asanal wrote on Jan 24^th, 2010 at 6:46am:

The reason I added that line to the aircraft.cfg was because I my avionics would turn off after a few minutes of flight. I did read the manual(s) and after closely following the checklists provided in them, I still lost power to my avionics. I even wrote them into a text document so I could follow them using the kneeboard.  This happened regardless of any dials or knobs settings that are supposed to provide the power to the aircraft. My avionics would turn off anyway. So I added that line and solved the problem.

Although I have added that line into my aircraft.cfg, I still need to use the APU to start the engines (unless I use FSX default CTRL+E).


Mark

Mark,
WE all have the same 727-100X. I assume  we should have same problems, unless our Pc configuration contributing the problem. I can start engines with battery power with out any problem. I can click on EP
and can start the engine and APU.

In mean time I cannot use AP GS, because it is not capturing signal and tracking. Why, I have no idea.

Do we have all same Aircraft and Panel.cfg files? Or some add-ons are influencing each other. I am sure yes. I have FSCaptain I cannot use it if I activate FSCrew with MD11X and LDSX.

In RW you should be  able use your batteries at least 30 minutes or more.I assume SIMworld should be like that also. In your case , you are loosing battery power rapidly. Is it possible in your Aircraft.cfg file battery power numbers is lesser then should be?

Or mine GS intercept Aircraft.Cfg file suppose to be 1 or 2  instead of 0.

I think, we should start to check if Aircraft.cfg files numbers are some reason cahged or not.
In My case CS support said, all people who does not  have FSX Acceleration on their system are experiencing AP and Cabin Sound problems after the SP 2.3 installation.
Do you have FSX Acceleration??
Regards
Sanal

I'll add my experience to this.  With the 727-100 I could use the LOC setting to intercept the localizer and the Auto GS to capture the glide slope. After 2.3 I tried various intercept altitudes and angles but the Auto GS function would not work.  I have FSX SP2 but not Acceleration.

Wigwag123 wrote on Mar 6^th, 2010 at 11:17pm:

It works great for me. Are you sure you have entered the fix into the correct section of the aircraf.cfg?

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

I always turn the APU off after I have started the engines. And as for the APU using fuel when being used. I believe it should, but I find that it doesn't seem to use any at all, no matter how long I use it for.

Note: I can't start the engines without the APU unless I use CTRL+E.

Mark

I've been doing a test on mine right now and after 46+ minutes I still have power to my avionics. All I did was load the 727 into FSX, turned on the Battery Switch and left it sitting there while I played Solitaire. As I am about to submit this message I still have power to the avionics.

Mark

Edit. It has now been 1 hour and the avionics are still working.

I changed the line electric_always_available=1 to electric_always_available=0 and started the 727-100 Cold-n-Dark (KSEA). When I pressed Shift+6 to open the GPS panel, the GPS was off. Once I turned the battery switch ON, the GPS came on with it.

I also did a test with the battery switch on and the GPS on. After about 11 minutes, the GPS went off. So adding the electric_always_available=1 to mine is working for me.

Mark

I have done another test and got a pleasant surprise. I still have the electric_always_available=0 setting in the aircraft.cfg. I will remove it completely from the aircraft.cfg to try a couple of things that will become clear through reading this post.

I exited and then restarted FSX and from Free Flight selected Load then 727-100 Cold-n-Dark (KSEA) and clicked Fly Now.

I left the plane sitting there for a while with the GPS displayed and ON with the Battery Switch OFF. Again after about 11 minutes the GPS went OFF. I turned the Master Battery Switch ON and the GPS came on too. I then decided to do a flight from KSEA to KIAD, so I started the APU and then the engines. After starting the engines, I moved both the AC Meters Selector from APU to GEN 2, the Essential Power Selector from APU to GEN 2 and the DC Meters Selector from BAT to ESS TR and after more than one (1) hour I have not lost any power to any avionics instruments. Have I found a solution other than having the electric_always_available=1?

The other thing that surprised me was that ALL the sounds (cockpit announcements and "dings" for other switches) worked without having to reload the 727. After my current flight, which still has 3 hours to go, I will do a whole computer restart and see if this works again or if I just got lucky this one time. Sorry, but I hate not completing a flight I have started.

Mark

EDIT. It is now some 2 hours since I posted this. I never finished my flight as my FSX went to a completely black screen where I couldn't see anything anymore, so there was no hope of landing. It does this every now and then for some strange reason.

I exited FSX and rebooted my computer. I did all the same things to start my flight in the 727. The sounds were NOT working, so no fix there!

As for what I did to start the 727. I followed the same as I did before. I did remove the electric_always_available=1. It is not there anymore, not even electric_always_available=0 is there. I'm doing a flight from KSEA to KSFO. I am flying at FL300 315 KIAS with 388nm to go and I still have avionics power after far more than 11 minutes since the start.  So my guess is that the power solution seems to be where I set those knobs that I mentioned.

Markoz,

I've experienced this problem with both the 727 and C-130. In my experience the key difference is that while you'll never lose electric power if you sit in one place in the tarmac, as soon as the plane starts moving on the ground the countdown to power loss starts (in the case of a long taxi you can lose power before getting to the runway). Hitting ctl-E works with the C-130--maybe try that with the 727 as well?

This is a pretty serious problem and it's a shame that CS seems not to know how to fix it.