FGFS DRIVER FOR SAITEK RADIO PANEL

This project provides an interface between Flightgear Flight Simulator and the Saitek Radio Panel. The simulated aircraft's radio settings are shown in real time on the RadioPanel's display, and the ACT/STBY switches and the rotary control operation is handed to the Simulator for action.

Executable images are provided for Linux (x86-64) and Windows. The code base is identical for Linux and Windows and is written in Rust; instructions are provided for making executables for other architectures such as Raspberry Pi.

If you would like to improve the code or automate the Windows installation, please issue a 'pull' request.

This project is the successor to daibach142/FGFS_Saitek_Radio on GitHub.

For problems or issues either enter an issue on Github, or email stkrp@attwoods.org.uk.

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INSTALLATION

Download the latest release from https://github.com/daibach142/SaitekRadio/releases/, and extract the contents into a working directory (which may be discarded after installation is complete).

Ensure flightgear is installed first!

On Linux x86-64:

Go to the working directory and type:

	sudo make install

If the Radio Panel is plugged in, disconnect and reconnect it to change the access permissions.

See RUNNING at the end of this document

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On Windows:

1. Copy saitekradio.exe and startup.bat to a convenient location, most likely Desktop.

2. Copy saitekradio.xml to C:\Program Files\Flightgear 2020.3\data\Protocol

3. You may need to create the folder Nasal below.

4. Copy saitekradio.nas to <username>\Appdata\Roaming\flightgear.org\Nasal

See RUNNING at the end of this document

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On other systems eg. Raspberry Pi

1. Change your working directory to code/saitekradio

2. Install Rust - see https://www.rust-lang.org/tools/install

3. Run make

   make

   This creates a new saitekradio and replaces the original saitekradio with the new one.

4. Change directory to the installation directory

   cd ../..

5. Now follow the instructions given for x86-64 above.

Issues

If the compilation fails, with an error message about libusb, you should install the package libusb-1.0-0-dev (on Ubuntu) using the package manager.

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RUNNING

Plug the Saitek Radio into a USB port.

Start the handler by running saitekradio (Linux) or double click startup.bat on Windows.

The radio display will show ascending/descending digits on the Radio display. Press either of the ACT/STBY keys, and the display will blank alternate digits.

In the FGFS Start Screen, in Settings/Additional settings, insert the following:

--generic=socket,out,30,127.0.0.1,60001,udp,saitekradio
--generic=socket,in,20,,60002,udp,saitekradio

and start the simulator.

Shortly, the display will change to show the selected radio details. When the aircraft has fully loaded, all the radio panel controls will be active.

If the program terminates unexpectedly, re-run under the command-line interface to be able to read the (hopefully useful) error message.

If the handler can't find/access the radio device, unplug it and replug and try again.

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Note: the saitekradio executable will accept parameters:

• saitekradio[.exe] [output IP address [input IP address]]

if you wish to run it on a remote machine.

IMPORTANT NOTE!!! If you have used my previous driver (FGFS_Saitek_Radio) you MUST remove the 'Saitek.nas' file from your local 'Nasal' directory.