Tantalum7

Ordered the Crosswind pedals less than a week ago, and they were in my hands from Croatia to the Pacific NW of the US in under a week. Incredible service and outstanding quality. I really wanted to recognize them again for their service.

It's been said before, but I bears mentioning again. I ordered an F16 side stick a little over a week ago when they came back in stock. I thought that I would have to wait until the official restock to have them start shipping my stick, but within about a week of my order, this fine product arrived. The quality is outstanding, and combined with the base, it's like a night and day difference between what I had been using for the F16. Well done!

Sorry for the lack of details the first time. This was in Lesson 9 Air-Air ACM and HMCS. I'm on open Beta, fully updated with no mods. The lesson is fine through the first two mig encounters, and then the chopper in the valley, but after the anti-ship missile is launched and subsequently shot down, the lesson seems to stop giving any cues or further information.

No matter what I do, after downing the missle headed for the ship in the 3 stage of this training mission, no message follows or any feedback. Whether I hit destroy the missle a few hundred feet from the shore, or a few miles down, nothing happens. I would post a track, but it would only show me flying around waiting for something to happen.

First off, I hope this is the correct forum for posting this. I've been having trouble completing the AIM-9 training mission using ACM and HMCS. Everything is fine until I shoot down the missle heading for the ship. I shoot it down well before it hits the ship but then nothing else happens. Did I miss a step or a cue? Thanks.

I had also never designed a PCB before (first time ever getting one fabbed). Their pricing is a bit confusing because there are a couple of tiers of pricing depending on the features you want. Some require you to buy only one board, and others a couple. I wanted a mask on the top and bottom which put me in a certain category. You can expect to spend 50-100 USD on a under about 11" sq board depending on the features. This is not very forgiving of prototypes that might be wrong, but I found the software so simple to use that I was willing to risk it a bit. You have nothing to lose by downloading the software and playing around a bit. I was amazed by how well the switches fit based on the measurements form the spec sheets. Can't comment on OshPark since I haven't used them before. it would have been nice to create the board in CAD and import it, but I haven't looked into the ExpressPCP software that far yet. Good luck.

There are STL and even STEP files of both halves of the throttle out there. I can't recall where I found them, but it wasn't an extensive search. I printed them out and felt that while they were decent quality prints, they didn't quite match the look of the real thing even though the author claimed they were measured from the real thing.

I recently had a PCB made for 12mm tactile switches for an F-16 ICP. I had tried all the free layout programs and found them cryptic an frustrating. I run CAD for a living, and I can usually manage most interfaces. A colleague at work suggest I try Express PCB. They have a free PCB layout program that I found was extremely intuitive to use. You can place your order directly through the PCB layout program. I think you have to order your first board through them, but you can request the Gerber files and take any subsequent copies to any shop. If you're in the states, which it appears you are, it's worth checking them out. Price wasn't rock bottom but quality and turnaround time were excellent.

This post is worth its weight in gold. Thanks for sharing it. It should save hours of looking and configuring.

At least in the states, Mouser and Digikey and the like are all back-ordered for 1-3 months on any of these sort of switches (as well as potentiometers with momentary push switches. It seems like a number of flight sim peripheral builders all have the same idea at once. The F-16 release seems to be firing up the switch market.

This is impressive. I designed a linear throttle mechanism that used linear slide rails, but I didn't realize that hall effect sensors could sense multiple rotations. I thought that they would only be able to read from 0-360 degrees. This inspires me to change my design--Thank you for sharing your work!

This is looking excellent now. Great work!

This is pretty awesome. I'd love to have the measurements to be able to model my own version up. Great work!

Thanks again. I didn't notice that the dimensions where displayed when I clicked on the models. I also thought that Onshape had gone to a pay-only model these days instead of being free, so I didn't even look into signing up. Even if I can download the files directly, I will still probably remodel them in my CAD software to be able to better modify and assemble them with my other parts. I'm trying to come up with a design that will allow printed handles to lock onto standard switch handles--without glue if possible, but I haven't quite figured that out yet.

Hi Matbog, Based on the images you put here and shared on your Onshape page, I was able to model up my own version of one of the switch handles, but because the Onshape site didn't allow me to get dimension data from the parts you have there, I just used your images as a sketch background to get the proportions correct. When you get time could you please share the dimensions I have indicated on my model. I should then be able to scale all my models correctly. Thanks in advance, Scott

Matbog, Thanks very much for taking the time to do this. I really appreciate it. I spent much time last night modeling up switch boxes and components. These will help me greatly. Keep up the great work. Your attention to detail is inspiring!

I somehow managed to stumble through getting it to work again after thinking that I had corrupted my eeprom, but it's all good again. A little guide would be nice to have.

Not sure if anyone is interested or if this will be useful, but I found some switches during an internet search that seem like they might be the ones used in the M2000. One of the images shows an Asian company that seems to provide switches for the Jaguar jet. Since this is also of French make, and they look identical to the ones used in the Mirage, I suspect that they might useful. They are probably too expensive to fill a cockpit with them, but if someone could obtain one, it might be useful to see the dimensions and how it is constructed. I also found a switch for sale on ebay that looks just like the toggle switches with the paddle handles used for certain radar functions. They are made by ECE a French company that definitely has been use to supply switches for the M2000. I'm attaching a couple of images of what I found.

Everything I have is still in the design phase, but as soon as I have something to show, I will be happy to upload some images. Thanks for asking. I looked through the CheckSix Forums before. I can read French just well enough to get the general idea of what is being said. There are some excellent files and images there for cockpit builders who like the Mirage.

Yes, I should have been more specific in describing them. It was baseball bat. I am building some button boxes and perhaps a throttle quadrant that are inspired by the M2000 since I like the aircraft and want to learn to fly it. I have seen your cockpit, and it is magnifique. I don't have the time or the resources for making a full cockpit, but I can still admire your work. Thanks for the suggestions and please keep the images coming!

Thanks for the suggestion. I have looked through most of the big suppliers such as Mouser and Digikey as well as Otto and many others. I've looked through dozens of switch spec sheets and haven't been able to find anything quite like what I described. I have the capacity to design and fabricate my own handles, but not much that I found seemed to have replaceable or screw on handles. Even if a company offered something that might possibly be made to work, then were never a stock item and you usually had to buy 100 switches and wait a few months to get them. I'm curious as to what people who try to make Mirage 2K pits are doing to replace those toggles.

Hi, I was wondering where to get toggle switches that have either replaceable handles or threaded handles or have some sort of shape that would allow someone to add their own handle. I see toggles like the the ones in the cockpit of the Mirage 2000 that have these large bat like shape to them, but there doesn't seem to be anything on the market like them. Are all these switches totally custom made? Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

That little slew sensor has had quite an exciting life. It started it's life in the UK, made it's way to the Pacific NW of the US, was stolen for a month, mysteriously reappeared, and then made a journey to the beautiful Cantons of Switzerland. I'm glad that I could be of help to another sim pilot. Cheers!

And thank you, Remy. Doing my best to get it shipped out today if possible--tomorrow at the latest!

Analogue slew sensor that I was offering up for sale yesterday is sold. Thank you to anyone who asked about it. Just some clarification on my last post.