source: doc/manual/en/index.html@ 250:544713327634

version_0.4
Last change on this file since 250:544713327634 was 244:afe588c772a0, checked in by István Váradi <ivaradi@…>, 12 years ago

Updated with info about entering speeds in km/h
File size: 38.4 KB
Line 
1<html>
2<head>
3 <title>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</title>
4 <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
5</head>
6<body>
7 <div align="center"><h1>MAVA Logger X User's Manual</h1></div>
8
9 <h2><a name="overview">Overview</a></h2>
10
11 <p>
12 MAVA Logger X is an application that monitors the execution of a
13 Malév Virtual flight, and collects data that can be sent to the MAVA
14 website for further evaluation. This manual describes how to use
15 this program. To be able to use all features of the program, you
16 need to have a working Internet connection, even if you don't fly
17 on-line on VATSIM or IVAO. However, it is possible to perform a
18 flight completely offline as well.
19 </p>
20
21 <p>
22 While monitoring your flight, the program continuously checks if your
23 airplane's configuration is always within the parameters prescribed
24 by the airline's operating procedures. For example, you have to turn
25 on or off the various lights of your aircraft according to rules,
26 you cannot exceed certain weight or speed limits, and so on. Any
27 deviation from the expected parameters, also known as a fault, can
28 result in points subtracted from the initial 100 points (or
29 percentage). The result is your <i>flight rating</i>. Some
30 deviations are so serious, that they are deemed <i>NO GO</i> faults
31 and result in the rejection of your flight.
32 </p>
33
34 <p>
35 Besides the faults the program also monitors many other parameters,
36 which are recorded in a textual <i>log</i>. This log is sent as a
37 part of your PIREP (<b>PI</b>lot's <b>REP</b>ort), and will be
38 analyzed, and possibly commented on by more experienced pilots of
39 Malév Virtual. This way you can perfect the way you execute your
40 flights.
41 </p>
42
43 <p>
44 The application breaks up your flight into
45 several <i>stage</i>s. The advancement from one stage to another is
46 detected automatically. These stages and the conditions under which
47 they are entered are as follows:
48 <ol>
49 <li><b>boarding</b>: This is the initial stage when you start the
50 flight.</li>
51 <li><b>push-back and taxi</b>: If you release the parking brakes
52 or your ground speed becomes 5 knots or greater during the
53 boarding stage, your flight enters this stage.</li>
54 <li><b>takeoff</b>: If you turn on the landing and/or the strobe
55 lights or your ground speed exceeds 80 knots during taxi or after
56 a rejected takeoff (RTO).</li>
57 <li><b>climb</b>: When you retract the gears or you reach 3000
58 feet altitude AGL with a positive climb rate after takeoff.</li>
59 <li><b>RTO</b>: If you switch off both the landing and the
60 strobe lights, and your speed is reduced below 50 knots while on
61 the ground during takeoff.</li>
62 <li><b>cruise</b>: When the aircraft's altitude is within 2000
63 feet of the cruise altitude and you are climbing.</li>
64 <li><b>descent</b>: If the altitude decreases to more than 2000
65 feet below the cruise altitude during cruise.</li>
66 <li><b>landing</b>: If the gears are lowered and the altitude is
67 less than 2000 feet AGL during descent or go-around.</li>
68 <li><b>go-around</b>: If you retract the gears during landing.</li>
69 <li><b>taxi after landing</b>: When the aircraft is in the
70 ground and its ground speed is below 50 knots after landing.</li>
71 <li><b>parking</b>: If the parking brake is activated after taxi.</li>
72 <li><b>end</b>: If the N<sub>1</sub> of the turbines becomes
73 less than 0.5, or the RPM of the piston engines becomes 0 during
74 parking. This is the final stage.</li>
75 </ol>
76
77 <p>
78 To enhance the simulation, the program can play various sound files
79 during the various stages of your flight, such as the announcements
80 made by the flight attendants. These files are supplied with the
81 application, and they can be played automatically, or when you press
82 a certain hotkey in the flight simulator. You can also organize
83 pre-recorded sound files into checklists for the each aircraft
84 type, and these files can also be played back one-by-one when you
85 repeatedly press a key combination in the simulator. See below for
86 more information on this.
87 </p>
88
89 <p>
90 Malév Virtual have implemented an <i>Online ACARS System</i>, which
91 displays the status of the flights in progress. The data appears on
92 the front page of the MAVA website and also on a map.
93 </p>
94
95 <p>
96 Malév Virtual have also implemented an <i>Online Gate System</i>
97 which maintains a database of the aircraft in the airline's fleet
98 and their location. An aircraft may be parked at the Budapest
99 Ferihegy Airport, in which case the number of the gate or stand it
100 is located at is recorded in the database. If so, this number is
101 displayed to you when starting your flight from Ferihegy, and you
102 are recommended to place your aircraft at the indicated gate or
103 stand in the simulator. If your flight begins at Ferihegy and the
104 aircraft is away (usually due to someone else's flight), you can
105 select from which gate or stand you start your flight. The database
106 of the Online Gate System can also be displayed by using the
107 application.
108 </p>
109
110 <p>
111 These online systems can only be used when flying online.
112 </p>
113
114 <p>
115 The program can automatically update itself. When it starts up, it
116 checks if there is a newer version available. If so, it downloads
117 its files and replaces the program's current files with the new
118 ones. Then the program is restarted so that you can use the new
119 version. Besides acquiring bug fixes, updating is also important,
120 because the program can be extended with new checks or more refined
121 checks, and if you are using too old a version, the PIREP reviewers
122 may refuse your flight.
123 </p>
124
125 <h3><a name="gui">Graphical User Interface</a></h3>
126
127 <p>
128 The GUI of the application is made up of traditional building blocks
129 (buttons, checkboxes, lists, text entry boxes, etc.) found in other
130 applications as well. Many such controls have informative tooltips
131 that supplement the contents of this User's Guide in helping you
132 using the application. Many controls are also accessible by pressing
133 the <b>Alt</b> plus the underlined letter in the control's label.
134 </p>
135
136 <p>
137 The most often used part of the program is the main window, to be
138 described in detail below. When you minimize or close the window, it
139 disappears by default, but the program continues to run. You can
140 redisplay the window by clicking on the tray icon of the program,
141 which looks like the one on the picture below.
142 </p>
143
144 <div align="center">
145 <table>
146 <tr>
147 <td>
148 <img src="statusIcon1.png" alt="The status icon" hspace="20"/>
149 </td>
150 <td>
151 <img src="statusIcon2.png" alt="The status icon menu" hspace="20"/>
152 </td>
153 </table>
154 </div>
155
156 <p>
157 If you click on the tray icon when the program's window is hidden,
158 the window will be displayed. If you hover the mouse pointer over
159 the icon, the flight stage and the current rating will be
160 displayed. The tray icon has a right-button menu as well with the
161 following items:
162 <ul>
163 <li><b>Show main window</b>: displays or hides the main window.</li>
164 <li><b>Show monitor window</b>: displays or hides the monitor
165 window (see below).</li>
166 <li><b>Quit</b>: quit the application. A confirmation window will
167 be displayed.</li>
168 </ul>
169 </p>
170
171 <p>
172 You can also quit the application by selecting the <b>File/Quit</b>
173 menu item, or by pressing <b>Ctrl+Q</b>.
174 </p>
175
176 <p>
177 If you start the application, when it is already running, the main
178 window of the already running instance will be displayed instead of
179 starting a new instance of the program.
180 </p>
181
182 <h2><a name="mainWindow">The Main Window</a></h2>
183
184 <p>
185 The figure below depicts the main window of the application. The top
186 of it contains the usual menu bar, which will be described in more
187 detail later. The content area consists of several tabs the use of
188 which is described below.
189 </p>
190
191 <div align="center"><img src="mainWindow.png" alt="The main window"/></div>
192
193 <p>
194 The bottom of the window is a status bar. Its left side contains the
195 icon indicating the status of the connection to the simulator. Since
196 the application continuously monitors the parameters of your
197 aircraft, it needs to communicate with the simulator. The icon's
198 colour indicates the health of this communication channel.
199 </p>
200
201 <p>
202 If it is grey, the program is not connected. This is normal before
203 and after the flight. If it is green, the connection is alive and
204 working properly. If it is red, the connection is broken. In this
205 case a dialog window is displayed. The most likely cause for such a
206 disruption is the crash of the simulator. If this is the case,
207 restart the simulator and try to restore the flight to a state as
208 close to the one before the crash as possible. Then click
209 the <b>Reconnect</b> button, and the program will try to
210 re-establish the connection to the simulator. It preserves all data
211 of your flight, so you can continue where you left off easily.
212 </p>
213
214 <p>
215 If the reason for the failure of the connection is something else,
216 do whatever is needed to be done to restore it. Of course, it is
217 possible that the logger application itself fails, in which case
218 you, unfortunately, have to restart the flight. Do not forget to
219 notify the author if this happens. In this case, try to copy and
220 save the debug log and send it with your bug report.
221 </p>
222
223 <p>
224 If you click the <b>Cancel</b> button in the reconnection dialog,
225 the logger will be reset as if it were stopped and restarted.
226 </p>
227
228 <p>
229 To the right of the connection status icon, you can see the current
230 stage of the flight, if the monitoring has begun. Otherwise it is a
231 single dash. It is followed by the simulator time, if the program is
232 already connected to the simulator. Then comes the current flight
233 rating.
234 </p>
235
236 <p>
237 The right of the status bar is normally empty, but if there is some
238 potentially long operation going on (typically communicating with
239 the MAVA servers), information about the operation is displayed
240 here. This is accompanied by the cursor becoming that of signaling
241 a busy state and most parts of the main window becoming
242 unresponsive.
243 </p>
244
245 <h3><a name="tabFlight">The Flight Tab</a></h3>
246
247 <p>
248 The flight tab is the most important tab. It consists of a sequence of
249 pages similar to wizards found in many programs. The first several of
250 these pages guide you through the various steps of the preparations
251 for your flight, while the last pages allow you to enter some
252 information about your flight necessary for its evaluation and to
253 send the PIREP (Pilot's Report) assembled by the program to the MAVA
254 website.
255 </p>
256
257 <p>
258 Each page has a title at the top indicating the purpose of the
259 page. There is a short text below this, which describes what the
260 page contains and/or what is expected from you to do with the page.
261 Below the text you can find the main information and possibly data
262 entry areas for the page. Finally, you can find the button row at
263 the bottom.
264 </p>
265
266 <p>
267 Most of the pages contain two buttons: <b>Next</b> and
268 <b>Previous</b>. These help in navigating between the pages. In most
269 cases you can go back to previously visited pages by using
270 the <b>Previous</b> button, although you cannot edit the contents of
271 those pages once finalized by moving to the next page using
272 the <b>Next</b> button. There are a few exceptions though, as
273 detailed below.
274 </p>
275
276 <p>
277 Many of the pages also contain a <b>Cancel flight</b>
278 button. Clicking this button will allow you to cancel the flight and
279 go back to the flight selection if you have logged in to the MAVA
280 website, or the login page, after a confirmation of your intent.
281 </p>
282
283 <h4><a name="loginPage">The <i>Login</i> Page</a></h4>
284
285 <p>
286 Each flight starts with the Login page where you can enter the your
287 pilot's ID and password for the MAVA website. Both data are given
288 to you when joining Malév Virtual. The pilot's ID usually starts
289 with the letter <q>P</q> followed by three digits.
290 </p>
291
292 <p>
293 If you check <b>Remember password</b>, the password will be saved by
294 the program, so you don't have to enter it all the time. Note,
295 however, that the password is saved plainly into a configuration
296 file, so you this possibility only if your home directory can be
297 accessed only by people you trust. The pilot's ID is saved anyway.
298 </p>
299
300 <p>
301 If you are about to perform the entrance flight, check
302 <b>Entrance exam</b>. In this case you don't have to (and cannot)
303 enter the password, as that is not needed for the entrance exam.
304 </p>
305
306 <p>
307 The login to the MAVA server, and proceed to the next page, press
308 the <b>Login</b> button.
309 </p>
310
311 <p>
312 If you would like to fly without an Internet connection, use
313 the <b>Fly offline</b> button. This immediately takes you to the
314 next page, without trying to log in to the MAVA website.
315 </p>
316
317 <h4><a name="flightSelectionPage">The <i>Flight selection</i> Page</a></h4>
318
319 <img src="flightSelection.png" alt="The Flight selection page"/>
320
321 <p>
322 This page displays the list of the flight you have booked previously
323 on the MAVA website, if you have logged in properly. If you chose to
324 fly offline, the list is empty.
325 </p>
326
327 <p>
328 If you have selected a flight, you can also save it by using
329 the <b>Save flight</b> button. This is useful when planning to fly
330 offline at some later time. When preparing for that flight, you can
331 properly log in to the MAVA website, and acquire the list of your
332 booked flights. Then you can save the flight you wish to perform
333 later offline, on which occasion, you can load the saved flight.
334 </p>
335
336 <p>
337 You may need to refresh the list of flights. For example, you notice
338 that you have forgotten to book the flight you want to perform. Then
339 you can book the flight on the MAVA website, and press
340 the <b>Refresh flights</b> button to update the list.
341 </p>
342
343 <p>
344 You can also load a flight from a file by pressing the <b>Load
345 flight from file</b> button. This displays a file selection dialog
346 where you select the flight file (usually with a suffix
347 of <code>.vaflight</code>). This is mostly useful when flying
348 offline, or during the entrance exam.
349 </p>
350
351 <p>
352 Select a flight from the list, and press <b>Next</b> button to
353 proceed with that flight.
354 </p>
355
356 <h4><a name="gataSelectionPage">The <i>LHBP gate selection</i> Page</a></h4>
357
358 <img src="gateSelection.png" alt="The LHBP gate selection page"/>
359
360 <p>
361 This page is displayed after the flight selection page only if your
362 flight starts at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport and the number of the
363 gate or stand at which your aircraft is located cannot be
364 determined.
365 </p>
366
367 <p>
368 Select a number from the list presented, and press <b>Next</b>.
369 </p>
370
371 <h4><a name="connectPage">The <i>Connect to the simulator</i> Page</a></h4>
372
373 <img src="connect.png" alt="The Connect to the simulator page"/>
374
375 <p>
376 This page displays some important information about your flight,
377 such as the type and tail number of the aircraft to use, the
378 departure airport and possibly the gate.
379 </p>
380
381 <p>
382 Select the aircraft indicated and park it at the departure airport,
383 then press <b>Connect</b> to establish the connection with the
384 simulator. If the connection cannot be established, a dialog will be
385 displayed about it, and you can <b>Try again</b> the connection
386 or <b>Cancel</b> to go back to the login page.
387 </p>
388
389 <p>
390 Note, that after a successful connection, the monitoring of your
391 flight does not begin immediately, but some data can be queried by
392 the logger at this stage.
393 </p>
394
395 <h4><a name="payloadPage">The <i>Payload</i> Page</a></h4>
396
397 <img src="payload.png" alt="The Payload page"/>
398
399 <p>
400 This page displays the components of the flight's payload and the
401 calculated Zero-Fuel Weight (ZFW). You can enter here the cargo
402 weight you determined for your flight. You can also press the <b>ZFW
403 from FS</b> button, which queries the ZFW from the simulator and
404 displays the retrieved value. If the ZFW calculated from the payload
405 data differs too much from the queried one, the calculated value is
406 displayed in red. This the right time to set up the payload in the
407 simulator. If you forget about it, it will be a NO GO fault.
408 </p>
409
410 <p>
411 If you have finished with this page, press the <b>Next</b>
412 button. At this point, the <i>Help</i> tab becomes available, which
413 you can use if you have failed to set up the correct payload in the
414 simulator. See a more detailed description of it below.
415 </p>
416
417 <h4><a name="timePage">The <i>Time</i> Page</a></h4>
418
419 <img src="time.png" alt="The Time page"/>
420
421 <p>
422 This page displays the departure and arrival times of your
423 flight in UTC. Press the <b>Time from FS</b> button to query the
424 current UTC time of the simulator. To be able to simulate the real
425 lighting circumstances of the flight, the simulator's time should match
426 the time of the flight according to the schedule. Therefore you are
427 expected to set the simulator's time properly. It is recommended to
428 set it to about 15 minutes before the departure at this stage so
429 that you have enough time to set up your flight.
430 </p>
431
432 <p>
433 When you have set the time of the simulator properly, press
434 the <b>Next</b> button.
435 </p>
436
437 <h4><a name="fuelPage">The <i>Fuel</i> Page</a></h4>
438
439 <img src="fuel.png" alt="The Fuel page"/>
440
441 <p>
442 This page contains a graphical representation of the fuel tanks of
443 your aircraft. The yellowish colour represents the current level of
444 the fuel in the tank, and turquoise slider is the expected level,
445 which is also displayed numerically (in kilograms) below each graph.
446 </p>
447
448 <p>
449 You can enter the requested amount of fuel numerically, or you can
450 set it by the turquoise sliders, though this method less accurate. The
451 lever can be moved by clicking in the fuel tank's representation,
452 and you can drag it if you keep the button pressed. If your mouse
453 has a wheel, that can also be used to modify the expected level. To
454 use the wheel, keep the mouse pointer within the fuel tank's
455 graphic. Each click of the wheel increment or decrements the amount
456 by 10 kilograms. If you hold down the <b>Shift</b> key, the
457 increment will be 100, if you hold down the <b>Ctrl</b> key, the
458 increment will be 1.
459 </p>
460
461 <p>
462 When all tanks have the correct amount of fuel set, press
463 the <b>Next</b> button. This causes the pumping of the fuel to
464 start. The progress is represented by the yellowish fuel bars
465 growing or shrinking (fuel may be pumped out of a tank as
466 well). This is a relatively quick process and should finish within a
467 few seconds.
468 </p>
469
470 <h4><a name="routePage">The <i>Route</i> Page</a></h4>
471
472 <img src="route.png" alt="The Route page"/>
473
474 <p>
475 This page displays the cruise level and the flight plan route. The
476 cruise level starts out at FL240, but the route comes from the
477 booked flight. Set the cruise level to the one you have calculated
478 with, and modify the flight plan if needed. For example, if you will
479 enter some airspace that will require you to change the flight
480 level, you should add that here.
481 </p>
482
483 <p>
484 When satisfied with the information on the page, press
485 the <b>Next</b> button to advance. Note, that these data can be
486 edited later as well if you come back to this page.
487 </p>
488
489 <h4><a name="briefingPage">The <i>Briefing</i> Pages</a></h4>
490
491 <img src="briefing.png" alt="The Briefing page"/>
492
493 <p>
494 These pages display the NOTAMs and the METAR for the departure and
495 the arrival airports. You can edit the METAR if your network
496 provides a different weather, or you do not fly with real
497 weather. The METAR of the arrival airport will be updated when
498 entering the landing stage, unless you have edited it before. The
499 METARs can be edited during the whole duration of the flight. If you
500 do so, please, comment it in the <i>Comments</i> sections of
501 the <i>Flight info</i> tab.
502 </p>
503
504 <p>
505 On the second briefing page (that of the arrival airport), confirm
506 that you have read the briefing and are ready to start the flight by
507 clicking the button. This begins the monitoring of your flight with
508 the boarding stage.
509 </p>
510
511 <h4><a name="takeoffPage">The <i>Takeoff</i> Page</a></h4>
512
513 <img src="takeoff.png" alt="The Takeoff page"/>
514
515 <p>
516 On this page you have to enter the name of the departure runway, the
517 name of the Standard Instrument Departure procedure you follow after
518 takeoff and the takeoff V-speeds. While you can edit these data
519 anytime, it is recommended to do so before takeoff.
520 <p>
521
522 <p>
523 Note that if you are flying one of the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the
524 page will look different, as speeds will have to be entered in
525 kilometres per hour.
526 </p>
527
528 <p>
529 You can proceed to the next page after takeoff, and if all data has
530 been entered, by pressing the <b>Next</b> button.
531 </p>
532
533 <h4><a name="landingPage">The <i>Landing</i> Page</a></h4>
534
535 <img src="landing.png" alt="The Landing page"/>
536
537 <p>
538 On this page you have to enter the name of the STAR and/or transition followed
539 (if you get vectors from ATC, enter <q>VECTORS</q> here), the
540 approach type (e.g. <q>ILS</q>, <q>VOR</q>, <q>VISUAL</q>, etc.),
541 the name of the landing runway, and the landing reference speed,
542 V<sub>ref</sub>. You can enter this data during the flight, or after
543 you have landed, at your discretion. Note, that if you fly one of
544 the Tupolev or Yak aircraft, the speed will have to be entered in
545 km/h.
546 </p>
547
548 <p>
549 When you have entered all data, press the <b>Next</b> button. It is
550 active only, if the flight has ended.
551 </p>
552
553 <h4><a name="finishPage">The <i>Finish</i> Page</a></h4>
554
555 <img src="finish.png" alt="The Finish page"/>
556
557 <p>
558 This is the final page of the flight wizard. It contains a summary
559 of your flight: the rating, the flight and block times, the distance
560 flown and the amount of fuel burnt.
561 </p>
562
563 <p>
564 You also have to provide a few pieces of information. You have to
565 select the type of the flight from the list provided (scheduled,
566 old-timer, VIP, charter) and whether it was an online flight or
567 not. If you arrive at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, and are using
568 the Online Gate System, you also need to specify the number of the
569 gate or stand you have parked you aircraft at.
570 </p>
571
572 <p>
573 With all data entered, you may want it review your flight, then save
574 or send the PIREP created from it. These can be accomplished by
575 pressing one of the buttons at the bottom. A saved PIREP can be
576 loaded later and sent, if the sending fails for some reason. When a
577 PIREP is sent, it becomes available for review by the designated
578 PIREP reviewers of Malév Virtual.
579 </p>
580
581 <p>
582 You can also start a new flight using the <b>New flight</b>
583 button. If you have not saved or sent the PIREP, you will be asked
584 to confirm your intention. When starting a new flight you are taken
585 to the flight selection page, if you have logged in to the MAVA
586 website, or to the login page, if your flight has been an offline
587 flight.
588 </p>
589
590 <h3><a name="flightInfoTab">The Flight info Tab</a></h3>
591
592 <img src="flightInfoTab.png" alt="The Flight info tab"/>
593
594 <p>
595 This tab allows one to enter some additional information about the
596 flight, if necessary.
597 </p>
598
599 <p>
600 The <i>Comments</i> text area should contain any general information
601 that you would like the PIREP reviewer to know about. For example,
602 why you changed the METAR, why you lowered the gears accidentally
603 (i.e. pressed the wrong key on the keyboard), etc.
604 </p>
605
606 <p>
607 The <i>Flight defects</i> text area should contain information about
608 any problems you encountered with the plane during the flight. For
609 example an engine stopped and why (if known), that flaps could not
610 be extended or retracted, etc.
611 </p>
612
613 <p>
614 In the <i>Delay codes</i> area you can mark one or more reasons why
615 the flight was delayed, if it was. The options are self-explanatory.
616 </p>
617
618 <h3><a name="helpTab">The Help Tab</a></h3>
619
620 <img src="helpTab.png" alt="The Help tab"/>
621
622 <p>
623 This tab provides some help for calculating and setting the payload
624 weight of the aircraft. It can be used once the <i>Payload</i>
625 (i.e. the cargo weight) is finalized. To use this tab, check
626 the <b>Using help</b> checkbox. It causes the page to become
627 sensitive and filled with data. Note, that the fact of using the
628 help is logged, so the PIREP reviewers will know about it.
629 </p>
630
631 <p>
632 The most important information is after the <i>Payload:</i> label,
633 which is the payload weight of the aircraft. This value should be
634 set in the simulator as the airplane's payload weight. By pressing
635 the <b>Simulator data</b> button, the data coming from the simulator
636 can be queried and displayed. If the data is out of the tolerances,
637 it is displayed in red, otherwise in green.
638 </p>
639
640 <p>
641 The gross weight is also displayed with some maximum weights of the
642 aircraft, so it can be checked or estimated if you will remain within
643 those maximums during the flight.
644 </p>
645
646 <h3><a name="logTab">The Log Tab</a></h3>
647
648 <img src="logTab.png" alt="The Log tab"/>
649
650 <p>
651 This is the main log of your flight that will be analyzed by the
652 PIREP reviewers. Its contents is generated automatically by the
653 program, and most lines are prefixed by the simulator times the
654 information in the given line belongs to.
655 </p>
656
657 <p>
658 While the log's contents is mainly useful for PIREP reviewers, it
659 can come handy when things start to happen very fast, and you have
660 no time check each fault message passing by (if you have enabled
661 such messages at all). Later, when things calm down, you can check
662 the log to see what happened exactly, so that you know why so many
663 fault points have been awarded. For example, you may even decide to
664 abort the flight, if you think some of the faults are to
665 embarrassing :) For quick identification, the lines containing the
666 fault messages are highlighted.
667 </p>
668
669 <h3><a name="gatesTab">The Gates Tab</a></h3>
670
671 <img src="gatesTab.png" alt="The Gates tab"/>
672
673 <p>
674 This tab displays information retrieved from the MAVA Online Gate
675 System. If the program needs to retrieve data, this tab's contents
676 are refreshed automatically, but you can refresh them manually
677 anytime using the <b>Refresh data</b> button.
678 </p>
679
680 <p>
681 The left side of the tab contains the fleet information. The tail
682 number of each aircraft is listed with the plane's status, as known
683 by the Online Gate System. The two major statuses are <i>LHBP-nn</i>
684 and <i>AWAY</i>. The former indicates that the aircraft is parked at
685 the Budapest Ferihegy Airport at gate or stand <i>nn</i>, while the
686 latter one denotes that the airplane is parked at another
687 airport. Another possible status is <i>PARKED</i>, which means that
688 the airplane is parked somewhere at the Ferihegy Airport, but we
689 (or at least the Gate System) don't know where. It may happen that
690 several aircraft are parked at the same gate or stand at
691 Ferihegy. In this case the tail numbers and the statuses of those
692 airplanes are displayed in red.
693 </p>
694
695 <p>
696 The right side contains the list of the numbers of the gates and
697 parking positions. A number is black if no aircraft is positioned at
698 the corresponding gate or stand, and it is orange, if the location
699 is occupied.
700 </p>
701
702 <h3><a name="debugLog">The Debug log</a></h3>
703
704 <img src="debugLogTab.png" alt="The Debug log tab"/>
705
706 <p>
707 This tab is not visible by default, but can be displayed by
708 selecting <b>View/Show debug log</b> or by
709 pressing <b>Ctrl+D</b>. It is another kind of log, which is mainly
710 useful for debugging. If you experience some problem with the
711 program, please, include the contents of this log with your bug
712 report. It can help a low with finding a solution to the problem.
713 </p>
714
715 <h2><a name="loadingPIREPs">Loading PIREPs</a></h2>
716
717 <p>
718 Saved PIREPs can be loaded and sent by the program. This can
719 become necessary, for example, if you cannot send a PIREP due to
720 some network problem right after your flight, or when you
721 deliberately performed a flight without connecting to the Internet.
722 </p>
723
724 <p>
725 To load a PIREP select the <b>File/Load PIREP...</b> menu option or
726 press the <b>Ctrl+L</b> key. A file selection dialog appears, from
727 which you can select the PIREP to load. If you select a valid PIREP
728 file, it will be loaded and a new window will be displayed with the
729 most important data of your flight. By clicking <b>Send
730 PIREP...</b>, the PIREP will be sent (or at least an attempt will be
731 made at sending it). A dialog window will be displayed about the
732 results of the attempt.
733 </p>
734
735 <div align="center">
736 <img src="pirepLoaded.png" alt="The loaded PIREP window"/>
737 </div>
738
739 <p>
740 You may also want to view a saved PIREP, for example, if it is a
741 PIREP about an entrance exam flight. To do so, click the <b>View
742 PIREP...</b> button. This displays the PIREP viewer window, which
743 groups the data into three tabs. The <i>Data</i> tab contains the
744 itemized data of the flight. The <i>Comments & defects</i> tab
745 displays the comments and or flight defects entered by the
746 user. The <i>Log</i> tab contains the flight log.
747
748 <div align="center">
749 <img src="pirepViewer.png" alt="The PIREP Viewer"/>
750 </div>
751
752 <h2><a name="checklistEditor">Editing checklists</a></h2>
753
754 <img src="checklistEditor.png" alt="The Checklist Editor"/>
755
756 <p>
757 The checklists are lists of audio files. When checklist playback is
758 enabled (see the description of the <i>Preferences</i> window below), and
759 there is a checklist for the type of the aircraft used for the
760 flight, the files constituting the checklist can be played
761 one-by-one by pressing the checklist hotkey repeatedly.
762 </p>
763
764 <p>
765 The checklist editor dialog box allows for editing the checklist. It
766 can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Checklist Editor...</b> or
767 pressing <b>Ctrl+C</b>. The top of the window contains an aircraft
768 type selector.
769 </p>
770
771 <p>
772 The files making up the checklist for the currently selected flight
773 are displayed on the right. You can move a file up or down by
774 dragging it with the mouse. You can also select one or more files
775 from the list. Then you can remove them with the <b>Remove</b>
776 button, or move them up or down by pressing <b>Move up</b>
777 and <b>Move down</b>.
778 </p>
779
780 <p>
781 To add new files to the checklist, select them in the file selector
782 on the left, and press <b>Add to checklist</b>. The file(s) will be
783 appended to the end of the checklist.
784 </p>
785
786 <p>
787 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
788 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
789 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
790 checklist have any effect during the flight (i.e. you will still use
791 the old checklist, or no checklist if there was none).
792 </p>
793
794 <h2><a name="prefs">The Preferences Window</a></h2>
795
796 </p>
797 The Preferences window can be displayed by
798 selecting <b>Tools/Preferences</b> or by
799 pressing <b>Ctrl+P</b>. Here you can set options that you usually
800 don't have to change for every flight. This window also consists of
801 tabs grouping the options logically.
802 </p>
803
804 <h3><a name="prefsGeneral">The <i>General</i> Tab<a></h3>
805
806 <img src="prefsGeneral.png" alt="The General Tab of Preferences"/>
807
808 <p>
809 These are some general settings for various parts of the
810 program. The <i>GUI</i> frame contains options regarding the
811 behaviour of the graphical user interface. The <i>Language</i> combo
812 box can be used to selected what language the program should
813 use. Currently English and Hungarian are supported. The value
814 of <i>system default</i> means that the operating system's default
815 language is used if it is one of the supported ones or English
816 otherwise. Note, that the program must be restarted for the change
817 to take effect if you modify this setting. If the <b>Hide main window
818 when minimized</b> checkbox is checked, and you minimize the window,
819 it will actually disappear completely (i.e. not appear among the
820 other minimized windows). You can make it appear by using the tray
821 icon.
822 </p>
823
824 <p>
825 The <i>MAVA Online Systems</i> frame contains settings related to
826 the online systems of MAVA, the gate and the ACARS systems mentioned
827 above. It is recommended to enabled these for normal operations.
828 </p>
829
830 <p>
831 The <i>Simulator</i> frame contains settings for how the program
832 interacts with the simulator. Most options are self-explanatory, but
833 the ones related to smoothing requires some discussion. Flight
834 Simulator is known to produce wind speed changes that are not
835 entirely realistic and can result in the simulated aircraft
836 experiencing some very high indicated airspeeds, which in turn can
837 also cause the autopilot to suddenly increase the climb rate to
838 counter the high speeds. Since this phenomenon is difficult to
839 protect oneself against without buying extra products, like FSUIPC,
840 the logger provides the possibility to average the IAS and/or the VS
841 over a few seconds so that spikes in these values are
842 smoothed. The <b>Enable the smoothing of IAS/VS over N sec.</b>
843 options allow controlling this feature. The number of seconds may
844 need experimenting with, but note that every change for which you
845 press the <b>OK</b> button is taken into account immediately.
846 </p>
847
848 <h3><a name="prefsMessages">The <i>Messages</i> Tab</a></h3>
849
850 <img src="prefsMessages.png" alt="The Messages Tab of Preferences"/>
851
852 <p>
853 The program can display messages about certain events in the
854 simulator and/or it can play a warning sound when those events
855 occur. The tab allows configuring this.
856 <p>
857
858 <p>
859 The categories of the message are listed on the left. These are the
860 following:
861 </p>
862
863 <ul>
864 <li><b>Logger Error Messages</b>: error messages about the
865 internal working of the logger.</li>
866 <li><b>Information Messages</b>: informational messages about,
867 e.g., the flight stage, the end of an audio checklist, etc.</li>
868 <li><b>Fault Messages</b>: messages about the non-NO GO faults the program detects.</li>
869 <li><b>NO GO Fault Messages</b>: messages about the NO GO faults the program detects</li>
870 <li><b>Gate System Messages</b>: messages related to the Online
871 Gate System. For example, when you have landed at Ferihegy, it can display
872 the list of the available gates so that you can choose where to
873 park, if there is no ATC available.</li>
874 <li><b>Environment Messages</b>: other messages, e.g. the welcome
875 message when the flight has ended.</li>
876 <li><b>Help Messages</b>: help messages, e.g. warning about
877 entering the V-speeds into the Takeoff page before takeoff.</li>
878 <li><b>Visibility Messages</b>: messages about the visibility
879 during descent and landing.</li>
880 </ul>
881
882 <p>
883 There are two checkboxes associated with each messages category. If the
884 left one (<i>Displayed in FS</i>) is checked, the messages of the
885 category will be displayed in the simulator. If the right one
886 (<i>Sound alert</i>) is checked, and a message of the given category
887 is about to be displayed, a warning sound will be played. It is
888 mainly intended to accompany the text messages, but the two options
889 can be controlled separately, so you can select the sound alert, but
890 not the displaying of the messages. This may be useful if you don't
891 want these messages to clutter up the windscreen of your aircraft,
892 but still get some notification that some problem occurred.
893 </p>
894
895 <h3><a name="prefsSounds">The <i>Sounds</i> Tab</a></h3>
896
897 <img src="prefsSounds.png" alt="The Sounds Tab of Preferences"/>
898
899 <p>
900 This tab controls how the sounds are played by the application.
901 </p>
902
903 <p>
904 The top part is for the background sounds. These are pre-recorded
905 sound files that are played when certain conditions hold during the
906 flight. Typical examples are the various announcements the flight
907 attendants make during the flight. The <b>Enable background
908 sounds</b> checkbox controls whether such sounds are enabled at
909 all. If the <b>Pilot controls sounds</b> checkbox is enabled, the
910 pilot should start the playback of these sound files by pressing a
911 hotkey in the simulator. Note, that you should still be in the right
912 flight stage (and sometimes fulfill other conditions) to be able to
913 play the sound files. Also, one file can be played only once. If you
914 enable this option, the hotkey to press in the simulator can be
915 selected below. You can choose one of the alphanumeric keys (0-9,
916 A-Z) optionally combined with one or both of the <i>Ctrl</i>
917 and <i>Shift</i> modifiers. If this checkbox is not checked, the
918 sound files will be played automatically.
919 </p>
920
921 <p>
922 If the <b>Enable speedbrake sound at touchdown</b> checkbox is
923 checked, you will hear a distinctive sound when the spoilers deploy
924 automatically after touchdown.
925 </p>
926
927 <p>
928 The lower part, named <i>Checklist</i> contains some settings
929 related to the audio checklists belonging to the aircraft. They are
930 available only if the <b>Enable aircraft-specific checklist></b>
931 checkbox is selected. In this case another hotkey should be
932 specified. If you press this hotkey, the next file from the
933 checklist will be played.
934 </p>
935
936 <h3><a name="prefsAdvanced">The <i>Advanced</i> Tab</a></h3>
937
938 <img src="prefsAdvanced.png" alt="The Advanced Tab of Preferences"/>
939
940 <p>
941 This tab contains some settings that you normally should not
942 change. Currently, these settings are related to the automatic
943 update. If the <b>Update the program automatically</b> checkbox is
944 not checked, the automatic update at program start-up will be
945 omitted. The <i>Update URL</i> text entry field contains the URL
946 from which to download the updates. Occasionally the developers of
947 the application may tell you to change this something else, e.g. to
948 test some development version. Or it may need to be changed due to
949 organizational reasons, such as moving to a new server, etc.
950 </p>
951
952 <h2><a name="monitorWindow">The Monitor Window</a></h2>
953
954 <img src="monitorWindow.png" alt="The Monitor Window"/>
955
956 <p>
957 The monitor window can be used when debugging the program. You can
958 display it by selecting <b>View/Show monitor window</b> or by
959 pressing <b>Ctrl+M</b>. It displays the various parameters from the
960 aircraft as read from the flight simulator. During flight, it is
961 updated once per second. If something is not detected properly by
962 the logger, this window can be used to determine if the problem is
963 in interpreting and translating the data read from the simulator, or
964 when the translated data is being evaluated by other parts of the
965 program.
966 </p>
967
968</html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.