Quote from Jason on December 7, 2020, 12:49 pm

Hey Bryant.  One of the benefits of Jet45 is that it does not require a specific A/C in FS to work. It uses standard information from the simulator like airspeed heading etc to drive the displays. Where you will find differences is in the flap display, and some EICAS warning information.

I tested Jet45 with the Citation jet in 2020 and it worked well despite the differences in some aircraft parameters.  Where we will have issues is with the FMS "flying" anything that is not the L45.  The FMS autopilots were tuned to the L45, so there may be some issues with turn performance in LNAV on other aircraft.  I have not tested the FMS LNAV in any 2020 aircraft.

I find it quite interesting that none of the pro A/C developers have worked on the L45. This tells me that it really wasn't as popular of an A/C in previous simulator versions to be a priority and very few outside of this group here are asking for it.  Honestly speaking, before I started Jet45, I only flew the Boeing jets in the sim and never touched the l45.  It's quite clear that the MSFS/ASOBO dev teams wanted to "upgrade" the bizjet and picked the Citation jet over the Lear.  Having "flown" the Citation in 2020, it is quite an upgrade from the much older L45 that we all know and love.

Quote from DrDave on December 7, 2020, 1:39 pm

One way to counteract this is to have aircraft files offered in Hangar45.  I just posted this same topic in L45 Issues.

Jason, your update above is spot on.  Not sure why the pros have not included the Lear45.

It is very smart choosing an inexpensive and robust serial IO card for the modules.  There are several SIO cards available and it is a choice of functionality, cost and support availability.  PoKeys and Arduino are the best I've tested.  The Arduino card is a great choice.

However, not providing the Arduino scripts to purchasers of Ron's panels limits the software a Lear45 simmer can use.

Quote from Jason on December 7, 2020, 2:51 pm

Thanks Dave.  Great stuff.  Here are a few points of clarification:

1. Myself and Ron have zero interest in competing with any other vendor for customers. We focus on those that want to build a Learjet faithfully.  If someone want's to build a Learjet and doesn't want to use Jet45 V2 or Ron's hardware, great. They can use FDS or PM or OC hardware as they desire with Jet45 V1.
2. Jet45 V1 will always be available after the launch of V2.  I will continue to add functionality to V1 as it's developed in V2 which does not deal with interfaces. V1 will continue to get bug fixes and enhancements. The key capability V2 offers is a low-cost plug and play solution so users don't have to deal with scripting or custom interfaces to FSUIPC.
3. I am also working with Ron on Lear45 systems simulations to control the MIP and center pedestal panels. These come as stand-alone applications that use the Arduino and FSUIPC to simulate Lear45 specific systems.  Again, no plans to provide a software application with these that can take generic interfaces since the Arduino interfaces will be quite inexpensive relative to what's out there currently.

 

Jet45 V1 and Jet45 V2 are mutually exclusive from the perspective that you cannot mix programs from V1 and V2.  I've enumerated the differences below.

Jet45 V1:

• Uses the default P3d/FSX autopilot and functions
• No simulation for lower MIP or pedestal Panels, or other systems
• Limited CAS messages (basic for pitot, engine etc)
• Interface to Ron's DUs/RMU etc. using FSUIPC offsets

V2 Additions:

• Very limited use of FSUIPC to improve performance, comes with a new server application which all  of the modules use to "talk" to each other instead of passing limited info through the sim and affecting framerates
• Custom FGC provided that mimics ASEL/VS, VNAV, and SPD as the real Lear45 does (no autothrottle)
• Arduino based Plug-and-Play interfacing to all available panels, and built-in operation of all switches and LEDs, including new simulations for Fuel Panel, APU, Trim panel, Test panel, Electric and Hydraulic panel, Anti-ice, Gear, and Pressure panels. No user programming required as long as you wire according to the provided wiring manual.
• Expanded CAS messages based on systems simulation above
• Electrical BUS simulation tied into display operation
• Perfected display reversion, this was not reliable using FSUIPC
• Arduino based CWP and annunciation (Arduino hex provided, hardware provided separately)
• Arduino based AOA gauge (Arduino hex provided, hardware provided separately)
• EFIS/Reversion panel logic now part of the DU1/4 PFD software utilizing Arduino module (no more EFIS application needed)
• Improvements to the RMU which may be ported into V1

There are lots of other little features not listed here. Many of these features cannot be provided in V1 due to the fundamental network changes that were added to V2 to enable them and they heavily rely on the Arduino interfaces that we have developed.  For that reason,  they will remain as 2 separate purchase options for the community and an upgrade charge from V1 to V2 is required.

Many members here have been using Jet45 V1 for 10+ years now and it's a very feature rich software and is modeled from the Honeywell and pilot training manuals.  Once you get V1 fully interfaced and working in your setup, you can evaluate weather or not the V2 updates are worth it for you.

Quote from Will_S on November 5, 2022, 2:20 am

Hi Jason,

Looking forward to V2. I am preparing my build for it, finally building a whole new shell for a whole new look.  To be honest I am looking forward to hiding the rats nest of wires behind the panels!

I was gazing at the rats-nest to all those arduino boards and I actually turned my mind to a future event… Jet45 V2 communication with all the arduino boards. My hats off to you for churning through the code to set that up, I’m sure it’s a monumental task.

This thinking led to another associated question… How does V2 identify which board does what?  When installing, or on change of hardware config,  does V2 automatically identify which arduino board is which, or is there a set of names we must give the corresponding board, or does it ask and we point for each board?  Basically I am asking what can/should we do now to make installation smooth and easy.

thank you.

Quote from TerryC on November 5, 2022, 8:15 am

Hey Jason, I too am gearing up for running my Sim on Jet45AAS v2.0. I'm planning on having all my wiring complete within the next couple of months. With help from Ron and Will I've now successfully converted to 5 volt LED operation too. I've had Jet45AAS v1 running with P3D and Dave's gauges so everything is looking good.

I hope you can give all of us an update on your progress for rolling out your software upgrade. I bet there is a bunch of us that can hardly wait ! The work you are doing is the glue that keeps us all together on this exciting project.

 

Quote from Jason on November 6, 2022, 6:47 pm

Hi guys!  We are getting really close with the software now that all of the arduino modules are done. I'm currently finalizing the pedestal and the lower MIP software.  The best thing about what Ron and I have done is standardize the wiring and the control of all of the hardware in the SIM using Arduino. One of the new features of Jet45 is that it uses very few FSUIPC offsets, instead it will pass data between the various modules (DUs, RMUs etc) through your network.  This reduces the load on FS/P3D and improves framerates.

Software setup is extremely easy and only requires 2 new items in the .ini files.  You will need to specify the USB port for the Arduino module that controls the software, for instance DU1 and EFIS are run on a single Arduino module.  How do you know what USB port to use?  Well the best way I know is to use  the Computer Manager app to see what USB port is assigned by windows when you plug it in.  These ports should not change when you turn on and off your computer unless you plug a different Arduino into the same usb port, or move the arduino to a different port on your PC.  So once you get this setup once, you should not need to make any additional changes.

So once you have setup the ini file and assigned the USB ports, once the software starts, it will open the USB port and begin talking with the arduino module.  There is no other configuration needed!  It's very close to true plug-and-play.

So what do you get with Jet45 V2?  Well for starters, ALL of the system simulation logic is built into the sofware and Arduino modules, you no longer have to do any custom configuring with FSUIPC or Sys boards.  This includes all logic for the FGC, Display controllers, fuel panel, system test panel, all MIP panels.

Once Ron and Shane get to the point where they can start testing, I anticipate only 1-2 more months before we can release the software.

 

Quote from Shane Barnes on November 16, 2022, 9:00 am

Jason, thank you for all the hard work and attention to detail creating a software package for our builds.  I look forward to switching my upgraded sim build over to Jet45 V2!