jrsteensen

Slowly progressing - everyone has had real life catch up to them in a big way these past few months. Throttle grips are in progress, and some redesign to the throttle arms will be required. We will be releasing this as a whole. Some errors in the design are expected, and won't be caught until all mating parts/structure are designed. Would hate to release parts piecemeal that don't actually end up working in the end product.

Gotta have padded cushions - I prefer a hard foam bottom, with a memory foam bonded on top for both the seat pan cushion and the seat back cushion.

Another little update - I've been on 5 business trips on the past month. Things have been nutty. Haven't gotten to solder up the ABSIS board yet. I have finished modelling the AMPCD and the Nuclear Weapons Enable Switch. Integrated the newest reference model into the design. Our electrical team is planning to do a sprint on the custom PCBs over the next couple weeks as well.

Who say they did what? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Canada doesn't have C model, IIRC, but A+'s. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

It was removed when the EFEI was installed. Functionality was replaced and enhanced. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Get the Warthog for now. TM will release and sell the stick separately which will mount on the existing warthog base. If that's later on, just have someone in the US order you the f/a-18 stick and mail it to you. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Precisely. The typical panel stack up will be a .125 acrylic backplate (as opposed to a .063 aluminum - again, aiming this towards lower end hobby CNC routers, but if you want to do it out of aluminum, feel free.) Then, we will have .1875 acrylic lightplate, bonded to .063 white on black engravable plastic. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

BLUF: Not in the initial version. We are catering this to a lower end home shop. To that end, backlighting panels is an order of magnitude more complicated than non-backlit panels. That said, the electronics interface system we are designing (ABSIS) natively supports up to 3x 12v PWM lines for future backlighting expansion. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I misspoke. I intended to say that I would want to be taken to the engine start location, i.e. no backing up reqd, then can startup and taxi per normal. Maybe with deck crew directing me. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I may not have been clear enough. That's exactly what I want. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Aniron, I'll add the HDMI connector to where the oxygen hookup would go on the OBOGS panel. The company that makes the bulkhead connector also sells a DisplayPort connector in the same formfactor, so the user can choose to swap. I'll leave the HUB as is, but its a small panel. If someone can build this whole pit, they can adjust for whatever connectors they need. (For example, I'll be adding a connector for my HGU-68 helmet comms.) Mr_Burns, Good catch! I caught it a while back and fixed it in the model, but wasn't worth the extra hour of rendering to fix. :D bnepethomas, Thanks for the link! I was having a hard time finding the X40 there though. (It may be because I was mobile at the time. I'll have to look better when I get to a PC. billybezeau, We are speccing the Prusa i3 MK3 as the minimum requirements for the project. https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/3d-printers/180-original-prusa-i3-mk3-kit.html Thanks for all your input everyone, and always happy to hear peoples ideas!

I think I'd prefer for ground crew to be mostly automated. Radio I'm ready for towing. They take me to the CAT, and we go through the procedure to fix the launch bar to the shuttle, test holdback, and launch. It's not my job to not hit things, that why we have yellow(?) shirts. [emoji14]

This. Pretty sure that many scratches would deadline a bird as a hazard to pilot visibility.

The one all the hoses hook into - inboard of the OBOGS panel. The Hub is USB3, but I'll look into the video connectors. I didn't realize people still used audio jack headsets. [emoji14] Do I need to include just HDMI, or Mini Display Port as well? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

I'm gonna laugh a little if DCS becomes "Aircraft Tow Simulator". Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Just wanted to give a little status update: I've integrated the newest reference model with all ribs, canopy sills, and canopy bow reference. Completed the L console panels, with the exception of the connector panel. Still deciding what connectors to place there - I have a small powered 4 port USB hub, what else would be useful? I'm going to reevaluate the gauge options based on the Simco Micro Air Core and X27/X40 options. Not sure how to do concentric gauges with the MAC however, or where to reliably source the X40 steppers. Both major influences on which route I decide to take. Finished building my bench power supply. I'll be soldering up the first ABSIS Nano in the coming week.

Ganeshka, No. There is no built in keymatrix for the digital output pins. These boards are direct breakouts of the I/O pins of the Arduino, with the exception of adding a RS485 bus, standardized power connections, and the ability to swap three of the PWM digital pins to 12V output (to drive LED strings and solenoids.) The intent is to have a single one of these boards per panel, and are especially cost effective for doing so. They can be built out for about $5.25 for the nano boards, and about $15 for the Mega boards. Obviously, this price can be lowered significantly by buying components in bulk. Robump, Thanks! We are almost halfway done with the concept model, and it's nice to start looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel, and starting to see stuff moving towards building the first prototype.

ABSIS Mega and Nano prototype boards are in! I'll get them soldered up over the next couple weeks as I have time to start testing.

The original business did. Sage bought it out, but hasn't had the opportunity to get production started due to day job.

First objective is having our release package. We will look at shapeways down the line. The panels aren't really designed for 3d Printing. Those will generally be milled on the CNC Router out of acrylic. I want to test the displays before I release the PNs for the UFC. Its a pretty (really really!) complex PCB controlling those. Please see attached screen grabs of the select jettison knob, should give you a pretty good idea of what we are planning to do there. (It's fairly complicated. And look! Replica mag switches too.)

It's something we have considered and haven't come to a conclusion on yet. If you don't have a 3D printer, this is going to be a long (or extra expensive) road. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

Thank AJ! Getting a donation, especially a sizable one this early on is inspiring! I've enabled account creation over there. (Sorry for overlooking that. Oops!) As far as getting a feel of electronics, play with the basics - arduino with DCS-BIOS, and interfacing toggle switches, pushbuttons, LEDs (don't forget your current limiting resistor or you will let the magic smoke out!), potentiometers, and rotary encoders. Everything else will be more advanced and there will be tutorials on how to hook stuff up (eventually).

I'm looking at the steppers and I may need to revisit those. Ideally, I'd love to find the little dual steppers used all over the place in the auto industry, but I can't find a reliable source. I don't want to spec something for this project that can't be purchased reliably. I've talked to the team, and we really don't want to release anything publicly that one of us hasn't already built/prototyped, because things change, and I don't want other people wasting money. Similar how ED very much tries to not release things until most the worst of the bugs are beaten out - causes too much badwill and grief for all involved. I do have boards and components enroute to prototype the ABSIS boards (the NANO/MEGA breakouts) for use with DCS-BIOS. Once I build a couple and test them, I'll be releasing that design ahead of the full package as that is useful outside the OpenHornet project as well. I will be posting updates first to http://www.openhornet.com, but I will continue to update this thread in parallel. I would love for some experienced DCS-BIOS and builders to put together some tutorials for me to host over there - it will be a little better organized than just trying to find random threads on various subjects here. If anyone wants to design us a better logo for the project, let me know so I can give you our requirements. :music_whistling:

On OpenHornet, we are planning on using all real with the exception of the ADI/RWR which will share a screen. I also plan on making accommodations in the design to allow the entire backup gauge cluster to be digital if the builder so chooses. (Gauges are a ton of work, tbh.) Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk