Triggerhappy69

Thanx mate..! I'm really quite satisfied with the new collective setup (at last). and if do the new wiring correct I might actually take a week off building and just enjoy flying..? But there's always some snag.. I am experiencing that there is a preassure build up in the closed hydraulic system..? Even if I bleed off preassure by momentarily opening the one way valve every now and then. The preasure builds right back up again after a while?

FIIIINE..! Ps. how much time do you spend with SW mate?

OH MAN..! You really went to town on the buttons..! Am I mistaken, or have you milled out a cavity that holds a piece of colored plexiglass inside the buttons? You HAVE TO post pics with the LED's lighted up mate..?! I'm dying to see how it looks..!

Pitbuilding Update - 31 May 2009 - Havin' a Whitesnake moment... Well actually I spent most of last night in multiplayer with Panzertard, watching him smoke one target after the other while I flew around like a retard..:helpsmilie: Got some serious learning to do..! BUT this my first flight gave me the push I needed to roll up my sleeves and do what I have been dreading I needed for some time now.. Re-Wiring both Cyclic and Collective sitck, and route all the wires to a common module.. I'm just sick of having to deal with bad connections and crappy soldering.. So now I do like the masters (read: guys like RedDog and Gene Buckle.. phuuuh.. now there's building skills for 'ya) do, and have all connections in one place in a neat and orderly fashion.. So by the immortal words of Whitesnake I mumbled "here I go again", did a REALLY COOL air-guitar solo, rolled my eyes in remeberance of numerous drummers lost to Rock & Roll heaven and got to work..! I threw together the front module (IO Module that holds all IOCards, Powersupplies, PWM Amplifiers and so on) yesterday afternoon. And started re-wiring in the beautifull sunshine.:smilewink: IO Module will have more shelves for the Opencockpit Master/expansion/whatever cards on both sides.. I just didn't need them right now, so I didn't bother making them yet.? The glareshield will rest on the angled sides of the top shelf. That is why the relatively hight BU0836A Matrix is placed all the way to the rear center. The holes are for.. aaarrgh.. if you can't guess what they are for I just give up..! LoL Nice, simple and proven to work.. A plat 40-lead cable with a sturdy plug and two leads to each button.. No more shortcuts and "smart ideas".. I want this to work without a glitch now..! The Cyclic was a nightmear.. I had to completly disassemble it to make room for a lot more wires..! But it turned out really good if you ask me? My outdoor workplace: ... only one thing is hanging over me like a Demokeles sword.. I need it to be up and running by 22:00 local time.. And that's just five hours from now..! :cry:

I'll take some detailed pics tomorrow for you..:thumbup: But didn't you connect the power wires wrong and burn a chip?

Pitbuilding Update - 31 May 2009 - Video of my HOCAS Well I finally got around to making it..!

That's some D*MN fine SW work there mate..! Me WANT..! Ps. You don't by any chance have an FTP I can dump the files to..?

Are you going the electro mechanical route to solving this..? If so please keep me posted on your development.. Because If this works it is a much more simple and accurate and precise sollution..

Consider this my officiall "aye, but ..", "yes, and also .." or "I'd rather have ..." input..! Allthough truth be told I have to agree with 'ya mate..! Most of the "bugs" described by my fellow users, as far as instrumentation or weapons system and/or stuff like that goes, I don't even understand..? I'm guessing they are 100% correct, but I've been living in my little pitbuilding bubble for so long now... I haven't got the foggiest idea how to shoot anything yet, but I'll wave my DSC Banner proud and sing theyr praise for doing a good job..! (How come we can't rep them anyway..?) Ps. In retrospect I see that I should have just written "I AGREE..!" ...but where's the fun in that..?

Dude..! You saved my year..! Everything is up and running now..! Thanx a million..!

Got the Sim up and running finally..! I had to un-install all graphic card drivers, physicly delete all the old GForce folders from my C Drive. And re-install the new ATI drivers. But now it works..! Yahoo..! I have tested the pedals now, and IT WORKS (as far as I can see..?)..! I still have some issues with the not so precise centering of the Driving Force electronics. But with a new magnet holder for the hall effect sensor, and a new stronger force feedback motor with belt drives instead of gears I hope it will be precise enough..! And if it is the electronics that simply just is not good enough, I will just switch it for another FFB Controller..? I have one of "Stonehard"s Fanatec Speedster3 FFB Wheels at home. Maybe It will do the job..!? But as far as the question weather DCS BS will work with FFB Pedals or not. I can conclude that IT DOES WORK WITH FFB PEDALS..! So go build a set for yourselves... .. why are you still here..?

Not really.. And I did think of this before building the FFB pedals. The only issue I could think of is the centerpoint value that is returned to the simulator. I have no idea weather this value is the same always in the simulator and is changed by the electronics in the pedals? or if the "new" centerpoint value changes in the Simulator also when I trim? So just to be sure I went for FFB.. Another issue is finding a magnetic or electromechanic brake that both hold the force of the pedals with close to zero RPM's on the axle, and holds the return spring force under such conditions? I haven't found one yet? But if you find it please let me know. Because it would be a much simpler setup.. I'm whatching the F1 race from earlier today (Monaco) right now. And as soon as it's finished I'll go downstairs to test the pedals.. All day today has gone in finishing the Collective mechanics and making it 100% tight.. And now IT IS..! Ps. And boy does it feel good...!

This looks really good.. Just the right "russian roughness" to it..! I see you have milled out the lettering before painting? Is this just for testing or do you hand paint the buttons after they come out from the cnc? If so you might try this method I read somewhere: 1st mill out the squares that wil become panels/buttons 2nd paint them with a coat of glossy white paint 3rd apply three to four layers of dull black paint, and let the paint dry 4th cover the surface that you will mill out lettering on with masking tape/film 5th mill out the letters 6th spray the surface with lettering with one or two coats of clear white paint 7th remove the masking tape/film revealing the black surface behind. this way you should be able to apply white paint only inside the letters. And with a inner layer of white glossy paint any baclighting will be reflected within the acryllic and only shine out from where the letters have been milled out..? I have tested the method, and it really works to.. And you even used the right type screws.. respect.. (rep inbound)

If your main objective is flying Blackshark I would definately say get a used Microsoft Sidewinder 2 Force Feedback from EBay (or any local site like this)...! I have a Cougar that's modded to the point of ridicule, and I love it for it's programability and general feel. But in Blackshark you will get a MUCH better sence of the trimming function with a Force Feedback stick. And Microsoft's last Sidewinder model had the highest resolution of them all (so far...)

Just glad to help mate.. c".) LoL I Googled "Newfounlander" and I came up with this?

Well I do..!? From the pivot axle of the joystick to the bottom of my hand is 29cm. And from the floor to the bottom of my hand is 48cm. But I'm sitting in an "Ejection seat", and it realy quite low (maybe 30cm or so), so you wil have to adjust this last measure to your own chair..? I got the circa measures from comparing a side picture of the real thing with a pilot sitting in it. But whose to say that the guy isn't big as a bear? (Ps. If you know the guy, and find the measures to short, please ajdust both measures accordingly and never ever EVER tell me... LoL) G'nite all c",)

.. I've hit a snag that's delayed the testing.. When connecting the FFB stick (after testing it a hundred times) mounted in the Front Main Panel, it had some serious "ghost switch" problems. So I tried to sort that out first. And then when I tried starting Blackshark I got this strange warning about a LUA Stack problem? And the d*amn simulator wouldn't start at all? Thanx to Panzertard I figured out the warning thing, and now I I am ready to test the pedals. But now the time is 0300 in the morning.. I'll get some sleep and start bright and "early" tomorrow...

.... drool.... Excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor.. this is impressive work I tell you.. And I seriously envy you 'cause you can start playing with it... The Pit that is... the PIT..! LMAO.. Maybe I should go to bed now...

Pitbuilding update - 22 may2009 - CNC and LCD I finally got my hands on a small LCD screen that will be adapted to work as my Shkval monitor. Originaly it came from (another) slave monitor in a car. And I had to really twist my brain to find out where all the cables should go. But now it has been tested, and it works..! More on this later... And the CnC mill is coming along nicely to.. Did some wiring inside it to make it ready for use AND for me installing the onboard BiscuitPC and Touchscreen later.. Another couple of days and I'll have it up and running I hope...:cry: The plan for tomorrow is to finish the drawers that hold the IO Computer, Powersupplies for the switches and LED's, and all the IO-Cards and breakout boards. These will be hidden under the top cover where the HUD is mounted. And will add another 50cm lenght to the Pit. But after I have cut them out I'll have easy access to all connections and have a seperate small monitor/keyboard/mouse for the nr2 Computer. I think this will be the eighth and final module of the pit.. The Module list: 1. Main Front Panel (Gauges, Shkval and ABRIS) 2. Front Left Panel (APU and stuff) 3. Front Right panel (NAV Keypad) 4. Right Horizontal Panel (Autopilot and stuff) 5. Right Vertical Panel (Mains switches, Fire supression and more) 6. Right Rear panel 7. FFB Pedals 8. IO Computer and breakout boards

Pitbuilding Update - 22 may 2009 - It's never quite good enough..? Well It's getting close to now.. And I can almost taste the sweet taste of having a working HOCAS to play with. But sadly I have had to admitt to myself that the original collective mechanics combined with the forces that work on it from the hydraulics just were'nt up to par.. And a major rebuild had to take place.. I threw the old setup in the bin and started from scrach again. This time taking into consideration that it needed to be a lot stronger and tighter..!;) And this is what my twisted mind produced: As you can see it's now made completly from 10mm thick Aluminum. Mainly because I got a bunch of them for free from a friend of mine (thank you Kai). All the holes that hold a rotating axle have been lined with 0,2mm copper from a plate I bought at the hardware store. I didn't get it for this purpose, but after drilling all the holes by hand I noticed a small gap everywhere. And after cutting and bending the copper around the axles it's nice and tight (I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE THINKING NOW..) LoL The series of holes where the Cylinder rotates (upper part of the mechanics) are there because I needed to find the right angle and distance to the Collective stick. I'll put the correct relative distance on the new drawings. Some more details: And I found some fans that look much more real for the Rear Left Wall: They will be painted white like the real ones are. And the whole front will be covered by aluminum plates to make it resemble the real thing.. So all the screws and unused holes will be hidden.. Matrix for BU0836A Controller Card I'm bored with having to chuck away PCB's that I screw up all the time. So I have found a fool-proof (me being a fool at times) way to make the matrix for Leo Bodnars Joystick cards. It came to me when I found some old cabinets that someone had thrown away when upgrading theyr controller room (probably some oil refinery or something). And they had left a bunch of these: They are two stories high, and the principle is that if I connect a switch between R1 (row 1) and number 1 to 6 (collumn 1-6 through a diode from each) I'll get a matrix with no need to swear myself through another eching seanse..:cry: The next six switches are connectet from R2 and number 7-12 and so on.. Do you get it? First 36 switches are done allready: The matrix for two of the BU0836A cards. A little digression.. I made a complete ass of myself when I fell asleep while soldering wires to one of Leo's cards the other day. And not only did I ruin the card, but I could have burned down the house along with it..!:doh: So I asked Leo Bodnar if I could return the card for him to look at it, and maybe (if possible) fix it for me. The reply came faster than I had ever expected with him saying that he would look at it..! Now that's good service right there.. Thanx Leo.. :thumbup:

Panzer(re)Tard.. You are my new hero..! I'll run home and try the ATI Catalyst trick ASAP. And then log onto TS.. (ps. Sorry about the Nick Joke mate.. I just couldn't help myself.. Forgive me?)

I get this message every time I start Blackshark? I uninstalled and re-installed again already, and that didn't help.? I even installed to another disk, again not much help.. Please help... [ATTACH]27696[/ATTACH]

Oh Man..! Those are just perfect switches..! I'm full of envy and awe..! I can't wayt to see what they look like on the panels..!

Good point mate.. I initially tested the FFB on the cyclic X axis to, and got the same positive result as you. And then i tested on the rudder axis, again I seem to remember it worked for the rudder as well (but I might have been a little enthusiastic at that point.. LoL). I have another MS Sidewinder FFB joystick, and a Logitech FFB joystick that is in working order. And I see your point about a more methodical approach to the problem. I'll replace the cyclic stick with the Logitech FFB first and make a note the result. And then the identical MS Sidewinder FFB. And post the result here.. .... It's probably me though..

Aaaaaaaaaaaargh..! It hurts me sooo bad, but I have to admitt that you do have a point here..? I did all my LO/FC flying online. Hardly ever bothered to fly single player missions at all. Not that they are boring or anything like that. But real people act more ... well... irrational and "people like"..! And that's just more fun..! And then there is the question weather aditional hardware like simpits, multimonitors, multi function touchscreens or just a superfancy HOTAS disrupts the equality that should exist between online players. It is after all a test of skills against others. And not a question of how much you have spent on hardware..? My own exprience (after getting my *ss kicked a gazzilloin times by some 11 year old with an old Atari joystick) is that gizmoes really don't help AT ALL..! But it does look really cool if you ask me..! I wish there was some way to either make the lua export not usable for cheating so us "gearheads" could use the whirly bits for online flying. But I'd rather that things are more equal like now, than opening for cheaters.. 'Cause i really really REALLY dislike cheaters..! I just wanna *?&%¤* them and then @$£?=* them a while before I brush my teeth and go to bed..