Thick8

The head and grip of the one pictured is on Thingiverse by RC_Pilot. The base is my own design and I will be putting in on Thingiverse as soon as I have time. Right now that computer is in the other room lasering and CNCing some face plates. The 4-way hat switch is on the verse under Thick8. Once I get this new design built and tested I will be uploading it as well. I have a full time job as a truck mechanic so I’ve been pretty busy lately. Hope to have at least one new collective done this weekend.

Hi All, I've been busy fine tuning the drawing, ordering different switches, and printing some parts for fitting. I have a bunch of switches from another project. They are on-off and on-off-on type which required a change to the default lua file to function correctly, and can function backwards if the position of the switch does not match the in game position on startup. So I ordered some on- on and on-on-on switches so that won't be an issue. They should be here Monday. I'm using a Teensy board because the BU0836a would require a matrix for the 16 digital inputs (I'm using 12 on mine) whereas the teensy can handle all 16 without a matrix. Plus it's smaller so it will fit into the head. I haven't written the sketch yet but I will probably do that this weekend. Lord know I have nowhere to go given the current state of things. I'm also waiting on a couple of other parts to get here Monday that I think will make the friction brake un-necessary or of lesser importance. I ended up just loosening the brake completely on mine. The level of control without the brake is incredible. Imagine if the accelerator pedal on your car had a friction brake. I should have some progress pics to post late Sunday or Monday. Till then, John

DCS does have multiple camera views. With angle adjustments. There is a menu selectable 3 screen setup. That was the slideshow I mentioned earlier.

I just built a collective last week. I used RC-Pilots grip and head and a base of my own design. In the middle of printing and building it I drew up a totally new design that would be more cost effective to build. It will have the same functionality and still have a Huey head. I will be building at least one but have enough material for 3. I'll upload some pics when I get the new one built. Here's the one I made over the course of the last few weeks.

The issue with three TVs is that you can use 3 separate viewports which produces a slideshow. Or you can set it up as 1 screen but the outer edges become skewed. I had 3 42" 1080p TVs setup as a single monitor with a 22" touchscreen for HELIOS. The framerate was good. when I switched to 3 viewports it was unplayable. I also had head-tracking which helped mitigate the edge issue. I took the whole thing down and sold it about two and a half years ago; 3 weeks after I bought a Samsung Odyssey.

That was the thread. I remember the input structure was changed a couple of years after this thread started but the answer is on page 11 or 12. Thanks for your help.

That worked. I tried to change the code in the BU0836a_dif.lua but there had to be something in the default lua for it to reference. Once the changes were made in the default file then the controller file changed automatically. At first I didn’t give the command a new name and that wasn’t working as it created a conflict with the original entry. Thanks.

I have some on-off and on-off-on switches in my new collective. For example I am able to turn on the landing light with the on input of the switch but the light does not go off when I remove that input signal. I remember going into a lua file to add code that would fix this but that was more than a few years ago now. Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks.

All assembled. It works! A few finishing touches left but I should be able to fly it tomorrow

Funny you should say that. The head is RC_Pilot’s. The base is my own. Just finished it about an hour ago. Have to reposition the WH throttle to make room for it. I’ve also done a total redesign that is simpler to build and more cost effective. It should make it easier for people without a lot of money to put into a controller to have a collective. I bought enough material to build 3. I should have the first one done in a week or two.

Thank you for that explanation. I will forgo the matrix wiring for the now. I will run a wire to that switch just in case it's needed later though. With any luck this thing should be done today.

You're right about that. Just sitting here having my morning tea wondering if I really need a functional idle release switch... I did order a Teensy LC. If I'm reading it right, there is no need for matrixing.

In the final stage of building a collective. I have a BU0836A board that will run 12 switches without having to wire a matrix. Is the idle switch on the collective modeled in DCS. If not then I have 12 switches and I’m happy. If not I have to wire in diodes and matrix for that 1 extra switch.

The matrix is what I’m trying to avoid. Is the idle button on the collective modeled in DCS?

Hello, I have a BU0836A to run the 12 switches and 2 pots for a Huey collective. It then occurred to me that there are 13 switches (I forgot the starter). Is there any way to use one of the analog inputs with an on-off switch? I really don't want to have to try to find where I put my diodes a few years ago and then have to solder them in if it can be helped. Thanks. John

I'm almost done with my collective and was looking for some pics of the starter switch when I came across these offering on eBay. Thought I'd share. https://www.ebay.com/sch/uh1bhuey/m.html?item=293497398660&hash=item4455cee584%3Ag%3A2yAAAOSwsWpeXBJF&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2562 I'm going to see if he will put a ruler across the collective head in a couple of places for us.

I’m currently doing alpha testing of another simulator and I can’t fly for more than a few minutes before I’m heading back to DCS for VR. I’ve had it for 2 months and have only logged a few hours. VR may not have that initial wow factor but it still has that “This is so cool” level of immersion.

There's the Brydling B256A13 board. Not sure if he still makes them. I bought one when I was building my A10 cockpit. There's 256 digital inputs and 13 analog inputs. There's no encoder support though. He hinted that he was going to update the firmware to allow for the use of encoders but that was 3(?) years ago and I never heard back from him. He may have just left the hobby. EDIT: Wow, it's been 5 years since I last talked to him. He hasn't posted anything in almost 3 1/2 years so you're probably out of luck unless you can find one that someone bought and never used. EDIT 2: Here's his LinkedIn profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/niclas-morin-82283623 Seems that he has moved on to bigger and better things.

I was not aware that **that other WW2 game*** had a VR offering. Does it show it's age or has Oleg been keeping up with it?

You da man! Thank you much. I will be making caps out of the toggles and landing lights first. They will slip onto standard size switches. I bought some silver SLA just for them. I'll upload some pics as I get them printed.

There are bits and pieces of nearly all the files that are useful for editing. If you've already done the conversion it shouldn't be a problem to just upload them. I don't need the assemblies, just the parts. Others here may find all of the files useful. Thanks.

I know you can't talk about the sim. Just trying to get an idea if VR is going to be a deal breaker even now that you've had the opportunity to fly it.

As MSFS2020 is only pancake at this point in time; is the eye candy worth the immersion trade off for you?

Did you get a chance to convert the rest of those files? I took a crash course in Fusion360 and can now edit stl files. Next step is to create my own stuff. I've wanted a gear handle mounted to my Warthog throttle for a while now; so I think that will be my first self designed printed component.

Still learning the machine but I have all the internals printed and the switch plate. I will need to redo the cover-plate as the lettering is a little wonky. I will try it with the 1.6w laser when it gets here instead of the CNC. I just ordered the 4-way for it. I’ll be printing out the exterior components once I get the machine dialed in a little better.