rocketeer

Can you show more pictures on how it looks like behind the panels, how you space the boards and do the wiring etc. do you use breakout boards, do you solder or use crimps etc.

Yes, they are diecast metal. There are two brands, Maisto Tailwinds, and Kidconnection. I can't remember which one is from Walgreens, which ones from Walmart. But both brands are cheap, about $2-3 each I think. I've got many others, F-16, F-18, F-4, Apache, Mirage 2000, F-117, Eurofighter, F-22, Blackbird, Chinook, SU-47, B1B, E2C, Rafale etc. Actually the picture above is the KA-52, not 50. It's a bit embrassing when the box says for ages 3+, and you're caught holding one of these when a hot chick walks by.

Here you go, a zoom in.

I've got many US and European aircraft models, mostly bought from Walgreen. The following ones are closer to my heart, as they are the flyable ones in Lock On and BS.

I've made a new breakout board for the BS cockpit. This will not mix with the other board for my A-10, FSX panels and switches. A quick test with all the terminal points using a momentary push buttons shows that they are working fine. The small card on the left is the master module. The one at the top is the input module for switches. So I'd connect the output module for LEDs and 7 segment displays. For BS cockpit several breakout boards will be needed if I want to make most of the switches.

Thanks for the info. I'd try it out once I get back my output card from repair. More pics on how you line up the LEDs for the panels please! I'm curious how many and how you space them out. Front and back of the panels pics would be much appreciated!

Nice! Will you be using the OC's servo card to drive the gauges?

Hey trigger, are you not a dedicated display card, or the output section of your master OC card for LEDs? You mean, just power supply and LEDs directly, with resistors, on a perf board? I've been struggling with my output card. If a more direct way works better, than I'd go that way. Please eloborate.

Thanks trigger for the info. I just got news from my FDT that they'd be providing an upgrade to the output card to operate servos! If that works, then I don't have to buy the OC cards just for the sake of using servos. Hopefully it'd work to drive the gauges. Else, I'd come knocking for help on OC cards. :smilewink:

I also heard rumours about an addon collective from saitek, but have not found anything official yet. any idea when this might come out?

if i ever fly to the east coast for my project work i'd want to visit your setup! here in the bay area there is a company called techshop. they conduct classses on various stuff, from basic electronics to mould making, use of CNC machines, how to bend metal etc. all kinds of skills. then you can pay $30 a day and use their CNC and various other tools that we normally can't afford to buy, ie. unlimited access to all tools and machines for a one day pass. they have a branch in the east coast. the closest one to NY is in north carolina. you can maybe check it out or look for a similar set up to rent some machine for a few hours. they have quite a stuff that i want to learn.

Good job, trigger.

His tag is CAT_101st. You'd see see him a few times in this thread. PM him to get setup on teamspeak. We talk to each other sometimes using that. I've just explained to Aeroscout on MSN about wiring the switches. When he gets his USB board, he'd be sharing his wiring experience too so you'd have one more chap on the group to talk to regarding this interface thingi from the IO board to the PC. When you get it going it'd be so fun in your sim.. When I finsihed my three panels my wife thought the switches look nice and too bad they were just for display. I told her they were functional and she didn't believe me till I gave a demo. She doesn't have any interest in flying, but because the functional switches make it seem more realistic, she actually considered trying a simple sortie in FSX one of these days with my help. To say the least she was impressed that I could make switches work for a game. That itself was rewarding. Suddenly my hobby doesn't seem so stupid after all. She thought the whole fuss with panels and switches was just for a mockup cockpit.

catch me on msn and i'd explain to you. also, contact CAT to join his teamspeak team and we can chat from there. I'd also try to find some more links that will illustrate how IO cards work. Pots and output boards (for LED, 7 segment displays etc.) are more tricky. But simple switches on input boards are straightforward, as you will see later.

There are several relatively cheap input cards out there. 1. Try this: http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/joystick/ $35 plus shipping, gives us 32 buttons for a start. I think it's the cheapest solution in the market. personally i haven't tried it, but heard about it from frugalsword forum. 2. Or this Utimarc APAC usb panel $39+ship. http://www.rossmeeks.ca/?p=3 3. Or from desktop aviator http://www.desktopaviator.com/Products/Model_2040/index.htm 4. You can also check out hagstrom's input cards, some usb, some ps/2 based. http://www.hagstromelectronics.com/products/modules.html Wiring their cards is easy, just tighten the wires with screws. coding it is also very easy for hagstrom cards. CAT is going to get the hagstrom KE72 for his cockpit. if you get the same, you guys can share experiences with each other. hagstrom cards are quite popular and proven, and support i heard is good. don't make a cockpit just for display man. get some cheap IO cards and we'd help you out. it'd feel great when you get the toggle switches, push buttons, rockers etc. to work as programmed in your sim. these are simple ones. when are get familiar with them, then you can progress to using potentiometers, sliders or rotating type.

Yes, when I can figure out what each of them does, either after BS is released, or if we get another producer's note with more info on the switches. Currently the switches are not connected to any wire yet. I'm just checking out the spacing between them and the dimension of the panels. Yet to add the APU switch and the thumb wheels and number dials for the UHF radio on the APU panel. We intend to replicate any many panels as possible. Trigger, CAT and I can discuss about the dimensions and switches. but we'd be each using different IO cards for interfacing. So can't really help each other when we run into problems with the IO cards. I am now busy with making the frames. Forgot to check how trigger is doing on his thread.

Tell me about it! When she's mad she can quote something I did or said years ago. That's one huge harddisk man. When I try say she always do this or that that pisses me off, she'd ask for at least one example, and I'd go blank, and swear to myself to start writing things down for future references. :doh:

LOL, I haven't upgraded my PC for 4 years. Guess it's time to at least upgrade the graphics card. My wife can't tell one gadget from another. She calls all of them 'toys'.

rust? first impression looks like a terrain map!

Simmers like us tend to keep buying computer hardware and software to enhance our simming experience. Some stuff are purely gaming accessories. We seem to be constantly buying gadgets, which is 'essential' to us, like trackir, rudder, th2go, more monitors, bass shaker, more RAM, better graphics card etc. but the 'importance' of these stuff is not so obvious to the wife. If you are like me, with limited $, and sometimes get questioned by the wife, here's my reason, 'well honey, i did not spend $30 plus grand on a new Acura or Lexus SUV like my colleagues. instead i'm driving this old, used $6k car, so TECHNICALLY we have saved $20k plus, so this is just using a fraction of that saving...' Or you can say 'it is my money man, i can do what i want!' and see if you end up sleeping on the couch that night, or many nights... Of course there are a lucky few who don't get questioned or seem to have unlimited simming funds.

Since we are into prototyping, here's mine with foam board. No plexi sheet with lettering yet. Now it's just about dimensions and placement estimates etc. HUD panel. APU panel The two control knobs are too small and I need to replace with bigger ones. I realized that I need to use generic knobs, as the some of the knobs in the KA-50 cockpit are very rare. Need to get a few illuminated square push buttons for this panel, then cover them 3/4 on the surface with yet to be determined english letters after I figured a way to translate the russian words on the switches. Also, need to replace the toggle switch for the APU selector with a 4 way toggle like the cool one that triggerhappy is building! Good job buddy!

Have you tried the solution in this thread: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=17306&highlight=triplehead2go It talks about changing the view angle in view.lua from 20, 120 to 20, 175 etc.

Hi Razorback, very nice set up. I think u are the only one that has the most complete KA-50 pit. do u know how to accurately translate the russian letters into english? or at least i'm guessing u know what the switches' letters mean ? i can only think of using some google tools, then get some russian members in the forum to double check, if they dont mind, it's quite a list. i'm also planning to build the KA-50 pit but would like (accurate) english text on the panels instead. it won't look as authentic but is more practical for me to be able to tell what each switch does by reading the english letters.

This is really great news. Is it possible to also have an early release on part of the manual explaining the cockpit switches? I'm not expecting the whole 500-600 pages of the manual. Appreciate your producer's note on the start up procedure. But some more info about the cockpit would be really useful for the few of us attempting to build the BS pit. Can't read Russian and guessing a lot right now. Some info will help as it takes months to build a pit, even a partial one.

Nope. I wish I could fly the hornet! Never bought any F-18 sim, If DCS makes it I'd definitely buy it.