Sometimes I hate my simulator

[Maurice]

For several weeks now, things had been working fairly well and I could fly now & then while building my overhead. Today, I decided I wanted to just have fun and fly all day. And that's when everything went nuts.

Since the beginning, I have had occasional FSX crashes which I learned to live with as these would usually happen on my first flight and after restarting, FSX would work for hours with no problem. So I learned to ignore the FSX crashes.

But today, FSX did not crash but my MCP (I think it's the MCP) went berserk and the A/P would either disconnect on its own or worse still, the A/P would turn on by itself when flying manually and lock the yoke inputs until I realized the A/P was turned on. It kept doing that over & over (turning on or turning off) and I even got the A/P disconnect sound when FSX was not even loaded.

Of course, I tried re-booting everything and the problem persisted. To make matters worse, after my last re-boot, one of the projector lamps burned out even though it only has about 400 hours compared to its expected life of ~ 3000 hours. So now, I'm faced with an expense of $200.00+ per bulb and since I have no idea if the other lamps will soon die as well, I will need to order 3 lamps.

So, cockpit building is definitely a love-hate relationship for me. Right now, I'm in the hate phase. I just hope that by some miracle, the lamp was creating some electrical noise which was triggering the A/P control on the MCP. But I know that's only a pipe dream 

Maurice

[727737Nut]

I feel your pain!! Yesterday I had a color wheel explode in one of my projectors. At least it's only 70.00 to replace.  I have had some minor strange software issues as well.  All part of it and we just have to step away, take a deep breath. Watch a flying video and jump back in!  Hang in there knowing you are NOT alone my friend.

Rob

[Maurice]

What is really annoying Rob is when you know you haven't changed anything and you get different results. Trev was here a few days ago and everything was functioning as it should. But today, gremlins everywhere and it's the first time I flew since Trev left so I know it was not due to me trying to 'fix' something and messing up something else.

Oh well, there will be better days I'm sure. Been there, seen that, cursed a lot, almost gave up, came back, been there, seen that, cursed a lot, etc..etc...etc ... 

Maurice

[Garys]

Have a look and see if the key on your keyboard for autopilot isn't slightly sticky. Also check for a loose wiring connection on the mcp. As thats the only command being affected its probably something real simple and sending your avionics suite a false keystroke. 

Gary

[727737Nut]

I had 2 seperate pc's both wireless keyboards went inop on me.  Had to reboot.  Then FSX crashed/locked up twice.  All today!  Must be the solar flares causing us all issues!

[jackpilot]

Mau
Got my lamps in the US
Very very attractive price
Check
www.topbulb.com

[ETomlin]

Hey Mau

Been there, done that. What REALLY sucks is when it's working perfect until a brand new visitor comes by, and then the blasted thing goes crazy. At least you had the chance the show off to Trev before it started going belly-up ;-)

[Maurice]

Have a look and see if the key on your keyboard for autopilot isn't slightly sticky. Also check for a loose wiring connection on the mcp. As thats the only command being affected its probably something real simple and sending your avionics suite a false keystroke. 

Gary

Not as simple as that unfortunately. The only PC with a keyboard is the Sim-A server and nothing else runs on that PC. Also, it's apparently not the only command messing up. I tried again and I did get the A/P to shut-off by itself again but I also saw strange behaviour on the MFD as well. Without touching anything on the EFIS, I would see all the waypoints or all the stations all of a sudden just like if I had hit a switch on the EFIS. I could get rid of them by hitting the appropriate key on the MCP but they would come back again later.

Looks like something very flaky in the MCP and/or the associated USB port. I think I will move the MCP connection to the main FSX computer and see if that helps.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway,

Maurice

[Maurice]

Mau
Got my lamps in the US
Very very attractive price
Check
www.topbulb.com

No luck there. They don't seem to carry any lamps/bulbs for an MP782 ST projector, at least not in their web page. So far, the best price I have seen is $180.00. That sucks when the lamp only had about 400 hours max 

Thanks,
Maurice

[Maurice]

Hey Mau

Been there, done that. What REALLY sucks is when it's working perfect until a brand new visitor comes by, and then the blasted thing goes crazy. At least you had the chance the show off to Trev before it started going belly-up ;-)

I'm definitely blaming Trev and his crazy flying for this. Must have been the stress that he put on all the CPUs with his wild manoeuvres 

Maurice

[Maurice]

Mau
Got my lamps in the US
Very very attractive price
Check
www.topbulb.com

No luck there. They don't seem to carry any lamps/bulbs for an MP782 ST projector, at least not in their web page. So far, the best price I have seen is $180.00. That sucks when the lamp only had about 400 hours max 

Thanks,
Maurice

Actually, they do carry it for $179.00. .  So it looks like this will be the best price I will find but I'm waiting for a quote from someone else.

Maurice

[Maurice]

Things are looking up. It wasn't the bulb after all. Somehow, the projector was stuck in a funny state and it was only after I unplugged the power cord and plugged it back in that the lamp could turn on. Maybe it was a solar flare after all 

So now, I only have to deal with the MCP issue. Hopefully, that won't be too hard to identify since I can switch the USB connection to another PC and try that.

Maurice

[Joe Lavery]

Trev looks like the likely culprit to me:  you didn't leave him alone in the cockpit did you?

Jealousy is a terrible thing..

[NeoMorph]

This might be teaching granma to suck eggs but... do you guys use surge protectors on all your mains?

The quality of the electric supply where I live totally sucks so I use a UPS to clean it up a bit. Surges and brownouts are common and computers and various electronics kit hate them. I thought I had blown my plasma screen the one time when it refused to turn on. Luckily I was in the same condition as Maurice and his projector. Unplugged from the mains and plugged back in and all working fine.

Intermittent Gremlins... hate them with a vengeance.

[Maurice]

This might be teaching granma to suck eggs but... do you guys use surge protectors on all your mains?

I paid extra for a whole house surge protector when we built the house so hopefully that gizmo does something.

But there is a lesson here anyway...if something does not work, unplug it from the mains & plug it back in even if that does not make any sense to you.

I don't know why I didn't think of that before because it has happened to us several times here. One satellite receiver and also one PVR that records TV programs looked like they were foobar several times until they were  unplugged & plugged back in. 

Maurice

[dharrison]

Maurice,

I know it seems strange but most modern electronics although off sit in some sort of stand by mode. There is always a light or something on so it is drawing power. Seems the only way to really reset the item is to unplug it!

Don

[Maurice]

Maurice,

I know it seems strange but most modern electronics although off sit in some sort of stand by mode. There is always a light or something on so it is drawing power. Seems the only way to really reset the item is to unplug it!

Don

Fully agree here. The projectors also have a standby light when turned off. Good lesson if I can only remember it before panicking next time something weird happens   

Maurice

[fdspcos]

Mau,
Who else is in the house with you? Anyone that might be jealous of this apparatus you have downstairs? Just wondering
Peter
Flightdeck Solutions

[Maurice]

Mau,
Who else is in the house with you? Anyone that might be jealous of this apparatus you have downstairs? Just wondering
Peter
Flightdeck Solutions

Nope. On the contrary, she is quite happy to have me out of her hair most of the time since she also has her own much less pricey hobbies. It's a difficult balancing act, but I make sure the 'homey' projects and/or chores get done quickly enough so that she does not get aggravated by my total lack of interest about these homey projects   

I learned to fake it quite well 

Maurice

[jackpilot]

Just to be on the safe side:
I would by one of these lamps each year for the next three years
Sort of insurance policy against aggravation (lamp quiting and/or model discontinued!)

At one point I used the Aerosoft MCP. Never had an issue until the day it behaved erratically for no reason.
Reloading the software in in it did the trick.
JP

[NeoMorph]

I did something similar Jack... There was a shortage of the bits for this soldering iron station I bought so when they came back in I bought extra spares for it and then bought more every few months to make sure I wouldn't have a shortage... only to have the main unit blow up on me and they didn't make that model any more... and there was me left with a bunch of spares that wouldn't fit anything else.

The moral here is "If Murphy's Law is going to strike, no matter what precautions you take, you will still end up crashing and burning." 

[Speedbird17]

Hi Maurice

Had an issue with my MCP for a very long time. Finally tracked it down to a dodgy USB cable. Apparently not all USB cables are equal :-)

Replaced it with a branded cable and all is OK

Ralph

[Maurice]

Hi Maurice

Had an issue with my MCP for a very long time. Finally tracked it down to a dodgy USB cable. Apparently not all USB cables are equal :-)

Replaced it with a branded cable and all is OK

Ralph

Hi Ralph,

I don't know if it's the cable but last night I tried a flight for the first time since   I had those problems. But since I have many other USB connections to that same PC,  I installed a powered USB hub and attached some of the other USB cables to it.

The flaky A/P issue did not show up again so that may have been the problem. I do have another issue with the vertical speed selection which jumps all over the place when I turn the knob and I can no longer use it, which is a real pain.

So I am going to look at the whole USB mess again and maybe move the MCP to another PC altogether with a different cable as well and hopefully that will take care of this problem as well.

Thanks,

Maurice