Glass Cockpit HSI for Saitek FIP on X-Plane

Horizontal Situation Indicator with "Glass Cockpit" Features

Click the image for a closer look
Click here to download this gauge

• Selectable (NAV1/NAV2/GPS) HSI
• Full DME readout for selected navaid
• RMI pointers (VOR1,VOR2,ADF1 & ADF2)
• Glideslope indicator
• Vertical Speed Indicator
• Turn Coodinator with Slip Display
• Wind Speed and Direction Display

A lot of work has gone into this - Unfortunately I can't take screeshots, so excuse the reproduction from a photograph.

Installing

Click this link to download the gauge.

Unzip the contents of the zip file into your 

"C:\X-Plane 10\Resources\plugins\XSaitekProFlight\Data\Gauges" directory - remember to adjust the x-plane directory if you've installed it somewhere other than C:\X-Plane 10.

Next open your "C:\X-Plane 10\Resources\plugins\XSaitekProFlight\Data\XSaitekProFlight.xml" file in your favourite editor, and paste the following gauge declaration inside the <GaugeList></GaugeList> element - if you're not sure where to paste it, just paste it right before the line that says "</GaugeList>" (and the gauge will then be last in sequence when you press the down button on the FIP).

  <Gauge Timeout="100" RootFolder="Relative" File="Gauges\HSI_sjs\HSI_sjs.xml">
    <Button Id="1" Event="sim/autopilot/heading_sync" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="2" Event="sim/radios/RMI_L_tog" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="3" Event="sim/radios/RMI_R_tog" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="4" Event="sim/autopilot/hsi_select_nav_1" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="5" Event="sim/autopilot/hsi_select_nav_2" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="6" Event="sim/autopilot/hsi_select_gps" Type="Command"/>
    <Button Id="7" Event="sim/radios/obs_HSI_down" Type="Command" />
    <Button Id="8" Event="sim/radios/obs_HSI_up" Type="Command" />
    <Button Id="11" Event="sim/autopilot/heading_down" Type="Command" />
    <Button Id="12" Event="sim/autopilot/heading_up" Type="Command" />
  </Gauge>

Note that there's a copy of this gauge declaration in the zip file just in case you need it. That's it - the gauge should now be installed, and next time you run X-Plane you should be able to select and use it as you would any other Saitek gauge.

Notes

• All the S-buttons on the side of the FIP are used; the function for each button is noted on the left hand side of the screen.
• The left hand knob adjusts the HSI's OBS (Omni Bearing Selector)
• The right hand knob adjusts the HDG (Heading) bug
• The gauge behaves as the HSI in the aircraft does. Different aircraft will cause the gauge to behave differently in accordance with the aircraft itself. For example, the default Baron 58 sets a source's OBS to whatever you have selected when you switch to that source (so when you switch from NAV1 to NAV2, NAV2's OBS will be set to that of NAV1), whereas the KingAir C90B maintains a different OBS for each source and the gauge changes to reflect the stored OBS for the selected source. I've also come across a couple of aircraft that only have NAV1 as a source for their HSI's, and as a result you can't switch between them using this gauge either.
• There is no glideslope flag (a bug I've yet to iron out) - make sure you have a signal before trusting the glide slope indicator!
• To all intents and purposes the "AVIONICS" flag is the same as a "HDG" flag on the standard Saitek HSI; I re-labelled it because both the Saitek and this gauge actually check the position of the avionics switch and not that there is a reliable heading "signal" as the "HDG" label would suggest.
• The DME flag shows if you are getting a DME signal or not - DME should always show for GPS targets even though they show as having no DME (because it's calculated by the GPS rather than a received signal).
• VOR direction pointers are always displayed unless they are out of range. Switching your RMI to either ADF1 or ADF2 will make the appropriate ADF direction pointer appear (beware - these indicators, just as on an RMI or ADF, do not disappear when there is no signal!)
• Pressing S2 or S3 (ADF1 and ADF2) toggles the RMI between displaying VOR1/ADF1 and VOR2/ADF2. 
• I realise the turn indicator is difficult to get an accurate reading from - I am considering other designs for a future update.
• The decimal portion of the DME may read slightly different to the DME on the screen - this seems to be a rounding difference - by way of disambiguation, the decimal portion of the DME is not rounded; a reading of 10.5 could actually be anywhere between 10.5 and 10.59999... and some DME's I tested with did rounding and others didn't -- I went for the easy option!
• The GPS direction finder is always visible unless the GPS' power is turned off.

And Finally...

I hope you enjoy this gauge and find it useful - stay tuned over the coming week for a more in-depth look at the inner workings of this gauge and tips of how you can apply the same techniques to make gauges of your own!

Please do get back to me with comments - what you like, what you don't, questions, suggestions, what have you :)