doveman

I can't even use speakers in my flat but definitely +1, it just makes sense to allow people to use the multiple outputs that all modern motherboards have, in whatever way suits the user.

Well as this is a combat sim and I seem to be very good at being hit but not any good at blowing stuff up, I'd have to say I'm not proficient at all. Even if I could fly competently, which I can almost manage in the KA-50 after trying on and off for about 5 years. I can sort of get the Huey from A-B but every time I've tried to land it on that damn mountain to pick up the survivors I manage to flip it over, which is rather frustrating after a 20min flight getting there! Do I win a prize for honesty? ;)

Bit confused by this. Surely Helios just works as another way to send commands to DCS, so it shouldn't matter whether Master Arm for example is turned on by a command from Helios, a button on your stick, or a keyboard combo? All should result in the relevant switch in the cockpit being toggled and so it shouldn't make any difference which method is used.

Oh man, yet again I have to say how awesome you are [emoji3] Thanks for your continuing contributions to our community.

One issue, which could apply to any stick but is more of a concern with FFB2 being that it's an old stick and people generally get them s/h, is how do you know it's working as well as it should be? I've bought two FFB2 (plan to mod them together one day with an curved extended shaft) and whilst I enjoy flying with it, I have no way of knowing if the motors or pots are working as well as they should be, or if one or the other is worn out and it's less precise and I'm getting a worse experience than other owners are having. I'd need someone with extensive knowledge of the FFB2 to come and try it to tell me if it needs an overhaul or not. I'm probably just groping for excuses for my lousy flying skills though ;)

Just another option. Instead of an expensive TrackIR or building your own LED tracker (which isn't that easy) you could try EDtracker. It has sensors like your mobile phone to detect tilt, etc, so you just stick it on your headphones and don't need a webcam. It only does 3DOF - yaw, pitch and roll - but I don't even use roll and never liked using the other 3DOF you get with TrackIR or similar as you have to do strange and uncomfortable movements to use them, like squashing down in your chair or stretching your head upwards. I prefer using buttons, sliders, etc to adjust those things. Anyway, EDtracker is about €40 I think ready-made or you can buy the chips, PCB and case and build it yourself for a lot less (I think it cost me less than £20) if you can handle soldering a couple of chips and cutting/drilling a couple of holes in the case. Even I managed that and whilst I'm OK with soldering, I'm pretty rubbish at the other stuff!

I imagine you can simplify that by discarding the LED and replacing the photosensor with a switch, as it's just a light-operated switch really.

Oh, that's good news then. Makes things a lot easier. Something must have changed or I was just misinformed before. Was thinking of keeping my FLCS with Teensy intact and using some hall sensors I've bought for the axis but I've been told the FFB2 pots are as good as hall sensors, so it makes more sense to put my FLCS stick onto my FFB2, as the lack of buttons/hats really limits it.

Are you using one of the buttons on the base for trim? I believe the trim command has to come from the FFB stick for it to work, so you can't use one of the FLCS buttons. I'm not sure I'd get on with using the base button though, as it's more natural to click or hold a stick button for trim.

One thing I've always thought would be great is to be able to put a monitor either side of my head, where the side windows of the cockpit would be, so that I can see them in my peripheral vision (and quickly glance at them) for a better sensation of movement. Unfortunately DCS can't generate such additional views at the moment but maybe one day.

Indeed and not just for OS, it's not legal to tie software to hardware generally. Here in the UK I've never even had to speak to someone to reactivate my OEM keys on new hardware, they just have an automated phone system which asks me to key in some numbers. Guess they decided it was a waste of money paying people to man the lines when the law gives them no choice but to reactivate when asked.

Phew, thanks Yurgon that's a relief :) Hopefully our data is stored encrypted as well but maybe a MITM attack is more of a risk than someone breaking into the server. Depends how secure the server authentication method is though.

You could set FRAPS to record the audio constantly (I assume it has such an option, other recording software does) then use an Autohotkey script that mutes your own mic record channel unless a certain key/button (you can set multiple separate keys/buttons) is being held.

Couldn't it be set to use SSL before authorization? Otherwise we still have to send our login details unencrypted, so anyone who's able to intercept traffic can just login using those and then access our information.

Another thing that comes to mind is that if you're using a large 1080p screen set far away and with a large FOV to be able to see either side of the cockpit, the cockpit/HUD in the middle of the screen is only being drawn with a portion of the pixels, whereas with a smaller screen nearer and using a smaller FOV, so that the screen is just showing the cockpit forward view, it has the whole 1080p to draw it and then you can use another couple of 1080p screens to expand the view sideways. Not so much an issue with a 4k screen obviously.

I suppose it might be useful to know the distance between pilot and cockpit window IRL. It seems a bit weird to me to see a simpit with a large screen but with what looks like 2-3 times the distance between it and the pilot compared to a real cockpit. So if the distance was accurate, what size screen should we use?

I have a lot of respect for the creators of DCS Bios, it's a massive help if it suits your needs but it would be great to have a generic firmware that interfaces with a PC utility with profiles for different planes, so we could switch between them and have it send the appropriate commands onto DCS. The firmware's probably the easier part but it needs the PC utility to be of any use. I guess to keep it simple to start with it could just use text files for each plane, which we have to manually edit to assign each physical switch to a DCS command and then the GUI just needs a drop down to let us switch between profiles but even that's beyond me unfortunately.

Yeah, it's a bit hard to see anything from that pic. Maybe I understand what you're getting at though. It looks like there's a piece of wood at the back with two pieces attached to that and projecting forward either side to which the rails are attached (is this what you mean by the U shape?). In between those is a rectangular piece of wood with the other part of the rails attached and I would attach the monitor to this movable piece of wood in the middle. This first picture shows the wooden back piece (purple) and the side pieces/rails (white). I've drawn them like that as originally I thought of just screwing this type of base fixed runner http://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/products/cabinet_furniture_and_hardware/runners_and_cabinet_systems/438003/blum_base_fixed_drawer_runners_single_extension_cream/789003 into the wooden back piece, so the part that normally screws into the underside of the drawer would be screwed into the wood , with the rail side facing inwards towards the movable tubing, to which the other part of the rail would be attached. The wooden back piece is 500mm and the rails 450mm, as I don't think they need to be as long as the back piece. This second picture shows the movable tubing (red), with the monitor attached to a VESA bracket, which is screwed to a piece of wood (blue), which is bolted through the tubing. Whilst this might be OK, it might hold the monitor more securely if I use a shaped piece of wood that fits into the top of the tubing as I did with the previous design. I think hardwood might be better than MDF for this, as there's less risk of the screws pulling out. With the monitor in the lowest position (100mm above the desk), the movable tubing sits slightly below the fixed rails but that's OK, I'll just need to mount the rails slightly up from the end of the movable tubing so that they start in line with the fixed rails. I'll probably make the lowered position higher than that anyway, so it won't be an issue. I'm thinking of using soft-close runners like these (£5.49/pair 450mm) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOFT-CLOSE-RUNNER-DRAWER-RUNNERS-FULL-EXTENSION-BALL-BEARING-SLIDE-PAIR-PKL/200782128364?_trksid=p5411.c100170.m2943&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140131123831%26meid%3Dffb25237aa9948b1b200d7d1162e7e42%26pid%3D100170%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D291108229942 as they should help prevent damage to the monitor if someone accidentally lets go of it whilst adjusting it. In the raised position, the movable tubing will sit slightly above the runners but that shouldn't matter but if it does I'll have to use 500mm runners. The green part under the monitor is a piece of wood or strip of metal attached to the movable pole, to which hardware can be attached to mount the lower monitor. Under the shelf will be a hole in the movable tubing, with a matching hole in the wooden back piece for a pin or bolt to go through to hold the stand in the raised position. I'll have to be mindful that the weight of the monitors are at the front. Whilst the runners themselves are able to support 30kg, which is much more than the weight of both monitors, the weak point will be where the runners are attached to the wood (and possibly the movable tubing). Also the screw points for the runners are in the same position on both sides, so I'll need the movable tubing to be wide enough so that it can accommodate screws from both sides without them clashing. There may be less risk of problems if I stick with attaching the rails to fixed tubing either side of the movable tubing rather than screwing the rails to a piece of wood at the back. The fixed tubing will need to be secured to the wooden base but L brackets on all four sides should hold those firm. I was actually thinking of replacing the bracket at the front with a hinge, so that the two fixed poles could be folded forward flat against the wooden base, which would make it easier for transporting. The three L brackets for the other sides would remain screwed to the wooden base and then screwed into the fixed poles when they're raised into position (again I need them wide enough to be able to do this without the screws clashing).

Perhaps one of these would work for the rails? http://www.gsf-promounts.com/r21d-150mm-45kg-pr/ http://www.gsf-promounts.com/solar-length-300mm-extn-365mm-lock-out-detach-60kg-pr/ http://www.gsf-promounts.com/flexfit-1529-modular-system-steel-rail/ or more expensive but I could collect and I don't know what gsf charge for P&P: http://www.screwfix.com/p/ball-bearing-drawer-runners-500mm/55282 http://www.screwfix.com/p/soft-close-ball-bearing-drawer-runners-450mm/48173

It's funny that you suggest using rails, as that's what I thought of when I realised the problem with my first design. I've cloned the inner pole (green) behind the moving one in these pictures so that you can see the problem better and I've marked a variety of desk->bottom of monitor distances. With the monitor in the lowest position, roughly 97cm above the desk, the inner bar can only go up as high as the wood and bolt in the moving pole. So then, when the moving pole is raised so that the monitor is roughly 300mm above the desk, there's barely any of the inner pole supporting it. It would be impossible to go as high as 350mm, as then it would be off the inner pole completely! If the lowest the monitor goes is 170mm off the desk, then I can use a longer inner pole (red) but when I raise the monitor to 350mm there's still barely any of the inner pole supporting the moving pole So, for the alternative design I thought of having two fixed poles either side of the moving pole, with rails on the poles so that the moving pole slides up and down on those. It does mean you'll see the two fixed poles poking above the monitor when it's in the lowered position but that's OK and the maximum height of the monitor is only constrained by how high I make the fixed poles. 500mm is enough for them, so I'd get two out of a 1m piece. You suggested some steel tube but I wonder if aluminium would be strong enough, as I can get 1m of that in 20x20x2mm for about £8 or £9 for 25x25x2mm? Other sizes and lengths are available at reasonably stepped prices as well but I don't want to waste money buying something that's completely unsuitable. The moving pole will need to be slightly smaller than the outer poles and if that needs to be a certain size to support the weight of both monitors, then the outer poles will need to be the next size up from that. A locking bolt might be a good idea. Even with the new design maybe I could find one long enough to go through all three bars from the side, otherwise I could have put it through the front of the moving pole somewhere below the monitor and have a fixed plate that spans the two outer poles at the back, with a hole in it for the locking bolt to go into. I'd just have to position the fixed plate at the right position so that the holes lines up when the monitor's in the raised position. I'm not sure where I'd get the rails from though. They might not need to run the whole length of the poles, maybe just the middle 2/4 so that the moving pole is at least partly on the rails in both the lowered and raised position. I thought I might be able to get some kitchen drawer rails but I'm not sure they'd be long enough. The moving pole won't need to be as long as before and doesn't need to come down to touch the base, as I can secure a piece of wood between the outer poles and raised above the base which it will rest on in the lower position, maybe with a recess cut into it for the pole to sit in. That means the wooden base around the outer poles is clear and I can fit L brackets on each side to hold the outer poles, although there might not be space between them for a bracket for both on those sides. Maybe brackets on just three sides would hold them secure, otherwise I'll have to think of a way of securing the fourth side as well. I could fit further plates at different heights on the back spanning both outer poles to join them together, which should help stablise them. Another benefit with this design is that I can attach the mounting hardware for the lower monitor to the moving pole, rather than having to attach it to the bolt at the top behind the VESA bracket. Whilst I haven't worked out what I could use for this yet, it should still be less complicated. I'm not sure if any of this is what you were suggesting because it's hard to convey a design in words as you say but please keep the suggestions coming as I'm just throwing ideas out at the moment, I don't know if they'll be practical and there may well be a better way of doing things.

lol, yeah cockpit always takes priority over kid's shelf to put random junk on :) Thanks, I'll get some 2cm pine then. I've realised there's a major issue with my design, so I'll knock up a picture to show it and an alternative idea.

I should explain I'm actually planning this as a birthday present for my Dad. After that I'll build something for myself which will be easier as I can do whatever I like to my desk but he has an expensive heavy one that he's quite fond of and I wouldn't dare mess with! The upper Benq 27" monitor is a VA and the lower Dell 22" an IPS, which I specifically chose for it's better viewing angles than TN panels to give me some room for manoeuvre with the angle. Being adjustable will allow me to find the best compromise between the height of the upper monitor and the angle of the lower monitor and I'll just need to drill some extra holes in the poles to provide some options in that respect, although it will obviously be better if I can find the ideal setting and only drill one hole. It will need to be adjustable for my Dad as he currently has the Benq on it's stand, which puts the lower bezel only 115mm above the desk and he's got used to that but it's not really ergonomic at that height and I intend to have it sit a bit higher when the stand is in the lowered position (I'm thinking about 170mm, the drawing I did in Rhino only has it 97mm above the desk) and I'm sure he'll appreciate this height is better once he experiences it. In theory I could position the Dell monitor at the height he currently has the Benq and fix the BenQ in the raised position but that would put it too high for him to use comfortably for non-simming purposes and would mean he'd have to use the 22" Dell for normal use, which is a non-starter as his eyesight isn't as good as it used to be, so he needs to use the larger monitor (and increased DPI). I've got the VESA brackets, one that's tiltable for the Benq so that he can tweak it to suit and another that's fixed for the Dell. One difficulty is in not knowing the exact position of the VESA holes on the Benq. I'd assume they're in the centre of the monitor but I don't know if that can be relied on, so I might have to try and take a sneaky measurement when my Dad's not looking. Then, once I've got the hardware for the stand, I can use some cardboard as placeholders for the monitors to work things out. I am planning to use a wooden base, something thick and heavy to help keep it all stable. That pine board you used looks like it would do the trick, what thickness is that?. I came across this design http://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=70862 which isn't anything like what I'm planning but gave me the idea of bolting a threaded flange like this http://www.jtmplumbing.co.uk/pipe-fittings-c433/flanges-c371/jtm-113pn6-screwed-flange-6-4-pp13523?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=jtm-113pn6-screwed-flange-6-4-size-3-4-quot-20mm-4-holes-bolt-size-m-size-3-4-20mm-4-holes-bolt-size-m10-50-not-inc-a4613&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=COPPyqncl8YCFSIFwwodd0wANw to the wooden base and then screwing some threaded pipe into that for the inner pole. It will depend on whether I can get pipe in a slightly bigger diameter to serve as the outer pole though, as well as how it easy it will be to cut the pipe down to size and drill holes in it. As you say, square tube will probably be easier to use and perhaps less likely to have wobble between the inner and outer poles than round tube, so I'm going to keep looking for something suitable. Thanks for the tip about steel piping and galvanised steel fence post. I am in the UK and browsed the Wickes and B&Q sites without finding anything useful but it's obviously hard when you don't know exactly what to look for. I'm a bit worried that anything I line the inner pole with might peel off with repeated movement of the poles but if I can find something that covers the entire pole and that I can fold down inside the top and glue in position, that might help avoid that happening. A steel fence post like this might work https://www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk/product/sc_073068/euroguard-post-60x40-for-1.8m-high-fence-galvanized.aspx?tpc=BA&fmc=AM&fnc=AX&timber=0 but I'd need to be able to cut it down to about 40cm. Assuming it's hollow, then I could slip it over something slightly smaller but I'm not sure there is anything suitable available. A fence post support like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HEAVY-DUTY-GALVANISED-BOLT-DOWN-SQUARE-FENCE-POST-FOOT-SUPPORT-ANCHOR-2mm-THICK-/221802184296 screwed/bolted to the wooden base isn't high enough to serve as the inner pole but maybe I could attach a steel post to that and then a bigger steel post could slide over it. That's starting to get quite expensive though. This place has mild steel box section http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/1-5-metre-lengths-box-section-2mm and offcuts here http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/metal-offcuts-mild-steel-box-section in various sizes. They get a bit expensive in the larger sizes but maybe a 20mmx20mmx2mm (or 2.5mm in the offcuts) for the inner pole and a 25mmx25mmx2mm (or 2.5mm) for the outer pole would work. That's quite small though, so I'm not sure it would be robust enough to take the weight of two monitors. Besides being expensive, the larger sizes mostly step up by 10mm, which might leave too much space between the poles if I don't coat the inner pole with something. They also sell steel angle, so I could use four small pieces of that to secure the inner pole to the wooden base http://www.themetalstore.co.uk/products/1-5-metre-lengths-3mm-angle but I've probably already got some angle brackets I could use for that and if not, it's probably cheaper to buy some than the steel angle. I like what you've come up, nice and simple and cheap as well. :thumbup: Unfortunately it's not suitable for my Dad but it might be something I can use when I come to building my own stand.

I built my own Pro Micro+GY-85+HC-05 BT for less than that. It doesn't really work reliably yet as the firmware needs some work, so I'd suggest you look at something supported like Edtracker. They use a Pro Micro+MPU-9150 but no BT, although apparently they're working on a RF wireless version with a custom receiver dongle.

I think it'll be OK with the upper monitor's bottom half around eye level, as I'll only be displaying the exterior view on it, so if the HUD area is in the lower half that's where the focus will be most of the time, with the upper half of the monitor showing the overhead panels or sky depending on the aircraft. When I last measured I worked out that I could have 23cm between the desk and the bottom of the monitor for it to be OK for simming. It encourages me to sit up straight as well, which is good for my back :) At the end of the day cutting into the desk is not an option, so I have to do my best to make it work. There's a couple of things I can do to lower the upper monitor a bit, firstly angling the lower monitor more and secondly cutting a recess into the wooden base so that the lower monitor's bottom edge sits in that and resting on the desk, rather than on top of the wooden base but those are only going to reduce the height by so much. Maybe I can use something like this to bolt to the wooden base and then screw a pipe into to serve as the inner pole, which should be quite stable. http://www.jtmplumbing.co.uk/pipe-fittings-c433/flanges-c371/jtm-113pn6-screwed-flange-6-4-pp13523?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=jtm-113pn6-screwed-flange-6-4-size-3-4-quot-20mm-4-holes-bolt-size-m-size-3-4-20mm-4-holes-bolt-size-m10-50-not-inc-a4613&utm_campaign=product%2Blisting%2Bads&gclid=COPPyqncl8YCFSIFwwodd0wANw I don't know whether a round pole will be suitable or if I should look for something square though, as that might be less likely to wiggle around. I'll also need to find an outer pole that is bigger than the inner one but not by too much, although maybe I can glue some rubber to one of the poles (at strategic places, there's probably no benefit in covering the entire pole) to make it a tight fit but I don't know how available such rubber might be. EDIT: I'm obviously mistaken about 23cm, that's way too low. Maybe I meant 33cm or even as high as 40cm might be OK.

I never got anywhere with my custom monitor stand last year but I'm ready to give it another go. I've tried to knock up something in Rhino to show what I'm thinking of. All I need is something that will let me raise the main monitor and hold the lower monitor in place. When I lower the main monitor for normal use, the other monitor will just be unhooked and lay flat on the desk. The main monitor will be a BenQ 27" VA and the other monitor a Dell P2214H IPS. This shows the stand raised, with the lower monitor attached. The desk is shown in dark brown, with the base of the custom stand in light brown. Attached to that is the inner pole (green) and lowered over that is the outer pole, to which the main monitor is attached. This shows what it would look like when lowered, with the secondary monitor detached and lying flat on the base (I forgot to disable Gumball mode, hence why it looks like that): This shows a close-up of the top of the outer-pole. The main monitor will be attached to a VESA mount, which in turn is screwed to a spacer piece of wood, which is then screwed to a larger piece of wood (actually I could just use a single piece, suitably shaped) which goes inside the top of the outer-pole and is secured to that with a bolt through. Also attached to the bolt is the hardware to support the lower monitor. I haven't shown the hole and removable bar that will need to go through both poles to secure the stand in the raised position, so just assume that's there. The lower monitor support is shown in these pictures. I was thinking of using long strips of strong metal to form a triangle and then bent pieces of metal (think clothes hooks) with some sort of stop on would come out from the strips. The secondary monitor will be mounted to a thin piece of wood which will have holes in the top corners where it can be hooked onto the hooks. To avoid wasting space, I want the top bezel of the lower monitor to sit over the bottom bezel of the upper monitor, so I might need to hook the lower monitor on at a lower point on the attached wood and that panel of wood won't have to be as big as the monitor. I admit this is the weakest part of the design and I'm not sure if it's going to work. I originally planned to mount a block of wood at the right height to the outer-pole, which would have been easier but then I realised I can't screw anything into the outer-pole as the screws will go inside and clash with the inner pole. This last picture shows the L brackets I plan to fix to the back of the base to deal with the gap between the back of the desk and the wall, (1) angled upwards so that the stand can't tip backwards, (2) angled downwards so that it can't tip forwards (although this is probably unnecessary) and (3) to prevent the base being pulled forward, which would move (1) away from the back wall and allow the stand to tip backwards. I intend to fit foam strips to these brackets so that they're not rubbing against the wallpaper or desk and I'll have to lower the base straight down into the gap and the positioning of the brackets won't have to be so critical if I can compress the foam against the wall as I lower it down. Whilst I'd welcome any suggestions/ideas (although I can't attach anything to the wall or desk), what I'm particularly looking for advice about is: a - what type and format of material to use for the inner and outer poles? I'm thinking there might be some square metal hardware with a lip at the end that I could use to screw it down to the wooden base but there's probably a collar I could get to attach to round hardware (like PVC piping) to do the same. I'm not sure if PVC piping would be strong enough though or if the bar I'll have to insert through both the outer and inner poles to hold the monitor in the raised position might cause the PVC to wear away over time and widen the hole, making it less stable. There's also the question of whether I can get inner and outer poles of the necessary diameter to go inside/outside each other in either a square or round material. b - what hardware could I use to make the support for the lower monitor? As I said, my idea might not be great so I'd welcome other suggestions that might be easier/better. I can't bend and shape metal to make custom hardware (at least I never have and probably don't have the tools) and will need to use off-the-shelf stuff that I can just cut down to size and drill holes in.