? I'll try flying without them loaded for a while and see if there's any change. I have crash detection turned off in FS9. As I said, I also have AI traffic set to taxi a little faster than the default, 25 knots instead of 17. Could that confuse PF3 in some way?

#3:
Yes, I am sure the Conflict Monitor is at the root of this. I have re-read the relevant section of the pdf manual. My first thoughts are to wonder why the CM utility has been programmed to stop AI traffic which is in front of the user aircraft at all. If the AI traffic is moving in the same direction as the user a/c, then it stopping when you get within 400 meters of it doesn't seem to serve much purpose or be particularly realistic. Like Aerosoft's AES 'Follow Me' car, it would seem better to have the AI a/c speed up, rather than stop (though I am not suggesting that should actually happen in PF3!). If it is coming towards you, stopping it doesn't resolve anything either, it would just mean you crash into it a little bit later than you otherwise would have done. (Yes, I too use the FSUIPC 'zap' facility in that case). Perhaps I have missed the point though? Stopping a/c that are approaching from the sides is a really excellent feature, but why when they are in front? I would disable that part of the CM programme, if it were possible to do so in setup.

Meanwhile I am not quite sure what to set my 'Pause CM below...' value to. The manual ("Another point to make...", p80), says that if you keep your taxi speed to below 10 knots CM won't stop a/c you are following, but if you taxi too fast (i.e. above 10 knots) it will stop them once more. So I can't see why you recommend setting the value even lower, to <5: the manual seems to say that if I do that and then go faster than 5 knots, CM will pause AI traffic in range. I want the opposite of that, I want to be able to taxi at the usual c.20 knots, not crawl along at 5 or 10, without any AI traffic pausing in front of me. So shouldn't I therefore set the value to 20 knots or more, as CM is only active above the figure set in the CM options, as the pdf states. Of course the downside there is that traffic coming from the sides won't be paused either. I so wish the two were configurable separately.

The manual also says (p.80) "... you may find an aircraft actually on your taxiway that has been stopped (this may have occurred at the maximum distance in front of you...)". What is this 'maximum distance in front of you" that is refers to? Is it something usefully configurable?

I get the feeling I am being very dense here, so my apologies in advance if that is so - I am not getting any younger and what’s confusing me seems clear to everyone else. For me, being able to turn off the CM 'forward' feature whilst retaining the benefit of it pausing a/c coming from the side, would be ideal, in so far I have understood what CM does and how it works.

#4:
OK, understood. It only applies to the user a/c, not AI traffic.

Thanks as ever for replies, past and future!! I really appreciate the input.

Martin


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martinlest
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Mon Mar 14, 2016 1:38 pm
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Quote:
Do #1 and #2 only happen at add-on airports, or do they happen at default airports as well? Also, do they happen if you do some taxiing and departures with AI but without PF3 running at all?
Oh, forgot to add (as if the post wasn't already long enough) - difficult to say as it only happens from time to time. I could try without PF3 running and and default airports, but it might take quite some time testing (hours?) before there'd be any conclusive answer, Dan.


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martinlest
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 5:51 pm
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Just flew in to LOWW and, as has happened at one or two other airports, although everything seems to be running normally - ATC talking to me all the way to the taxiway, AI traffic is (I can see, with a sinking feelihng, as I approach) still being allowed onto the runway for take-off when I am only 15 seconds or so from touchdown. And after touchdown, other AI a/c are being allowed onto the runway and to take off before I am anywhere near getting off and onto a taxiway. Is this an FS9 thing, or could it be avoided somehow with the relevant PF3 setting?

AND.... I have gone back to checking the box 'Gate Parking Only', otherwise my 747, or whatever, is more often than not sent to some remote GA parking spot.. What would be really cool/neat/great is if somehow PF3 could provide a list of gates vacant of AI traffic at the time you leave the runway and contact ground, so that you can choose before you get there (especially useful for AES airports). I suppose FS9 must have that information, as the default FS9 ATC rarely gave instructions, AFAIR (so long since I used it!), to taxi to a gate/parking spot that was already occupied. Is that possible, ye gurus at PF3? That would be an exciting feature to have.

Martin


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Dan77
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 6:24 pm
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martinlest wrote:
Just flew in to LOWW and, as has happened at one or two other airports, although everything seems to be running normally - ATC talking to me all the way to the taxiway, AI traffic is (I can see, with a sinking feelihng, as I approach) still being allowed onto the runway for take-off when I am only 15 seconds or so from touchdown. And after touchdown, other AI a/c are being allowed onto the runway and to take off before I am anywhere near getting off and onto a taxiway.
Odd, as I believe AI aircraft are ordinarily frozen in this situation. Logs would be helpful, if you still have them. If not, post them when/if it happens again.

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martinlest
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:43 pm
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Is the data in the logs only kept until.. well, when? When you exit FS9, or exit PF3. Or until you run a different flight? I have flown other flights since that one, but next time I'll save the log (which one is it? The debug_monitor.log?). Or will the data still be in the old_debug_monitor.log? As we can't read them any more, impossible to tell...

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vololiberista
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 9:50 pm
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martinlest wrote:
Is the data in the logs only kept until.. well, when? When you exit FS9, or exit PF3. Or until you run a different flight? I have flown other flights since that one, but next time I'll save the log (which one is it? The debug_monitor.log?). Or will the data still be in the old_debug_monitor.log? As we can't read them any more, impossible to tell...

Thanks
You can get a good idea by looking at the date and time the log files were created!

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martinlest
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2016 10:23 pm
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Quote:
You can get a good idea by looking at the date and time the log files were created!
Not really. In Windows, assuming that a file is kept and modified, rather than deleted and a brand new one created every time, the file creation date won't help. Try this: create a new text file and save it somewhere. Modify it - add text and save it again. Look at file properties. The modified date will be later than the creation date of course. Now open it and delete the text and save it again. The creation date is the same of course, but the file is empty. So the creation date gives no clue as to what the contents are or when they were created/deleted. The modified date just shows the last time the file was changed, so that's no help either.

I assume that the log file in PF3 is never deleted - the creation date is the date I installed PF3.


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Dan77
Post subject: Re: A few observations/quirks ..
Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2016 12:48 am
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Martin, if you have a bad flight, zip and name the debug_monitor.log file after you exit PF3. You may or may not need it for troubleshooting purposes, but it's a good idea.

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