ADSWNJ
Scientist
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- Aug 5, 2011
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Looking for Beta Testers please.
Here's the new Glideslope 2. I need to spend some time writing documentation , but here's a quick summary of differences.
1. 4 main modes: Glideslope track, Tapes, Digital Reentry Params, and Horizontal Stat.
1a. The Glideslope track is the same as the old one, just with labels for the colors.
1b. The Tapes ... I have played with the font sizes and formatting. It's still not perfect, but it's more readable than the last one.
1c. The Digital Reetry Params screen is all new ... allowing you to read from numbers rather than from the tapes. Colors ... green is good, white is high, red is low as usual.
1d. The Horizontal Status / HAC screen - has 4 new buttons ... HR+, HR- to increase and decrease the HAC radius (and the final approach length). ZM+ and ZM- switches to manual zoom mode if you want to hold a specific zoom. RST resets the zoom, the radius and the HAC orientation.
2. The configuration is now fully customizable from GS2.cfg. Put in the runways of your choice, and set your choice of preferences, including the glideslope itself. I have converted the original Shuttle reference glideslope from the Glideslope 1 code, and added a sample XR-2 glideslope that I have run a few times into KSC33.
3. The SAV save button saves your glideslope in a format ready for reading as your new reference slope. (E.g. land a DG IV into Olympus, save the slope and then you can reference it through the PREFS setting for a subsequent run.)
4. Some of the internal range and HAC turn logic is amended, to remove the jump on range when hitting the turn, and working out when you enter and exit the HAC.
I have only tested it on XR-2 into Kennedy so far. Interested in experiences with other ships into other bases please, and whether you can get it to work (it runs for me, but I don't know if I have the compile settings right for general release without Visual C++ 2010 in the background!!).
Things still left to do:
1. Figure out how to preserve the mode setting (e.g. F8 switch / switchback). As all MFD programmers find out, your base class is destroyed and created all the time. I just need to persist the mode somewhere. (Think I know how to do it ... looking for mfd and vessel pointers in my underlying guts class ... but TBD).
2. Documentation of GS2. Want to have screen shots, describe each button and screen, etc.
3. I want to write a GS2 reentry guide in PDF too. E.g. as a tip ... when you are 20-30km from the HAC, bring the AoA close to zero, get the ship mice and balanced on a zero VSpd, and you are then going to be well set to get into the HAC. If you scream in at 1000 m/s speed, 40 AoA, then roll 60 degrees, don't expect to see much pull into the turn, as the wing is well stalled!!
4. General dethatch and spring clean on the code. Want to break it into headers and separate files, and add more comments for the next coder in here, whilst its still fresh.
5. Energy units ... not sure they are right (represented as m/s or J/kg in different screens)? Want to look further at this.
6. Maybe add more Diags screens for location and XYZ/LLR codes, azimuths, etc for the morbidly fascinated (DIAGS INTERNAL only ... not for joe public).
Bugs, comments, encouragement all welcome. And if it doesn't install, or the settings look wrong, or if you want to look at the code - you are more than welcome.
Oh - and this is my first Orbiter coding, and my first serious coding effort for a while. It's been a blast.
Here's the new Glideslope 2. I need to spend some time writing documentation , but here's a quick summary of differences.
1. 4 main modes: Glideslope track, Tapes, Digital Reentry Params, and Horizontal Stat.
1a. The Glideslope track is the same as the old one, just with labels for the colors.
1b. The Tapes ... I have played with the font sizes and formatting. It's still not perfect, but it's more readable than the last one.
1c. The Digital Reetry Params screen is all new ... allowing you to read from numbers rather than from the tapes. Colors ... green is good, white is high, red is low as usual.
1d. The Horizontal Status / HAC screen - has 4 new buttons ... HR+, HR- to increase and decrease the HAC radius (and the final approach length). ZM+ and ZM- switches to manual zoom mode if you want to hold a specific zoom. RST resets the zoom, the radius and the HAC orientation.
2. The configuration is now fully customizable from GS2.cfg. Put in the runways of your choice, and set your choice of preferences, including the glideslope itself. I have converted the original Shuttle reference glideslope from the Glideslope 1 code, and added a sample XR-2 glideslope that I have run a few times into KSC33.
3. The SAV save button saves your glideslope in a format ready for reading as your new reference slope. (E.g. land a DG IV into Olympus, save the slope and then you can reference it through the PREFS setting for a subsequent run.)
4. Some of the internal range and HAC turn logic is amended, to remove the jump on range when hitting the turn, and working out when you enter and exit the HAC.
I have only tested it on XR-2 into Kennedy so far. Interested in experiences with other ships into other bases please, and whether you can get it to work (it runs for me, but I don't know if I have the compile settings right for general release without Visual C++ 2010 in the background!!).
Things still left to do:
1. Figure out how to preserve the mode setting (e.g. F8 switch / switchback). As all MFD programmers find out, your base class is destroyed and created all the time. I just need to persist the mode somewhere. (Think I know how to do it ... looking for mfd and vessel pointers in my underlying guts class ... but TBD).
2. Documentation of GS2. Want to have screen shots, describe each button and screen, etc.
3. I want to write a GS2 reentry guide in PDF too. E.g. as a tip ... when you are 20-30km from the HAC, bring the AoA close to zero, get the ship mice and balanced on a zero VSpd, and you are then going to be well set to get into the HAC. If you scream in at 1000 m/s speed, 40 AoA, then roll 60 degrees, don't expect to see much pull into the turn, as the wing is well stalled!!
4. General dethatch and spring clean on the code. Want to break it into headers and separate files, and add more comments for the next coder in here, whilst its still fresh.
5. Energy units ... not sure they are right (represented as m/s or J/kg in different screens)? Want to look further at this.
6. Maybe add more Diags screens for location and XYZ/LLR codes, azimuths, etc for the morbidly fascinated (DIAGS INTERNAL only ... not for joe public).
Bugs, comments, encouragement all welcome. And if it doesn't install, or the settings look wrong, or if you want to look at the code - you are more than welcome.
Oh - and this is my first Orbiter coding, and my first serious coding effort for a while. It's been a blast.
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This MFD is perfect!
