source: doc/manual/en/index.html@ 221:2126271cea84

Last change on this file since 221:2126271cea84 was 219:c1d13fe9d52a, checked in by István Váradi <ivaradi@…>, 12 years ago

Updated the manual with the new developments
File size: 35.0 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>Overview</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>Graphical User Interface</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 <p>
145 If you click on the tray icon when the program's window is hidden,
146 the window will be displayed. If you hover the mouse pointer over
147 the icon, the flight stage and the current rating will be
148 displayed. The tray icon has a right-button menu as well with the
149 following items:
150 <ul>
151 <li><b>Show main window</b>: displays or hides the main window.</li>
152 <li><b>Show monitor window</b>: displays or hides the monitor
153 window (see below).</li>
154 <li><b>Quit</b>: quit the application. A confirmation window will
155 be displayed.</li>
156 </ul>
157 </p>
158
159 <p>
160 You can also quit the application by selecting the <b>File/Quit</b>
161 menu item, or by pressing <b>Ctrl+Q</b>.
162 </p>
163
164 <p>
165 If you start the application, when it is already running, the main
166 window of the already running instance will be displayed instead of
167 starting a new instance of the program.
168 </p>
169
170 <h2>The Main Window</h2>
171
172 <p>
173 The figure below depicts the main window of the application. The top
174 of it contains the usual menu bar, which will be described in more
175 detail later. The content area consists of several tabs the use of
176 which is described below.
177 </p>
178
179 <p>
180 The bottom of the window is a status bar. Its left side contains the
181 icon indicating the status of the connection to the simulator. Since
182 the application continuously monitors the parameters of your
183 aircraft, it needs to communicate with the simulator. The icon's
184 colour indicates the health of this communication channel.
185 </p>
186
187 <p>
188 If it is grey, the program is not connected. This is normal before
189 and after the flight. If it is green, the connection is alive and
190 working properly. If it is red, the connection is broken. In this
191 case a dialog window is displayed. The most likely cause for such a
192 disruption is the crash of the simulator. If this is the case,
193 restart the simulator and try to restore the flight to a state as
194 close to the one before the crash as possible. Then click
195 the <b>Reconnect</b> button, and the program will try to
196 re-establish the connection to the simulator. It preserves all data
197 of your flight, so you can continue where you left off easily.
198 </p>
199
200 <p>
201 If the reason for the failure of the connection is something else,
202 do whatever is needed to be done to restore it. Of course, it is
203 possible that the logger application itself fails, in which case
204 you, unfortunately, have to restart the flight. Do not forget to
205 notify the author if this happens.
206 </p>
207
208 <p>
209 If you click the <b>Cancel</b> button in the reconnection dialog,
210 the logger will be reset as if it were stopped and restarted.
211 </p>
212
213 <p>
214 To the right of the connection status icon, you can see the current
215 stage of the flight, if the monitoring has begun. Otherwise it is a
216 single dash. It is followed by the simulator time, if the program is
217 already connected to the simulator. Then comes the current flight
218 rating.
219 </p>
220
221 <p>
222 The right of the status bar is normally empty, but if there is some
223 potentially long operation going on (typically communicating with
224 the MAVA servers), information about the operation is displayed
225 here. This is accompanied by the cursor becoming that of signaling
226 a busy state and most parts of the main window becoming
227 unresponsive.
228 </p>
229
230 <h3>The Flight Tab</h3>
231
232 <p>
233 The flight tab is the most import tab. It consists of a sequence of
234 pages similar to wizards found in many programs. The first several of
235 these pages guide you through the various steps of the preparations
236 for your flight, while the last pages allow you to enter some
237 information about your flight necessary for its evaluation and to
238 send the PIREP (Pilot's Report) assembled by the program to the MAVA
239 website.
240 </p>
241
242 <p>
243 Each page has a title at the top indicating the purpose of the
244 page. There is a short text below this, which describes what the
245 page contains and/or what is expected from you to do with the page.
246 Below the text you can find the main information and possibly data
247 entry areas for the page. Finally, you can find the button row at
248 the bottom.
249 </p>
250
251 <p>
252 Most of the pages contain two buttons: <b>Next</b> and
253 <b>Previous</b>. These help in navigating between the pages. In most
254 cases you can go back to previously visited pages by using
255 the <b>Previous</b> button, although you cannot edit the contents of
256 those pages once finalized by moving to the next page using
257 the <b>Next</b> button. There are a few exceptions though, as
258 detailed below.
259 </p>
260
261 <p>
262 Many of the pages also contain a <b>Cancel flight</b>
263 button. Clicking this button will allow you to cancel the flight and
264 go back to the flight selection if you have logged in to the MAVA
265 website, or the login page, after a confirmation of your intent.
266 </p>
267
268 <h4>The <i>Login</i> Page</h4>
269
270 <p>
271 Each flight starts with the Login page where you can enter the your
272 pilot's ID and password for the MAVA website. Both data are given
273 to you when joining Malév Virtual. The pilot's ID usually starts
274 with the letter <q>P</q> followed by three digits.
275 </p>
276
277 <p>
278 If you check <b>Remember password</b>, the password will be saved by
279 the program, so you don't have to enter it all the time. Note,
280 however, that the password is saved plainly into a configuration
281 file, so you this possibility only if your home directory can be
282 accessed only by people you trust. The pilot's ID is saved anyway.
283 </p>
284
285 <p>
286 If you are about to perform the entrance flight, check
287 <b>Entrance exam</b>. In this case you don't have to (and cannot)
288 enter the password, as that is not needed for the entrance exam.
289 </p>
290
291 <p>
292 The login to the MAVA server, and proceed to the next page, press
293 the <b>Login</b> button.
294 </p>
295
296 <p>
297 If you would like to fly without an Internet connection, use
298 the <b>Fly offline</b> button. This immediately takes you to the
299 next page, without trying to log in to the MAVA website.
300 </p>
301
302 <h4>The <i>Flight selection</i> Page</h4>
303
304 <p>
305 This page displays the list of the flight you have booked previously
306 on the MAVA website, if you have logged in properly. If you chose to
307 fly offline, the list is empty.
308 </p>
309
310 <p>
311 If you have selected a flight, you can also save it by using
312 the <b>Save flight</b> button. This is useful when planning to fly
313 offline at some later time. When preparing for that flight, you can
314 properly log in to the MAVA website, and acquire the list of your
315 booked flights. Then you can save the flight you wish to perform
316 later offline, on which occasion, you can load the saved flight.
317 </p>
318
319 <p>
320 You may need to refresh the list of flights. For example, you notice
321 that you have forgotten to book the flight you want to perform. Then
322 you can book the flight on the MAVA website, and press
323 the <b>Refresh flights</b> button to update the list.
324 </p>
325
326 <p>
327 You can also load a flight from a file by pressing the <b>Load
328 flight from file</b> button. This displays a file selection dialog
329 where you select the flight file (usually with a suffix
330 of <code>.vaflight</code>). This is mostly useful when flying
331 offline, or during the entrance exam.
332 </p>
333
334 <p>
335 Select a flight from the list, and press <b>Next</b> button to
336 proceed with that flight.
337 </p>
338
339 <h4>The <i>LHBP gate selection</i> Page</h4>
340
341 <p>
342 This page is displayed after the flight selection page only if your
343 flight starts at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport and the number of the
344 gate or stand at which your aircraft is located cannot be
345 determined.
346 </p>
347
348 <p>
349 Select a number from the list presented, and press <b>Next</b>.
350 </p>
351
352 <h4>The <i>Connect to the simulator</i> Page</h4>
353
354 <p>
355 This page displays some important information about your flight,
356 such as the type and tail number of the aircraft to use, the
357 departure airport and possibly the gate.
358 </p>
359
360 <p>
361 Select the aircraft indicated and park it at the departure airport,
362 then press <b>Connect</b> to establish the connection with the
363 simulator. If the connection cannot be established, a dialog will be
364 displayed about it, and you can <b>Try again</b> the connection
365 or <b>Cancel</b> to go back to the login page.
366 </p>
367
368 <p>
369 Note, that after a successful connection, the monitoring of your
370 flight does not begin immediately, but some data can be queried by
371 the logger at this stage.
372 </p>
373
374 <h4>The <i>Payload</i> Page</h4>
375
376 <p>
377 This page displays the components of the flight's payload and the
378 calculated Zero-Fuel Weight (ZFW). You can enter here the cargo
379 weight you determined for your flight. You can also press the <b>ZFW
380 from FS</b> button, which queries the ZFW from the simulator and
381 displays the retrieved value. If the ZFW calculated from the payload
382 data differs too much from the queried one, the calculated value is
383 displayed in red. This the right time to set up the payload in the
384 simulator. If you forget about it, it will be a NO GO fault.
385 </p>
386
387 <p>
388 If you have finished with this page, press the <b>Next</b>
389 button. At this point, the <i>Help</i> tab becomes available, which
390 you can use if you have failed to set up the correct payload in the
391 simulator. See a more detailed description of it below.
392 </p>
393
394 <h4>The <i>Time</i> Page</h4>
395
396 <p>
397 This page displays the departure and arrival times of your
398 flight in UTC. Press the <b>Time from FS</b> button to query the
399 current UTC time of the simulator. To be able to simulate the real
400 lighting circumstances of the flight, the simulator's time should match
401 the time of the flight according to the schedule. Therefore you are
402 expected to set the simulator's time properly. It is recommended to
403 set it to about 15 minutes before the departure at this stage so
404 that you have enough time to set up your flight.
405 </p>
406
407 <p>
408 When you have set the time of the simulator properly, press
409 the <b>Next</b> button.
410 </p>
411
412 <h4>The <i>Fuel</i> Page</h4>
413
414 <p>
415 This page contains a graphical representation of the fuel tanks of
416 your aircraft. The yellowish colour represents the current level of
417 the fuel in the tank, and turquoise slider is the expected level,
418 which is also displayed numerically (in kilograms) below each graph.
419 </p>
420
421 <p>
422 You can enter the requested amount of fuel numerically, or you can
423 set it by the turquoise sliders, though this method less accurate. The
424 lever can be moved by clicking in the fuel tank's representation,
425 and you can drag it if you keep the button pressed. If your mouse
426 has a wheel, that can also be used to modify the expected level. To
427 use the wheel, keep the mouse pointer within the fuel tank's
428 graphic. Each click of the wheel increment or decrements the amount
429 by 10 kilograms. If you hold down the <b>Shift</b> key, the
430 increment will be 100, if you hold down the <b>Ctrl</b> key, the
431 increment will be 1.
432 </p>
433
434 <p>
435 When all tanks have the correct amount of fuel set, press
436 the <b>Next</b> button. This causes the pumping of the fuel to
437 start. The progress is represented by the yellowish fuel bars
438 growing or shrinking (fuel may be pumped out of a tank as
439 well). This is a relatively quick process and should finish within a
440 few seconds.
441 </p>
442
443 <h4>The <i>Route</i> Page</h4>
444
445 <p>
446 This page displays the cruise level and the flight plan route. The
447 cruise level starts out at FL240, but the route comes from the
448 booked flight. Set the cruise level to the one you have calculated
449 with, and modify the flight plan if needed. For example, if you will
450 enter some airspace that will require you to change the flight
451 level, you should add that here.
452 </p>
453
454 <p>
455 When satisfied with the information on the page, press
456 the <b>Next</b> button to advance. Note, that these data can be
457 edited later as well if you come back to this page.
458 </p>
459
460 <h4>The <i>Briefing</i> Pages</h4>
461
462 <p>
463 These pages display the NOTAMs and the METAR for the departure and
464 the arrival airports. You can edit the METAR if your network
465 provides a different weather, or you do not fly with real
466 weather. The METAR of the arrival airport will be updated when
467 entering the landing stage, unless you have edited it before. The
468 METARs can be edited during the whole duration of the flight. If you
469 do so, please, comment it in the <i>Comments</i> sections of
470 the <i>Flight info</i> tab.
471 </p>
472
473 <p>
474 On the second briefing page (that of the arrival airport), confirm
475 that you have read the briefing and are ready to start the flight by
476 clicking the button. This begins the monitoring of your flight with
477 the boarding stage.
478 </p>
479
480 <h4>The <i>Takeoff</i> Page</h4>
481
482 <p>
483 On this page you have to enter the name of the departure runway, the
484 name of the Standard Instrument Departure procedure you follow after
485 takeoff and the takeoff V-speeds. While you can edit these data
486 anytime, it is recommended to do so before takeoff.
487 <p>
488
489 <p>
490 You can proceed to the next page after takeoff, and if all data has
491 been entered, by pressing the <b>Next</b> button.
492 </p>
493
494 <h4>The <i>Landing</i> Page</h4>
495
496 <p>
497 On this page you have to enter the name of the STAR and/or transition followed
498 (if you get vectors from ATC, enter <q>VECTORS</q> here), the
499 approach type (e.g. <q>ILS</q>, <q>VOR</q>, <q>VISUAL</q>, etc.),
500 the name of the landing runway, and the landing reference speed,
501 V<sub>ref</sub>. You can enter this data during the flight, or after
502 you have landed, at your discretion.
503 </p>
504
505 <p>
506 When you have entered all data, press the <b>Next</b> button. It is
507 active only, if the flight has ended.
508 </p>
509
510 <h4>The <i>Finish</i> Page</h4>
511
512 <p>
513 This is the final page of the flight wizard. It contains a summary
514 of your flight: the rating, the flight and block times, the distance
515 flown and the amount of fuel burnt.
516 </p>
517
518 <p>
519 You also have to provide a few pieces of information. You have to
520 select the type of the flight from the list provided (scheduled,
521 old-timer, VIP, charter) and whether it was an online flight or
522 not. If you arrive at the Budapest Ferihegy Airport, and are using
523 the Online Gate System, you also need to specify the number of the
524 gate or stand you have parked you aircraft at.
525 </p>
526
527 <p>
528 With all data entered, you may want it review your flight, then save
529 or send the PIREP created from it. These can be accomplished by
530 pressing one of the buttons at the bottom. A saved PIREP can be
531 loaded later and sent, if the sending fails for some reason. When a
532 PIREP is sent, it becomes available for review by the designated
533 PIREP reviewers of Malév Virtual.
534 </p>
535
536 <p>
537 You can also start a new flight using the <b>New flight</b>
538 button. If you have not saved or sent the PIREP, you will be asked
539 to confirm your intention. When starting a new flight you are taken
540 to the flight selection page, if you have logged in to the MAVA
541 website, or to the login page, if your flight has been an offline
542 flight.
543 </p>
544
545 <h3>The Flight info Tab</h3>
546
547 <p>
548 This tab allows one to enter some additional information about the
549 flight, if necessary.
550 </p>
551
552 <p>
553 The <i>Comments</i> text area should contain any general information
554 that you would like the PIREP reviewer to know about. For example,
555 why you changed the METAR, why you lowered the gears accidentally
556 (i.e. pressed the wrong key on the keyboard), etc.
557 </p>
558
559 <p>
560 The <i>Flight defects</i> text area should contain information about
561 any problems you encountered with the plane during the flight. For
562 example an engine stopped and why (if known), that flaps could not
563 be extended or retracted, etc.
564 </p>
565
566 <p>
567 In the <i>Delay codes</i> area you can mark one or more reasons why
568 the flight was delayed, if it was. The options are self-explanatory.
569 </p>
570
571 <h3>The Help Tab</h3>
572
573 <p>
574 This tab provides some help for calculating and setting the payload
575 weight of the aircraft. It can be used once the <i>Payload</i>
576 (i.e. the cargo weight) is finalized. To use this tab, check
577 the <b>Using help</b> checkbox. It causes the page to become
578 sensitive and filled with data. Note, that the fact of using the
579 help is logged, so the PIREP reviewers will know about it.
580 </p>
581
582 <p>
583 The most important information is after the <i>Payload:</i> label,
584 which is the payload weight of the aircraft. This value should be
585 set in the simulator as the airplane's payload weight. By pressing
586 the <b>Simulator data</b> button, the data coming from the simulator
587 can be queried and displayed. If the data is out of the tolerances,
588 it is displayed in red, otherwise in green.
589 </p>
590
591 <p>
592 The gross weight is also displayed with some maximum weights of the
593 aircraft, so it can be checked or estimated if you will remain within
594 those maximums during the flight.
595 </p>
596
597 <h3>The Log Tab</h3>
598
599 <p>
600 This is the main log of your flight that will be analyzed by the
601 PIREP reviewers. Its contents is generated automatically by the
602 program, and most lines are prefixed by the simulator times the
603 information in the given line belongs to.
604 </p>
605
606 <p>
607 While the log's contents is mainly useful for PIREP reviewers, it
608 can come handy when things start to happen very fast, and you have
609 no time check each fault message passing by (if you have enabled
610 such messages at all). Later, when things calm down, you can check
611 the log to see what happened exactly, so that you know why so many
612 fault points have been awarded. For example, you may even decide to
613 abort the flight, if you think some of the faults are to
614 embarrassing :)
615 </p>
616
617 <h3>The Gates Tab</h3>
618
619 <p>
620 This tab displays information retrieved from the MAVA Online Gate
621 System. If the program needs to retrieve data, this tab's contents
622 are refreshed automatically, but you can refresh them manually
623 anytime using the <b>Refresh data</b> button.
624 </p>
625
626 <p>
627 The left side of the tab contains the fleet information. The tail
628 number of each aircraft is listed with the plane's status, as known
629 by the Online Gate System. The two major statuses are <i>LHBP-nn</i>
630 and <i>AWAY</i>. The former indicates that the aircraft is parked at
631 the Budapest Ferihegy Airport at gate or stand <i>nn</i>, while the
632 latter one denotes that the airplane is parked at another
633 airport. Another possible status is <i>PARKED</i>, which means that
634 the airplane is parked somewhere at the Ferihegy Airport, but we
635 (or at least the Gate System) don't know where. It may happen that
636 several aircraft are parked at the same gate or stand at
637 Ferihegy. In this case the tail numbers and the statuses of those
638 airplanes are displayed in red.
639 </p>
640
641 <p>
642 The right side contains the list of the numbers of the gates and
643 parking positions. A number is black if no aircraft is positioned at
644 the corresponding gate or stand, and it is orange, if the location
645 is occupied.
646 </p>
647
648 <h3>The Debug log</h3>
649
650 <p>
651 This tab is not visible by default, but can be displayed by
652 selecting <b>View/Show debug log</b> or by
653 pressing <b>Ctrl+D</b>. It is another kind of log, which is mainly
654 useful for debugging. If you experience some problem with the
655 program, please, include the contents of this log with your bug
656 report. It can help a low with finding a solution to the problem.
657 </p>
658
659 <h2>Loading PIREPs</h2>
660
661 <p>
662 Saved PIREPs can be loaded and sent by the program. This can
663 become necessary, for example, if you cannot send a PIREP due to
664 some network problem right after your flight, or when you
665 deliberately performed a flight without connecting to the Internet.
666 </p>
667
668 <p>
669 To load a PIREP select the <b>File/Load PIREP...</b> menu option or
670 press the <b>Ctrl+L</b> key. A file selection dialog appears, from
671 which you can select the PIREP to load. If you select a valid PIREP
672 file, it will be loaded and a new window will be displayed with the
673 most important data of your flight. By clicking <b>Send
674 PIREP...</b>, the PIREP will be sent (or at least an attempt will be
675 made at sending it). A dialog window will be displayed about the
676 results of the attempt.
677 </p>
678
679 <h2>Editing checklists</h2>
680
681 <p>
682 The checklists are lists of audio files. When checklist playback is
683 enabled (see the description of the <i>Preferences</i> window below), and
684 there is a checklist for the type of the aircraft used for the
685 flight, the files constituting the checklist can be played
686 one-by-one by pressing the checklist hotkey repeatedly.
687 </p>
688
689 <p>
690 The checklist editor dialog box allows for editing the checklist. It
691 can be displayed by selecting <b>Tools/Checklist Editor...</b> or
692 pressing <b>Ctrl+C</b>. The top of the window contains an aircraft
693 type selector.
694 </p>
695
696 <p>
697 The files making up the checklist for the currently selected flight
698 are displayed on the right. You can move a file up or down by
699 dragging it with the mouse. You can also select one or more files
700 from the list. Then you can remove them with the <b>Remove</b>
701 button, or move them up or down by pressing <b>Move up</b>
702 and <b>Move down</b>.
703 </p>
704
705 <p>
706 To add new files to the checklist, select them in the file selector
707 on the left, and press <b>Add to checklist</b>. The file(s) will be
708 appended to the end of the checklist.
709 </p>
710
711 <p>
712 Note, that any changes you make are effective only if you press
713 the <b>OK</b> button when having finished the modifications. If the
714 flight has already started, no changes made to the corresponding
715 checklist have any effect during the flight (i.e. you will still use
716 the old checklist, or no checklist if there was none).
717 </p>
718
719 <h2>The Preferences Window</h2>
720
721 </p>
722 The Preferences window can be displayed by
723 selecting <b>Tools/Preferences</b> or by
724 pressing <b>Ctrl+P</b>. Here you can set options that you usually
725 don't have to change for every flight. This window also consists of
726 tabs grouping the options logically.
727 </p>
728
729 <h3>The <i>General</i> Tab</h3>
730
731 <p>
732 These are some general settings for various parts of the
733 program. The <i>GUI</i> frame contains options regarding the
734 behaviour of the graphical user interface. The <i>Language</i> combo
735 box can be used to selected what language the program should
736 use. Currently English and Hungarian are supported. The value
737 of <i>system default</i> means that the operating system's default
738 language is used if it is one of the supported ones or English
739 otherwise. Note, that the program must be restarted for the change
740 to take effect if you modify this setting. If the <b>Hide main window
741 when minimized</b> checkbox is checked, and you minimize the window,
742 it will actually disappear completely (i.e. not appear among the
743 other minimized windows). You can make it appear by using the tray
744 icon.
745 </p>
746
747 <p>
748 The <i>MAVA Online Systems</i> frame contains settings related to
749 the online systems of MAVA, the gate and the ACARS systems mentioned
750 above. It is recommended to enabled these for normal operations.
751 </p>
752
753 <p>
754 The <i>Simulator</i> frame contains settings for how the program
755 interacts with the simulator. Most options are self-explanatory, but
756 the ones related to smoothing requires some discussion. Flight
757 Simulator is known to produce wind speed changes that are not
758 entirely realistic and can result in the simulated aircraft
759 experiencing some very high indicated airspeeds, which in turn can
760 also cause the autopilot to suddenly increase the climb rate to
761 counter the high speeds. Since this phenomenon is difficult to
762 protect oneself against without buying extra products, like FSUIPC,
763 the logger provides the possibility to average the IAS and/or the VS
764 over a few seconds so that spikes in these values are
765 smoothed. The <b>Enable the smoothing of IAS/VS over N sec.</b>
766 options allow controlling this feature. The number of seconds may
767 need experimenting with, but note that every change for which you
768 press the <b>OK</b> button is taken into account immediately.
769 </p>
770
771 <h3>The <i>Messages</i> Tab</h3>
772
773 <p>
774 The program can display messages about certain events in the
775 simulator and/or it can play a warning sound when those events
776 occur. The tab allows configuring this.
777 <p>
778
779 <p>
780 The categories of the message are listed on the left. These are the
781 following:
782 </p>
783
784 <ul>
785 <li><b>Logger Error Messages</b>: error messages about the
786 internal working of the logger.</li>
787 <li><b>Information Messages</b>: informational messages about,
788 e.g., the flight stage, the end of an audio checklist, etc.</li>
789 <li><b>Fault Messages</b>: messages about the non-NO GO faults the program detects.</li>
790 <li><b>NO GO Fault Messages</b>: messages about the NO GO faults the program detects</li>
791 <li><b>Gate System Messages</b>: messages related to the Online
792 Gate System. For example, when you have landed at Ferihegy, it can display
793 the list of the available gates so that you can choose where to
794 park, if there is no ATC available.</li>
795 <li><b>Environment Messages</b>: other messages, e.g. the welcome
796 message when the flight has ended.</li>
797 <li><b>Help Messages</b>: help messages, e.g. warning about
798 entering the V-speeds into the Takeoff page before takeoff.</li>
799 <li><b>Visibility Messages</b>: messages about the visibility
800 during descent and landing.</li>
801 </ul>
802
803 <p>
804 There are two checkboxes associated with each messages category. If the
805 left one (<i>Displayed in FS</i>) is checked, the messages of the
806 category will be displayed in the simulator. If the right one
807 (<i>Sound alert</i>) is checked, and a message of the given category
808 is about to be displayed, a warning sound will be played. It is
809 mainly intended to accompany the text messages, but the two options
810 can be controlled separately, so you can select the sound alert, but
811 not the displaying of the messages. This may be useful if you don't
812 want these messages to clutter up the windscreen of your aircraft,
813 but still get some notification that some problem occurred.
814 </p>
815
816 <h3>The <i>Sounds</i> Tab</h3>
817
818 <p>
819 This tab controls how the sounds are played by the application.
820 </p>
821
822 <p>
823 The top part is for the background sounds. These are pre-recorded
824 sound files that are played when certain conditions hold during the
825 flight. Typical examples are the various announcements the flight
826 attendants make during the flight. The <b>Enable background
827 sounds</b> checkbox controls whether such sounds are enabled at
828 all. If the <b>Pilot controls sounds</b> checkbox is enabled, the
829 pilot should start the playback of these sound files by pressing a
830 hotkey in the simulator. Note, that you should still be in the right
831 flight stage (and sometimes fulfill other conditions) to be able to
832 play the sound files. Also, one file can be played only once. If you
833 enable this option, the hotkey to press in the simulator can be
834 selected below. You can choose one of the alphanumeric keys (0-9,
835 A-Z) optionally combined with one or both of the <i>Ctrl</i>
836 and <i>Shift</i> modifiers. If this checkbox is not checked, the
837 sound files will be played automatically.
838 </p>
839
840 <p>
841 If the <b>Enable speedbrake sound at touchdown</b> checkbox is
842 checked, you will hear a distinctive sound when the spoilers deploy
843 automatically after touchdown.
844 </p>
845
846 <p>
847 The lower part, named <i>Checklist</i> contains some settings
848 related to the audio checklists belonging to the aircraft. They are
849 available only if the <b>Enable aircraft-specific checklist></b>
850 checkbox is selected. In this case another hotkey should be
851 specified. If you press this hotkey, the next file from the
852 checklist will be played.
853 </p>
854
855 <h3>The <i>Advanced</i> Tab</h3>
856
857 <p>
858 This tab contains some settings that you normally should not
859 change. Currently, these settings are related to the automatic
860 update. If the <b>Update the program automatically</b> checkbox is
861 not checked, the automatic update at program start-up will be
862 omitted. The <i>Update URL</i> text entry field contains the URL
863 from which to download the updates. Occasionally the developers of
864 the application may tell you to change this something else, e.g. to
865 test some development version. Or it may need to be changed due to
866 organizational reasons, such as moving to a new server, etc.
867 </p>
868
869 <h2>The Monitor Window</h2>
870
871 <p>
872 The monitor window can be used when debugging the program. You can
873 display it by selecting <b>View/Show monitor window</b> or by
874 pressing <b>Ctrl+M</b>. It displays the various parameters from the
875 aircraft as read from the flight simulator. During flight, it is
876 updated once per second. If something is not detected properly by
877 the logger, this window can be used to determine if the problem is
878 in interpreting and translating the data read from the simulator, or
879 when the translated data is being evaluated by other parts of the
880 program.
881 </p>
882
883</html>
Note: See TracBrowser for help on using the repository browser.