X-Plane 10 & The Case Of Missing Planes On TCAS

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

Hello all,

 

Reaching out and hoping someone might be able to help. I've just completed an upgrade from X-Plane 9 to X-Plane 10, now running it on 64-bit. I've updated xSquawkbox and have no issue connecting to the network. However, I've run into three issues....one that is really a bother and could use some [Mod - Happy Thoughts]istance with. Never really had any major problems in all my years flying with X-Plane and XSB compatibility, so I'm hoping I'm just missing...something. Appreciate any thoughts.

 

1) Externally, visual models are present of other aircraft (default bright UFO style lights and all). However, planes are not appearing on TCAS. I have checked everything I can think of, placed myself in several situations just to ensure I'm not going crazy, nothing. Again, traffic is visible...is correct...but just not appearing on the display. Same aircraft on X-Plane 9 shows them fine (these are mostly freeware products). Any ideas?

 

2) I've seen one download over at the X-Plane.org page for correcting the navigation light "size/brightness" issue. I was curious if anyone had any other good suggestions in this area? [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming there iare no suggestions for the "compressed" text of callsigns...

 

3) Reading a thread on this somewhere I believe I know the answer but want to check just in case. I've noticed that most of the aircraft models are barely visible, essentially driving around "black" at night. Anyone else ever found a way to mitigate this?

 

Thanks again for any thoughts you may have.

[Mike Burke 1145825]

1) Externally, visual models are present of other aircraft (default bright UFO style lights and all). However, planes are not appearing on TCAS. I have checked everything I can think of, placed myself in several situations just to ensure I'm not going crazy, nothing. Again, traffic is visible...is correct...but just not appearing on the display. Same aircraft on X-Plane 9 shows them fine (these are mostly freeware products). Any ideas?

 

First, make sure you have the "number of aircraft to render" set at 2 - the default is 1. If that's not it, try loading up the x737 (http://eadt.eu) and see if that displays it for you. I'm betting it's just an XP9->XP10 compatibility issue w/ the aircraft.

 

2) I've seen one download over at the X-Plane.org page for correcting the navigation light "size/brightness" issue. I was curious if anyone had any other good suggestions in this area? [Mod - Happy Thoughts]uming there iare no suggestions for the "compressed" text of callsigns...

 

The simplest fix is to turn HDR off, as that causes both the nav light and callsign "chunking". That's obviously a big tradeoff, but worth mentioning until some kind of fix is available. http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=17074 is probably where you're mentioning for the light fix, which just makes them a heck of a lot smaller so they don't look awful on VATSIM. I haven't found a fix for the callsign issue yet short of turning off HDR completely, so I typically just turn the callsigns completely off.

 

http://forums.x-pilot.com/topic/6285-howto-using-acfs-instead-of-csls-for-xsquawkbox/ - I actually use this solution most of the time for the lights. It limits you to one type of airframe, but the models are so much better that it's worth it for me at the moment.

 

3) Reading a thread on this somewhere I believe I know the answer but want to check just in case. I've noticed that most of the aircraft models are barely visible, essentially driving around "black" at night. Anyone else ever found a way to mitigate this?

Think this may be another HDR issue, or possibly a bug that is getting exacerbated by your shadow settings. Try backing it down to 3D on aircraft and see how that works.

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

Mike,

 

First, thank you for taking the time! Let me go through what you've listed....

 

First, make sure you have the "number of aircraft to render" set at 2 - the default is 1. If that's not it, try loading up the x737 (http://eadt.eu) and see if that displays it for you. I'm betting it's just an XP9->XP10 compatibility issue w/ the aircraft.

Just to confirm your talking about the default number under "Aircraft & Situations" correct? If so, it is actually set to 4 (default from what I can tell). I also loaded the x737, already had the newer version downloaded...even the default B747 that comes with the program. Same issue. I even went so far as performing a fresh install of X-Plane 10, with a fresh download of XSB. Tried 32-bit vs 64-bit...nothing. No changes. Again, visual models are present outside, but nothing on TCAS. I'm really at a loss at this point and starting to grow a bit frustrated...at least the weather is working right...

 

The simplest fix is to turn HDR off, as that causes both the nav light and callsign "chunking". That's obviously a big tradeoff, but worth mentioning until some kind of fix is available. ....Think this may be another HDR issue, or possibly a bug that is getting exacerbated by your shadow settings. Try backing it down to 3D on aircraft and see how that works.

Indeed, the HDR was the issue there. I appreciate that feedback. Now if I can just get TCAS to function properly again...

[Ben Bruegeman]

Have you found a solution to this? I'm having the same problem of no aircraft showing on the TCAS.

 

Problem: on vatsim via xsquawkbox, X64 -Xplane, I can see aircraft outside the airplane, can read their vatsim ID/call sign, however nothing is showing up on the TCAS. Aircraft & Situations, # of aircraft is set to 9.

 

I never had this problem with Xplane 32bit, it seems to be on X64. I have verified with other aircraft around me that they are squawking mode C. I have switched aircraft, x737, other .org aircraft and stock aircraft, same problem.

 

Thanks

Ben

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

Ben, I wish I had. Like you, I never had this issue with 32-bit versions of X-Plane. The only solution is that I now run xHSI (http://forums.x-plane.org/?showforum=102) on a netbook next to me which does properly display the TCAS data. This only confirms for me that the data is properly being fed by the xSquawkBox plug-in but the 64-bit of X-Plane is for some reason no longer allowing it to function.

 

Hopefully this error is corrected when the Swift Pilot Client is eventually released...

 

For the aircraft model issues I did the solution noted above that limited it to one airframe, which was fine. Model functions realistically, other aircraft now appear realistic from a distance and if I ever have an issue with knowing for sure...turn on the labels for a moment to see the yellow "blob of text" then turn them off.

[Mike Evans]

Everyone says it's a 64 bit problem, but I've heard more than one of you say you tried 32 bit, and it doesn't work there either.. if it doesn't work there either, it's not a 64 bit problem.. has ANYONE gotten TCAS to work in XP10 32 *or* 64 bit?

[Mathew Sutcliffe]

has ANYONE gotten TCAS to work in XP10 32 *or* 64 bit?

Yes, with XSquawkBox 1.0.6.

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

has ANYONE gotten TCAS to work in XP10 32 *or* 64 bit?

Yes, with XSquawkBox 1.0.6.

 

Which is 32-bit...

[Mathew Sutcliffe]

Fred, the point is that the problem is present in XSquawkBox 1.2 in both 32-bit and 64-bit modes, so we can deduce that the problem is with XSquawkBox 1.2, and is not specifically a 64-bit problem.

[Mike Evans]

What platform?

[Mathew Sutcliffe]

Windows

[Keith Smith]

The number of planes that can appear on TCAS is directly related to the number of AI aircraft enabled if memory serves. If you have the number of planes set to '2', then that translates to one TCAS target, max. However, if you're seeing 0 planes on the TCAS (remember, they only show up if they squawk Mode C and only within +/x XXft of you, I can't remember the number), then it's a different issue.

[Mathew Sutcliffe]

Hi Keith,

 

I reproduced the exact same conditions for each test run, with fake traffic on our testing server.

 

With X-Plane 10.30 32-bit and XSB 1.0.6, lots of TCAS blips.

With X-Plane 10.30 32-bit and XSB 1.2, no TCAS blips.

With X-Plane 10.30 64-bit and XSB 1.2, no TCAS blips.

[Fred Michaels 1137645]

The number of planes that can appear on TCAS is directly related to the number of AI aircraft enabled if memory serves. If you have the number of planes set to '2', then that translates to one TCAS target, max. However, if you're seeing 0 planes on the TCAS (remember, they only show up if they squawk Mode C and only within +/x XXft of you, I can't remember the number), then it's a different issue.

 

It is a different issue.

[Keith Smith]

Good point, that's the end of that, then