GNS530 Setup Guide

Setup guide for the RealSimGear GNS530

Jarrod - RealSimGear avatar
Written by Jarrod - RealSimGear
Updated over a week ago

Download and install the RealSimGear plugin for your flight simulation software.

Connect the cables

Connect the HDMI, USB, and power cables. Turn on your PC, and the display will show a second Windows or Mac desktop. The image on the GNS530 may be inverted; you must adjust the display settings to correct this.
**Newer versions can skip this step, as the display should show the desktop in the correct orientation after a successful connection to the system.**

Configure the display

Windows

With the cables connected, you can open the Windows Display settings. You should now see a smaller box that represents the GNS530 display. If you need clarification, click the 'Identify' button to confirm which production is associated with the GNS530 device.

Click on the GNS530 display (number 2 in this example) and change the display setting for the smaller display to "Landscape / flipped," leaving the resolution set to whatever Windows says is recommended, usually 640x480.

It is usually best to 'place' the GNS530 display below and at the center of your primary display. This makes it easy to adjust the GNS530 to fill the collection exactly; however, if you have multiple other shows, this positioning may need to be modified.

Mac
With the cables connected, open the Mac System Preferences. Hold down the control and option(alt) keys and select "Displays" from the System Preferences options. This will open up the Display settings with the Rotation option visible (simply clicking on Displays does not do this). You will see that each connected display will have a Display Setting box open.

On the main screen, ensure the "Mirror Displays" is unchecked and that the display arrangement matches how you physically have your RealSimGear devices arranged (the above image is, for example, only).

On each of the RealSimGear screens, in the Display Settings screen, select Rotation to be 180°.

** To make it easier to read, select the "Gather Windows" button to position the Display Settings boxes for all screens onto your main screen.

Remove the bezel graphics (X-Plane)

*Run the RSG X-Plane plugin installer, and select GNS 430 and 530 when prompted; this will remove bezel graphics from both default X-Plane GNS 430 and 530 popout windows.*

If you are using the Reality-XP GNS530

Please review these additional instructions for configuring RealSimGear products to work with Reality-XP.

Position the screen and test.

Start X-Plane and load the default Cessna 172SP. With the default 3D cockpit view selected, click on the virtual GNS530 screen so that it 'pops out. Note the background may look strange; look for the small rectangle in the upper right and click this to make the window appear with the white bar at the top.

Could you position the window so it fills the GNS530 screen? If you place the GNS530 display below your primary display, drag it down so that only the white bar is visible in your primary production. You may need to adjust the width/height of the popped-out window slightly.

Try pressing the buttons on the GNS530, and you should see a screen change. If you don't see anything changing, you can check that the GNS530 is connected by checking the connection status window in "Plugins -> RealSimGear GNSx30 -> Connected Hardware". 

Your device should appear in this window, and the message/command items will change when you press the buttons or turn the knobs.

You can also check out this X-Force PC video describing the complete setup process.

You can look at this video for the basics of MSFS 2020 popouts.

If you need additional help setting up your GNS 530 for X-Plane or Microsoft Flight Simulator, please email our support department: support@realsimgear.com

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