Fixing VOR and LOC ranges

[Marcus Becker]

I've helped a few friends out privately with adjusting the range of VORs and Localizers that are not showing the range in X-Plane that it should. With another topic in the forums that covers this very problem, I have decided to just put a quick information post here.

***Disclaimer*** I am not responsible if you mess up your setup. Back up and revert if you didn't get the desired result.

We need to find a file called "earth_nav.dat" first. There are 2 places it can be and hierarchy matters. First check under X-Plane/Custom Data. If it's not there, use the one under X-Plane/Resources/default data.

The earth_nav.dat file is not hard to edit. Do a simple search within the file for the navaid you would like to change. For example, DAG is listed:
3 34.96245900 -116.57816700 1760 11320 040 15.0 DAG DAGGETT VORTAC

3=VOR Portion
then we have coordinates
1760=altitude
040=range
15.0=magnetic variance
DAG=ID
then of course the name.

Change the range to your desired range, but wait! That's not all!

Search again for Daggett towards the bottom, and you will see:
12 34.96245900 -116.57816700 1760 11320 040 0.0 DAG DAGGETT VORTAC

12=DME Portion
the rest is the same. Edit the range then save and your fixed!

The similar procedure can be done for localizers too. For example, the ILS 25L at KLAX (search ILAX):
4 33.93332339 -118.42245169 96 10990 60 262.985 ILAX KLAX 25L ILS-cat-III
(mine probably looks different from yours because I edited it.)

Here, the beginning 4 indicates the lolalizer's information. But we have more information to adjust if you like. Search again for ILAX and you'll get:
6 33.93826500 -118.38616600 97 10990 30 300262.975 ILAX KLAX 25L GS
As the description indicates, this will be the glideslope information.

Search one more time to find the DME and you should be set.

[Keith Smith]

Made this is sticky thread, thanks for taking the time to put it together, Marcus!

[wmburns]

Here's some more updates/correction for the sticky. The Victorville VCV VOR/DME frequency is incorrect.

incorrect X-plane VCV 109.40
Correct current VCV 109.05

Here's an X-plane thread where I attempted to get it changed for the entire X-plane community. Funny thing is my research said this error has been in the X-plane database for a LONG time.

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=79437

IMO if you read the tread it's just several pages of X-plane trying to figure out how to get out of the business of keeping the legacy data up to date. I think everyone should just send Robin and email (robin@x-plane.com) request for the data to be updated.

http://data.x-plane.com/contact.html

Why is this important? Well....... Once you locally update the "earth_nav.dat" file, X-plane will detect this on EVERY future update. X-plane will only give you the option to keep your local version or overlay the official X-plane version. If X-plane were actually keeping the data up to date, IMO would be the better option. As it is currently done, unless you compare the two versions of the file, you have no way of knowing what updates might be lost.

Keith. Is there a chance for you to use your "influence" to get X-plane's attention?

[stealthbob]

Works great...thanks Markus!

I set mine to 60 and I get DAG as I cross over POM.

The first location mentioned, both DAG parts had 130 has the range.

The second location both had 40 and I switched both those to 60

[Keith Smith]

You'll want to update PGY, too, if you every plan on using V186. It's part of the TEC routes heading into the SAN area. The dogleg at TANNR is where the problem occurs if memory serves.

[Geoff]

Could those of us who construct "Lego Brick" airports for the X-Plane Scenery Gateway help? I haven't tried yet, but can't we alter frequencies and such using WED?

[zengei]

Could those of us who construct "Lego Brick" airports for the X-Plane Scenery Gateway help? I haven't tried yet, but can't we alter frequencies and such using WED?

Unfortunately not, the only frequencies that can be altered through airport scenery are frequencies specific to the airport (ATIS, Tower, App/Dep, etc.).

Navaid information really ought to be under the same community editing process though.

[Geoff]

Ah, OK. Thanks for the info, zengei. And yes, I agree, we ought to be able to fix navaid stuff using WED. Oh well.

[wmburns]

From way back in my FSX PDMG days, I had an account with Navigraph. Since I'm a simulator only pilot, I don't need up to date charts. Normally would purchase a single cycle and then update when needed. Which was usually when I ran across an outdated SID/STAR.

Navigraph now supports X-plane so I decided to purchase a new "cycle". For the HUGE cost of 5.90 EUR ($6.79) I purchased a single cycle FMS data (Current cycle: 1507 (Effective from 2015-06-25).

The update for my PDMG product was easy. Just download the installer and double click. Done.

This was my first time to update X-Plane. The process was not as easy as the PMDG process but straight forward. Basically un-ZIP the download and copy into the "Custom Data" folder. There's a README file confirming the file names to be used.

cycle_info.txt
earth_awy.dat
earth_fix.dat
earth_nav.dat

Once the new files were copied into the correct folder, I tested to see if the Victorville (VCV) VOR had the correct frequency (it did!).

I'm suspecting since the GPS Navigation data is in a special separate directory it will not conflict with the X-Plane installed which is a good thing.

The list of products supported by Navigraph is quite long. Under their current policy purchasing one time FMS data gives access to all products for 30 days. Once downloaded the data is yours to keep. Note, the Navigraph site does state the files have been "water marked" to tie back to the owner. So bear this in mind should someone be thinking about sharing.

http://www.navigraph.com/FmsDataManualInstall.aspx

Bottom line. IMO it's sooooo much easier to spend the $6.79 and get all of the data than trying to update it yourself. Especially considering that the average simulator only pilot may only need to do this ever 12-18 months (if that long). This goes double/triple if you have more than one product to update.

[wmburns]

UPDATE: while looking through the Navigraph data I noted there weren't any SID/STARS. Upon further research I noted the "NO" note under the "TP" column for X-Plane 10.30+.

https://www.navigraph.com/FmsDataManualInstall.aspx

Before seeing/understanding I didn't consider there to be a difference between Navigraph and Aerosoft services. I see now this is not the case. I have switched to Aerosoft for any futures purchases. For how I used navigation data the difference in cost isn't a determining factor.