Warhog

Hi Deezle I was using an HID card for some panels I,d built before DCS BIOS came along. The pots that I had were attached to the card and through Helios I was able to use them in game. The problem I had was the noise they generated made this huge signal which caused problems reading other switches in Helios. I would always get a Stuck Button message and that meant leaving the gaming and restarting it. Eventually I disconnected them and then everything ran properly again. Since then I have used rotary encoders in lieu of pots and that's been an agreeable solution with no undesirable side effects.

I, like most here, own a TM Warthog stick and throttle. For the most part I have been quite satisfied. Compared to any of the mass produced commercial sticks, the Warthog stick is unbelievable. But after 3 years of heavy use I now have concerns. The construction of the gimbal has always been a disappointment in my eyes because of the poor choice in materials for it. In fact, I now have substantial play in it. Because its all plastic its rather hard to fix. Not only that but it now requires regular lubrication to remove stiction and maintain smooth movement. The process of disassembling it to relube on a regular basis is a royal pain in the butt. Because of these concerns I started researching how I might build a new gimbal. I wanted to replace the Thrustmaster design with an over built brick shithouse that has the same accuracy but would last forever (so to speak). At least outlast me. So here is the beginning of my venture into gimbal replacements. What material to use? Aluminum was first choice as its machinable and will last forever. Its not that easy to machine though. Its messy (lots of cutting fluid and smelly) and time consuming. Then I thought about acrylic. Its strong but expensive when you purchase thick pieces as I would need. A major factor in choosing acrylic is that its really easy to machine and and really easy On the machine and the endmills used for cutting it. In my travels on the internet I discovered a product called "Weld-ON #4. It actually melts 2 pieces of acrylic together to form one piece. That in itself increases it's strength by a lot. Certainly enough to withstand the abuse I put it too. So acrylic it was. Then there were bearings to look at. They can be quite expensive, however I found an interesting solution. Check this out... https://www.amazon.ca/Parts-Master-391-PM-U-Joint/dp/B00CYGXD66/ref=pd_ybh_a_30?ie=UTF8&refRID=J1TRTPF66E6HRJDME434 This is a $6.00 universal joint. For six bucks I could afford to try it and trash it if it was garbage. It was not. I had my material and my bearings. Now I just needed a design. An afternoon spent looking through the internet at design after design finally gave me some ideas that I thought could use. So I working up some drawings in AutoCAD, went to my trusty CamBAM and produced the G-code I needed. Then off to the mill. Is used .173" thick acrylic sheet and cut three of everything. I then welded them together using this Weld-ON #4 and I ultimately produced this... IMG_0849 by John Wall, on Flickr[/img] IMG_0853 by John Wall, on Flickr[/img] IMG_0855 by John Wall, on Flickr[/img] https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7327/27376210060_ac3b91121c_h.jpg' alt='27376210060_ac3b91121c_h.jpg'>IMG_0856 by John Wall, on Flickr[/img] It still needs work. I have ordered some UGN3503 Hall sensors for it. The Allegro 1302 Hall sensors I purchased don't give sufficient sensitivity but these new ones will. The 1302 will be fine for the toe brakes on the new pedals I'm building. I also need to add some dampers and/or springs so I will be experimenting with that a bit before I decided how to tackle that part of the project. But the choice of acrylic was a good choice. This gimbal is way stronger than it would ever need to be short of going to war. But I doubt that will happen in the near future :music_whistling:. SO there you have it. A brand new gimbal made from inexpensive parts and materials that has ZERO play in it and its as smooth as silk. It should be a great replacement for the TM gimbal. I'll post more pics to this thread as my gimbal design evolves. Hope you enjoyed the post.

After watching that VID... I want my own so bad... and I don't mean just a cockpit. I want the real thing. Do you think anyone would notice if we arranged to borrow one for an afternoon:music_whistling: :megalol: Great VID!

Maybe so Anton. I just wanted to challenge his credibility and motivations. Too many things didn't make sense and I'm still of the opinion that this is just a "Pay me so I can play with my hobby" kind of thing. But I'm going to shut up now as I think I've said enough. I expect the results of the kickstarter campaign will be the final judge of this venture. Thank you all and good night. :pilotfly:

You see this is where the problem is... you make ridiculous or incorrect statements and/or assumptions. There is no thought behind what you consider statements of fact. This has destroyed your credibility. Firstly, making a stick is not making a panel. If you thought about what you just said you might realise that there is a huge difference between building one vs the other. And I am building a new stick and pedals and MFCD frames. Probably. So what? Its usually as common as a set of screw drivers and is found in most tool boxes. It is a very low priced acquisition. Yes. If you want to fly an A10 in DCS you have to learn how. It is difficult and there is a long learning curve. If you want to make a panel for DCS you also need to learn how. But I would suggest learning to fly the A10 is far more difficult than learning how to make a simple switch panel. 3 years ago, having zero experience in electronics, I learned how to make a switch panel in an afternoon of reading through this forum. It was amazingly simple. And as I previously stated a circuit board is completely unnecessary. Again, this goes to credibility NO THERE ISN"T. Here you go again. If you did your due diligence and researched the market you would find quite a few people are making panels for sale. I have to laugh at how many people buy one of these cheap Chinese CNC routers and then justify the cost to their wife saying "I can pay for this by selling the panels I make". Yeah right! :music_whistling: Nothing as long as its good factual information offered at no cost. This forum is for the free exchange of information and assistance. It is not or should not be used for commercial gain. There is a section on the ED board for "Selling". As to sharing experiences, I share as often as I can. In fact, I will be publishing every Arduino Sketch I write as well as the corresponding schematics for every associated panel once my pit has been tested and is 100% operational. And I won't be asking for donations or anything else to cover the hundreds of hours spent learning, testing, building, photographing and typing responses to help people on this forum. I do this to repay all those that helped me as I moved forward with my pit. If you truly want to do something helpful, then write a detailed tutorial on how to make a switch panel using an Arduino board. Illustrate every single step required to make it functional using pictures and diagrams and links for parts, etc . Then place it on this forum for all to download and use at no cost. You accomplish 2 things...you learn how to make a switch panel and then you teach others how to do it. Thats what I consider as creating a solution rather than asking for money so you can play at your hobby.

Those are some great ideas but you might want to post this question on the Star Citizen forum. I doubt if your going to find someone here who is fluent with the ability of Star Citizen to export data relative to the interior status of a space ship. DCS is unique in that it exports all kinds of info regarding the cockpit status. I don,t know if any of the space sims actually do that. Even if they did it would still require someone to write software to interact with it. Fortunately we have a brilliant programmer who was able to write software to make that connection but it only works with DCS. You might want to look at voice command software though. The idea of saying "Shields Up", "lock phasers" and "fire" would be a really neat way to interact with the sim. Good luck with your search.

Yes it is, but your not offering a flight sim cockpit. Your offering something most people can learn how to make with very little effort. I would suggest there is no gap to close, yourself excluded. In fact the effort required to learn how to program and run your "potential" product is actually more than whats needed to build any panel right from scratch using one's own resources... ie, internet, soldering iron, ability to read. If one were to buy a bunch of switches as Ian illustrated and then purchased a simple Bodnar board for $35 you would only need to wire those switches to the board and plug it in. "Thats it" as it really is "Plug n Play" and you would be done. No need to learn to program. No need to learn how to use an Arduino board. No need to learn how to use DCS-BIOS. You would however end up with 32 switches to use instead of the 13 your offering. BTW, I made 15 panels before I started a more professional cockpit and NOT ONE REQUIRED A PCB. It is absolutely unnecessary for a switch panel. I guess its ok if its free software:music_whistling:... I find your statement about the cost of software insulting. First of all most software isn't free. Only by Ians good nature has he made DCS-BIOS available to all of us to use at no cost. But I take offense when someone uses his good nature to try and make money from his hundreds of hours of work.:mad: Yes he has told me that he's not concerned but you should know... my opinion of this action is less than sparkling. :thumbdown: Really??? :doh: (read: major sarcasm) You didn't NEED to buy a CNC machine. You WANTED to buy a CNC machine and now you would like someone to help pay for it or at least the tooling. As Ian said if you are using 2 drill bits per board you are doing something wrong. I would suggest an alternative reason however that wouldn't be appropriate to state but its actually not very surprising considering all that I have read so far. BTW, I buy my bits from China as well. Except I don't pay even 1/10 of what you suggest they cost. :megalol: Another BTW, Just so you know... I AM a CNC expert. Africa??? You are unbelievable. I don't mean that as an insult. I mean I actually don't believe what your saying. It just doesn't make any sense. If there's so much despair how would they ever afford a PC or even electricity if they are that poverty struck. Tugging on ones heart strings with that kind of bullcrap only produces sour notes. When I read your Kickstarter I see this... "Pay Me so I can have fun with my hobby". But that is just my opinion and I have been known to be wrong (although not often). I will, however, let your kickstarter campaign be the judge of your credibility. :tomato:

I had a lot of issues with USB hubs. I would have 8 or 9 different devices all running at the same time and then all of a sudden one of them would drop out. Very frustrating, especially when on a multiplayer mission. I never discovered why that would happen but with the cockpit I'm building I wanted to make sure it would perform without issue. I found very little factual information to evaluate USB HUBs so I consulted with people working in the industrial/production areas where loosing a connection meant loosing money. And this is what I ended up doing... I stopped looking at $10.00 consumer HUBS from China and started looking at what is used in a production environment where they can't afford to have issues. To that end, I purchased a 12 port, powered, USB HUB for industrial use rather than home use. They are built much better, and stronger than the cheap consumer stuff and from discussions with users in production environments, they perform very well without issue. But they are expensive...of course they are. However, considering what I am spending on my cockpit and the piece of mind (I hope) I will have, they will definitely be worth every penny. http://www.coolgear.com/product/industrial-12-port-usb-2-0-powered-hub-for-pc-mac-din-rail-mount If that fails to work, this will be my next step... http://www.coolgear.com/product/industrial-16-port-rack-mountable-usb-2-0-hub John

That's exactly how I work. Also, if I get to a particularly difficult part and I'm just not up to dealing with it at that point in time, I move on to something easier and totally unrelated. When I'm ready, I go back and tackle it and its always never as hard as I had previously thought. But for the most part its as you say Dave, it keeps it interesting.:thumbup: Cripple mentioned hes been doing this for a year now and I've been building for almost 2 years. Deadman has been at this forever (not really sure but along time). Someone (I don't know how) should put up a sticky, like a poll, where we could place our name, our build and when we started building. It would calculate and show how many months/years each cockpit builder has been active. It could keep updating itself as time goes on. The Join date on the side of our posts doesn't do much as I didn't start building until 12 months after I joined. It would be an interesting stat to display as a bar graph or whatever.. Just a thought...

Everything looks ok as far as I can trace the wires from your pictures. Try this code and tell me if it makes a difference. I adjusted it for your pins so all you need to do is a straight copy and paste. Other than that, I would check everywhere for possible shorts or connections that appear to be connected but in fact are not connected. But try the code first. #define DCSBIOS_IRQ_SERIAL #include <DcsBios.h> #include <LedControl.h> LedControl lc=LedControl(2,4,3,1);//DIN,CLK,LOAD,# OF IC's unsigned char cl_row_map[48] = { 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, }; #define SEG_DP (1<<7) #define SEG_A (1<<6) #define SEG_B (1<<5) #define SEG_C (1<<4) #define SEG_D (1<<3) #define SEG_E (1<<2) #define SEG_F (1<<1) #define SEG_G (1<<0) unsigned char cl_mask_map[48]= { SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_DP, SEG_B, SEG_D, SEG_F, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, SEG_A, SEG_C, SEG_E, SEG_G, }; unsigned char max7219_rows[8]; void setup() { DcsBios::setup(); memset(max7219_rows, 0xff, sizeof(max7219_rows)); lc.shutdown(0,false); //turn on the display lc.setIntensity(0,8);//set the brightness lc.clearDisplay(0); //clear rthe display and get ready for new data } void updateCautionLights(unsigned int address, unsigned int data) { unsigned char clp_row = (address - 0x10d4) * 2; unsigned char start_index = clp_row * 4; unsigned char column = 0; unsigned char i; bool is_on; for (i=0; i<16; i++) { is_on = data & 0x01; // set caution light state (clp_row, column, is_on) if (is_on) { max7219_rows[cl_row_map[start_index+i]] |= cl_mask_map[start_index+i]; } else { max7219_rows[cl_row_map[start_index+i]] &= ~(cl_mask_map[start_index+i]); } data >>= 1; column++; if (column == 4) { clp_row++; column = 0; } } } void onClpData1Change(unsigned int newValue) { updateCautionLights(0x10d4, newValue); } DcsBios::IntegerBuffer clpData1(0x10d4, 0xffff, 0, onClpData1Change); void onClpData2Change(unsigned int newValue) { updateCautionLights(0x10d6, newValue); } DcsBios::IntegerBuffer clpData2(0x10d6, 0xffff, 0, onClpData2Change); void onClpData3Change(unsigned int newValue) { updateCautionLights(0x10d8, newValue); } DcsBios::IntegerBuffer clpData3(0x10d8, 0xffff, 0, onClpData3Change); void loop() { DcsBios::loop(); // update MAX7219 unsigned char i; for (i=0; i<8; i++) { lc.setRow(0, i, max7219_rows[i]); } }

That is so impressive Cripple. I just love those old analog gauges. Are they originals or replicas? How are you interfacing them with DCS? Could you talk a little more on building this part of your cockpit. I can surely sympathize with you and your comments about the arthritis. I'm dealing with that as well as having had three hearts attacks between Christmas and March. It can really put a damper on building. I had to laugh when you talked about trashing it all. I was just telling (fsf)Ian last week that I was thinking of packing it all in and selling everything. On the flip side, I was looking at some of my first panels and was so unhappy with the quality of my work that I actually rebuilt a bunch of them. I guess what I'm saying is your not alone in these feelings and frustrations. It looks like we all go through something similar at different stages of the build. My attitude is to persevere until you can,t and then take a break and do something entirely different until the motivation returns...and it does return, at least it has for me. Keep up the posts Cripple. They are really great inspiration.:thumbup: John

That shouldn't happen. So to help diagnose this, can you post some close up pictures of your panel so I can see how you put it together. Can I assume you used the correct iset resistor as well as including the 2 capacitors that are needed for the Max7219? Have you tried another 7219 to see if it's the IC that's causing the problem? John

You need to download the new release of DCS-BIOS Arduino Library. It no longer uses those lines as its been streamlined a lot. See the example sketches in the IDE for DCS-BIOS and that will provide you with a new template to rewrite your sketch.

Why don't you start by removing the I2C backpack, then re-connect to Arduino and run the 'Hello World' sketch to check that it is functioning properly. Then use DCS-BIOS library but rewrite your sketch without the I2C. I have always had problems with those backpacks. As soon as I got rid of it, everything worked as it should. :thumbup:

Ian, is this the sketch that you modified for my old badly setup matrix or is this the version that matches Tigersharks matrix. PS. email on COG for you.

I am planning on replacing my gimbal with a "real" gimbal instead of that plastic ball thing TM used in my WartHog. I am impressed with what you've done and wondered if you could post some more detailed pics of your build and/or maybe some drawings if you have any. Well done. Is it as smooth as it looks?

:lol: That sounds so familiar but you should know... I am still fumbling with stuff. Welcome to the club.:megalol: Its what we all do as we try and learn how to build stuff without causing a fire or at the very least...smoke.:music_whistling: Notwithstanding the above, I still fly for an hour a day. All things considered, it does take a lot of time and effort unlike RK's build. I am amazed at the speed in which Ray is building his pit. Very impressive to say the least. I just finished my second year now and I'm only at 60% for my pit. But I also have no other hobbies or interests or a life beyond the basement since I started building. :huh: What can I say... its been a great learning experience :pilotfly:

Hi Neal I didn't do much in the way of changing things on the caution panel. I kept everything except the PCB for the LED matrix. That didn't work properly. What I ended up doing was to copy Tigersharks example "to the letter" to create the matrix and then used Ians code for the rest. Actually I think Clay had Ian's code on pastebin and thats what I ended up using. Yup, I found it... http://pastebin.com/n9yUkJFx . Here's the thread with Tigersharks matrix in it. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=142202&highlight=clay It worked very well. But now I have to add the RS-485 to both the physical panel and also to the code. I'll post something on it once I have it running again.

Its not that bad KatBreath. Just sell the wife and kids. That will cover most of it. After that you can always moonlight as a hooker like I did. :P :lol: @Ray... You really are on a roll there my friend. Incredible progress. You need to slow down or you'll end up having an MI. @Tekkx But maybe nothing... you could build one. I just finished ordering a bunch of parts from China, bearings and pillow blocks mostly, as I'm planning on making both pedals and a new precision gimbal to replace that crappy plastic job they put in the TM Warthog. I don't see it being overly difficult. You don't need to be fancy just smooth and precise.

If I might make a suggestion, I would try and find a suitable display for the size of frame your planning. Then design and build this frame based on that display. That way you can accurately scribe the line work on the sides of the frame so it lines up with the text on the display. I have had considerable difficulty finding a display for this size frame and it would be a shame to offer this only to find that it's only use is taped on to a full size monitor like most people do with the TM frames. The problem is because no one offers 4:3 ratio displays anymore and when you do find a display that has the appropriate vertical dimension, the horizontal dimension is so long that 2" of the display sticks out the side of the dashboard. It might be worth exploring before you get to far ahead on this.

It has slowed down considerably which has me very frustrated. I had a series of heart attacks, one in Dec., one in Jan and one in Feb and each time I had a one or two week stay in Hospital That set me back quite a bit. Things have stabilized so I,m back to work on it but it's at a slow pace. It's now getting to the point where I'm asking myself "will I ever get this finished?" I've been at this for 2 years now and it's far from complete. I think it's taking so long because I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making stuff. I've even rebuilt 3 panels right from scratch as I wasn't happy with how I made them first time around. With all that I have learned this past year, I look at my first panels and realize they are just so poorly made that I need to make new ones. So I have redone my caution panel, Tacan, VVI and Speed indicator. I also remade parts of both VHF radios and the UHF radio. But at least now they won't start to smoke and catch fire any time soon.:music_whistling: :megalol: Sorry for the ramble. I do that a lot now that I'm a grumpy old man.:smilewink:. Good to see you back and Clay...we haven't heard much from you either. Glad to see you are still around as well. John

Good to see you back Tore. :) In your absence, there have been some significant upgrades to DCS-BIOS. It will require you to download the latest version as well as the Arduino library. You will then need to rewrite your sketches but the rewrite is, for the most part, extremely simple. Ian has made changes that simplify creating a sketch, it includes code for using an RS-485 bus and increases performance. See his thread for more info. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=141096

As I build my cockpit I am looking for additional ways to increase the immersion level while flying. Some of the ideas I would like to explore is how to extract data from DCS to act as triggers for LED effects. For example, I am installing a bank of WS2812 LEDs just behind my seat. I can program a microcontroller such as an Arduino board to light the LEDs in order to simulate an explosion. If I took a missle hit not only would I feel it (buttkicker) but I would also see it with a burst of light from the LEDs. Another thought is using the LEDs to simulate lightening in a thunderstorm. I would use the lightening in DCS to trigger the same effect using the LEDs behind my seat. I have already been able to simulate an engine fire by using the fire extinguisher handle indicators as a trigger to activate the LEDs. I can extract all of the clickable cockpit data from DCS but when it comes to the external environment, I'm at a loss. What I need is to be able to access data from DCS to act as triggers to start a variety of external LED simulations some of which I have already mentioned above. Do we have anyone here that can help me with this.

I would like to make an update my last post. After further research and a kind email from Hans, I am now going to wire all of the controls on the radios, the KY58 and IFF panel. I have learned that there are other apps that could potentialy make use of these controls such as the Aries radio app and the universal radio app. It's also worth considering that ED may in fact add some functionality to these controls in the future and so as not to miss out on any possible third-party apps it's best to ensure all controls are wired appropriately. A big thank you to Hans for taking the time to fill me in on these possibilities.:thumbup: John

Nice find RK. It looks to be in excellent shape. Was it very expensive? Its a shame its just for decoration. When I think of the hours I put into mine and in the end its really only there to fill a space on the console. It would have been nice if ED could have made an effort to simulate this in at least a minimum of functionality. I know it suppose to be classified but they could have made something up on there own. Oh well. It still looks really nice even if it doesn't work.:music_whistling: Which brings me to something I am just becoming aware of. You may want to sit down and map out every switch, button and dial that requires interfacing with the sim.. There are a lot of switches in each console that actually don't function. I'm at a stage where I am starting to wire things up and program boards so I'm looking at each control feature in detail. Even though there are export arguments for them and there is code in DCS-BIOS for them, they actually don't work. For example, most of the VHF AM and FM switches/dials have no functionality as well as the Oxygen Regulator Panel, the Environmental panel (minus the Pitot heater switch), the Auxiliary Lighting panel (minus 2 push buttons) and the KY58RCU Panel. They are all just decoration. I was rather surprised at how much actually doesn't work. I guess I won't need as many IO pins as I originally thought. Sorry for the ramble. :doh: But I also wanted to compliment you on your work. It is really impressive RK. You have done an outstanding job. I'm really looking forward to see the completed pit.