OnCourse Software

You may be interested in this Dave ... Since the TGS gauge more or less gave up the ghost in all my aircraft long ago (I installed it in at least 20) I just ignored it - very, very occasionally it flickered into life, but mostly it seemed dead and I mostly forgot it was there.

I finally decided to uninstall the gauge from my aircraft (I have it in windowed mode, with its own window in the panel.cfg file), then thought, rather than uninstall it, I would instead make a clickspot for all my a/c, just behind the gauge (but a bit larger) and set the gauge as visible=0 in the cfg file. That way the TGS gauge is invisible, but when I click the clickspot, it becomes visible. Click again, and it's gone...

And Lo and Behold, a miracle! On every single flight since then (I did this about 2 weeks ago) and in every single aircraft to which I added the clickspot, when I open the gauge, it now always comes to life and works just fine. So much the better!

I don't know why making the gauge invisible/visible in this way has made it work so reliably (I tend to bring up the gauge after I get taxi instructions, but it seems to work if I turn it on before then, too: it works on landing as well), but I thought I'd post the 'news' in case it's of any help in getting this (rather neat!) little gauge to work without needing to create clickspots...

Martin

That's really interesting and hopefully very useful to others, I'll make it a sticky when I get to my desk.
Thanks for sharing

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Yes, sounds interesting.

Dave, instead of making it a sticky, please add it to the USEFUL LINKS post or thread.

ThomasAH wrote:

Yes, sounds interesting.

Dave, instead of making it a sticky, please add it to the USEFUL LINKS post or thread.

Done

For anyone who would like to have the in-cockpit gauge working but is not sure how to make a clickspot, I thought I'd upload mine. I am happy to report that my TGS gauge still works 100% of the time (though I've probably jinxed it now by saying so!). I can't of course make any guarantees for your setup....

Installation:

You must have the TGS gauge installed in its own window in the panel.cfg file - full instructions in the PF3 user pdf manual. If you have it installed as a fixed gauge in the cockpit window (not recommended by Dave), this won't work.

As an example, my gauge is installed like this in the FS2004 PMDG B737-700NG:

Code: Select all //---------------------------------------------------- [Window Titles] Window00=Dummy Main View Window01=Main Panel ...... Window22=TGS //----------------------------------------------------

Code: Select all //---------------------------------------------------- [Window22] size_mm=150,130 background_color=0,0,0 ident=5000 visible=0 Window_Size_Ratio=1.000 window_pos=0.000,0.520 Window_Size=0.116,0.128 gauge00=TGS!TaxiGuidanceSystem, 0,0,88,78,Autohide OFF //----------------------------------------------------

Note that you must have the ident set to 5000 or the little xml file I wrote won't find the gauge. (It should be 5000 by default).

Reset

Code: Select all visible=1

to

Code: Select all visible=0

Now you need to add the following line to the main cockpit panel window, that is usually [Window00], but in the PMDG 737 it is [Window01]. Use the next free consecutive gauge number; mine is 34...

Code: Select all gauge34=XMLGauges!TGS_1, 0,480,90,115

Next, copy and paste the folder from the download zip called XMLGauges, containing two bmp and two xml files, into your main FS9/Gauges folder (whether this works in FSX, I am not sure, I haven't yet tested it).

And now load up your aircraft. If the icon/clickspot is in the wrong place/is the wrong size - as it will be for most aircraft (for now it is visible so you can place it more easily) you need to alter the parameters 0,480,90,115 in

Code: Select all gauge34=XMLGauges!TGS_1, 0,480,90,115

until it is in the right position: the same technique as you used to place the TGS gauge in the first place (see the pdf file for more information). I suggest the clickspot should be a little bigger than the TGS gauge and a little offset, so that when the gauge is visible the clickspot is not totally hidden behind it!

Finally change:

Code: Select all gauge34=XMLGauges!TGS_1, 0,480,90,115

to

Code: Select all gauge34=XMLGauges!TGS_2, 0,480,90,115

and the clickspot should now be invisible when you reload the aircraft, rather than a big, ugly icon!

That should do it. I hope this is useful and works for you as it does for me. It sometimes happens that an invisible clickspot doesn't show up in a cockpit when the visible one does - the PMDG 747 has some issues with that, but I leave you to experiment.

Martin

Thanks a lot Martin.