Instructor Station

[ab-tools]

Hello Luis,

I'm currently searching for a good instructor station which I can use from my Android tablet.

On SimMarket I read
"Control every aspect of the Instructor Station comfortably from your Tablet PC, iPad or Android device."
but on your website I just saw this:
"Instructor Station Remote for iPad / iPhone, coming soon!"

I'm really confused now:
do you provide also an Android app for connecting to your instructor station or is that at least in development?

Just found also a feature comparison table with your competitors on your website:
https://sites.google.com/site/luisgordo2/COMPARISON%20OF%20INSTRUCTOR%20STATION%20SOFTWARE_Rev2.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
That's really a good idea, but maybe you could update it a bit and include also FSiPanel and FS-FlightControl which I really find very promising, too. The only reason why I didn't buy that yet is that they don't provide mobile device support (and I didn't want to buy a new Windows tablet for that yet ). That's why I found your product interesting as on SimMarket something about Android support is written...

Anyway, I want to add which almost completely prevented me from considering your product at all was your extremely unprofessional website. Sorry to say that, but it's really a long time I saw something like that again: beside the very old layout even hosting on Google Site without own domain and files hosted on DropBox is extremely unprofessional for a commercial site and without knowing your product yet (as completely new potential customers) that gave me a really bad first impression.

Although I agree investing more time into the product itself than the website is a good idea, your website definitely needs a rework if your product wants to be recognized as kind of serious or professional. By the way your "Try the DEMO !" link down on the main page directs to "file not found"...

Best regards
Andreas

P. S.: sorry for my honesty, but I couldn't deny myself to write that – I'm German, sorry.

[bernard S]

His software "works" its "cheap" and is "fully supported" and "continually updated" I have ever seen one word in print  saying its "crap"   You want Professional stuff go to Boeing or CAe; etc  They have professional website, professional pricing.. then see how attractive his software is !   Being German does not cut you any slack in my view there is being blunt and there is being  rude  there is a difference between the two..  you could have made your comments to him via PM or an email it's the right way to do things IMHO :-)   

[luisgordo]

Hallo Andreas,

Let me address the several points you raise, as best I can:

1. Currently, the iStation is a PC program.  Since it is design for touchscreen control, it can be run natively on a Windows tablet, but also on any Apple or Android device, by extending the PC desktop to the tablet.  The native Apple app has been finished and is waiting for Apple to approve (taking longer than ususal).  There will be no native Android app (at least not envisioned right now).

2. Thanks for your recommendation to include the other software on the comparison list.  We will definitely take a stab at it.  The reason they are not included is because these programs are fairly recent and were not even around when the list was originally compiled.  Also, you will find they do not come anywhere close in terms of number of features, etc. as the ones listed on the comparison list.

3. I also appreciate your recommendations on the domain/website.  We already have a specific domain that should be up and running shortly.  The Instructor Station program was developed originally in 2008 as a result of this fabulous hobby, and has been growing ever since.  Today our customer base spans from government/military air force and professional pilot training schools, to recreational simulators and flight sim enthusiasts.  As you say, we pay a lot more attention to the product itself than to the website, etc.

Alle Meinungen sind wilkommen!

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

[ab-tools]

Hello Luis,

first thanks a lot for your quick reply!

Regarding 1.:
I see. It's a pity that you don't plan a native Android app at the moment, but there also does not seem to be a competitor doing that right now. However, probably I'll end up with a Windows tablet at the end. ;-)

Regarding 2.:
"FSiPanel" indeed is very limited in its functionality, but still a look worth: they only focus on the approach training (e. g. no fuel, pushback management), but they do that really well including e. g. STAR approch way points updatable via "Navigraph" or "NavData Pro". But "FS Instructor" really is also a very comprehensive package with a lot functionality in a very clean user interface (but also costs about double as much than your product).

Regarding 3.:
Thanks that you did not get my words too wrong!
I really only wanted to honestly emphasize that with your current website you're losing potential customers, but obviously you also understood that already if the new site is on its way. :-)

I would like to give your product a try - is there a test version I can use a bit longer than 3 minutes at once?
By the way, while downloading a version for testing I found two files in your DropBox:
"iStation_setup_v3.23.exe" and "iStation_setup_v3.23nv.exe" - what's the difference here?

Beste Grüße und vielen Dank
Andreas

[luisgordo]

Hi Andreas,

Please note that the navigation database in the Instructor Station is also updatable with Navigraph.

I suggest you install the "nv" version (greater compatibility with most systems). I can certainly get you a longer evaluation time than 3 minutes. Please send me an email with the CODE you see on the license manager window, and I will get it taken care of for you.

Best regards,
Luis

[ab-tools]

Thanks, Luis!

I'll send you an e-mail on Thursday when I'm back from a business trip and have access to the "right" computer where the product should on (and therefore also the code needs to be generated on).

Best regards and thanks again for your quick replies
Andreas

[gunsaldy]

Hi Luis,

Right now, I have FSX version installed on my PC.
I Want to use the Instructor Station to modify the setting for aircraft on an approach to a runway of choice under any weather conditions, start-up and shutdown network computers (fully customizable), program or set aircraft system failures at any moment, calculate the amount of fuel required for a flight and load it to the aircraft, record flight performance (approaches, manoeuvres, landings, take-offs, etc.)

I already download the trial version, since I want to know how's the program looks like and run.
But I have several problem when running it (of course after I modify the bat file)

Before I moving forward and decide to buy the IS, I have several question for you as follow:
1. Is IS should be running on the same PC? or I can use it on separate PC? Since during I modify the setting for the aircraft I don't want to interrupt the player.
2. I running the IS on the same machine, modify the bat file but always comes with the error can't find the path for FS file. Can you please advice what regarding this?

Thanks in advance and look forward to hearing from you soon.

[luisgordo]

Hi,

I believe I already replied to you via email a while back... sorry for the delay in seeing this message.  If you still have any issues, please let me know.

Cheers!