Studsmcgee

Ok so this is interesting. If I disconnect the arduino and only have the 12v and solenoid hooked up the solenoid actuates when the 12v is applied. Does that indicate a faulty mosfet? I tried the next step just incase and the 5v from the arduino applied to the signal input of the mosfet lights up the mosfet led but does not affect the solenoid.

Alright, so I tried another MOSFET board, same result. I wired the 12v input with the - side as ground and the + side as VIN. Is that correct? If it is then I don't know what else I'm missing. Maybe its still code related?

Appreciate the tip. I tried your code example and it does indeed light up the led. When I have 12v connected to the MOSFET the solenoid actuates and stays on regardless of the button position. I removed the VCC connection and got the same result. I just don't know what I need to tell the MOSFET to switch the 12v power on and off. I wish I knew more about the code so I could try more things.

Thanks! I’ll try that out here soon. Does my description of the wiring sound right? I’ll try to link a picture of what I have. https://imgur.com/a/ksm3lrw

So first timer here with DCS BIOS Short version is I want a switched action in DCS (huey idle stop button) to activate a solenoid. Like I said first time doing this. I got the button working through my arduino nano (just two leads that I touch together to simulate a momentary switch) Next I'm using a single channel MOSFET board to control the solenoid. I have the ground connected to a ground on the Nano I have the Signal from the MOSFET connected to a digital pin on the nano And the VCC is connected to a 5V pin on the nano. The VIN and GND lugs on the board are connected to a 12V adapter and the V+ and V- lugs go to the solenoid leads. When I touch the leads to activate the button in DCS the LED on the MOSFET board also turns on. So I got that far at least. The issue is that as soon as i plug the 12V power in the "button" stops working and the solenoid activates and the idle stop command does not switch the solenoid off. I used a code example from The Warthog Project as he recently used a similar setup to run his DIY magnetic switches. I thought this would work the same way but now I'm not sure. Here is the Code I have: /* Tell DCS-BIOS to use a serial connection and use interrupt-driven communication. The main program will be interrupted to prioritize processing incoming data. This should work on any Arduino that has an ATMega328 controller (Uno, Pro Mini, many others). */ #define DCSBIOS_IRQ_SERIAL #include "DcsBios.h" /* paste code snippets from the reference documentation here */ int ThrottleStop_Solenoid = 2; DcsBios::Switch2Pos throttleStop("THROTTLE_STOP", 3); void onThrottleStopChange(unsigned int newSolenoidValue) { switch (newSolenoidValue){ case 0: digitalWrite(ThrottleStop_Solenoid, LOW); break; case 1: digitalWrite(ThrottleStop_Solenoid, HIGH); break; } } DcsBios::IntegerBuffer throttleStopBuffer(0x14be, 0x0008, 3, onThrottleStopChange); void setup() { DcsBios::setup(); pinMode (ThrottleStop_Solenoid, OUTPUT); } void loop() { DcsBios::loop(); } I don't know much about how the code works but it currently works for the momentary press of the idle stop button, and it sends some kind of signal to the MOSFET board because the led lights up. Beyond that I don't know what to try. I'd appreciate any tips or code examples. Thanks!

Ok I see. I will not have the black mount part in your photo. So I will have to make something myself. On the inside of the "drum brake" part on the original collective is it just metal on metal? Or is there any other material in there?

Thank you! For the disc brake function, what material is inside? Is it just metal on metal? Or is there some kind of friction material or lubricant? Also did you construct the mount that the original collective is in? Or is that a part out of the real helicopter?

Thanks for the pictures. Neat mechanism you came up with. I’m hoping I can use the original idle stop button to trigger the in-game button. And then use a signal from the game through dcs bios to control whatever mechanism I come up with. What kind of mechanism do you have to keep friction on the collective? Is it hydraulic or just a clamp style on the axis?

The collective isn't actually here yet. Hopefully tomorrow. I was just brainstorming ideas. But I'll probably try to use the original gear if I can find a way. I'm thinking of trying to make something like this work: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z3N21FJ/ref=crt_ewc_title_srh_4?ie=UTF8&smid=A2QDC4SXGIBAA1&th=1 I'm pretty confident I can figure out the mechanical set up. What I don't know anything about is the software side. I think I'll end up using DCS BIOS but that's a whole other world I haven't learned yet. That's the part I was really looking for tips on.

That’s a neat set up! I’m not set on using a solenoid. I just don’t know what else would work. The only difference is I’m working with a real Huey collective I was didn’t want to hack it apart. I’m hoping to use the original mechanism. The real one is a solenoid that interrupts the throttle mechanism way back in the engine somewhere. I was just hoping to replicate that. I know the dcs Huey doesn’t really work correctly. However I’ve gotten close enough making certain axis ranges act as button presses. It’s not 100% but it’s close enough for me. That said I’m still interested in how you mechanism works.

Hey guys, I’m planning out a helicopter collective build using a real Huey collective. My question is about how to make a physical idle stop detent. The real helicopter uses the button on the collective head to control a solenoid that’s located back on the engine somewhere. For my purposes I’m going to have a potentiometer at the base that reads the throttle position. Somewhere in that mechanism I’d like to have a linear solenoid of some kind that is activated by the idle stop release button on the collective. Specifically I need to learn how to wire the solenoid and control it. The buttons and axis will be controlled by a Leo Bodnar joystick board. I understand solenoids need something like 12volts to be powered. My research has shown I need some kind of extra board or relay to control that voltage. A mosfet board has come up in my reading but that’s about as far as I’ve gotten. What all do I need to make DCS control the solenoid? For context all my previous projects have been plugging toggle switches into a Leo bodnar board and it all just worked. This is my first time taking on something like this. Any help or pointers to other similar projects with info are appreciated. Thanks!

Just managed to luck my way through mission 2. I’ll go try it again as I screwed up a bunch of stuff. However watching redkites video after launching from the carrier edit: refueling there’s a bunch of dialogue about the jukebox and the XO and everything. But when I played myself all that was missing. I took off before smoke and let him catch up. Then I flew the waypoints and climbed like in the brief. Flip calls turning to waypoint 2 and most of the other dialogue works. then after my terrible AAR attempt we get to waypoint 4 and smoke splits off. When he turns back at 60 miles and I get awacs calls to find him he never says “tapes on” etc. am I missing trigger zones or something? I’ll try again and report back. Just hoping it’s not something broken with the latest dcs update. EDIT: Tried again with the same result. No conversation after refueling. Refueling goes ok, but the tanker doesnt answer when Flip says the flight is pushing off. Then when doing radar practice Smoke never calls for tapes on or fights on. Eventually I find him and get a lock then we get told to go find the bandit. I need to work on using the Rock calls because I couldn't find the enemy this time. Then when we go back to the ship Smoke follows me all the way down to the ship and this time he crashed. Still finished the mission I guess but I'd like to play it as designed.

What is dependency walker? And how should I use it?

Thanks guys, I tried reinstalling DX9 via the installer in the DCS folder, didn't help. I'll upload the dxdiag and the log file now. I did update my graphics card drivers but only after the problem was happening, I thought it might help. However it didn't seem to make a difference. System is an i5 @ 4.4ghz, gtx 760, 8gb ram, msi motherboard Edit: here is the actual error text from windows Problem signature: Problem Event Name: APPCRASH Application Name: dcs.exe Application Version: 1.2.8.27203 Application Timestamp: 535b8c91 Fault Module Name: d3dx9_43.dll Fault Module Version: 9.29.952.3111 Fault Module Timestamp: 4bf70b46 Exception Code: 80000003 Exception Offset: 0000000000215d82 OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1 Locale ID: 1033 Additional Information 1: c3b4 Additional Information 2: c3b4539fba14d28db0cb1fe252ca9ad6 Additional Information 3: dd1e Additional Information 4: dd1e2c3076e751b8fc42408a6fdbb8b1 DxDiag.txt DCSlog.txt

I keep getting a consistent crash with 1.2.8 Flying for about 10 minutes when the session quits and returns to the after mission screen (Which has no info because the session crashed) after showing an error message that always shows one module at fault. d3dx9_43.dll This happens in single player and multiplayer. I searched around a bit and couldn't find anything about anyone else having this problem. I ran the repair and it downloaded something about 64mb in size, not sure what. Dxdiag report seems to be too long to post. I did run it so let me know if there is a specific part I should post for you guys to look at. Thanks for any help.

I'm trying to design a gimbal to use for a cyclic with the Huey. I wanted to add hydraulic dampers to get a more fluid feel without centering springs. I'm just not sure what the best option is to use for these. Can anyone link to a good set? I'm not sure what size I would need or what arrangement they should be in. Can anyone post what they have or any other options that might be out there? Thanks.

Thanks. I knew it was something like that. And yes I know it's pretty weak already but for the fine touch required in the helicopter I wanted to try something else.

Has anyone ever taken apart a combat or fighter stick? I was interested in installing a weaker spring set to help with flying the Huey and to get a bit better feel and finer control. I took the 4 screws out of the bottom but I couldn't get the case apart. Anyone successfully taken it apart? I know I voided the warranty but I'm not too worried about that. Thanks for any help!

I've been reading about mission building and I see a lot of references to "Flags". From what I understand they are a true false condition that can trigger other events. What I don't understand is how to add one in the mission editor. Nothing I can find says "add flag" or anything like that. I'm sure it is a simple procedure but I can't seem to figure it out. Thanks

How were you able to add multiple pickup zones? I tried editing the LUA file that was provided in http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=106294 this thread. But the script does not recognize my second pickup zone. Also the download worked for me. Thanks