Nice one George, cheers. I'm also looking into using my tablets like this, though I have a mixture of Apple and Android. As for the dual rotary knobs with centre push button function, how are you adjusting these? I know there's at least one company that advertises these (knobster) on their own (i.e. real, physical dial) and who's software connects to FS. You can also build your own using various breadboards, and here, you can easily extend to have many of these dials and various switches etc (of course, building them into a suitable housing). Alternatively, you can purchase external instrument panels e.g. Logitech.
I've mostly found myself adjusting the radios within the sim and then I use the iPad as a visual reminder to show which frequency I'm tuned into. I've experimented with a Arduino, Mobiflight and dual rotary knobs too, however I observed approx. 1 second lag between rotary turns and the iPad updating. I'm currently experimenting with an LCD connected to an Arduino and using that to display the frequencies instead which is lag free. I'll likely pull together a new video on that soon.
Hi George. Thanks for the video. Very informative indeed. I'm new to all this. My question might be too obvious or too basic. Anyhow, here it comes... The MSFS pop out instrument panels do not include the knobs. My question is, do the knobs on the ipad app work? I want to be able to control the G1000 pfd+mfd independently. Hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for this. Picked up the bundle of apps on my iPad for $30 after downloading the free test app and confirming everything worked. This saved me from buying one of the physical pieces..for now!
I am using 2012 iPad Minis. Two of them are "MD528LL/A" and the third is the cellular version "MD534LL/A". The reason I have two models is because the second hand electrics shop only had these in stock. Both run IOS 9 and are functionally the same for the Flight Sim apps. These links contain a bit more about the iPad Mini specs: www.sellyourmac.com/mac-product-guides/ipad/md528ll-a-ipad-mini-wifi-16gb.html and www.sellyourmac.com/mac-product-guides/ipad/md534ll-a-ipad-mini-wifi-cellular-att-16gb.html
You can also use something like Spacedesk to turn your tablet into another monitor over LAN and I think it's either Left Alt + Left Mouse or Left Ctrl + Left Mouse button to pull (some) of the gauges/MFDs to the tablet monitor. It doesn't have any touch screen interactivity and is a bit more limited than here, but it's an alternative.
Yes this is another approach. The reason I chose the iPads is because I like a blend of real life/arcade when playing. I'm able to fly with an exterior view of the plane this way and still have access to instruments without having to switch temporarily to an in plane view to see them. To the best of my knowledge, if a second monitor is used the active view is either interior or exterior, but not both.
Does touch input work for these controls? I'm guessing that would make it much more like a real cockpit experience. And also it looks like you have some level of selection about which gauges to display? How flexible is it? For the radio can you actually set which frequency via iPad input?
Yes the touch input works. I can rotate the VOR navigation dials and configure the radio all directly from the iPads. Selection wise, it's possible to add/remove instruments - the only downside is I cannot have less than 6 displayed on each ipad. I did buy the in-app "all gauges pack one" and in total I have 14 different instruments to choose from. Some of the instruments are functionally the same, for example, there are two "turn & slip" indicators to choose from that have different graphics. Others are multi-purpose, for example, there is an air speed indicator with slip indicator built it.
@@DownTheRabbit-Hole I’m using 10 year old iPads in my demo that run IOS 9. All 3 cost me less than $100 CAD. You don’t need the latest and greatest iPads for this. Whether you use a PC or laptop is up to you - I haven’t had any of the thermal issues you describe.
Tx George, splendid advice. After viewing your video i went for the IpadMini 1 on dutch Marktplaats. Now proud owner of 3 of them ipads, for ca € 30 each, and the remote flight bundle installed. And after the vid of Mark Susak also on youtube I plan to build me a portable cockpit, incl 2 saitek panels (switch and ap). Tx very much ! grtz Jeff, The Netherlands
Thanks for this George. I bought this software when I had FSX and had forgotten about it, assuming it would not work in MSFS 2020. However, the good news is that it is now compatible with the new sim, and I didn't have to buy it again! It looks brilliant on the retina screen of my ipad and works well with no lag. Many thanks for reminding me about this great software!
Thanks for the video, George. I'm going to give it a try. When I fly the Caribou or the Beechcraft Model 18, it is pretty hard to take my view down to the instruments so this could really solve the issue.
hi Giorgio, is there the possibility of putting the various instruments on another monitor of the PC?, I have 3 connected with the Asus RTX 3060 card thanks for the reply..... if yes, can you tell me how to do it?
They're both from Amazon. The laptop stand was purchased from Amazon UK www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08JCPQ11W/ and the iPad stands were purchased from Amazon Canada www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B06XDK5H2S/
The iPads should be on the same network subnet (eg. 192.168.1.XX) as your PC. In my case, my iPads were connecting over wireless to my home router and my PC was cabled into my router. For most home routers, the IP addresses will be auto assigned to each device and the only network configuration you may need to do on your PC would be to create some firewall rules to allow inbound access to the server port.
Yes. The FBW a32nx has simbridge which serves up mcdu to a browser on ipad. Works great. Almost zero latency. Please check out Air Manager desktop solution with touchscreens before doing this approach, unless you have a bunch of ipads. Also, twisting dials does not work very well. Not affiliated. Rw pilot and instructor. Once again, no offense to George.
My laptop is a "Lenovo Legion 5 AMD Ryzen 7 16GB RAM 512GB SSD Nvidia RTX 3070 15.6" 165Hz Gaming Laptop". I upgraded the RAM to 32GB and replaced the 512GB SSD with two 1TB SSDs. I'm a big fan of the Lenovo's as some of the parts are field replaceable and the hardware information sheets are publicly available. My laptop is no longer for sale new, however you can see the full out of the box factory specification here: www.box.co.uk/82JU002YUK-Lenovo-Legion-5-AMD-Ryzen-7-16GB-RAM-512_3557998.html
