O2 Gauge Workings,

Ali Cat

Charter Member
Does anyone know how a blinker O2 gauge works. A while back I found some info but I have yet to re-find it. I’m considering trying to make one.


AC
 
Sauerstoffwächter

Hi AC,
The simple Luftwaffe ones, a Sauerstoffwächter, had a visual 'blinking shutter' type system. This went from white horizontal lines to black and back again (closing from the top on all four lines and opening in reverse), depending on crew member oxygen demand speed.

Shessi
 
Thanks guys -- that does help. Did some more searching and it blinks (closes) when the pilot inhales. I think it can be done but it would have to just start blinking over 10,000 feet as I don't see anything in the SDK.


AC
 
Sure thing ckissling -- send away. I haven't noticed you about -- good to see you again here in the basement.


AC
 
AC,
Could it be linked to another gauge i.e. altimeter, and that triggers the simulated oxygen demand 'blinking'?
Or could it be linked to a RPM gauge, the more revs the faster the blinking, which might replicate faster breathing when in action or carrying out something that require extra effort or danger?

When demand valves were introduced, replacing the old constant pressure systems, a lot of/most aircrews just turned on and breathed oxygen from the start of the mission. There being little waste as it was a regulated system. So height might not be that important, just the gauge and the blinking(?)

Shessi

SC,
My mind's not great, I just have to try a lot harder! :icon_lol::guinness:
 
Shessi,

Yes and yes. The more typical gauge just responds to one token variable (MS flight sim term for data which is accessible) but any gauge may be coded to check any of the other token variables and respond accordingly. I did this a number of times with the JU-52 panel.

Demand valves? That’s news to me – guess that would be yet another type of O2 gauge?

I like very much your imaginative thinking – perhaps we have something in common? If I could over write the player aircraft G’s and make you black out if you forgot to turn on …

Yea, calm down “Ali Cat”. Let’s get a simple one working first.


Good stuff Shessi,
AC


PS: The above is not an idle or uninformed dream though I doubt seriously it would work. I have noticed that for a token variable that you also get a pointer to that variable (the address in memory) and one can't help but think can I write to that? I have not explored this aspect of the game but I'm guessing that that is how FSUIPC does it. A few more things.
  1. It is counter-intuitive to me that if I overwrite the G-Forces that it would not muck something up – can you say CTD.
  2. The doc's are for FSX but my reading per Lawson says no or at best probably not.
  3. The Fs2000 SDK makes this warning …
Important: Token variables are read-only. Any attempt to set these variables through the var_ptr variable may result in program crashes and incompatibility with future versions of Flight Simulator.”
 
I have an O2 blinker gauge working. It starts blinking when you are over 10,000 feet. Shessi – I used your idea of making the breathing rate depend on the throttle. At 80% or below it will blink at a rest rate. Throttling up to 100% it will increase to an excited rate. Here’s a pic of the gauge.


View attachment 46813
 

Note that I had to make the orifice opening (eye socket?) larger than the actual gauge. Making this opening to scale resulted in a bumpy blinking due to so few pixel rows.

The gauge file (test only) is attached. It’s a bit of a quickie but should anyone fiddled with it let me what you think. Oh yes, to access the gauge you use "AldTest!O2Blinky".
 

Sorry sc7500, I just could not make it wink!
AC
 
Great work AC! :applause:

Not had an opertunity to try out 'Blinky 1', but will tommorow. Looks very good BTW.

I'm really liking where this is going, (sorry if you're doing all the work! ;)).

With the FSUIPC warning, makes sense really as the sim has been hard-coded to produce those variables, but only says 'may' cause sim crashes if variables are changed, so?

Re- the G-blackout idea, superb idea!!
Just thinking out loud, but the variable input that creates black-outs is the G pulled which is made by the joystick inputs and aircraft manouvres.
After 10,000ft could your gauge not be linked to an on/off switch with a clock/timer, to simulate, say after 15 mins a black-out would occur if the oxygen, was not turned on?
The clock/timer could trigger another gauge that would gradually feed in simulated G variable info, which in turn the sim would think it's manouvering G and a black-out would occur. Switching on the oxygen would stop the clock/timer, which in turn would stop the simulated G and so reducing the black-out etc etc....phew!!

Or am I talking total cr*p, again.....;)

Cheers Shessi
 
Can't wait to add it to the P-47, P-51B and P-51D panels I've built! Right now they are just painted on. Don't forget to keep the blinker a bright yellow? Kudos for this Ali. :icon29:
 
Oh and I forgot!

The demand valve, is just a valve (in these early systems), no gauge, and part of the oxygen system. It operates on differential pressure ie high oxygen supply pressure on one side and low pressure caused by the pilot breathing in on the other. It would be variable, as to it's demand sensitivity, by the crew member.

The blinker gauge is just a pilot/crew visual aide to show that oxygen is flowing. Another oxygen pressure gauge would show reducing pressure and therefore a guide as to how much was left.

Cheers Shessi
 
Captain Kurt: This is a gauge in need of a gauges file home. I would suggest that you go ahead and send me your O2 artwork and perhaps that other one (turbo something?) too. I would then add it to the AldP51B.gau file. Now that I have the O2 code it’s almost no work to add this gauge. This approach has the great advantage that your new panels will have a consistent look and feel. We also might want to think that if I do add that other gauge, does this constitute an upload? What I’m thinking here is, if so, that I would also want to include the source code. It might help someone and besides, on this PC I have no option to back anything up.

Shessi: Yes, it’s great fun to dream of such juicy mod’s. I guess with me, as with so many others, is with the limited personal time how is it best spent? After this O2 gauge is resolved I plan to return to the gauge tutorial as the interest seemed strong (I often think, for motivation, "Cee’s is waiting on you"). The other side is it does not seem that it would take long to find out if G-Force is write-able. Hmm – let me sleep on it.

And Shessi, "Can we talk?" – everyone else cover your ears! Two other prospects I may work on.

1. Responding to the Captain above reminds me of an idea I had a while back (no mouse tip for a O2 gauge). The stock gauges have the indicated value in the mouse tip. MoparMike responded recently with how to code these live mouse tips but it’s for FS9? I did search the FS2000 gauges.h for the relevant code but it’s not there. What if I downloaded a later SDK and deciphered the underlying code – could I then make it work for CFS2?

2. On that long, boring work lunch break I have been reading every forum I can find on FS coding/gauge making. Over at fsdeveloper there’s a thread of a user who succeeded gaining some control over the AI. The technique is one of creating a proxy app which then allows one to intercept the external calls. Without documentation the work here is tedious, frustrating and the result uncertain. Still, if it could be done – wow!
 

Anyway – plenty to do,
AC
 
Hi AC,
Just put ol' Blinky in a Beau panel, looks good and works well, spot activation at 10,000ft.

Re-back-up, please upload here so it's saved at least, would hate you to lose hours of hard work.

I'm really pleased that you're dedicated to your Panel Tute, good on yer!

So you are saying that you cannot programme a mouse tip with your gauge, and you want one to show oxygen content left or something else?
The trouble is where would the tip get the variable info from, as there is no coded variable for that (oxygen), unless you programme in that variable yourself?
Couldn't your O2 gauge get the variable info from another gauge giving reducing volume info based on time?

See the panel pic. Ol' Blinky working well at 11,000ft and the mouse tip info box on the tacho showing 2900 RPM.
Unfortunately true Fs9 gauges are xml based and CFS2 does not handle that type of info or gauge, but you can just use CFS2 style gauges that work in both sims (not so good looking I know!). The SDK may shine some light on the subject, but I doubt it.

If you need a hand with anything just PM me, and I think we all really appreciate your efforts so far.

Cheers Shessi
 
Shessi,

Thanks for the PM offer – it’s a card that, if I do , I’ll play wisely. The mouse tip issue is really technical but we’ll see right?

I just proudly showed your pic to my gal and 3 of our 5 cats followed her in (they usually do). I said " … see my gauge – I’m famous!" All 3 cats tilted their heads in the way that cats do and looked at me as if I were from another planet. Oh well – everybody’s a critic.
 

Cheers? Back "at-cha" Shessi,
AC
 
Ali Cat

I lost all of my e-mail addresses when I had to replace my hard drive a couple weeks ago. Would you please send me an e-mail so I can recapture your address? I'll send you the artwork for the guages.

And THANKS :wavey:
 
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