Hey guys,

Hoping somebody might be able to help me. I've had the latest 757-200. Lovely aircraft. I have no problems setting up the FMC, flying the route etc.. The problem comes when on approach in that despite all my efforts, I cannot get the ILS needles to appear. I mean that it seems the ILS isnt being found.

Once Im given a landing runway, I select the ILS approach from the DEP/ARR pages. No sid or with SID, doesnt matter. I then select the ILS freq on the NAV/RAD page and ensure its highlighted. I confirm that the correct frequency is on the radio stack. Its all there. Correct freq. But the needles (or dots) never appear.

Ive tried to tune the ILS manually on the panel but it seems you cannot do this. I can change the course, but not the frequency. Is that normal??

Any suggestions??

Cheers,
AB

Don't tune it from the glare shield but there is a special ILS tuner on the console. You should be able to set both course and freq there.

Don't forget that if your ARR is set for an ILS approach, it will automatically set the frequency and heading for the arrival runway in time for your final approach.

I used to sit there waiting and waiting and waiting...etc... for the numbers to get entered, and they do show up in time! Sometimes I got so scared that it wasn't going to show, that I manually entered them anyway (that was a long time ago though :D)!

Mark

I too can't get ILS to work, I am new to 757 but familiar with FMC use.

I set up for an ILS approach and when I get there I see the correct frequency and course in NAVRADIO with the A active flag beside it but when I hit LOC followed by APP nothing happens, either before or after I enter the glide path - no course or descent marks appear on the ADI - I have been practising using the FMC tutorial for KLAS R25L.

Thanks for the replies guys, but still no luck. I was going to attach some pics but I think they have to be hosted somewhere first and I\ve no expirence with uploading photos to a host server.

I just purchased the 767 so Im going to try and play with that instead.

Cheers,

Every time I have had similar problems it has been because I am pointed at the wrong runway :-)  I'd try it out with a couple of different runways to make sure it isn't something like that.  I have never seen this problem before.

I have also had this happen to me when I'm using the auto ils tuner, and I've been absolutely 100% sure the FMC has been correctly set up and that ive been landing on the correct runway (lol, I have NEVER EVER landed on another runway than the one I was supposed to land on). I havent experienced this when I'm manually entering the ILS frequency and course, so doing it manually seems to be a fix for this.

Before manually tuning the ILS frequency and heading. Open the NAV RAD button on the CDU. You should see the frequency and heading listed like so:

ILS-MLS
109.70/159

Just click on the Left LSK4 twice (copies and pastes the 109.70/159). Look at the ILS tuner and you will see that it is now entered for you. This saves a lot of mucking around entering the frequency and heading.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Markoz wrote on Jul 8^th, 2010 at 12:04am:

Before manually tuning the ILS frequency and heading. Open the NAV RAD button on the CDU. You should see the frequency and heading listed like so: ILS-MLS 109.70/159 Just click on the Left LSK4 twice (copies and pastes the 109.70/159). Look at the ILS tuner and you will see that it is now entered for you. This saves a lot of mucking around entering the frequency and heading. Hope this helps. Mark

Thanks Mark, this is exactly what Im doing. I can confirm that the correct freq is entered onto the ILS portion of the console, but no dots appear on the ADI.

I'm going to try the 767 but its such a shame because I love flying the 757.

Looks like a bug.
I have had the same problem as others on this Topic and despite trying all the excellent suggestions put forward, the ILS still doesn't work.
Having bought both the 757 and 767 at the recent sale I thought it time to try the 767. It worked perfectly first time.
There must be a problem with recent downloads of the 757, bit annoying after all the time I have spent on this sim trying to make it work.
I will be putting in a ticket but the ONE tech support person is away for a few weeks, mmmmmm.
:(

You may trying making sure the default AVIONICS MASTER is on (do not remember the default FS keystroke).  I can fly a whole flight with no issues until I reach the ILS, then nothing.  Usually hitting the avionics master brings the ILS to life if I forgot.  I have the key programmed into an X-Keys key pad.

Hope it helps / good luck.

Joe

JPL19 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 12:46am:

You may trying making sure the default AVIONICS MASTER is on (do not remember the default FS keystroke).  I can fly a whole flight with no issues until I reach the ILS, then nothing.  Usually hitting the avionics master brings the ILS to life if I forgot.  I have the key programmed into an X-Keys key pad. Hope it helps / good luck. Joe

There is no default keyboard shortcut in FSX for the Avionics Master Switch. You have to set it yourself. I have set mine to the CTRL+SHIFT+A. :)

Mark

Well then, how about that.
Thanks Joe, that did the trick.

The question is - why do I need to do that ?.
There are no fault lights showing and all other instruments work ok.

Confused but happier.

You can also make sure your master avionics switch is on in your default setup, say the Cessna.

You could try adding electric_always_available=1 to the aircraft config file under [electrical]. Like this:

[electrical]
electric_always_available=1
max_battery_voltage = 24.0
generator_alternator_voltage = 30.0
max_generator_alternator_amps = 400.0

I find I don't need this line though. I just start with the default C172 in a Cold & Dark configuration, except that the Avionics Master Switch is left ON.

Mark

You can also edit fsx\Flights\other\FLTSIM.FLT with notepad and change the line


AvionicsSwitch=False


to


AvionicsSwitch=True



This will ensure that the avionics switch is on whenever you start a plane in FSX

EDIT: added the correct filename, I originally called the file 'FLIGHT.FLT', should have been 'FLTSIM.FLT'. whoops :P

Thanks for the help guys!

Heres what I tried today.

Loaded up the Captain Sim 757 defualt flights for Engines Running at KSEA and flew down to KPDX. Tuned in the ILS and it all worked fine.

So I thought it must be something to do with the default flight I have set, which is for everything to be cold and dark.

Then I logged back on here and discovered you blokes had already discussed making sure the avionics switche is set to on.

Well, I opned up my aircraft.cfg and made the electrical adjustmented that was metioned above, and I set a shortcut for the avionics master switch as well.

Then I flew KORD (FSDreamTeam) to KJFJ (FSDreamTeam). All seemed to go well. I set the ILS, and as I approached the field I got the DOTS displayed on the ADI (which was never happening before) but the magenta intercept bar never appeared, either for the localizer or the glideslope.

I tested switching the master avionics on/off with my shortcut CTRL/SHT/A and sure enough, with the avionics OFF, the DOTS disappear (but nothing else goes off, no radios or anything). When I turned the avionics back on, it appeared again, but still no magenta BAR.

More testing is needed I think.

Thanks for you help tho guys, much appreciated.

Just did another test flight with the same results. Got the dots on the ADI but the locasiler never appeared.

How do you guys load your flights up?

Ive always wanted to start cold and dark, but obviously that is causing me a problem. Do you guys start with the defualt CS flights

Cheers,
AB

I have the default Cessna with everything off except for the avionics master as my default, i.e. load-at-the-start flight.  That works for me.  The CS loads will work, too.  

wims wrote on Jul 10^th, 2010 at 9:11pm:

You can also edit fsx\Flights\other\FLIGHT.FLT with notepad and change the line AvionicsSwitch=False to AvionicsSwitch=True This will ensure that the avionics switch is on whenever you start a plane in FSX

That sounds a neat solution, my problem is I do not have a FLIGHT.FLT  in fsx\Flights\other\ - should I have ?

ozflyer wrote on Jul 11^th, 2010 at 6:20am:

wims wrote on Jul 10th, 2010 at 9:11pm: You can also edit fsx\Flights\other\FLIGHT.FLT with notepad and change the line AvionicsSwitch=False to AvionicsSwitch=True This will ensure that the avionics switch is on whenever you start a plane in FSX That sounds a neat solution, my problem is I do not have a FLIGHT.FLT  in fsx\Flights\other\ - should I have ?

I don't have a FLIGHT.FLT anywhere on my computer either. I searched ALL of my Hard Drives and their partitions.

Mark

Ooops, that should be 'FLTSIM.FLT', not 'FLIGHT.FLT'

FIXED IT!!!!

Here was the problem.

Firstly, as we discovered above, i had the Master Avionics Swithc off by defautly. So, creating a shortcut for that (and putting it ON in the defautlt flight) fixed half the problem - that is, that the DOTS appeared on the ADI, but no magenti intercept bar.

Second half of the problem, as that I had the radio in the default flight set to NAV. It turns out that it needs to be set to GPS. I created a toggle switch for NAV/GPS and found that switching it made the magenta intercept bars disappear.

So, in the defautly flight I've now got the Master Avionics ON and it set to GPS.

Thanks for all your help guys, MUCH appreciated.

airbumps wrote on Jul 11^th, 2010 at 12:22pm:

So, in the defautly flight I've now got the Master Avionics ON and it set to GPS.

That seems really strange airbumps. I would expect that you need to have the NAV/GPS Switch set to NAV mode (not GPS mode) to get it to follow the ILS and G/S.

You can load an FSX Flight Planner plan into the CDU so that the FMC will follow it in NAV mode. It would act just like the A/P in the default 737-800 following that same plan set in GPS mode.

Mark