romeokilo

Outstanding. Looking forward the the how to. Just found my next project

I've finished most of the panels now. Only one I haven't done is the CMSP- waiting to pick a suitable display and mess around with arduino and DCS-Bios. Here is what it looks like at the moment. Sorry about the dark photos- I was running out of daylight. And here is something else I'm playing around with. My custom 'master caution and fire' panel will hit the inside of the rubbish bin. Functions will be moved to the glare shield and I haven't decided what will takes its place yet- most likely the NMSP.

I've already removed some to fix some minor issues and it was not a problem. The LEDs fit so tightly that it does take some force to remove them. Plus the fact that I've used solid core wire makes it quite strong. The vinyl peels of easily. :thumbup:

Well it's been a while since I have been on here. Changed jobs, moved house and I have a new son on the way- but I am finally around to unpacking the pit and getting back into it. :thumbup: A few changes have been made. Major one- the triple monitors are gone (sold today!) and will soon be replaced with a projector. The small 19 inch monitor will remain as a glass cockpit once i work out a mounting mechanism for the now 'half' Obutto cockpit. I am currently designing a small glare shield to go on top of it with fire handles, master caution button and a few switches. Maybe a UFC on top later on. Things I've done this week- Landing gear and AHCP panel view from the rear. The gear handle mechanism in place. Still prototyping that. The lighting circuit for it. Changed things up- I'm now using three LEDs per resistor in series rather than three in parallel. Benefits are much less soldering/wiring runs, however the back lighting is now slightly uneven. After running some experiments i realized that due to the acrylic spacer panels I use the unevenness is not even noticeable when the panel is all together. All together- I also started using vinyl wrap on the rear. It holds the LEDs in place without any gluing required, stops light bleeding from the rear and also insulates the circuit to prevent it shorting on any bolts/switches. Plus makes it look much more professional. Win win. LEDs from the front- Spacer panel on- Top panels on- UHF back lighting I have thought about it. I'm certainly not going to open a business, but since i have the cutter and the files it seems like a good idea to do a few runs if people are interested. Before I look into that I'll get my pit complete to work out all the issues- so it may happen but will be a long time away.

Thanks for posting. I'm trying to start work on my CDU buttons and this has given me lots of new ideas to try!

I'll give it a shot. If it's untenable ill go this route- http://r.ebay.com/5ERe5H

I haven't sorted that out yet, but I have seen others do it before. Something similar to this should work- http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=390704454856&alt=web I hope...

I finished the Caution Box! It WORKS :thumbup: I changed the design a little. It is now in this order- 3mm MDF LED panel > 3mm MDF Spacer > 3mm MDF Spacer > 3mm Acrylic text panel > 1.5mm Acrylic frame panel Here it is broken down- Here is the MDF LED panel. The screws are the panel mounts for the Phidgets 64- The text panel is a 3mm Transparent Green Acrylic Sheet. I painted one side with matte black then reverse engraved the text into it. Here is the rear side of it- The result is what looks like a gloss jet black piece of plastic from the front. In the first photo above it is the bottom left panel. And once it is back lit- I tried it as is but the hot spots in the text was terrible. So i cut a whole heap of these to diffuse the LED's a bit- Just dropped them in- Bolted it all together- And the result is fantastic. This picture doesn't do it justice. Absolutely no bleed between each indicator. I'll get a video up soon. I'm happy :D

Thanks all. :thumbup: After lots of research I bought and installed this kit- http://www.lightobject.com/DSP-upgrade-kit-for-DK40-small-machine-P758.aspx Long story short- the K40's are cheap for a reason. They are built fairly well, but the controller hardware and software are basic to say the least. Together they are basically unusable. This kit changes the controller hardware, software and PSU and allows the laser to do much much more and be much much more user friendly. Quick example- for me to cut just the basic outline of a panel using the stock stuff, I would have to completely re design my panel in the terrible, poorly translated chinese software. I would then run it and have to set the laser power by hand using a control on the machine itself. Then to engrave it I would run a separate file with the text in it and lower the power enough to engrave rather than cut using the control on the machine. With this new DSP and software, I just import the design from corel draw. I can set different colours to do different things (red to cut, black to engrave, green to engrave deeper etc etc) and hit start. It will then run everything in one swoop. The software changes power of the laser on the fly. I can just copy the design on a thumb drive, put it in the USB port on the laser and hit start. Panel done. Its a 1.5mm thick piece of matte clear acrylic with black on one side. You mirror your panel design and engrave onto the black side. Then turn is around and you have a perfectly flat piece of acrylic with the text in clear. Text will be the color of the acrylic you put it up against, or you can paint the engraved side. To quote the manufacturer- "Specially designed for the laser engraver, Reverse LaserMark® has a clear, non-glare matte finish over a layer of rich color. It offers a crisp, clean image and ultra-fine laser lettering, with a durable surface that resists fingerprints." http://www.rowmark.com/laser/Reverse_Lasermark/reverselasermark.asp Problem is- its not cheap. 1200mm X 600mm sheet is about $110. Yep. 3mm. They are 14mm tall. By my conversion that about .55" I intend to sneak a few more in there. Line check on the fuel panel will be swapped with sim pause. Considering changing all the Fill disable buttons with sim specific stuff as well.

Finished the first panel today :thumbup: SAS panel was started again from scratch now I have the laser engraver. I re did the back light as well I had done originally done it for 5V- changing it up so both consoles now run the back lighting from a 12v laptop power supply. SAS Panel broken down- This is the MDF Rear Plate and the Acrylic spacer plate. You can see I have engraved where each LED sits into the Acrylic plate. LED's installed. Very easy solder them in place on MDF rather than plastic. Here is the front view of the Rear plate with the LED's turned on. First Acrylic spacer plate installed. You can easily see the hot spot created by each LED. Second Acrylic plate on. Its only purpose is to diffuse the LEDs before the text plate. And with the reverse engraved lasermark text plate. No hot spots visible at all. Very quick mask and spray paint the holes and edges- And the completed panel. No hots spots behind the text and minimal bleed around the switches. I'm happy :thumbup: And I also installed the 7 segment displays in the VHF's today. not functional (yet...) and only installed on some protoboard for looks.

Thanks Warhog The rear MDF panel has 3mm holes cut into it that LEDs fit into. They shine into a 3mm white Acrylic midplate, then another 3mm white Acrylic spacer plate, and the top layer is 1.5 mm reverse engraved lasermark. I have tried it an Acrylic rear plate- there is little to no difference in light because of the narrow beam of the green LEDs im using. Plus using MDF means its much easier to solder the LEDs in without having to remove them first for fear of melting everything. The LCD is from this- http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=251618823575&alt=web It works but i need to find an rca to vga adapter before i can get it running. Plus ill need another graphics card. Thats a long way off. Ill start on the keypad soon though.

Well I'm back into it. :thumbup: The cheap Chinese K40 laser I've got is doing the job well. I'm still learning but so far I'm impressed. It was pretty terrible out of the box- but with the DSP upgrade kit it is a very capable little machine. Here it is- I jumped straight in and started on the CDU. I intended to just practice with 3mm MDF (It's cheap) to sort out the design, then cut it out of 3mm acrylic, but I'm so happy with how its working I've decided to use the MDF for all the rear LED panels and the entire CDU body now. It will keep costs down and looks just as good. The CDU in bits- Without LCD- With LCD and bracket- The LCD is out of a cheap eBay car reverse camera. $30. :thumbup: The caution box. The text panel shown is not the final product- I was experimenting with engraving paint. I've ordered some reverse lasermark for the final product. This is how I have the Caution Box at the moment- Back LED panel > MDF (3mm) cutout panel >Text panel (1.5mm) > MDF (3mm) cutout panel. The finished product will be- Back LED panel > MDF (3mm) cutout panel > MDF (3mm) cutout panel > Text panel (1.5mm reverse engraved lasermark)- Cutout panel (1.5mm). And after some quick matte black spray paint- I also decided to redo the Elec Power panel. The one I had just does not look right. Done in MDF for now until I the lasermark arrives. More to come tomorrow!

This is again delayed- I stepped it up a notch and decided to invest in a laser cutter. I've got a cheap Chinese K40 in my hands and have just ordered a DSP upgrade kit for it. I need some time to do the upgrade, work out how to use it then i will begin cutting my own panels. I have the CDU design ready to go! Cant wait!

First panel backlighting done. I just need to paint the edges and switch holes.

Seems you can cut this strip into single LEDs. They even sell single 'breadboard friendly' ones in packs of four. I just ordered a strip to try out for panel lighting. Thanks for the heads up doveman!

This project is on hold for about six weeks. I'm currently on holiday in the US. However while i am here i couldn't help myself but try to pickup some of the things it's too expensive to get at home in Australia. So far I've scored some locking switches for the AHCP, four milspec radio knobs and a genuine honeywell landing light switch. As well as a phidgets led board without having to almost double the price in shipping!

Some more progress today-

They are awesome, but $27 US per knob is way too much for me to spend on this project. It would probably end up costing me over $200 AUD with shipping just for knobs. I've spent under $20.

All cheap ebay ones. http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=331214943488&alt=web

Yeah I am aware. Im only using cheap ebay knobs and these were the closest I could find. Im also not backlighting them- I am considering engraving a pointer into these and filling with glow in the dark paint. Ill experiment. Also- is everybody using rotary encoders for that panel? Or is there a way to use pots?

Got the engraved panels! :) Very happy with out they turned out. I'm going to paint the reverse engraving white to improve visibility when the back light is off. I have noted that the holes for the HUD and ALT SCE got missed in error. I'll just cut them myself the old fashioned way. Note the custom panel I did on the bottom. And I also decided to make my own flaps gauge rather than buy one. I'll work out that later! I can't wait to get these lit up!

Progress is being made- And finished the design for the top panel of the CDU. It will be laser cut from 3 mm acrylic.

Finished the gear handle today. All that is left to do is Paint the lever black. Here is the simple mechanism I used- It locks the lever in the wheels up or down position and you have to pull the handle outwards in order to move it. The handle in pieces- Its not perfect, but once I install it for good ill put some silicon grease on it so it moves nice and smooth. And a quick LED test- Not bad for a castor wheel I think. :thumbup:

Some minor updates. I've finished designing and prototyping all the basic panels. I've edited most to fit the 12 position rotaries and knobs I intend to use. Its not an A10 replica, so I've also used some artistic licence here and there, basically changed some things so they look better. CDU Panel VHF Radio and SAS panel. The white squares with be cut out to fit 7 segments. And i swapped the L and R monitor switch on the SAS panel for Track IR center and pause. UHF Radio. The top covers are not on it, but they will be. I changed the console design a bit. I've decided not to have the landing gear and caution panel attached to the monitor bracket, but rather have everything DCS related on the side consoles. So i can just lift them up, put them away and the whole rig is back to BF4/normal computer mode. I cut new sides on the right console to mount my made up warning panel. The Landing gear and AHCP will be mounted in the same fashion on the left console. Note- the warning panel pictured is not the final design. I removed the Master Caution text- it will be on the button instead. And the colored switches will be gone as well. CMSP is very much still in prototype stage. Messing with some illuminated tactile switches I got cheap. You get the idea. And the landing gear handle is also still a prototype. Will be LED illuminated and have plastic sides put on. I'm trying to work out a spring mechanism so you have to pull it out about 10mm in order to move it from the up or down position. But the best news- all the final panels have been laser cut and engraved, I'm just waiting on the package. They have been reverse engraved onto 1 mm matte laser max. I will just re cut the clear tops i have now from white and bolt it all together. Cant wait to get them next week! :thumbup: Next up will be experimenting with LED back lighting.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/390791001085?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 That's the mount I used. You can find them even cheaper without the HDMI cable (I needed a spare)