ISantus

Sorry. I shoudl have clarified. I decided to go the Leo Bodnar route my my first attempt. This is limited to 32 and based on everything I have read, I am stuck at 32. The next board will likely be Arduino once I prove to myself I can do it.

32 input with connections. Everything I read says no matrix on it and after several Google searches it appears as though I am unable. I will either have to forfeit 4 buttons (not a deal breaker), or buy a second board it looks like

Darn it. This is what I was trying to do but gave up after struggling through several attempts at it. I couldnt get Hoodloader2 to work and wasnt sure where I was going wrong. I couldnt tell if it was the generic Elegoo (SP?) board that I chose, or my ignorance. Unfortuatnely I sent it all back to Amazon and moved over to the Bodnar board. I think if I can get this one working, I might revisit Arduino with a name brand board further down the line. Thanks for offerring your help.

Thank you! This was my first route but I didn't get very far as a result of my experience with this type of process. First I bought a generic board and I dont think it had the required 16u2 controller. Second the programming seemed way above my head for my first dip into this type of process. As a result the folks above recommended that Bodnar boards that seemed more in line with my current skillset.

Me again! The Bodnar board arrives today and I am ready to get this thing running in the next couple days. The question I have is how do I get 36 buttons to work on a controller that only has 32 inputs? I believe I would need to matrix some of them. If my math is correct I need to build a 3x4 matrix. That would require 7 wires for 12 switches thus reducing my needs to 31 inputs. Does this sound correct?

So far they have accepted it and all new parts ordered. Now off to fly

Thank you both for your help. This makes me much more comfortable. As much as I know I COULD learn Arduino, I really don't want to at this point. Bodnar seems to make the whole thing easier. Now hopefully Amazon doesn't give me hell for sending back two boards and 6 rotary encoders.

Looks great. Should I rethink my KY-040 rotary encoders that need power if I go the Bodnar Board route?

Wow! Learning so much. This is a rabbit hole isn't it? Thank you for the recommendation. I have 24 hours to prove to myself I can get the Mega to do what I want. If that fails, I am going to try to get one button to work on the Leonardo. If I still struggle with that by the end of the week, Im sending them both back to Mr. Bezos and switching to Bodnar, since it is all clearly above my head. Thanks for the recommendation Also, the rotary encoders I have are KY-040. They have 5 connection points. There is a 5v power connection and a button push, plus ground SignalX and SignalY. Would these even work with a Bodnar board?

I have ordered a Leonardo in case I am unable to get the Mega functioning prior. My worry about the Leo is the need for a matrix. The majority of my switches are rotary encoders. There are a handful of buttons that I understand how to get in a matrix, but the rotary encoders I do not yet understand how to implement a matrix. Outside of rotary encoders I have a couple 2 way on-on toggles and 5 regular buttons. The Leo has too few connection points to run everything straight in, hence why I went Mega. Unfortunately I was unaware of the difficulties of getting the Mega to function as HID.

I have just attempted this like the 10th time. I was able to get rid of the error at the upload point. However, given that I dont have a 100nf capacitor, I believe there is an error on reboot where it should load the new bootloader. I am going to see if I can get my hands on something locally to try this whole process again. I havent even gotten to the wiring and programming parts that I thought to be the hardest. I am in over my head....

Yes. This was the first video I found and followed. Unfortunately it appears (to me) to be outdated as this is using Hoodloader 1.8 vs the newer Hoodloader2. The instructions for Hoodloader2 feel less clear to me and it fails. Given how new I am to this process, it is hard for me to understand where I am failing. I have been trying to follow this https://github.com/NicoHood/HoodLoader2.

It is not a true Arduino. Here is the Amazon link. It is an Elegoo Mega R3

I am continuing to struggle on this. I thought that hard part was going to be wiring, after some research, it seems that with the Mega, I have enough connection points to wire everythign direct without a matrix. However, after following as many forums and directions as possible to get my Mega board to function as an HID, I have failed. I am not sure where I am going wrong but I am unable to get it setup as an HID to test a single button. It appears as though I need to use Hoodloader2, but the directions are often more complex than I am able to follow. Do you have any suggestions for how to accomplish getting the Mega setup as an HID?

I really appreacite your help. I have another guy that I found on Facebook that has also offerred some input. Between your help, his help, and my neighbor who does electrical work, I feel like I can tackle this, or at least try. I am going to start making all the cuts and get the board and switches in the box. Then I think I might take a stab at one button, test my wiring, make sure all works, and proceed from there. I have thought about replacing the 3 way switch as the post situation seems intense, and the switch actually locks on all three positions. I didn't want that but couldnt find anything else that was on-on-on toggle. Im sure they are out there. Thanks again for your help and I will be sure to print out your suggestions when I begin wiring.

I am embarking on a (relatively compared to many of the people I see on this forum) task to build a button box. While I believe I can handle the work, I am finding myself confused on the wiring diagram portion of this job. I am reaching out to you fine folks to see if anyone is willing to lend a hand in designing the wiring diagram for me to follow. I have attached a visual of the layout that also includes links to all of the products I intend to use. Is anyone willing to design a wiring diagram that I can follow? TYIA Button Box.docx

I have constructed a Next Level Racing F-GT rig for VR flight sim, mostly DCS and FS2020. I have been flying with the X56 mounted to the right of the seat and the throttle control to the left. I have made a mouse plank for easy access, but one thing I have always wanted was a center mount for the X56. Has anyone ever done a center mount with this rig or does anyone have any ideas to accomplish this?

To be honest, at this point my system can't cut it so I don't want to know what anything more than 100% looks like. I will be spoiled and then cut elsewhere. I very much enjoy MSAA and ultra clouds and as a result there is no overhead room in the SC (my preferred launch location). I am not CPU bound, but rather GPU bound, which is crazy considering it is a 3090. I either need to wait for software upgrades, or chase another GPU with the 4000 series around the corner. I am not counting on either.

I believe this is my first post, but I have been stalking these forums for about a year. I wanted to say THANK YOU to SOH, and others, for this very detailed and coherent process for tuning DCS. I have been working with my system with a Valve Index, but recently wanted to switch to a HP Reverb G2 with the recent updates to HP's hardware. As a result I found myself on this page tuning my system. It has been incredibly helpful in understanding my performance and making decisions to achieve what I wanted. Ironically my settings ended up almost exactly following SOH's recommendations. However, I wanted to share my findings for others that perhaps find their way to this page. System specs: 5900x (no overclock yet) on Asus x570 Crosshair Hero VIII, 3090 FE with slight overclock, 32gb at 3600, WIndows 11, MWR Steam VR (non-beta), HP Reverb G2. Running latest Nvidia drivers and DCS Beta fully up to date. I tested the difference between the multiple mods he mentions, as compared to none, as well as my final decision of VR Shaders and FSR. I also wanted to test if vector reprojection in WMR vs Steam reprojection made any difference. It did not and I settled on Steam VR with WMR defaulting to Steam. From there I tested between MSAA at x2 vs off, terrain shadows flat vs off, standard clouds vs ultra clouds, as well as cockpit global illimunation on vs off. For sake of argument I also wanted to see if my GPU overclock helped. I ended up cheating and using MSI Afterburner OC Scan to settle on a core Curve and +300 on the memory. It did make a slight difference. I think I can push the card (can you really call GPUs these days cards?) further, but that is for another time in addition to overclocking my CPU and continuing my tests. I completed this entire process over about 70 tests and 2 different scenes. I tend to fly off the SC, but I realize it is overlly demanding as compared to other scenes. To test the SC I used the Mission SC cold start in the Persian Gulf. I used this as kind of a worse case scenario. I also fly in the Persian Gulf a lot so I used an instant action free flight scene to test a more traditional situation. To get fair results I used a very exact moment in time to note the current frame timing in each of these scenes. For the SC I used the moment the first F18 takes off from the deck and marked my timings. For the Persian Gulf free flight, the second I can see the white buildings on the right side of the lake pass the cockpit, I marked the timings as my score. To be fair, my measurements were not precise and since the frame timings move so much, I chose not to mark the decimal places. I simply chose the whole number as the timing. Yes, this isnt super precise, but it got me what I was looking for. Also of note, all of this was done from the cockpit of the incredible F18. Two screenshots attached for reference: System Settings as well as my spreadsheet for tracking the timings across these tests. In addition, I am running VR settings of PD 1.0 and mask of .42. I kept PD at 1.0 and adjusted between 80% and 100% via Steam settings for the tests as noted in my spreadsheet. Please note that the settings screenshot I have attached shows all of my other settings, but you can use my spreadsheet to determine changes I tested, for the remainder. Everything else besides what is noted on the spreadsheet were left as you see them in this screenshot. I wouldn't say this process was without some bordem, but it really felt good to undertand the impacts of each settings on frame timings. This allowed me to settle on my final settings: 80% SS, MSAAx2, Ultra clouds, low shadows, terrain object shadows off, cockpit global illumination off. All other settings noted in screenshot. Thanks again for all the amazing work to help me get a grasp on these settings. I hope others find my spreadsheet helpful. Now off to more tests and to overclock this CPU. Also, keep Oxford, MI on your minds and hearts. I live here 6 miles from the shooter's house. This community is shook.