GAUGE: Helicopter RPM
Gauge v1.4.001 - Current Version 13th Feb 2024

Features:

1) Rotor RPM Needle

2) Engine RPM Needle

3) Rotor RPM Digital

4) Engine RPM Digital

5) Clutch Toggle*

6) Brake Toggle*

7) Optional Side Button Labels

8) Optional Background Colours

9) Optional Glass Reflection

10) Brightness Control (Physical FIP)

11) Optional Panel Lighting

* So far I have found that the Clutch and Brake functions only work with the following helicopters that I have tested so far:

Robinson R44 Clipper II

Robinson R44 Raven

Schweizer 300 CBi

Enstrom 280FX Float

Eurocopter EC-505 Tiger

Sikorsky S-55

Compatible with the airbus H-135 Helicopter in MSFS 2020 (not tested the H145). The SPAD.neXt LVAR Bridge plugin must be added to your community folder. Clutch and Brake isn't supported for Hype Helicopters

Aircraft Compatibility:
Simulator: Fully Compatible
3rd Party: Not Tested
Please report any 3rd Party incompatibility via our discord channel

Buttons & Dials Summary:

[S2] Clutch (Check List):

[S3] Clutch (Check List):

[S4] Rotor Brake (Check List):

[S5] Rotor Brake (Check List):

[S6] Virtual Power Toggle in Mini Menu:

[L Dial] Menu Value Up/Down:

[R Dial] Menu Left/Right:

About Helicopter RPM:

No helicopters found not to work with Rotor and Engine RPM but below is a list of helicopters I have tested on:

Tested Rotor and Engine RPM:

Aerospatiale AS 350

Bell 206B Jet Ranger

Bell 430

Bell 222

Bell 476 HAF

Eurocopter AS332

Hughes MD 500

Robinson R44 Clipper II

Robinson R44 Raven

Schweizer 300 CBi

Enstrom 280FX Float

Aerospatiale Gazelle

Alpha Westland Lynx

Alpha Bell AH-1W Cobra

Chinook CH47

Boeing/Sikorsky RAH-66 Comanche

Eurocopter EC-505 Tiger

Hughes OH-6A

Mil MI-24V Hind E

Sikorsky S-55

Working Clutch:

Robinson R44 Clipper II

Robinson R44 Raven

Schweizer 300 CBi

Enstrom 280FX Float

Eurocopter EC-505 Tiger

Sikorsky S-55

Working Brake:

Robinson R44 Clipper II

Robinson R44 Raven

Schweizer 300 CBi

Enstrom 280FX Float

Eurocopter EC-505 Tiger

Sikorsky S-55

Eurocopter AS332

The Sidebar:

If the blanking plate is used instead of the sidebar, then colour of the plate can now be changed by editing variable [FG_GLOBAL_BLANKING_COLOUR] in SPAD.neXt data monitor.

Variables:

FG_HELIRPM_BUTTONS (Profile)

Side Buttons (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_HELIRPM_INSTRUCTIONS (Session)

Instructions Page (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_HELIRPM_LABELS (Profile)

Side Button Labels (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_HELIRPM_MENU (Session)

Menu Item Index (0 to 7)

0 = Menu Closed

1 = Version & Info

2 = Side Buttons

3 = Glass Reflection

4 = Background Colour

5 = LCD - LED - Custom Colours

6 = Brightness Control

7 = Panel Lights Control

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_FORE_ON (Profile)

Foreground colour of fonts while power is on (default = "#dd0000")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_BACK_ON (Profile)

Background colour of fonts while power is on (default = "#000000")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_FORE_OFF (Profile)

Foreground colour of fonts while power is off (default = "#000000")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_BACK_OFF (Profile)

Background colour of fonts while power is off (default = "#000000")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_FORE_ON_CUSTOM (Profile)

Foreground colour of fonts while power is on (default = "#00DD00")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_BACK_ON_CUSTOM (Profile)

Background colour of fonts while power is on (default = "TRANSPARENT")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_FORE_OFF_CUSTOM (Profile)

Foreground colour of fonts while power is off (default = "#001100")

FG_PROFILE_LED_COLOUR_BACK_OFF_CUSTOM (Profile)

Background colour of fonts while power is off (default = "TRANSPARENT")

FG_VARIABLES_LEDCOLOUR (Profile)

Side panel LED Style Index (1 - 3)

1 = LED Style

2 = LCD Style (Default)

3 = Custom

SIMCONNECT Vars Used:

ROTOR BRAKE HANDLE POS

GENERAL ENG PCT MAX RPM:1

TURB ENG N1:1, percent

ROTOR RPM PCT

ENG ROTOR RPM:1

fipgauges.com GLOBAL VARIABLES:

(not all vars used in every gauge)

FG_GLOBAL_DIAL_SPEED (Session)

Variable used for dial acceleration (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_GLOBAL_GAUGE_BRIGHTNESS (Profile)

Brightness value of physical FIP's. Affects all physical gauges (20-250)

FG_GLOBAL_GAUGE_BRIGHTNESS_MODE (Profile)

Variable used when editing Global or individual Brightness (0-1)

0 - Global Brightness

1 - Inedividual Brightness

FG_GLOBAL_BLANKING_COLOUR (Profile)

Text Variable used to set blanking plate colour

FG_GLOBAL_GLASS (Profile)

Glass Reflection (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_GLOBAL_HIDE_MENU_LED (Profile)

Toggle visibility of Mini Menu LED (0 = On, 1 = Off)

FG_GLOBAL_JET_COLOUR (Profile)

Background Colour (0 to 3)

1 = Grey panel with grey gauge face

2 = Blue grey panel with grey gauge face

3 = Dark grey panel with black gauge face

4 = Dark blue panel with black gauge face.

FG_GLOBAL_JET_BACKGROUND_COLOUR (Profile)

Background Colour (Black = 0, Blue = 1 )

FG_GLOBAL_MIN_VOLTAGE (Profile)

Minimum voltage before gauge electronics turns off (-1 to 150)

-1 = Disabled

0 - 150 = Off Voltage Level

FG_GLOBAL_MIN_VOLTAGE_CACHE (Profile)

Internal Variable - Used to store off voltage value - do not edit

FG_GLOBAL_PANEL_LIGHTS (Profile)

Night Lit Mode (Off = 0, On = 1)

FG_GLOBAL_PRESSURE (Profile)

Shared variable for switching inHg and MB (0 to 1)

0 = inHg

1 = Millbars

FG_GLOBAL_STYLE (Profile)

Background Colour (0 to 6)

0 = Grey

1 = Black Dial Face

2 = Darker Gauge & Dial Face

3 = Black & No Gauge GFX

4 = Grey - Original Design

5 = Black Dial Face - Original Design

6 = Darker Gauge & Dial Face - Original Design

FG_GLOBAL_VOLTAGE (Session)

Internal variable used to read current voltage

FG_GLOBAL_BLANKING_COLOUR (Profile)

Text Variable used to set blanking plate colour

Release Notes:

1.4.001 - Using New Sidebar Button and Labels Code (4 display options now also) - blank sidebar custom colour

1.4.000

1) SPAD.neXt 0.9.15 Compatibility (Convert "PRESS" to "PRESSSHORT") Fixes short and long press both firing on long press.

2) Menu system upgraded

3) New gauge brightness code using SPAD brightness variables.

4) Can control global or individual gauge brightness in gauge (Profile saved settings)

5) Better use of button lights

6) Added Custom Colour for blanking plate - Edit colour index for variable FG_GLOBAL_BLANKING_COLOUR

1.3.000 - New Custom Virtual Power supports ALL aircraft volt variables - See https://fipgauges.com/customfeatures.php.

1.2.003 - Added sidebar blanking plate option

1.2.002 - Virtual Power Warning added to Menu

1.2.001 - Support for Airbus H-135 (MSFS)

1.2.000 - Added New Gauge Design and Panel Lighting control in Mini Menu

1.1.002 - Support for NEW 4 colour hue panel lights.

1.1.001 - Tweaked voltage monitoring to better support MSFS2020. Added Monitoring for Battery Bus

1.1.000 - SPAD.neXt 0.9.7.x Custom LED Foreground and Background Colours

1.0.001 - First Public Release

1.0.000 - First Beta release

Please report any bugs or feature requests via our discord channel

Document Published 13/02/2024

Copyright fipgauges.com 13/02/2024