This set of files is a convenient FlightGear addon package to let FlightGear know about the FGCom-mumble protocol. It adds menu item and a dialog where you can conviniently adjust the parameters without the need to restart flightgear.
After unzipping the FGCom-mumble release package, you just need to add the fgfs-addon folder to your launcher's Add-ons module list.
The addon is activated automatically, so flightgear will try to connect to mumble with the default parameters.
When the addon is starting, it will check github for update releases. If it finds a more recent version, it will inform the user with a small text window, so the pilot knows that he needs to take action.
You can disable auto checking from the settings menu.
Just go to the project website, download the latest addon release package and deploy like a fresh install, replacing the previous addon directory contents.
When added to your launcher, the addon is automatically activated. No further steps are needed.
The FGFS protocol file will handle old 25kHz as well as newer 8.3kHz radios.
After starting flightgear, you can use your radio stack like with FGCom (default is space to talk on COM1 and shift+space for COM2).
alt+space will transmit on COM3, and ctrl+space on the intercom.
If your plane has more than two COM radios, you can use the Combar dialog from the configuration dialog to access the PTTs of the radios, or define custom keybinds to set /instrumentation/comm[n]/ptt.
If you wish to adjust the parameters, you can access them via the new Multiplayer menu entry. This is usually not needed except you are running several mumble instances or mumble not on the same computer as FlightGear.
Changes to the parameters will reinitialize the addon automatically, making them effective.
The settings dialog also shows some helpful informtion like the registered COM radios and PTT state.
Basicly every aircraft utilizing the standard radio implementation properties should work without modification.
Push-to-talk handling is implemented by simply setting the PTT of the desired radio to 1 or 0 (/instrumentation/comm[n]/ptt=x). The mumble plugin takes care to only open the mic when the device is operable=1.
The fgcom-legacy property (/controls/radio/comm-ptt) is also monitored and will automatically translate the values to the individual comms ptt property.
The legacy FGCOM keybinds for COM1 and COM2 are reused, and enhanced with a new one for COM3 and Intercom:
| Device | Default keybind |
|---|---|
| COM1 | SPACE |
| COM2 | SHIFT+SPACE |
| COM3 | ALT+SPACE |
| IC1 | CTRL+SPACE |
When initializing, the addon will inspect the defined radios and enable them for FGCom-Mumble. Currently this are the comm and adf subnodes in /instrumentation/.
Only radios providing the property operable are considered (which is set by the standard C++ radio implementation). If no such radios are found, a dialog will open when loading, explaining the situation and providing a manual workaround.
The addon uses the following standard properties:
-
COM radios:
/instrumentation/comm[n]/operable/instrumentation/comm[n]/volume/instrumentation/comm[n]/frequencies/selected-mhz/instrumentation/comm[n]/ptt/instrumentation/comm[n]/cutoff-signal-quality/instrumentation/comm[n]/frequencies/selected-channel-width-khz/instrumentation/comm[n]/tx-power(nonstandard and optional; introduced by FGCom-mumble)
-
ADF radios (local only, they can't transmit):
/instrumentation/adf[n]/operable/instrumentation/adf[n]/volume-norm/instrumentation/adf[n]/frequencies/selected-khz/instrumentation/adf[n]/indicated-bearing-deg(read/write)/instrumentation/adf[n]/ident-audible/instrumentation/adf[n]/mode
FlightGear has a copilot feature that allows you to ride alongside another pilot. Usually planes have some kind of intercom system.
Since version 1.2.0 the FGFS-addon will periodically check if such a pilot/copilot connection has been made and provide intercom functionality, so you can talk to each other.
The intercom works like the other radios but in full-duplex mode. Currently, you can access the PTT button of the intercom using the combar or by pressing CTRL+SPACE.
Plane developers can access the intercom device below /addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/intercom/IC[n], where each device gets a subnode with properties you can link to the planes audio panel (or nasal magic):
| Propery | Description |
|---|---|
channel |
The Channel name. Change this to make the Intercom switch to another channel. This could be useful to simulate intercom isolation, for example. |
operable |
Set to 0 to disable the intercom (switch on/off). |
volume |
0.0 to 1.0, to adjust the intercoms volume. |
ptt |
1 makes the intercom transmit. |
| others | The other properties are internal and should not be directly set by your code. |
You can also register additional Intercom devices by calling var myNewDevice = FGComMumble_intercom.intercom_system.add_intercom_device();. This will provide a fresh subnode you can handle. The resulting UDP packages will be gathered automatically, but things like channel name and PTT you need to handle yourself.
For the intercom to be connected you need to call myNewDevice.connect(["A","B"]) on the device (where ["A","B"] is the combined callsigns to establish the default channel name (you can also use connect(["someCustomChannelname"]) instead). You can also alter the channel name afterwards via the property described above).
The addon has a debug mode that may help to see whats going on internally. You can open the debug settings by clicking on the "DBG" button in the settings dialogs title bar.
The addon will log messages to the normal Flightear log. Unless you specify an alternative --logdir= in your launcher, the fgfs.log is written to its default location (which varies by your operating system). You can get more details on finding it in the FGFS wiki.
Besides that, if you happen to run flightgear from a terminal window, you will also see the messages there.
The debug settings window will allow you to adjust the loglevel and categories. The default will log every category, but just normal informative messages. You might get more details by increasing the log level. If you know what component you want to analyze, you can filter for that by disabling categorys.
In case you want to do this at startup (which is adviseable if you want to get more details on initialization processes), you can do so by setting the properties in your launcher:
| Launcher command | Description |
|---|---|
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/level=2 |
Set log level: 0=none, 1=ERROR, 2=INFO; 3=FINE, 4=FINER, 5=FINEST |
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/category_core=1 |
0 or 1; Core messages |
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/category_radio=1 |
0 or 1; Radio devices |
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/category_intercom=1 |
0 or 1; Intercom devices |
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/category_combar=1 |
0 or 1; Combar |
--prop:/addons/by-id/org.hallinger.flightgear.FGCom-mumble/debug/category_udp=1 |
0 or 1; UDP message generation |
By pressing one of the buttons, you can export parts of the internal property tree to the log. This is helpful to get information on the underlying data the addon uses.
In case you want to report an Issue, it would be helpful to get the fgfs.log of the instance the problem occured. Unless you have better information, it is really helpful if you could hit "Dump all" directly before and after your bug triggers.