THE SPACE DRONE SIMULATOR SDS-1
This is a full size Space Shuttle simulator custom built by Erik Viktor
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Some of the instruments inside the cockpit of the Space Drone are provided by Chalk River Graphics LLC (CrgSim). These instruments include an EICAS, A PFD, and a Nav Display.
The EICAS (short for Engine Indicating and Crew Alerting System) displays the exhaust gas temperature, the RPM of two sets of turbine blades within the engine, oil pressure, oil temperature, oil quantity, and engine vibration. At the lower right of the display the total amount of fuel is displayed as well as the amount of fuel in the right, left, and center fuel tanks. The main page of the EICAS wil display the status of the landing gear and the flaps.
The PFD (short for Primary Flight Display) displays current flight information to the pilot. On the left of the display the pilot can read air speed and will see markers on the speed tape that indicates when and how much the flaps should be retracted. There are also indicators on the speed tape that assist the pilot in determining when to pull back the yoke (steering wheel) and take off.
On the right side of the PFD is an altitude tape that displays the aircraft barometric altitude. In the center of the display is a compass and an artificial horizon to assist the pilot in keeping the aircraft in level flight. The center top part of the PFD is used for the mode annunciator which tells the pilot which mode of flight the aircraft is in. There are many modes depending on which automatic systems are active.
The Nav Display will show the pilot information about airports, ground based radio systems, and check points. It can also display the location of other aircraft in the area and will alert the pilot if any of the other aircraft are flying close enough to be a potential danger. If the pilot has loaded and is using a flight plan the Nav Display will show the pilot the flight plan as a magenta line. When the Nav Display is set to a close range the pilot can view the individual runways at an airport.
The CrgSim instruments are part of a distributed avionics system, that is, they can run on different computers and communicate with a central Communications Manager to receive updates multiple times per second. Some of the instruments have been customized to run on the Space Probe to accomodate the ships high top speed and high top altitude. In fact, the Space Probe has been used as a test platform for new features of the instrumentation package.
Chalk River Graphics is proud to provide the instrumentation used by the Space Probe pilot.
CHECK OUT THIS FLIGHT ! Taking off and Landing at LOWI, INNSBRUCK
I have been into simulators for 16 years. My first sim was built in 2000 and ran on 5 computers using Wideview.
2 years ago I restarted this project but realized I had to start from scratch as everything had changed. Nothing was reusable from the software to the hardware….
I was of course looking for a good instrument suite that would fit my SPACE PROBE SIMULATOR requirements and I even bought some payware but nothing made me really happy until about 6 months ago I accidentally downloaded an instruments suite from CRGSIM.COM.
I extracted the files and saw a ton of folders with a ton of software and quickly abandoned the idea of event trying to use it. I was already overloaded mentally with all the new SIM stuff and didn’t have any grey matter left for more experiments…. BAD MISTAKE !!
2 months ago I opened one of the folders that said PFD and clicked on the exe inside. Expecting a software installer I got a big surprise when suddenly a great looking PFD (Primary Flight Display) appeared in front of me…..
Hmm, I thought. Desktop software, no installer.. thus no registry changes and a great looking instrument. I also noted a yellow title in the PFD that read; “NO COM”. Being a little more experienced after 2 years of hard “labouring” in the sim world, I looked for interface software and noticed 2 more folders that read ComMgr and SimInterface, opened them, clicked on the associated exes and suddenly, with my sim running on a totally different computer, the instruments came to live displaying the data from the sim !
WOW ! I thought aloud ! These instruments found the sim on their own online, no installation and absolutely great looking, fast instruments… how could I have overlooked this ????
The main CRGSIM folder contains the following instruments;
CDUleft
CDU right
CLOCK left
CRG MAPS
EICAS
NAV left
NAV right
PFD left
PFD right
SOUND mgr
Interface and Com software and some more goodies...
So I contacted the developer and told him about how amazing I thought his CRGSIM suite was.
we have been working together now for many months and he has been kind enough to develop the instruments for the project’s need as well.
DOWNLOAD THE FREE SOFTWARE AND INSTRUMENT SUITE HERE;
WWW.CRGSIM.COM
Thanks Chuck from CRGSIM.COM ! You are the best.
Oh, and I forgot; IT IS FREE !
This topic is about the newer flat screen LED TVs or Monitors that come in all sizes-
In my sim the 2 main screens are 27″ Samsung flat Led screens with a resolution of 1920 x 1080.
I was looking for big screens for the outside spotter view and found some HUGE screens for sale.
The one that obviously caught my eye was a Sharp model that measured 80″ !!!
The price too was very attractive with a sticker of around 1000 USD.
Too good to be true ? Well, sort of.
The thing to watch out for amongst other things is the real or native resolution of such a massive display !
Well in this case the 80 Inch Sharp LED screen had a resolution of…… 1920 x 1080 or the same as one of my samsung 27″ screens. This means it will have a real (visual) resolution nearly 4 times lower than the 27″ Samsung screens with the same native resolution.
So check this before anything else. Then once you are happy with the resolution look for the real image quality and refresh rate.
The 2 27″ screens I have are HD 1080 and are for gamers and offer top quality for the buck-
The resolution and rendering is so good that it creates a virtual 3D effect.
We all know it and we have all experienced the (major frustration) when our high tec simulator and PC behaves as if it had MS (Multiple Sclerosis); also called STUTTERS.
Fixes may vary from PC to PC or onsystem set-up but the fllowing worls very well for me.
My server runs an I74970K with 16Gb Ram, Nvidea TitanX Gpu but it had been suffering from major stutters for quite a while. NO matter what I did or try or read… nothing worked. There is nothing more frustrating than flying your high end sim and have some Mr. invisible play aorund with the remote “pausing” your marvelous experience at random.
I was really running out of options after trying many “magical” cures promoted on the web- of which none worked – until I decided to take on an even more “scientific “approach to the problem and throw the PC out of the window…..
But joke apart; I did find the major caUse of my problem and also found out it also affected other computers running FSX. This fix was really magical. Even my low end test PC running FSX Sp2 sudently ran as smooth as butter and my main Server running P3d became a charm.
SOLUTION:
In Resource Monitor shut down;
SVHOST(Netsvsc) . Beware NOT to shutdown other SVHOST (only high CPU use module)
Eventually also TrustedInstaller.exe if it turns up.
Any high CPU use service or module that is not required.
Note: Also shut down services in the taskbar start-up that are not required.
You can read the CPU use value on the right of the Resource monitor. In general SVHOST(Netsvsc) will be on top with high CPU use after the sim starts. Values vary from PC to PC but can be as high as 46% so shutting it down makes a big difference.
CULPRIT FOUND !
I looked for the handles associated with the INFAMOUS SVHOST(Netsvsc) troublemaker and discovered the service(s) responsible for the major CPU use:
WINDOWS UPDATE & TASKMGR.
Both can be shut down in the Control Panel.
When I thought about designing and building this ship I was very concerned about the logistical requirements to transport and install such a big exhibit at an affordable and sustainable cost.
I had installed similar Industrial scale models from the Space Industry in the past and knew all to well that this could be a total nightmare. Some 3 ton shuttle model had required 27 helpers to move it by hand and a special loader with 2 meter forks as well as a special trailer truck to get it there.
I decided to design the SPACE PROBE around a trailer or the trailer within the SDS, or both.
The fact is that the 3 wheel layout of a trailer was very similar to the trike layout of a plane.
There were lots of restrictions and limitations that I had to take into account.
The width on the road could not exceed 2.5 meters and the total weight 3 Ton.
The folded plane should also be easy to assemble and disassemble by as few people as possible. Maintenance should also be easy.
The rest is history-
Here is a picture of the ship showing it with its wings folded and behind the tow vehicle.
To start the SDS blog I would like to post an article by a a friend, contributor and fellow blogger Tom Tsui of FSX TIMES (https://fsxtimes.wordpress.com)
Tom is an expert flight simmer who has also participated in this project by creating a custom FIP gauge for the SDS Shuttle. More about this later.
Please read the article here.
https://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2016/10/18/343-spaceship-landed-in-panama/
THE SPACE DRONE SIMULATOR SDS-1 
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