Triggerhappy69

Well..... eeeeeh... maybe.....? phhhhhuhhh...? ........... I have no clue..? I hope never to be honest..? Having to much fun building the thing.. And when it's done I'll have to give it to charity or something and start another one.?

I'm afraid you'll need MORE than 5 if you want to have everything activated mate..

I agree.. But the thing that really ticked me off with ribbon cables were that they are so thin.. Just a little to much bending, and I lost a connection.. :cry: .. But most of all it's the look I like..! LMAO.. I need professional help..

.... silence... only broken by the faint sound of a grown man crying.. LOL..

Phhuh..! I did a quick count of inputs in the cockpit. Counting only switch positions and buttons. And I came to 538 inputs. I did not count the adjustors for the instruments, or axis (potmeters).. But I'll get arround to that later..

WHY CAN'T I GET THOSE B**#"5¤*/%RD ROTARY ENCODERS WORKING WITH THE BU0835A CARD..! I'm running the encoder software, and have added diodes according to at least one mans oppinion of how it should be..!?

I thought I'd do an experiment with single cables just to see if there was a benefit from using them, oposed to the ribbon cable? And I have to admitt that not only does it look a whole lot better, and is much easyer to modify. But it also looks a whole lot better.. .. did I mention it looks better..? :cry:

Pitbuilding Update - 25 July 2009 - ABRIS. Why have'th thou so much to solder? I know.. I shouldn't complain about this. And I have spent hour wondering why my releation towards soldering has gone down the drain lately..? And now I know why..! I blame instructional (seemingly well meaning) videos on the subject oif soldering..! I do! Are you baffled now?! Wondering what the H*LL I'm talking about? Well it's like this. Or at least it's like this FOR ME..? Or it like this for me THESE LAST MONTHS..! I really like the "show and tell" side to this thread.. I like showing of the things I make, mainly because I' as self centered as the next guy, and this is the first cockpit I have buildt.. I like sharing the thought prosess leading up to fabricating every piece. Because I know that when we stick our heads together the total sum of competance and knowlege is HUGE..! And I really need you guys to cry STOP every time I start charging down a dead end street.. It's humiliating to suddenly be in a position where you see that your previous actions are not exactly a compliment to your own (highly self-exagerated) intelligence.! With the risk of sounding like the son (make that grandson) og Karl Marx. There's just something fascinating and kinda' warm in this seeing a group of people with almost absolutly nothing in common pull together like that..!? And as such I want the end result to be worthy of your efforts.. This works when it comes to soldering to..! You see, I just to think myself a descent solderer before.. I had no clue why I used flux, or why I had different soldering tips. And I had ABSOLUTLY no idea about the chemistry of the heat distribution and stuff.. I just wanted the thing to "stay there", if you know what I mean? And then came youtube.. And after that I posted the fist oficial picture of my soldering, and got a coment on how good it looked..!? (actually AlexRC I think that was YOU..! you WILL pay for this later.. LMAO:smilewink:) And now, being curious by nature, naturally I wanted my soldering to look good always! Inside I could even feel a hope of progression within the art of soldering waking up.. So I did what I normally do, I started educating myself..! I just always need to know WHY..! And now it's all gone to crap.... I'm a guy right.. Well I am for you who don't know what I look like. Either that or I'm a butt ugly woman..! Being a guy, nature has suplied me with a non-multitasking brain.. If you don't know what I mean or disagree, go talk to your wife/girlfriend and ask her..! It's physically draining for me to drive, chew a brand new flavour gum AND pay attention to my girlfriend talking about the ant of a friend of her cousin's pre-menstrual experinces.. It's just to much..! I miss soldering before I had to make every solderjoint "flow out into a volcano shape joint"..? Now I have at least 6 different soldering tips. I have flux AND paste! All of a sudden it has become clear to me that life without soldering wire is just not worth living anymore..! And you would laugh your head of if you know how many different types of tip-cleaning remedies that has been tested, only to be found inadequate.. It's just to much..! :smilewink: .... and my solderng has not exectly imroved either.. And there's a lot of it in the near future, i've been told.. :doh: MORE ON THE ABRIS I took everything apart for the fitting of rotary encoders and buttons. and shaping the opening in the aluminum panel to fit the front bezel.. (and I admitt to have forgot to drill two of the holes to:doh:) At the same time I used my exacto knife on a piece of foam mat to make a foam edge where the LCD meets the aluminum panel. Here you see it with the LCD in place: Eeeeh..? EEEH..? It came out ok if you ask me.. The corners had to be strengthened with some pieces of plastic sheet.. I just just sanded them into shape and glued them into place with ZAP glue..! And you see the wires that connect the ABRIS controls. I wanted to be able to unplug the control panel at this end to, so I soldered in a 25 pin plug. It must have taken me 3 hours this.. Aaaaaaaaaaargh! All the wires will be shortened down and curve ito the panel from behind, not outof the panel and into the pilots knee-cap like in the picture..:smartass: And I'll have to come up with an idea of where to hide the controls for the LCD.. Maybe I'll operate it through 2mm holes on the front panels leftside? Or hide the buttons behind a hidden panel somewhere else? Ideas anyone? Microswitces will give the ABRIS a clear "click" sound when activated.. I actually chose these for the sound and feel alone.. Since they are SMD's and not through-hole like all my other components. .. maybe I'll have a chance to test it in funcion later.. If so I'll upload a video to youtube.. Cya L8r M8's

Thank you guys..! Really..! Thank you..! I'll be honest and tell you that whenever I stumble into a problem in the building process that I just can't seem to figure out a solution to.? I just go back and read comments like yours right now..! And it ALWAYS works..! Either as motivation or as a sence of responsabilty towards you guys for solving evbery problems within the frames I have set for myself.. It has to be able to fabricate with basic tools and matereal available to "everyone" (I know I might have streched the consept of ""available to everyone" a bit far at times) LoL.. And every so often I wake up a bit on the "low" side of inspiration. Like I did today.. ... ... ... well, it's safe to say that you have completly changed my perception of the remaining hours of this day..! c",):thumbup: And John..? It's not fair to make a grown man almost 'wanna break into tears like that..He He.. thank you.. (.. now let me just pick my masculine self image up from the wastbin again, and I'll post an update.. More ABRIS I'm afraid..:doh:)

Pitbuilding Update - 24 July 2009 - ABRIS testing in temp pit I know.. I really should have gone to bed instead! But I have the day of tomorrow, and I just HAD TO try out the multi monitor settings and see my ABRIS in action..! So I hastingly threw everything together and hooked it up. And after about two hours of reading up on how the LUA script should be I got it right.. Actually I got it right the first time I fired DCS up..! Yahoo! I am running the Center monitor at 1440x900, and the ABRIS at 768x1024 resolution (the ABRIS is a 1024x768 that is projectet in portrait instead of landscape..)! In the pics I am using the old Front Pedestal still.. The new one is disassembled for painting. .. you can see a hint of the ABRIS screen if you look closely.. The camera flash took most of the colors away in these pictures :cry: But almost the same angles, this time without flash! And you see the ABRIS... :pilotfly:.. This is a milestone for me..! Finally my cockpit has come to life..! And I have to say that flying with the ABRIS like this DO bring a whole new sense of being immersed in the simulator..! .. well.. now it's off to bed..:smilewink:

Pitbuilding Update - 24 July 2009 - Framing the ABRIS Today even I am satisfied with the outcome of tonights work..:thumbup: It's quite nice to see what you can do with a hacksaw, Dremel with a edge-router kit, and a lot of patience.. I will make place for the screwheads behind the ABRIS Front tomorrow. And I'll be attaching the rotaries and buttons to..!

GOOD FIND..! I couldn't help but let out a little "hooray" when I read this: " KeyWarrior20 KeyWarrior20 Chips support keyboards with up to 20x12 keys. USB, PS/2, and ADB interfaces USB 1.1/2.0 compliant, Low Speed All three PS/2 codesets supported Power Key on separate input Customer specific key layout, either factory programmed or in-system Programming options: Flex, Operator, and Commander Direct outputs for Caps, Num, and Scroll LEDs Diodes in matrix possible Available in SSOP48 package" 20+12 keys..! That's a grand total of 240 switches that can be connected to each card..!

LMAO...Oooops...! I dropped my soap.. How clumsy of me...

.... sigh..... I leave my thread for a couple of hours to visit some friends, and come home to THIS...! :megalol: LMAO Ps. If your not telling, then I sure as H*LL will just make like an oyster and .....

Actually I have contacted Leo Bodnar twice regarding he's FFB controller card project. First time I tried (being really diplomatic and cloaking my cunning plan) to hint that I had to get my hands on one of he's cards or I would surely die..! ... And not surprisingly he chose to disregard my hints, and answered all my other questions instead.. Patiently I waited for a second chance to pursue my dream, And after a while the day finally came. And being a lot wiser I just asked him straight out if I could PLEASE aquire he's controller card.. I'm still waiting for he's answer.. there is no moral to this story.. But I know that he must be getting bored of all the morons like me nagging about the FFB controller.. I remeber reading somewhere that the project was unfinished. And I hope he'll let us know when it is..:thumbup: ... It's not that he's unproductive at least..! The guy is just brilliant.!

You are right about the wheels turn up to 900 degrees on some.. But on my FFB pedals I use the PCB from a wheel that turn 200 degrees, and just by using a hall effect sencor turning inside a magnetic field I cut that down to 30 degrees.? Am i mistaken when I say that the turn rate of a wheel is more dependant on the potmeter than the electronics? Hmm.. Dude..! Now you got me all confused here..:helpsmilie: The thing is that the resolution on today's joysticks basicly stink..! The old Microsoft Sidewinder 2 USB (Red edition) has a 10bit resolution (1024 points of measuring on each axis) if I remember right? However the new Thrustmaster T.16000M has 16000 points of measuring on each axis. AND it has hall effect sencors to.. Ruling out spiking and/or mechanical glitches that potmeters suffer from.. Makng it MUCH more precise (in theory at least) when trimming! I assume that racing wheels have had a simular evolution, and they are quite cheap to buy used on ebay.. But will DCS accept this many FFB devices. And export the correct DirectX values to the correct card? That's another issue? As far as I could read ED haven't even done anything with the problem of FFB stick users not being able to use curves in the new patch?:cry:

You are lycky mate..! ;) That is the one part I consider myself done with as of today..! I'll make some drawings and post them here tomorrow

Pitbuilding update - 22 july 2009 - Installing the ABRIS LCD screen I had a Lilliput 10,4 inch touchscreen that I was planning on controlling my CnC Mill with. But since the ABRIS came before yhe CnC Mill was finished, it was re-allocated to thre cockpit. These last weeks have been frustrating, and fun at the same time! Frustrating because I have'nt had time to do much "building". And as such haven't seen a lot of progress either... And fun because now I KNOW that I will get the HOCAS I have been dreaming of.. I thought I had busted the PCB for the MSSWFFB2 joystick the other day. All off a sudden the motors were dead, and I had no clue why.. Thoughts circled arround me short circuiting the microchip while testing. I am really not buildt for these 0,02mm size pads.. I can hardly even see them without a magnifying glass.. No really.. I use a magnifying glass just like Sherlock Holmes. And Alex is laughing at me calling me old..?! LMAO And also finishing the drawings for the pit is taking FOREVER..! It's so hard fiinding the right balance between height and length and figuring out how to make it not fall apart after construcing the d*mn thing.. But I'm getting closer every day.. THE ABRIS This was my starting point (more or less). I had cut the hole for the LCD screen with a hacksaw. A standard blade is fine for cutting aluminum. The fines tooth metal blades tend to get theyr teeth packed with aluminum that melts while sawing.. Remember to mark ALL the holes at this stage. You really don't want to have pieces of metal falling into open pcb's and short circuiting them because you forgot to drill holes for the gauges.. The inside of my touchscreen.. Basicly just two parts here. The screen and the PCB. I used spacers from a computer cabinet to attach the screen to the panel. The spacers leave a 1mm gap between the aluminum panel and the screen that I'll fill with a thin layer of balck foam. On top are 40mm spacers to fix the pcb on. It does look cool right? The PCB is fixed to a sheet of 2mm foam plastic sheet I had in one of my drawers.. It's absolutly non-conductive.. And it has a nice and white underside to hide the PCB behind M-m-M...

Pitbuilding Update - 18 July 2009 - Force Feedback amplifying, the story continues! All I can say is WOW..! This whole experiment has proven to be one of the most exiting things ever..! Alex..? I can't begin to thank you for sharing your knowlege with me like you have so far. Two years ago I had no clue about electronics, and now I find the learning curve is getting steeper and steeper every day, and it's a real challenge to keep it up! Me and Alex have had hours and hours on video conferance now trying to get it all together. And it's been a share joy everey second of it.. However.. I am not quite ready to post the How-to yet.. I know.. It sucks.. But before I make someone go bananas inside theyr MSSWFFB2 joystick I want to be sure this actually works..:music_whistling: We have managed to isolate where the PWM signal is coming fro, on the MSSWFFB2 PCB. When measuring the "voltage" (I use my rabbit ears because I have learnt that allthough it is shown as voltage getting stronger and weaker in the multimeter, It's actually a constant 12V current that is switched rapidly on and of with varying pulse time.. Hence the term "Pulse Width Modulation"! The multimeter shows you this as let's say a 9,7V voltage because it is showing you an average voltage over a certain time. Not nearly as short a time as a PWM pulse though! And that's why we read this 12V PWM signal as a 9,6V current.. Phuuh) Enough with the digressions.. I measured the voltage between pin 13 and ground and pin 14 and ground, while moving the stick front to back in the Joystick's Y-Axis. Stick in Center position: Pin 13 is 0V - Pin 14 is 0V Stick in forwards position: Pin 13 is 12V - Pin 14 is 0V Stick in Back position: Pin 13 is 0V - Pin 14 is 12V So what does this tell us? In simple terms it tells me that when I move the stick forwards from 50-100% on the Y-Axis the LM339 Chip is sending out a PWM signal thought Pin13 to the the H-bridge, so that the motor starts pulling the stick back to center. And the same goes for pin 14 when I move the stick for 50-0% on the Y-Axis. So now we know where to pull the PWM signal for the Y-axis from, and feed to your own H-Bridge.. I have made a simple schematics showing ONE H-Bridge only (we need two identical like this.) No promises on the schematic being 100% correct though, because I haven't had a chance to run it by Alex yet.. I ordered the resistors, capasitors and all the other parts yesterday, so you'll have to wait a couple more days before I post a new update regarding this.. Some thoughts, and where I am now.. I have been thinking.. MS Sidewinder FFB2 USB is a OLD Joystick.. FFB joysticks really have'nt had theyr rennisance before now with DCS. And as such the technology is unprogressed for 15 YEARS.! However FFB Racing wheels have been steadily developed, and I hope improved as well..!? Would it be possible to use to PCB's from a High-end FFB wheel of newer date. And designate one axis to each card. And by this get higher resolution, and even bypass the whole "amplifying" issue for other morons like me with itchy fingers and a qurious mind? ... just a thought... Today I am cutting out the hole for my ABRIS. I'll be using a 10,4 Inch Touchscreen for this. The "touch" part of the screen might come in handy if I'll ever bother flying something other than the Ka-50 (with I stronly doubt I will).. I'll post some pics tonight.. Got my Camera back now.. :thumbup: Cya L8r guys

no. They don't share the same USB ID, so it shouldn't be a problem.. I have three of them and they are all connected..

I have noticed that when reading the Viperpits.org forum (which everyone should read just because the builders there are out of this world good.!).! But there's such an immense gap in the price difference from EPIC cards to, say Opencockpits cards.? A PCB is a PCB in general, and the software doesn't seem to be THAT much better? So there must be another reason why they are expensive? .. I can't belive they are the standard just because? Or is it really so?

It can.. But I confused this with the Shkval Zoom switch. My bad! Definately go for a ON-OFF-ON button that is springloaded to both sides here.. So that it's resting position is center. I mapped this as a DirectX input in DCS, and by doing this and not using SVMapper it now increases/decreses the Pipper box size smooth and not to fast..

WAY To pricy mate..! Are they really THAT much better that the alternatives?

Good point there SOKOL1..:thumbup: The price is an issue, and if your not building a complete pit you can easily get a couple if "A" models and have one for HOCAS exclusively..