Flight Sim for Win7 PC, using connected Dx6i

[Tony Harrison 2]

I finally got around to searching for suitable software yesterday. Almost immediately I was enmeshed in a ludicrous tangle of outdated advice, ancient threads, programs which needed (according to differing opinion) this or that software gizmo incorporated to make them work... I downloaded something called "Smartpropoplus", plugged my Dx6i into the laptop, no response at all - error message "TX not connected" - found references to an add-on call "vJoy" or some such... I really do not need this absurd degree of complexity and fiddlyness. A few years ago I had a program, forget its name, installed it and hooked up the Spektrum - worked straight away.

I'd appreciate advice for a good, clear, realistic sim software that works without faffing around. I'm working up toward trying (again) to fly solo, but I despair at the thought of yet another almost-immediate destructive crash, so simulated flight might give me added confidence.

Thanks - Tony

[Denis Watkins]

Good idea to fly a simm Tony

Windows 7 and DX6i work perfectly with Clearview, bought online

Or Phoenix that is downloadable.

Or the usual Disks like Realflight.

Plug in the DX switched off before Start Up

[Tony Harrison 2]

3 minutes ago, Denis Watkins said:

Good idea to fly a simm Tony

Windows 7 and DX6i work perfectly with Clearview, bought online

Or Phoenix that is downloadable.

Or the usual Disks like Realflight.

Plug in the DX switched off before Start Up

Thanks Denis. I'll have a look at Clearview, maybe the others.

[Tony Harrison 2]

2 hours ago, Denis Watkins said:

Good idea to fly a simm Tony

Windows 7 and DX6i work perfectly with Clearview, bought online

Or Phoenix that is downloadable.

Or the usual Disks like Realflight.

Plug in the DX switched off before Start Up

BTW don't know why I wrote Win7 - my PC runs Win10Pro. Downloaded the trial version of Clearview and cannot make head or tail of the setup procedure - doesn't seem to "see" my Dx6i, even though I connected that prior to loading the program; the input selection list has options for keyobaord, plus two for "Receiver" - no TX brand names listed, which isn't helpful. So far, this weirdness is exactly what I've experienced previously when trying to run RC flight-sim software - strange English in the instructions (written by non-native speakers?), guidance that refers to things I do not recognise or understand... I am computer literate, having first used PCs in the early/mid 1980s, but these sim progs seem like oddballs.

rgds Tony

[Bob Burton]

How are you connecting the Tx to the PC ?

[Tony Harrison 2]

1 minute ago, Bob Burton said:

How are you connecting the Tx to the PC ?

Hi Bob. Double-ended 3.5mm jack, "trainer" socket on back of Dx6i to "audio" and "mike" sockets (I tried each) on PC.

[Outrunner]

28 minutes ago, Tony Harrison 2 said:

Hi Bob. Double-ended 3.5mm jack, "trainer" socket on back of Dx6i to "audio" and "mike" sockets (I tried each) on PC.

Surely you can't connect a tx to a pc via audio or mic sockets! In the old days it would be via a serial RS232 port or these days USB or Bluetooth.

[Denis Watkins]

11 minutes ago, Outrunner said:

Surely you can't connect a tx to a pc via audio or mic sockets! In the old days it would be via a serial RS232 port or these days USB or Bluetooth.

 

As Outrunner says, Mic connection cannot work.

Mic plug to USB is the lead.

You can try Clearview free

But any flight Sim needs the sticks calibrating just to know left, right, up and down, and switches for flaps and landing gear

 

[Tony Harrison 2]

1 hour ago, Denis Watkins said:

 

As Outrunner says, Mic connection cannot work.

Mic plug to USB is the lead.

You can try Clearview free

But any flight Sim needs the sticks calibrating just to know left, right, up and down, and switches for flaps and landing gear

 

Indeed Denis, it did seem counter intuitive- must get a lead from Amazon.

rgds Tony 

[Shaun Walsh]

Spektrum make a USB dongle to connect your Tx wirelessly to your pc.

USB dongle

[Dad_flyer]

I had Clearview, it is OK. Realflight is about twice the price, but wayyy more than twice as good. 

In either I have never been able to get lined up to land properly. I find depth and height are much harder than in real life. Other aspects of flying the SIM is useful for me.

[Lima Hotel Foxtrot]

I use my dx6i on my laptop with a cheapo wired flight sim USB dongle from Amazon. There's thousands of them and I suspect they're all the same. Only 5 channels, but it does what I need and I didn't have to pay the insane money for the official Spektrum wireless dongle.

 

I've used both Clearview and Realflight, and Realflight is excellent; it is by far the more flexible and accurate sim. I downloaded it from Steam and was very easy to set up. Some of the tutorials and challenges are actually quite good learning tools.

 

I do find that stringing an HDMI cable from my laptop to the 50" TV and using that as a monitor gives a much better experience. It's far more immersive and gives a wider field of view as per real life; depth and height perception become less of an issue.

[GrumpyGnome]

I have Realflight (v7 I think), and Phoenix on my W10 Surface, and used a DX6i.  Bought a cheapo package off ebay for about £15 - came with a CD, several sims, a cable.   

 

Loaded easily, worked fine (I couldn't get Reflex to work but I think that's user error!). I spent a few hours upgrading on line, and downloading later versions, additional planes and locations.

 

Although Phoenix is no longer in production, or supported, there still seems quite an active user base creating, and tweaking, planes that can be downloaded.

 

I prefer both Phoenix and Realflight to Clearview tbh.

[Tony Harrison 2]

14 hours ago, Shaun Walsh said:

Spektrum make a USB dongle to connect your Tx wirelessly to your pc.

USB dongle

Thanks Shaun. Nexus want £34 for this, which seems excessive! Since my TX will be right next to the PC, a lead will do.

rgds Tony

[Tony Harrison 2]

12 hours ago, Dad_flyer said:

I had Clearview, it is OK. Realflight is about twice the price, but wayyy more than twice as good. 

In either I have never been able to get lined up to land properly. I find depth and height are much harder than in real life. Other aspects of flying the SIM is useful for me.

Your experience echoes mine from a few years ago when trying a flight sim: everything is too small and distant, even on a large external monitor. I hear what you say about Clearview: even if RealFlight is far superior, there's a limit to how much I'll spend on software that doesn't really simulate the real thing properly. I just want to play around, exercise my TX, boost my confidence before trying solo flight again at the field.

rgds Tony

[Tony Harrison 2]

9 hours ago, Lima Hotel Foxtrot said:

I use my dx6i on my laptop with a cheapo wired flight sim USB dongle from Amazon. There's thousands of them and I suspect they're all the same. Only 5 channels, but it does what I need and I didn't have to pay the insane money for the official Spektrum wireless dongle.

 

I've used both Clearview and Realflight, and Realflight is excellent; it is by far the more flexible and accurate sim. I downloaded it from Steam and was very easy to set up. Some of the tutorials and challenges are actually quite good learning tools.

 

I do find that stringing an HDMI cable from my laptop to the 50" TV and using that as a monitor gives a much better experience. It's far more immersive and gives a wider field of view as per real life; depth and height perception become less of an issue.

Thanks, useful. I see what you mean about the dongles on Amazon, but I'd be bound to have problems setting one up, and since my TX is used right next to the PC a lead is convenient, cheap, no connection problems. Realflight seems expensive, so I'll try the Clearview free trial first. I use an external monitor, though not as big as your TV...

rgds Tony

[Tony Harrison 2]

2 hours ago, GrumpyGnome said:

I have Realflight (v7 I think), and Phoenix on my W10 Surface, and used a DX6i.  Bought a cheapo package off ebay for about £15 - came with a CD, several sims, a cable.   

 

Loaded easily, worked fine (I couldn't get Reflex to work but I think that's user error!). I spent a few hours upgrading on line, and downloading later versions, additional planes and locations.

 

Although Phoenix is no longer in production, or supported, there still seems quite an active user base creating, and tweaking, planes that can be downloaded.

 

I prefer both Phoenix and Realflight to Clearview tbh.

Thanks for the helpful advice. Looked briefly on Ebay but no suitable offers at present.

rgds Tony

[GrumpyGnome]

Available on Amazon..... MINGSTORE 22 In 1 RC USB Flight Simulator With Cables For G7 Phoenix 5.0 Aerofly XTR VRC FPV Racing : AmazonSmile: Toys & Games

Edited September 6, 2022 by GrumpyGnome
Further info found

[Tony Harrison 2]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

Available on Amazon..... MINGSTORE 22 In 1 RC USB Flight Simulator With Cables For G7 Phoenix 5.0 Aerofly XTR VRC FPV Racing : AmazonSmile: Toys & Games

Thanks, though I'm not sure about this - all a bit strange, various connector leads I wouldn't use, sodtware disc???

rgds Tony

[Denis Watkins]

19 minutes ago, Tony Harrison 2 said:

Thanks, though I'm not sure about this - all a bit strange, various connector leads I wouldn't use, sodtware disc???

rgds Tony

But Tony, you would be connected, and have the leads for other Tx you may take on.

 

Of the 2 red Phono plugs, one goes into the DX6i and the other into the USB dongle that plugs into your computer.

The Futaba square and round leads just put into stock, labelled.

[Tony Harrison 2]

3 minutes ago, Denis Watkins said:

But Tony, you would be connected, and have the leads for other Tx you may take on.

 

Of the 2 red Phono plugs, one goes into the DX6i and the other into the USB dongle that plugs into your computer.

The Futaba square and round leads just put into stock, labelled.

I must be rather thick today, Denis, but I don't follow! I see no Phono plugs (aka RCA plugs) just a double-ended 3.5 mini-jack lead; my Dx6i takes a 3.5 mono mini-jack; I thought the point of the dongle was to provide cordless communication - ? (I'd be concerned anyway about getting that to work - my experience has been that with my various Bluetooth devices, it's very flaky, even my high-end Astell & Kern music player is a bug*er to get connected) So why plug anything into the dongle? Does it have, against all logic, a 3.5mm female socket? Very happy to be corrected here...

rgds Tony

[Denis Watkins]

You are dealing with a man your age Tony, so I know your scepticism and your reluctance to throw money away.

I am in agreement with your caution.

Yes, you are right, the double ended 3.5 mini-jack lead is to join the USB to your DX6i, and Yes

You are right, the USB dongle has the 3.5mm female counterpart built in.

And I know because I have this kit, and other kits that work my DX6i on my Windows 10 PC.

 

I use all manner of sim, for the sheer fun of it, from DX6i, to joystick to fly simulated airliners, jets and models

 

[Tony Harrison 2]

1 hour ago, Denis Watkins said:

You are dealing with a man your age Tony, so I know your scepticism and your reluctance to throw money away.

I am in agreement with your caution.

Yes, you are right, the double ended 3.5 mini-jack lead is to join the USB to your DX6i, and Yes

You are right, the USB dongle has the 3.5mm female counterpart built in.

And I know because I have this kit, and other kits that work my DX6i on my Windows 10 PC.

 

I use all manner of sim, for the sheer fun of it, from DX6i, to joystick to fly simulated airliners, jets and models

 

OK Denis, thanks for clarifying. If I'd looked more closely I might have spotted the jack socket on that dongle... Will order from Amazon, fingers crossed.

rgds Tony