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Looks great - I bet there's a good feeling of immersion there.

Let the obsession commence!!

What a tease ...

Absolutely in awe ...

How did you know!?? LOL ... yes, the plan is to construct an ACTUAL airplane. Sims are for wimps. LOL

Considering this for a landing gear handle ... knobs are about 1.5" in diameter, according to the seller. Of course, I also pulled the trigger on a CNC mill, so maybe I should be asking specs for the real thing, instead.

Jocman I'm certainly no expert, but within SIOC could you not link the single variable of the switch itself to two *other* variables that would then each operate the cover & switch via Lua? I have to imagine there's an easy way, and this is probably an amateur way around.

The first thing I'd do is look for an option to DISABLE the onboard video if you're not using it. My next suggestion would be just to try the different options listed there, as they're simply prioritizing the video cards. Since it's got PCI first, that's what gets turned on. If you give me more info like the mainboard and bios version you've got, as well as both video cards and interface (PCI-E/AGP/Onboard/whatever), I'll see if I can help. I'm personally running both PCI-E and PCI video cards on a machine that also has an onboard GPU. That's not to guarantee your system has the options to do it, but it should be possible.

There's probably a BIOS setting for VGA priority. Are both video cards being listed under display properties?

When I first saw your unpainted caution panel, I had wondered if perhaps you had cut those grooves (I see now that they're actually more chamfered) with the intent of laying in some sort of opaque barrier ... I still thought you might get some bleed-over anyway, but I thought it was a cool idea and certainly worth a try. Also, wouldn't simply using green LEDs work to light the indicators?

Correct - *technically* possible with 8 position switches, but not being divisible by 3 creates the reverse 'glitch' every 9th position since you effectively skip an input/bit and encounters the 'wrong' input where you'd expect it to hit input/bit #3.

Triggerhappy, did you try anything to alter the feel, because that seems exactly counter to what I was saying I didn't like about the rotary encoders I have, that have too 'light' a click in each detent. When I was experiementing with this, I was using 'open' type rotary switches, and used a small screwdriver to bend the metal spring-plate that held the ball bearing against the top plate with the detents, and got a good, solid-feeling 'click' without being the full-on CLUNK of the standard rotary switch. As far as 8-position switches, it's either 2 pins too many or 1 pin short - to use them like this, you have to have a number of positions divisible by 3, so that each one of three are connected to the OC inputs. For typical 2-bit gray code, the direction of rotation is determined by phase relationship (bit/input 1 is turned on before bit/input 2 is turned on, and bit 1 is turned off before bit 2 is turned off, or the other way around. For these modified rotaries, it's different. Direction of rotation is determined by which bit/input is turned on after another is turned off ... when bit 2 is turned of, was bit 3 turned on (clockwise movement) or was bit 1 turned on (counter-clockwise)? That's why fast rotation can lead to problems ... since the circuits are also debounced, if you're turning the switch faster than it registers position changes, it can seem like you're turning the switch in reverse (or erratically back and forth). You could use your 8 position switches ... just wire 1,4,7 to the first input, 2, 5, 8 to the second, and 3, 6 to the third ... but what you'd get is a response where every 9th 'click' would register a turn in the wrong direction, where instead of the next bit being bit/input 3 it would be either 1 or 2 instead. Not to beat the point, but if you were using it for channel selection, you'd see something like ... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 3 4 5 6 7 ... ... as you rotated it clockwise.

Oh wait a second .... the G540 replaces the breakout board and the four individual stepper motor drivers ... sometimes I'm slow ... that makes a lot more sense.

Duckling! Sorry I just saw those circuit schematics ... THAT is what I'm talking about needing the CNC for, exactly! I love you guys ... *sniff* LOL

Indeed, I'd figured that I could get started with a plywood machine and then move the motors, electronics and lead screws over to a more 'permanent' machine at some point down the line, upgrading as money allowed. While I can afford several hundred dollars right now, I can't really afford to spend more than a couple thousand. That G540 alone is as much as I'll spend on (cheap?) lead screws. Still, I'll soak up as much info as you guys can give me. If I need to scrape up a couple grand to do this right, that's what I'll do. As far as ebay goes, I've been looking. I've been torn over what constitutes a truly good deal or not, as I weigh different options of drive mechanisms, working areas, etc. I know my #1 requirement will be accuracy, since I'll be engraving panels, but I also want a decent size (at least a full 12" by 18"+), since I'm hoping to bring in a bit of business with trinkets and custom parts. Anyway, yeah ... my 'pit is in a state of limbo since I don't want to put too much effort into masonite & photo-paper panels if I'm looking at full acrylic/engraved/backlit panels not too far in the future (and looking forward to the learning processes that comes with all that). My hand-wiring of the UHF panel's 7-segment displays was enough to convince me I needed a CNC for custom circuitboards. :]

*sigh* ... and I didn't want to take advantage and barrage folks here (like you) with newbie questions. I had already chosen a high-quality plywood over MDF as my material of choice, and while it appeared that their stuff was priced a little high, I thought avoiding the trouble of sourcing it all myself would be worth the additional cost. I have been debating with myself for WEEKS over whether to try to scrounge/source cheaper components and build this myself or spend a bit more money for something good (or even decent) right from the start.

MAD ... Ordered CNC electronics and hardware from buildyourcnc.com (thanks to all the CNC-wielding folks around here, and weeks of debate with myself) ... no indication that they got my order (other than shipping notification - great, right?). But then the package comes and it's just the hardware and plans - no electronics. Had to ask a couple times for an update, finally got word that the components were backordered and hadn't cleared customs. Asked for them to make it right, hoped for maybe an option to substitute an upgraded option or something ... no response again, until I sent another follow-up asking them to make it right or cancel my order and give me a refund. Individual's response to that was immediate, to the tune of "if that's what I want." Am I being unreasonable?

Rockeyes ... I kinda wish I hadn't seen that video, or known that you had no previous experience. LOL ... now there's something else I want to try!

Ah, duckling - I knew I'd seen that info somewhere, but couldn't find it on OC's site. Downside here is that you lose an additional input for each encoder. Upside is that perhaps there's a better tactile feel - the encoders I have don't present a very satisfying "click" at each detent, so hitting the correct entry on the nose is a bit touchy (I might try to overcome this by increasing the rotation needed per increment). For some uses this might not be a big deal, but working on the UHF panel, I may consider going this route.

I don't know about the dimensions, Glider - but your "SIG AMPL" (next to "LINE CHECK") has a typo.

On your monitor questions, search for multiple monitor setup. There is already a good amount of information for most of what you want to do. I'm not aware of a specific viewport for the CDU, however.

Unfortunately I have absolutely NO idea how the unit actually works - I just picked it up since it looked the part and the price was right. :/

You can't argue with simplicity.

The test switches are 3 position, and the up position is momentary. I actually picked up one of these panels from either a Skyhawk or Phantom (AFAIK). It appears nearly identical to the one in the A-10.

Anyone know why you can only assign certain controls to certain controllers (e.g. I can't bind joystick buttons to UFC functions)?