cymaz Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Dear All My 15 year old Reflex XTR has finally crashed and died. It’s now so old nothing will talk to it. Has anyone got a sim not being used that will work with Futaba Tx and Windows 10? Anyhow, as it’s been a while since I bought a sim, do they still cut it? Have they all disappeared from the market? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Pilot Posted April 9, 2020 Share Posted April 9, 2020 Ebay is your friend. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/202867583507 No association with seller, there are many offering them. Got one a while ago and it's very good. Can take a bit of setting up though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Turner 12 Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 This works fine with an eBay lead. https://www.rc-thoughts.com/phoenix-sim/ Free download. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepish Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 Hi Take a look at Pica sim. its free or pay for extras, works well and is particularly good for gliders. You will need a USB adaptor from eBay with the Futaba buddy box plug. Shaun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 I’ll look into those. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 I now purchased the simulator leads from Flying Tech in Malvern and will download the program from RCThoughts. Would anyone like a full review and write up? I hope it works, at £24 including postagefor the leads and a free program download it’s worth a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan M Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Posted by Sheepish on 10/04/2020 19:50:08: Hi Take a look at Pica sim. its free or pay for extras, works well and is particularly good for gliders. You will need a USB adaptor from eBay with the Futaba buddy box plug. Shaun Second that wholeheartedly. I've got Picasim on my Android phone and my iPad. Both too small really, but the adaptor enables the TX to plug into the phone which then screen-casts onto the widescreen telly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Murch Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Sorry to be dim but I am struggling to understand how these work. I had assumed that you connect the tx via the buddy socket with a cable to go into the usb port on the laptop. Looking at the images on Ebay the cables do not seem to include a usb male plug or does the dongle go in the laptop and a cable go from the tx to the dongle. I did see what looked like a jackplug in one of the dongles in a laptop. If someone has a photo of the set up I would appreciate seeing it please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 11, 2020 Author Share Posted April 11, 2020 Posted by Julian Murch on 11/04/2020 15:52:17: Sorry to be dim but I am struggling to understand how these work. I had assumed that you connect the tx via the buddy socket with a cable to go into the usb port on the laptop. Looking at the images on Ebay the cables do not seem to include a usb male plug or does the dongle go in the laptop and a cable go from the tx to the dongle. I did see what looked like a jackplug in one of the dongles in a laptop. If someone has a photo of the set up I would appreciate seeing it please. Have a look at the link I set up. The dongle plugs into the usb, from there the jack plug then the Tx cord are daisy chained. The programme is downloaded off the internet. The dongle then decodes the stick movement into something the flight sim can recognize. The ebay link test pilot posted shows this...Hope this helps. If you can hang on I’ll do a full review when it arrives Edited By cymaz on 11/04/2020 16:05:43 Edited By cymaz on 11/04/2020 16:07:59 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Murch Posted April 11, 2020 Share Posted April 11, 2020 Thanks That all looks much clearer. Since I seem to have a few free days at home coming up I will certainly wait for your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan H Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I have been using Phoenix for several years but some of the updates made towards the end of support made it worse! Some of the flight dynamics are unrealistic and slope soaring is now silly with lift everywhere, even behind the slope. On the other hand Picasim has excellent flight dynamics and the slope soaring is very realistic. As already stated it seems to focus mainly on gliders but there are a few power models as well. I use it on a PC with a USB adapter plugged into a Tx that came with a ready to fly heli many years ago. Although it is free I made a Paypal donation in recognition of the work has been put into the project by (I assume) one guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leccyflyer Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I tried to get my Phoenix simulator up and running over the weekend, but haven;t been able to find the USB cable to TX cable since my house move. Looking online I've now ordered one of those knock-off USB cable set ups that aims to emulate the various means of linking your TX to the computer. Will see how that works. The slightly annoying thing was that the full set of expensive pukka Real Flight CDs, adds ons, transmitter and lots of models from when I last used the simulator years ago don't work and won;t even install with the modern versions of Windows. The system wouldn't even recognise the Real Flight TX, even with the 9 pin serial port put through a USB adaptor. I use to take this set up to the club, running ot on the big screen via a projector, but none of it will work with my current PC. - which itself is at least seven years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dickw Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Posted by Alan H on 13/04/2020 12:50:30: ..........................................On the other hand Picasim has excellent flight dynamics and the slope soaring is very realistic. As already stated it seems to focus mainly on gliders but there are a few power models as well.................................... As well as power models, and even a multi-rotor, Picasim also offers control line flying Seems odd at first flying a control line model with my transmitter, but strangely enough it works quite well! Dick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 13, 2020 Author Share Posted April 13, 2020 Downloaded Phoenix 5.5 from RCThoughts today. Just waiting for the cables to arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan H Posted April 14, 2020 Share Posted April 14, 2020 Out of interest I used the update on the RCThoughts website to take my Phoenix sim from 5.5l to 6.0i - can't see any difference - anyone know what has changed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 Package arrived from Flying Tech today. I didn’t expect a disc as well. So that’s a nice surprise....either that or I just didn’t read the web page properly. New and old Futaba plugs supplied, leads, dongle and the disc. The dongle has a four position switch for the different programs on the disc. As I downloaded my Phoenix from the internet I left it on the lower position. Set up was easy. Though it does say if you have a Tx with heli and plane, leave it on heli. My old Tx is a Futaba T6EXA ( fixed wing only). The set up menu is easy to navigate and in a couple of minutes I’d set up the Tx, reversed some controls and stored the Tx in the memory. Having never tried this system before, I liked it. Remember though, that the last sim I had was 15 years ago. Changing models, weather and screen info is intuitive. The menus are clear and easily to see. At the moment I’ve only used on flying site so cannot comment on what else is there in the program. The only thing that I find trouble with is the plane graphics get blocky when coming into land. Wether that’s the set up that needs adjusting or tweaking of the sim graphics ....I’m not sure yet but early days yet. And I can’t get the undercarriage switch to work on the set up, although flaps were easy to get installed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyD Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 I went to set up my simulator last night but forgot my laptop don't take discs and my old one that does needs repairing and obviously cant get it repaired at the mo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 After downloading off the web, I never used the disc that came in the post. Just used Phoenix only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 The disc has Phoenix 5 XTR5 R7 Freerider Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted April 16, 2020 Share Posted April 16, 2020 Are these all out of copyright or am I being naive. A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 16, 2020 Author Share Posted April 16, 2020 RCThoughts quote .... . “ Since PhoenixSim is now fully out of business and there is no customer support left whatsoever I consider it to be abandonware and I feel I can share files for support and community purposes to those still using the software. You still need a dongle to use it. If original copyright holders wish to take these files down for a valid reason they can contact me. “ Taken straight from the website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Murch Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 I have also purchased the cables from Flying Tech. However I guess I must have a very old Futaba set (Skysport 4 ). This has a trainer 'din' socket but it is about 13 mm in diameter whereas the plug with the kit is only 8.9 mm dia. Is there an adaptor available or will I not be able to use this system. Any advice would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 Posted by Julian Murch on 17/04/2020 12:57:54: I have also purchased the cables from Flying Tech. However I guess I must have a very old Futaba set (Skysport 4 ). This has a trainer 'din' socket but it is about 13 mm in diameter whereas the plug with the kit is only 8.9 mm dia. Is there an adaptor available or will I not be able to use this system. Any advice would be appreciated. Would THIS help?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cymaz Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 Having had a play with more of the menus today, some points need writing about. When setting up a model, use the set up menu within the program. I tried at first using end points etc but ended up going really nowhere. Go to model and select a plane. Then go into the top menu bar. Model-Edit, then use the drop down menus on the left side of the edit pane. Each and every variable is covered using the highlight arrows on the left of the pane. Edited By cymaz on 17/04/2020 17:15:38 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian Murch Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 Thanks Cymas Looks fairly straightforward subject to my practicing my soldering skills first. Hopefully Ebay to the rescue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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