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When entering my license key FSFK keeps telling me that the key is invalid. What am I doing wrong?
The Flight Keeper license is personalized. This means that it will only work with the Name and Email address you used during registering the product or the trial version. So always use the Name and Email, which are mentioned in the confirmation mail, and you will be able to successfully register your copy.
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How can I improve the overall performance in FS?
In general you should try to set the target FPS in Flight Simulator so that it will run 90% of your flight at this FPS. For example on a machine with a Core Duo (Windows XP) and a GeForce 6800 I would set the target FPS to 20-25 FPS. This will give other programs more CPU time, thus everything will run smoother. Using higher FPS settings will
not lead into better visual results. Normally 20-25 FPS should be enough to enjoy your flight. There are also some settings in FSFK that allow to move the execution of FSFK and/or the ACARS Device to a specific CPU/Core allowing to run FS on the remaining cores. Another option is to run FS Flight Keeper on another machine using
WideFS.
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Does FS Flight Keeper support AFCAD modifications and airport overlays for FS2002/FS2004/FSX?
Yes. All available Airport Facility Data (AFD) will be read and stored for faster usage. Also airport overlays will be detected correctly.
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I added and/or modified my sceneries. How does FS Flight Keeper recognizes those changes?
You will need to clear and rebuild the Flight Keeper navigation database and your modifications will be available. Click on "Tools" -> "Rebuild Navigation Database" to rebuild the database.
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I have enabled the Flight Simulator Scenery option, but there are still many small airports missing. Is there a way to add those airports?
Yes. Since v1.1 there is a new configuration file available ("Airports.cfg"). Just add the airports you are missing to this file and they will show up on the World Map and are also available in the Flight Editor.
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There are some Islands, Rivers or Lakes missing. Is the data corrupt?
No. Everything is fine with the data used by FS Flight Keeper. The data that is used here has defined a minimum size for those entries. So it might be that your favorite lake/river/island is missing.
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After landing at the destination airport the runway and gate has not been detected automatically, why?
This is normal and by design. FS Flight Keeper will run the detection after the flight has been finished. This is due to the fact that the routine needs a bit more processor resources and it would disturb you during landing your aircraft. Therefore this is done if you have finished the flight. A big improvement has been made in v1.1, that allows a direct detection during landing. The only thing you need to do is to pre select a destination airport (only need if you don't assign a flight plan or don't use Radar Contact for pre selecting the airports) from the drop down box and FSFK will detect the runway used for landing.
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Autopilot mode changes are not reported (detected), why?
Some third party aircraft/panel Add-Ons do not use the default Microsoft autopilot and do not report any autopilot information to FS. Therefore FS Flight Keeper is not able to read this information. The result is that no changes are detected nor reported. Please not that this might also effect other types of information. Thus with some aircraft other data might not be logged. Again this is by design and can not be changed. But you can, at any time, manually add or modify those data in the Flight Editor.
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Can I use the Slew mode while running Flight Keeper?
Yes. FSFK will go into sleep mode while FS is in slew mode. So you can move your aircraft, e.g. for push back. The only time you need to be carefully is when you turn off the slew mode. The aircraft should be on the ground in such cases or one might get a takeoff reported by FSFK.
- Can I use Instant Replay while running Flight Keeper?
Yes. With v2.5+ FSFK will go into sleep mode while FS showing the replay. But we recommend to use the replay only while on ground or after the flight has been recorded.
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Does FS Flight Keeper work with other Add-Ons?
Definitely yes! Flight Keeper has been successfully tested with the following products:
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I want log some additional data, how can I store these information with Flight Keeper?
Of course there will be data that FS Flight Keeper will not log by default. But there is an easy way how to store such data. This product offers ten customizable fields that can be used to store such information. Open the Flight Editor and go to the custom tab.
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I can not change all values in the Flight Editor, why?
There are some values on the additional tab which can not be modified. Those values are automatically calculated by FS Flight Keeper and can not calculated manually (e.g. average frames per second, etc.). Thus there are not changeable.
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I disabled the message display in the options, but I still get a start and end message?
Those messages can not be turned off, because they are used to troubleshoot eventually problems during connecting FS Flight Keeper with FS.
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I want to modify the reports, how can this be done?
A very easy task. Go to the "Documents\FS Flight Keeper\Templates" folder and duplicate one of the installed templates. Rename it and use your favorite editor to modify the layout and/or the Flight Keeper fields you want to include. Save the new template and open the Options dialog. Now select the newly created template and you are done.
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The downloaded METAR, TAF or ALOFT is sometimes empty or does only contain the ICAO code, why?
This can happen, if the METAR/TAF/ALOFT download request has timed out on the weather server. Just retry the download and in most cases you will get a correct report.
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I can't change the units in the Options dialog, why?
If the Flight Editor and/or the World Map is visible, changing the displayed units is not possible. This is by design and can not be changed.
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I get many "Not available" reports if I try to download ALOFT data, why can this happen?
WMO station get inactive from time to time. If you get only "Not available" reports for specific station, then remove this station from the configuration file "
WMOStations.cfg". We will publish an updated WMO Station configuration frequently to reflect major changes. So you should check out the
Flight Keeper download page from time to time for any updates.
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What is Microsoft MDAC/ADO and why is it required?
ADO is a programming library used to access databases in a very easy and efficient way. This is a standard Microsoft library which runs on all Microsoft platforms.
This library is required by Flight Keeper to access the build in database.
If ADO is not installed this Add-On will not run. For more information check out the
Microsoft homepage.
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I noticed a small decrease of my FPS when I have the live ACARS enabled and I have reached a navigation point, why?
After you have reached a navigation point (or the minute position report) FS Flight Keeper will send an ACARS message to the ACARS server. If this request is delayed somehow it might lead into a very small decrease of your FPS (around 1-2 FPS) for a fraction of a second. But it will not influence your flight in any way.
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Can FS Flight Keeper run on another computer?
Yes. Using
WideFS you can run this product on any other PC. Please make sure that you install FSFK also on the FS machine, if you also want to use the ACARS Device.
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Does FS Flight Keeper work with SimConnect?
No. There some functions required in FSFK that are currently not supported by SimConnect. So the only choice is FSUIPC/WideFS.
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I am organizing a Virtual Airline. Is there any License package available for our pilots and can you help us to create a service for receiving the flight data?
We offer a special License package for Virtual Airlines, but please
contact us for any further information. We also offer a limited support for creating the services needed to receive a flight on your web server. We have prepared some coding examples which can be used for this purpose.
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Do you plan any enhancements for future versions?
Definitely yes. We are planning to improve and add more features to this Add-On in the next few months. Many things did not make it to the final version. So stay tuned.
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When taking a screenshot I get the following error message: "Not enough memory to store the screenshot."
This error can occur when the Flight Simulator is consuming too much memory and/or handles. The only solution is to close some open applications or to restart FS.
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When taking a screenshot or using Air TV I get only a black image/captures. What is wrong?
In most cases this happens when you are using Windows Vista/7 and FS in full screen mode (especially when using FSX in DX10 preview mode). You can try to use windowed mode or try some different display settings (e.g. antialiasing turned off in FS, but enabled in the driver settings). There is no other workaround available. A future version might add DirectX grabbing which might solve this issue.
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I am not able to contact any user via the Instant Messaging feature. What can I do?
FSFK's instant messaging is using a so called client (peer) to client (peer) messaging system. This means that all communication between each user is using a direct network (TCP/IP) connection. Therefore FSFK needs to listen on a configured port for any incoming message. This port can be configured in the Options dialog. The default port is 8010, which is rarely used by other applications. So you can normally leave it like it is. Also make sure that, if you have any Firewall, Gateway, Proxy or NAT installed in your LAN, this port is reachable from out side (the Net). Otherwise other users will not be able to send you any message. This would also make the sign in/off and status changes a lot slower, because FSFK is broadcasting every user status change to all other users. Thus making it really important that the configured client port is reachable. The FSFK Messaging Service server is only responsible for maintaining and verifying logins and the list of online users. A user can only sign in once. If you sign in on another machine, any other user already signed in with the same email address will automatically signed off.
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When opening the Flight Editor nothing happens and I get 100% CPU usage. What's happening there?
In most cases this is a problem with the RichText (RTF) component used to store and display your comments. Please make sure that the file 'RICHTX32.OCX' exists in your '...\Windows\System32' (or '...\Windows\System' for Win98/WinMe systems) folder. Also make sure that the current user has at least 'Read & Execute' permissions for this file.
- I can't connect Flight Keeper with the ACARS Device, why?
Please make sure that the TCP/IP Port configured in the Options matches the configuration of the Device in the 'Panel.cfg' and that TCP/IP is working on your system.
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I get a warning message that the GMT/ZULU time has been changed, but I didn't changed anything. How can this happen?
Due to a bug within the FS time zone configuration FS sometimes does not change the time zone (local time), but does change the GMT/ZULU time. This leads to incorrect times recorded and thus Flight Keeper is complaining about wrong times and will not save the flight. Version 2.0 contains a work around for this problem and will automatically correct the logged ZULU times internally to prevent this. Please note that this will not correct the wrong time within FS. You will also get this message, whenever you manually change the time in FS.
- Flight Keeper does not detect a takeoff for some Helicopters. What can I do to solve this?
These Helos do not have a Helo turbine engine and are using another engine type (e.g. the FS2004 Robinson uses a piston type engine), so that FSFK things that this is not a Helo. But you are able to force Flight Keeper to handle such aircraft as Helos. The only thing you will need to do, is to set the property 'Helicopter' in the '[FSFK_General]' section of your 'Aircraft.cfg' to 'True'. See the Aircraft Specific Settings section for further details.
- I get ADF frequency changes logged at a regular interval, but I did not change the frequency on my radio panel?
Please verify that the 'AutoTuneADF' option in the FSUIPC configuration file ('[FS PATH\Modules\FSUIPC.ini') is that to 'False'. If this is enabled, when FSUIPC detects no NDB signal being received it alternates the fractional part of the ADF frequency between .0 and .5 every seven seconds.
- I do not get any or just noisy sound when using the Cockpit Sound Environment. What can I do?
First thing to check is that you are using a driver for your audio card that supports Surround Sound (even if only simulated on a stereo system). So visit your vendors support pages. Second option is to try to lower the surround options in the FSFK Options dialog. Try the surround mode "No Virtualization" or "Disabled".
