[ACARS] Acarsd setup question

Sun Aug 1 05:41:19 EDT 2010

Hi Joe, Keith,

I run 1.70RC3 and have both icons.
If my memory serves me well loosing the images icon has to do with an improper install.
Check if your install directory contains a directory called "plugins" with 3 .aplg files in it. If not follow Keith's instructions
and you should be fine. Below is a step by step instruction I once made (seems I lost the screenshots in part2. If needed I will add
them on request).

> i do seem to remember you could select the origin of the image download in  earlier versions
Keith, the images icon is just for that (select the origin).

Cheers,
Dick

-------------------------- Part 1 -----------------------------
a. Download 1.70 RC3 from http://www.acarsd.org/RC/
b.
1. Unpack this zip file to C:\TEMP and make sure to maintain the directory structure.
If you use Winzip check "Use folder names".
This will create a directory "acarsd-170RC3" in  C:\temp\
2. Go to this directory C:\temp\acarsd-170RC3 and run installer.exe
Select Configuration/installation & 'Set folders and files'.
All file locations are default set to C:\ACARSD or one of its subdirectories.
For now leave them as they are and make sure all these directories exsist by pressing all the 'create' buttons.
Select Configuration/installation again & 'Write new acarsd.ini.
Select Configuration/installation again & 'Install acarsd now'.

You now should have a directory C:\ACARSD with everything in it including a new 'acarsd.ini'.
There are a lot more things you can set/change but I suggest we leave it like this for now.
Quit installer.exe

3. I'm assuming you have your radio connected and tuned to an acars freq an the audio can be heard through the PC speakers (just to
make sure) .
Run acarsd.exe from C:\ACARSD and if you have only one soundcard/sounddevice in your PC it should work.
If you have more than one sounddevice you might need to change the setting for this.
Depending on how free you feel around PC's you can do that by editing the acarsd.ini or run the setup.exe.
Be aware that 'installer.exe' is used from the install directory C:\temp\acarsd-170RC3\.
Once the installation is finished you will find a similar (identical) program in C:\ACARSD  named setup.exe

To make additional changes run C:\ACARSD\setup.exe
Select Configuration/installation & 'Sound'.
Enter 1 as Sounddevice
Select Configuration/installation again & 'Write new acarsd.ini.
Quit setup.exe

end -------------------------- Part 1 -----------------------------
-------------------------- Part 2 -----------------------------
Before I go into all possible options (not that I know all of them either) lets make sure it works first.

The signal strength indicator is in the bottom bar of the window.
Below is my acarsd screen. At the bottom it shows [vol: 25,26 |0|0|0 ] which represents the signal strength.
25,26 is the volume of the left and right channel of the first soundcard. Acarsd can handle 4 soundcards which is why there are 3
more indicators seperated by | all showing 0. (I have configured only one soundcard).
Between 20 and 30 is a good value for signal strenght, but Acarsd is not too sensitive to that..
If probably do not have two values for one card as I do (the 25,26). Acarsd will only use both audio channels on a soundcard if
configured to do so.

See the little 'i' left of the signal strength indicator? If you press that you get soundcard statistics.
You can go back to the normal display by pressing Alt-0  (zero). See Acarsd under Windows for more views and their shortcuts.

Now if you do not get any decodes in Acarsd, check the Recording Control.
Line-in should be selected (or not muted) and the volume adjusted as necessary.
Attached is how my Recording Control looks like but the appearance depends on the soundcard software used.
In my situation all except "Line volume" and "Recording" are muted..

If this still does't get you any decodes it is possible that your PC has more than one sounddevice (maybe a webcam with mic) and
that Acarsd needs to be configure to use not device 0 but device 1.
To change that, run setup.exe from the C:\acarsd folder, go to Configuration/Installation and sselect Sound.
Here you can enter a value of 1 for the sounddevice (now empty I guess).
Next go to Configuration/Installation and select "Write new acarsd.ini".

When making changes and 'playing' with Acarsd (stopping and staring it) make sure Acarsd is properly and completely stopped.
While it runs there are two processes active (look in Windows Task Manager, Processes Tab).
One process is called "acarsd.exe" and the other "acarsdgui.exe".
The later one takes as its name indicates care of the display and user interface. The "acarsd.exe" process is the actual decoder.
This one does not always end in a normal way.
So if acarsdgui.exe is gone but acarsd.exe is not, just select it and press "End process".
If you don't you will get all kind of unexpected results which will not be helpfull in this stage of the learning cycle..

end -------------------------- Part 2 ----------------------------- 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith D" <scanner at ntlworld.com>
To: "Joe Stepansky" <kq3f at comcast.net>; <acars at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Sunday, August 01, 2010 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: [ACARS] Acarsd setup question

>
>
>
>
>> I recently installed version 1.70RC3 and have a setup question.  My
>> install
>> for version 1.65 has two icons at the top, one for DDE and one for Images,
>> that didn't appear in the 1.70RC3 version.  I can't figure out how I got
>> them there and don't know how to make them appear in 1.70RC3.  Can someone
>> help me with that?  Thanks!
>>
> Hi Joe
>
> all i can say is i currently use 1.70RC to connect to my SBS1 system
> i used to use ACARSD before virtual radar
>
> to install i
> 1] unzipped download into an empty[new] folder
>
> 2] ran the quick install to install it from there
>
> answered yes to do i want to connect to SBS1
> then let it do its thing
>
> i have the DDE icon you mention showing correctly
> i don't have one for images
>
> i always dealt with images from
>
> 1] acarsd drop down
> 2] change settings
>
> i do seem to remember you could select the origin of the image download in
> earlier versions
>
> hope this helps
>
> cheers
>
> K/
>
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