It’s a nice little box with a number of buttons and, most interesting to me, a stacked dual knob, just like the one found on many Garmin units like the GNS 430/540 and G1000.
There are two software options: an Octavi plugin for MSFS, or the more comprehensive and complex freeware MobiFlight. I think the plugin is enough for me. It is a separate .exe that uses SimConnect and needs to be started when the sim is running. In addition, I needed to put an “MobiFlight event module” folder into the community folder. This seems to be necessary to use the FMS1/2 functions. I first overlooked this, but the it is well explained on the Octavi homepage.
My first flight was with the steam gauge Cessna 172 and the GNS 530/430. And WOW, suddenly the Garmin user interface with the stacked dual knob makes sense! I always disliked these units because using them with the mouse is so cumbersome, using the touch screen GTN 750 whenever possible. Now switching pages and even entering a flight plan works a lot better. I had absolutely no issues with the Octavi, it worked great out of the box.
Second flight was in the new Cirrus SR22 and the G1000. The G1000 uses a combination of “soft” buttons next to the screen, plus again a dual stacked knob and some “hard” keys like FPL, PROC and ENT. So you need a combination of mouse clicks for the soft buttons and the Octavi for the hard buttons and especially the dual knob. But I found the combination quite manageble, and the Octavi is still a great help in managing the G1000.
Two points that should be improved:
No mounting options like brackets or holes for screws
No indication if the shift mode is active
Overall I am very happy with the Octavi IFR-1. The hardware feels good, installation was simple and the device worked out of the box for the two main Garmin general aviation solutions aimed at the small prop market. The price of 180 € seems justified for such a niche product.
nice to see another user of the Octavi here. I backed them during their Kickstarter, and recieved my unit fairly early. I am also very happy with it, and it comes in handy for both fixed wing a helicopters… As for mounting options like you said it doesnt really have anything as part of the device, but i found a trick is to use one of those motorcycle phone mounts as its just about the right size and clamps it perfectly. I have mine mounted to my virpil desk mount.
So you have to use the MobiFlight option if you want to use the FMS functions ?
I am sorry but I dont find that the Octavi website has this well explained at all. Yes, maybe I overlooked it but I have not seen any mention of needing to use MobiFlight for the FMS functions OR anything about a “MobiFlight event module”.
I dont see that saying that I need MobiFlight to use the FMS functions on the Octavi - maybe I am not understanding it right. But be that as it may, if you say I do then I will can go with that.
@SaucierPen464 I would say it depends on what you mean by FMS functions. There are two buttons FMS1 and FMS2 on the Octavi, but they relate either to GNS530/430 or G1000 units.
If you mean an airliner FMS, that is probably not a good match for the Octavi, which is more focused on GA type aircraft. But if you have the patience, you could create a custom Mobiflight configuration to control some functionalities in an airliner.
The selling point for me is the FMS Knob. I’d love to get a hardware controller OTS just for that and the Range knob. A lot of the IFR-1 duplicates what I already have on my VKB GA Panel.
Those work great just by copying the event module folder to your community folder and starting the standard plugin with MSFS (OCTAVI + Plugin in screenshot that @CasualClick posted).
I just completed another flight in the wonderful FSR500, which uses the G1000. FMS1 controls the PFD and FMS2 the MFD. The dual FMS knob really makes a huge difference.
@SaucierPen464 Not a dumb question at all! When I got my Octavi a few weeks ago, software version 0.3.1 was current. That was just a zip with the plugin executable and two dll files. There was an instruction to download an additional “mobiflight-event-module.zip” and expand it into the community folder.
Right now the latest version is 0.3.3 on the download section of https://www.octavi.net/ifr-1, and it seems to be an installer that probably does all the work.
Interesting! At the beginning I had overlooked the line about copying the event module to the community folder. Without it, the FMS1/2 buttons did not work, only the radio frequency and AP controls. Looks like they found a way to accomplish this without the event module.
The 0.3.3 installer doesn’t work properly if you have a custom community folder location. It always installs the Mobiflight Event Module" to the default community folder location.
The installer should check for “InstalledPackagesPath” in “UserCfg.opt” to determine the location.
