doveman

lol thanks but is it comfortable...and clean :unsure:;)

Every pit needs a comfortable chair for extended sessions. Racing/bucket seats are about £150-200 on e-bay so I thought I'd start a thread where people can post suggestions for used car seats they've found that fit the bill and be cheaper. Obviously some seats are better padded or more supportive than others and there's so many choices, it will help if we can narrow it down a bit. All the used car parts sites I've looked at force you to enter the make/model, etc before they'll show you what parts they have, so we need to know what we're looking for. I tried looking on e-bay but just got pages of baby/child seats! I'm in the UK myself, so probably won't be able to find any US makes that people might recommend but others might find the information useful, so don't let that put you off sharing :)

Hi Glider, great to see you back :)

I'd be very interested DC. I'm planning to make some panels for my Dad and was wondering how to get them looking nice without spending a fortune, so it will be fantastic if I could pay you to laser cut and engrave them for me. I'm at the early stages of designing the panels at the moment, so it would probably be helpful to know what format you'd need the design in so I can make sure I use the right software. I'm not sure of the exact dimensions of my panels yet but they'll be around 200x200mm, maybe 200x300mm and I'll need at least two, maybe six if I'm going for multi-layered backlit ones but only the top layer will need to be engraved. Will you be able to paint the engraving as well so that they're basically ready to fit when I receive them? You've clearly got a good technique down from reading your other thread, so I would prefer you to do it rather than risk screwing them up myself! I'll be needing some more panels in the fairly near future for myself as well but I probably won't have time to design those for a while yet.

Thanks. One of the most time-consuming things for me is looking at all the different switches and trying to decide which ones to get, so this will be an immense help :thumbup:

Thanks, makes perfect sense. Great looking panels metalnwood. Those toggle switches look real nice as well, with the metal cowl hiding the nut and thread. Have you got a source where I could get some of those from?

Thanks Peter. I'm a bit confused that your diagram shows D2-D8 on the left side. I assume that can't be referring to digital pins on the Arduino as this is an I2C circuit and so only uses SDA and SCL? Is it possible to still chain Arduinos using SDA and SCL whilst also using them to drive multiple displays like this? Would the slave Arduino need to have a 'channel' added to the mux to give it a distinctive address as well or would it bypass the mux? I'm not sure why I need the supplier to provide a sample sketch, as the code to drive the display is all much the same isn't it (for the same display type at least) and I'm sure there's plenty of examples floating around. I can understand I'd need specific code if using a mux like yours but I don't imagine anyone I buy a display from is likely to be able to help with that. I was planning to build a panel the width of the monitor but I'm thinking I might divide it into two parts now, with the engine/power switches in one box and the radio, autopilot, transponder in another. Then, if I get into difficulty with the displays, at least I'll have the other box to give to my Dad for his birthday. It also has the advantage that he could put each box either side of the main monitor and put a second monitor between the two boxes to display instruments. Even if I only use one Arduino, it will be fairly simple to link the two boxes as the displays will only need SDA/SCL from the first box to the second (into a mux as per your design in the latter) and I can probably run most of the controls (encoders, momentary buttons, rotary switches) to a few analog inputs to minimise the cabling, so it will probably fit on a 9-pin Dsub.

I'm planning to build an autopilot panel for my Dad, based on this Saitek design http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/multi.html Whilst looking for suitable parts, I became aware of the advantage of using I2C and only 2-wires rather than 8-9 and I bought this blue LCD to experiment with: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161200022257?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 However, I suspect it won't be bright or big enough to be easily read, compared to the display used in the Saitek, so perhaps a white OLED like this would be better. I'm not sure it's wide enough though (the Saitek looks like 2 lines of 9 characters): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/0-96-I2C-IIC-SPI-Serial-128X64-OLED-LCD-LED-Display-Module-for-Arduino-white-DE-/251499783216?pt=UK_Computing_Other_Computing_Networking&hash=item3a8e8e2430 So I'd be grateful for any advice or links to suitable components. I'm not opposed to using 18 7-segment LEDs (2 rows of 9) if that would be better, as long as it can be run using I2C, otherwise I might need to use a second Mega 2560, which is a possibility. I also need to drive a radio panel like this http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/radio.html although I might only have one set of Active/Standby (i.e. the top half of the Saitek). So I'd also appreciate any advice on running multiple devices over I2C, what the limit is and so on.

Is the middle layer just to cover the screws/nuts that are used to attach the components to the bottom layer, so that they aren't visibile through the top layer? I'd like to get laser-cut and engraved black anodized aluminium panels but that's probably going to be unaffordable, so I'm interested in cheaper, possibly DIY, alternatives. I don't really have any tools so I'm looking for methods that I could manage with a combination of borrowed tools and buying a few cheap tools, like a dremel. It may be that I need to find somewhere that can engrave the panel for me once I've cut it myself though.

I tend to take the easy way out with this and just use pre-made cables, which I can cut one end off if I need to wire that to something else, or cut in the middle and re-join if I need it shorter/longer. Still have to wire the sockets manually though, unless you use a pre-made extension cable with a female socket and cut the other end off. As long as it has the holes either side of the socket for securing it to the plug I guess you could screw it into the casing quite easily, rather than having to leave the socket dangling outside the case. I'm not sure if it's cost-effective to buy cables to do this any more, as the price has probably increased due to most people using DVI/HDMI cables now (which are very cheap as a result) but I had a few lying around that I used for various things in the past.

Ah, that's cool then. As for getting stuff out, X-plane makes that fairly easy as well http://svglobe.com/arduino/outputs.html but I've seen a few threads like this http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=120945 which promise to make it easier for DCS too :)

X-plane makes it fairly easy, as the Arduino just needs to send a properly formatted data reference message, like comsend("sim/flight_controls/landing_gear_up") http://www.xsquawkbox.net/xpsdk/docs/DataRefs.html I'm not aware that DCS has anything like that but it looks like Boltz A2DCS http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=120386&highlight=a2dcs will be a great help.

Hey DC, that'll be great. I can't imagine I'll be able to tell you anything about the technical side of things that you don't already know but I do have some good ideas from time to time ;) I've been following your other threads by the way, very useful thanks. :thumbup:

Hi Boltz What you're doing here sounds great and I'm sure will help me immensely when I come to build my DCS panels. :thumbup: You may have already come across it, or it may not tell you anything you don't already know but Vlad has put together a great site with info about using the Arduino with X-Plane, so you might want to take a look http://arduino.svglobe.com/ I'm new to Arduino (and panel building actually) and am planning to start with a fairly simple panel for X-Plane for my Dad, based on this design by screetch82 http://forums.x-plane.org/uploads/monthly_10_2013/post-134928-0-12502800-1382358634.jpg I'm thinking I might replace the engine and lighting toggle switches with momentary push buttons with built-in LEDS like these http://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/tl1240-series/19887 to indicate ON status, which will have the advantage of being able to be reset by the sim as well as looking cool, although that might be a bit advanced for me, so I might just use rocker switches like on the Saitek Switch Panel http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/switch.html LED rockers like these would look quite classy I think but they don't have separate pins for the LED so I couldn't use those unfortunately. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Color-12V-LED-Dot-illuminated-Light-Car-Dash-Round-Rocker-ON-OFF-SPST-Switch-/371035627183?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Components_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item5663725eaf For the Autopilot, I thought of reducing the components by having a momentary button which toggles the active section between V/S, HDG and Altitude, with a LED that illuminates above each section to indicate when it's active and then just have the one encoder that adjusts the active section but now I'm thinking of just using the Saitek Multipanel design as that seems quite sensible, with a rotary to select what the encoder adjusts, momentary buttons to toggle the respective parts on and a master AP on button http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/multi.html I'm not sure how much that sort of display would cost though or if it would be hard to drive and whether I'd be better off just using two rows of 9 7-segment LEDs. Anyway, I don't know how hard it would be to incorporate X-Plane into your software but it's something you might want to consider and would be cool.

Thanks, that's a great relief. It should mean that some of the skills I learn building my Dad's X-Plane panel serve me well when I come to do my DCS ones :)

Before I start building myself some panels, I plan to build one for my Dad's upcoming birthday for his X-Plane, something fairly simple (famous last words!) like this http://forums.x-plane.org/uploads/monthly_10_2013/post-134928-0-12502800-1382358634.jpg The insanely talented and resourceful Vlad has made a replica Baron 58 cockpit as shown here http://b58.svglobe.com/index.html and there might be some ideas there that people here could use. My question though, is can we use UDP instead of USB to interface with DCS as he's done with X-Plane? This has certain advantages, such as being more suitable for fast data exchange and not having to worry about USB IDs/assignments changing http://b58.svglobe.com/intface.html

I don't know if any of it will translate to DCS but I found this very nice guide to using an Arduino with X-Plane http://svglobe.com/arduino/index.html

I'm pretty keen on getting a sloped box as I think it will present the controls nicely. I'm sure Maplin used to sell one but they don't anymore. Something like these: http://www.iprojectbox.com/serpac-sloped-project-enclosure-p-10.html?osCsid=040a88936c026651c7f4de800d0c9f1a http://www.boss-enclosures.co.uk/Enclosures/Desktop_Enclosures/Terminal_Case http://www.boss-enclosures.co.uk/Enclosures/Desktop_Enclosures/Desktop_Consoles but I'd prefer it to be all ABS rather than aluminium as it will probably be easier for me to work with. I guess alu isn't really any harder to drill, it's just a bit more fiddly deburring the holes to get rid of any sharp edges and make sure there's no metal bits floating about! I need a UK source anyway. I found this EU one which looked promising http://www.altinkaya.eu/9-desktop-enclosures and was looking at this http://www.altinkaya.eu/desktop-enclosures/55-dt-260.html until I found that with shipping it would come to about 30 euros! So if anyone knows of somewhere in the UK I can get something similar, please let me know. TouchPilot looks OK but isn't customisable at all, which is a shame. I've been looking for apps that just display the gauges as well but haven't found much, for Android at least.

Very nice Abburo. You've inspired me to try and make a nice switch box for my Dad for his 70th Birthday in July. He only flies X-Plane but it will still be nice for him. I was planning on just buying a tablet and some apps like touchpilot but as you say, real buttons/switches are much nicer and it's better to use the tablet just as a display for gauges/maps. It doesn't seem that complex but I'm not that handy with woodworking, so hopefully I can find a suitable plastic box that will be easy enough to drill some holes in, rather than make a box from scratch, which would be nicer in theory but would probably turn out rather badly if I try and make it!

Have you got a picture of waldo, I need some sort of intel at least ;) Maybe you could take a similar screenshot in DCS and we can compare them to see whether I'm justified in thinking that it's easier to pick out things in real video/pictures? Of course, static pictures aren't a great thing to test the theory with as in video/gameplay, things are going to be moving, which can make them easier to spot (of course, it works both ways and things like trees swaying, etc can distract your attention as well) but it would still be an interesting comparison.

Based on the fact that there seems to be a lot more detail/contrast in real video, making it easier to distinguish or pick out objects.

One thing I have trouble understanding is that watching tv/video on my 720P TV looks real, so why should games need to go 4K or higher to look real? I don't suppose if it would be possible to spot vehicles on the ground, from a plane at x thousand feet, whilst watching footage on my TV as easily as it would be in real-life but I reckon it would be easier than in DCS, despite the low resolution, so isn't concentrating on upping the resolution, which obviously places additional burden on the card, somewhat the wrong approach and developers should instead be looking at making the image closer to real footage (increasing terrain detail, contrast between things, etc) at 720P? Obviously this would place an extra burden on the hardware as well but it seems like it would be a more productive use of it.

Might be easier just to buy one of these http://peauproductions.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=136_1_2_11&products_id=89 although it's $28 shipping to me in the UK, so if anyone can find the same thing in the UK/EU, please let me know as I'm not paying that.

Damn, I just stumbled across your e-bay listing for "Bell Huey UH1 - Flight Simulator Controller" and from the picture it looked like you were selling a complete collective and all the switches for £98. I thought my dreams had come true and I'd be able to own this most excellent item but then my hopes were dashed when I read the description and saw that it was just for a single switch panel :( You'll probably all say I must be mad to expect to be able to get all that for £98 but that's the point, I don't which is why I was so happy when I saw that someone appeared to be selling it for a price I could afford. So perhaps in future it'd be a good idea to have the first/main e-bay picture showing what is actually being sold, to avoid getting people's hopes up and then disappointing them with the description. Anyway, I'm mainly interested in the collective/throttle as whilst it would be nice to have lots of switches, I can make do with voice commands for most of those So I'll be keeping an eye out to see if your collective is affordable to me when it's ready.

I actually forget to try this but just did and am glad to report that it works nicely :)