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 FLIGHT KNEEBOARD - SIM CLIENT              version 1.0.0
 Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit
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Sends your flight simulator's position and attitude to the Flight
Kneeboard app on your iPad or iPhone, over your home network.

Your aircraft then moves on the chart, and the attitude display
follows the simulator, exactly as it would in a real airplane with
a GPS source connected.

Works with:
  * Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024
  * X-Plane 11 and 12

Nothing to install. No account. Nothing is sent to the internet -
the data goes straight from this PC to your tablet on your own
network, and nowhere else.


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 1. RUN IT
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Unzip this folder anywhere you like, then run:

    FlightKneeboardSimClient.exe

** WINDOWS WILL WARN YOU THE FIRST TIME **

You will see a blue box: "Windows protected your PC". This is
SmartScreen, and it appears for any program that has not paid for
a code-signing certificate. It is not a virus warning.

    Click "More info", then "Run anyway".

You only have to do this once.


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 2. ALLOW IT THROUGH THE FIREWALL
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Windows will ask whether to allow network access.

    TICK "PRIVATE NETWORKS" AND ALLOW IT.

If you miss this prompt, or click Cancel, the tablet will never be
found. To fix it afterwards:

    Windows Security -> Firewall & network protection
      -> Allow an app through firewall
      -> find FlightKneeboardSimClient -> tick Private -> OK


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 3. TURN IT ON IN THE APP
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On your iPad or iPhone, in Flight Kneeboard:

    Settings  ->  Sim Connect  ->  ON

iOS will ask for Local Network permission. Allow it. Without that
permission the tablet cannot announce itself and this program has
nothing to send to.

The tablet and this PC must be on the SAME network. Guest Wi-Fi,
or a router with "AP isolation" or "client isolation" switched on,
will block it completely.


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 THAT IS IT
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Start your simulator. This program finds it on its own - you do
not have to tell it which one, or press anything.

Watch the colored dot at the top:

    GREY     no simulator running yet
    AMBER    receiving flight data, but no tablet found yet
             (or a problem - the amber text says what)
    GREEN    data is reaching your tablet

When it is green, your aircraft is moving on the chart.


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 X-PLANE - ONE EXTRA STEP
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In X-Plane:  Settings -> Network
             -> tick "Accept incoming connections"

That is the only setting needed. If X-Plane runs on a different
computer, choose X-Plane in the Source box and enter its address.


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 START IT AUTOMATICALLY
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Tick "Start when Windows starts".

It then launches minimized at login and begins sending the moment
a simulator appears, so you never have to think about it again.
Nothing runs as administrator, and you can remove it any time from
Task Manager -> Startup.


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 IF SOMETHING IS WRONG
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The program tells you, in amber, underneath the status line.
Read that first - it is usually specific.

"DEVICES: none found"
    The tablet has not announced itself.
      1. Sim Connect switched ON in the app, Local Network allowed
      2. Firewall - see step 2 above
      3. Same network, no guest Wi-Fi or AP isolation
      4. Last resort: tick "Also broadcast to the whole network"

"Flight Simulator is running - connecting to SimConnect..."
    Normal while the simulator loads. If it stays like this after
    the sim is fully loaded into a flight, check that this whole
    folder was copied, not just the .exe.

Aircraft is jumpy on the chart
    Raise "Position Hz". Lower both if your Wi-Fi is struggling.

Nothing moves, but the dot is green
    The simulator is paused, or sitting on the ground with the
    engine off. Attitude still updates; position will not.


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 ABOUT THE RATES
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Attitude 15 per second, position 5 per second, by default.

For comparison, FlightEvents sends 1 per second. The difference is
most obvious in the attitude display, which is smooth here instead
of stepping once a second.

There is no benefit past about 12 per second - the app smooths
between updates anyway - so the defaults are already generous.
Turn them down if your network is busy.


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 THE OTHER PROGRAM IN THIS FOLDER
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SimClient.exe is the same thing without a window, for anyone who
prefers a console or wants to see the raw output:

    SimClient.exe --source demo      flies a synthetic airplane,
                                     no simulator needed - useful
                                     for testing the connection
    SimClient.exe --help

Most people never need it.

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 flightkneeboard.app
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