Engine Lighting Problem

You need to delete and rebuild this consist with 5.0

Kirk & Joe,

That probably won't help.

Do the number boards flicker or are they blinking at a steady rate? if they're blinking at a steady rate, there may be a fix that you can use:

• First, start up the lashup as usual.
• Press Eng, scroll to one of the GP35's to highlight it. It may be in the Inactive Engine List.
• Press the thumbwheel. If it was in the Inactive Engine List, it will go to the  Active Engine List. If so, select it again and press the thumbwheel again. It will now be the active engine.
• Do not start it up. Instead, press Menu and scroll to CONTROL. Press the thumbwheel.
• Scroll to Ditch Lights and press the thumbwheel. Then, press the ON soft key.
• Press the thumbwheel.
• Press Menu once or twice until the GP35 is displayed.
• Repeat the above steps for the second GP35.
• Then, press ENG, select the lashup from the engine list and press the thumbwheel to make it the active engine.
• Press soft key FSV and wait while the lashup's settings are saved.

Now, whenever you operate the lashup, the number boards should be on steady.

This is typically due to a conflict in some engine's firmware vs. the lashup process in DCS 5.0.

Barry,

The number board lights flicker in sync with each other.  They do not blink at a steady rate.  Even though the lights do not blink at a steady rate, I did try your solution.  Every step of your solution worked well until I came to the very last step, namely pressing soft key FSV.  The FSV soft key does not exist.  I could not find any key that would save the lashup's settings. 

I did shut the lashup down, but when I restarted it, the number board lights were flickering again.  I suspect this was due to lack of ability to save the lashup settings.

Kirk,

 The FSV soft key does not exist.

I can assure you that the FSV soft key does, indeed, exist. It should be the very first soft key for the lashup.

However, it is only present when the lashup is the active engine, not when a member of the lashup is the active engine.

Are you certain that both the TIU and the remote are loaded with DCS 5.0, and that you selected the lashup from the engine list and pressed the thumbwheel to make it the active engine, before attempting to press the FSV soft key?

Thanks Barry, I get the issues mixed up.

Barry,

I'm still trying to solve the lighting problem.  My next step is to be certain that the TIU and remote are both loaded with DCS 5.0.  I do not know how to determine the code version in the TIU.  The remote screen says 5.0.

How do I know the version in the TIU?  I have the latest version of your book, but I am unable find information pertaining to the TIU code version.

Barry Broskowitz posted:

Kirk,

 The FSV soft key does not exist.

I can assure you that the FSV soft key does, indeed, exist. It should be the very first soft key for the lashup.

However, it is only present when the lashup is the active engine, not when a member of the lashup is the active engine.

Are you certain that both the TIU and the remote are loaded with DCS 5.0, and that you selected the lashup from the engine list and pressed the thumbwheel to make it the active engine, before attempting to press the FSV soft key?

Maybe if he built the lashup under an old version, he's not seeing the FSV key? He needs to re-create the lashup with the new software.

I have now had a chance to do more testing.  Both the remote and TIU are code version 5.0.

This morning, the lashup totally disappeared from both the active and inactive engine roster.  To my knowledge, I did nothing to cause this.

I next created a new lashup with the two engines.  When I started the lashup, the number board lights were flickering.  I then followed Barry's suggestions shown above and got to the last step to save the lashup settings.  This time the FSV key was visible.  I pressed it to save the settings.  I shut down the lashup and restarted it, and the number board lights were on steady and not flickering!

So, I am very appreciative to Barry and Joe for their suggestions.

Now the only problem I have is that the lashup moved from ID#7 to ID#11, and ID#7 is blank.  I would like to move the lashup back to ID#7.  Any ideas on how to do this?

Kirk,

I have is that the lashup moved from ID#7 to ID#11, and ID#7 is blank.  I would like to move the lashup back to ID#7.  Any ideas on how to do this?

First, turn off the remote and turn it back on again.

Next:

• Press Menu/System/Engine Setup/Delete Engine
• Scroll to position 7. if position 7 isn't present, skip the next step
• Press the thumbwheel twice to delete the old lashup
• Press ENG
• Press Menu/System/Engine Setup/Edit Engine Engine/Edit Engine Address
• Scroll to the new lashup and press the thumbwheel
• Scroll to the lashup and press the thumbwheel
• Scroll to position 7 and press the thumbwheel

If position 7 isn't present, you've encountered a DCS bug. In this case, position 7 is lost until you either reset the remote, losing everything in it, or you restore the remote from a previous backup copy.

This and a whole lot more is all in “The DCS Companion 3rd Edition!" This book is available from many fine OGR advertisers and forum sponsors, or as an eBook or a printed book at OGR’s web store!

Barry,

I tried to change the engine ID# as per your directions above.  Position 7 wasn't present, so I guess it is lost.  I'll just leave the lashup in position 11.

Thank you for your help on this number board light issue.  Couldn't have done it without your help.