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That looks really good and may solve a lot of problems for some of us.  Though it seems to be geared directly for some of the PMDG tube-o-chairs, I believe the output might be useful for other aircraft as well.  Those charts it generates look like the bee's knees, assuming the data input routine isn't too terribly tedious.  

 

I like it and I'm going to be looking into this one.

 

I went to the purchase page and the price for the Nav Data Tool is 14.99 GBP.

 

John

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Does anyone have Nav Data Tool or does anyone know anything about the import/export capability?

 

Their product pages says it's for PMDG NGX, PMDG 77X, and PMDG MD11. I don't have any of those and don't plan to get them but am pretty intrigued with the idea of being able to create IAPs, SIDs and STARs using the data in FSX. It also mentions import/export capability but doesn't go into much detail. If I could do that and export the resulting charts as jpgs, pdfs or some other common and useful format, I'd be very inclined to buy this product. I've been to their site and looked through the on-line manual which is available there but can't find the answer.

 

They do have a free demo and I may just have to kick the tires to see, but hate to waste the time if it can't do what I need.

 

John

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Hi Everyone,

 

I'm the developer of the Nav Data Tool. The product currently only develops Nav Data for PMDG aircraft, but the intention is to expand the amount of aircraft it supports. Its a very labour intensive process to get the algorithms working correctly, so I'm limiting the roll out on a per aircraft group approach.

 

If you let me know what you need from it, I will certainly consider developing additional features and not just limit it to Nav Data production.

 

Best wishes

Steve

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Sorry John, I'm not much help. I have the PMDG 737NGX but cannot use it for the time being. I have opened a ticket with PMDG to try to resolve the issue but nothing back yet. When trying to load the aircraft the other day, the initialization routine failed and I can't see why.

 

I'm also a bit suspicious as to the usefulness (for me) of this software. It appears to be a method of correcting magvar errors generated by the old database in FSX. According to the instructions, you generate (something, maybe a FMC-loadable file) by using existing charts and plates. This is something that a current AIRAC cycle will yield. My question is: if you have current plates, what does this software bring to the table?

 

I must be missing something obvious.

 

EDIT: while I was writing this, the post from steve1969 arrived. Maybe the developer will ring in with answers to your questions and, possibly, a clarification as to purpose, for me.

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Hi, Steve,

 

I'd like to be able to use the Nav Data Tool to develop charts as needed using only the navigational entities that are in FSX. I use real-world charts but often run into things on those that are not in FSX. I've figured out how to easily add enroute waypoints that are missing, but terminal waypoints are a far tougher nut to crack since they are embedded within the FSX airport bgls. Also, many real world airports have had runways added or runway numbers that have shifted due to changing magnetic variation. Some ground-based navaids have been added, re-named or re-located as well. All these things make using real-world charts difficult at times.

 

Anyway, my primary question is whether the import/export capability will permit exporting newly generated charts in some kind of universal format such as jpg or pdf. I'm not particularly interested in using these in a GPS, FMC or any kind of moving map utility and won't need them for any particular aircraft. I just want to be able to create charts that use only the navaids, waypoints and runways that are in FSX and export them to a common graphics file type.

 

John

 

@ March - hopefully this answers your question too.

 

EDIT: Steve - pardon my poor manners. Welcome to Mutley's Hangar. Mutley has added you to the Developer list already so your screen name will show in yellow text.

 

JDA

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but terminal waypoints are a far tougher nut to crack since they are embedded within the FSX airport bgls. Also, many real world airports have had runways added or runway numbers that have shifted due to changing magnetic variation. Some ground-based navaids have been added, re-named or re-located as well. All these things make using real-world charts difficult at times.

@ March - hopefully this answers your question too.

 

 

 

Absolutely!

 

@Steve, thanks to JA for reminding me of my manners - welcome to MH!

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Hi John/March,

 

Thanks for the welcome. :)

 

The chart image currently reproduces the chart you are creating. So, you could in theory use the Windows Snip Tool to copy and paste the image into a png format and then into anything you like! However if I understand your needs correctly; you wish to reverse an existing up-to-date chart so it reflects the historic reality of Flight Simulator. In other words, how would this up to date chart look in 2005 (or whatever database the flight sim is using). I believe I can do this, if I haven't got the wrong end of the stick! What about vnav/vertical/height information - do you need that as well; e.g. like a full Jeppeson chart?

 

Best wishes

Steve

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Hi, Steve,

 

The problem with the Windows Snip tool is resolution.  You have to be zoomed out so the whole document shows on the screen and that may not produce a good enough resolution.  I have run into similar problems with screen shots of other charts.  I use screenshots from ADE for the images in my airport diagrams (see the MH File Library) and have to deal with that exact problem.  I don't want to have to screen shot charts in sections and go through the trouble of stitching the pieces together graphically.  It would be better to be able to export a complete chart directly to a jpg or pdf.  Failing that, some of the utilities for "printing" a file to a pdf work very well and that would be a viable option if the whole chart could be printed.

 

I think you understand what I'm looking for - to create a chart that comes as close as possible to mimicking a real-world chart but edited to use only the navaids and waypoints and runways that are in FSX, or can be easily put into FXS - terminal waypoints are the biggest issue and there are bazillions of them.  I recognize that for some charts, without the current RW waypoints and navaids, there will be no practical way to duplicate the procedure on the original RW chart.  

 

I'm certainly not looking for you to re-write your app for my purposes - that's asking a bit much.  Is there a printing capability already in it?  With that I can easily "print" to a pdf file and the problem is solved. 

 

It may be that this capability might lead to users being able to share the charts they create in your forum or in other places if you have no problems with that. 

 

I have no interest in the PMDG-compliant output - just looking for usable chart images.

 

John 

 

 

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Thank you, sir. That would fill the bill nicely.

John

EDIT:

I note an item in the System Requirements list that says...

             2) PMDG NGX, 77X or MD11

I don't have any of those and have no interst in that kind of aircraft. Will Nav Data Tool run without one of them being installed?

JDA

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