Oakes

If you're ever in Skåne, I'll give you a ride Trigger. A little update, here is my design for the gearselector. And here is the first part: /Oakes

A little off-topic post. Flew to Siljannäs last weekend with the Eurostar. Takeoff from ESTT(Söderslätt) at Friday 0805 (local), fuelstop at ESGR(Skövde) and then on to ESVS(Siljannäs). Same route on the way back. Total flight time was about 4 hours each way, altitude was between 2000 feet to about 7000 feet (FL070), cruising speed about 90 Knots. On the way north at FL060: Bell 47: STOL: Experimental with Push/Pull propellers: Swedish Armed Forces chopper over the parking lot: Daisy DC3: PBY Catalina: P-51D Mustang taxing (what a sound that V12 1600 hp Packard Merlin makes, makes the hair on your arms stand up) : Bunch of Yak 50:s doing aerobatics: JAS 39 Griffin (go Sweden:thumbup:): On Saturday evening we went back to ESVS(Siljannäs) and did a local flight of about 15 min, upon turning from the right downwind onto the right base for runway 14 I spot the Daisy DC3 on the left downwind for runway 14 (which means about 2 o'clock , going by from the right to the left), big plane btw. Then the radio goes "DC3 to Siljannäs, any traffic in the pattern?" I reply "Sierra-Kilo-Kilo to DC3, we are on the right hand base about to turn onto the final for runway 14, we have contact with you" DC3 goes: "Copy we are number two after you for runway 14" Me: "Ok Sierra-Kilo-Kilo" Ok, I think, no problem, plenty of time... We enter the final and a few moments before touching down the DC3 comes back on the radio: "Have you landed yet?" We land and I go: "Yes, we're down, trying to expedite leaving the runway Sierra Kilo Kilo" DC3: "No hurry our intention is to do a low pass along the runway" Ok...:huh: I think, better get the camera ready. You can just make out the DC3 to the left of the rudder: Me: "Sierra Kilo Kilo to DC3" DC3: "DC3, go ahead" Me: "That was interesting to say the least" DC3: "Did we scare you?" Me: "Nope, we're fine" DC3: "Good" Me: "Sierra Kilo Kilo is leaving the runway, taxing to the toilets, we have some skidmarks to remove" :) Going home on Sunday(some rain over the right wing): /Oakes

See http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=44152 /Oakes

This is a little engraving program I wrote for my own use. It has support for Text, Lines, Circles + support for Text and Lines at an angle and distance from a center point (makes it very easy to make a compass or text for rotary switches, just specify the center point, the distance and the angle where you want the text/line etc). I've made all the engravings for my panels/buttons with this program. This script is free for all to modify, distribute etc. Just make sure you give credit were credit is due. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Note: This script is a badly structured, badly commented hack job with minimal testing written by a washed-up old programmer now working in management (i.e. promoted to a position were he cannot possibly do any more damage to the code base). Your mileage may vary and you've been warned. Use at your own risk, I'm not responsible for any damage you do to your machines or yourself. Always check the GCode manually before running the program. Always use eye-protection. /Oakes Engraver_1_00.rar Instructions.txt

Hi I'm not quite sure what you are trying to do, but {LCtrl}u will send the following: LCtrl down LCtrl up u down u up i.e. first you press and release the CTRL button and then you press and release the u button. I think that you want to send LCtrl + u at the same time. ^u will do this. or {LCtrl down}u{LCtrl up} will also work. /brds Oakes

Here is the code I use for my collective: ; ; AutoHotkey Version: 1.x ; Language: English ; Platform: Win9x/NT ; Author: A.N.Other <myemail@nowhere.com> ; ; Script Function: ; Template script (you can customize this template by editing "ShellNew\Template.ahk" in your Windows folder) ; #NoEnv ; Recommended for performance and compatibility with future AutoHotkey releases. SendMode Input ; Recommended for new scripts due to its superior speed and reliability. SetWorkingDir %A_ScriptDir% ; Ensures a consistent starting directory. 2Joy5:: Send, {RAlt Down}{NumpadAdd}{RAlt Up} SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_5, 10 return WaitForButtonUp2_5: if GetKeyState("2Joy5") ; The button is still, down, so keep waiting. return ; Otherwise, the button has been released. Send, {RAlt Down}{NumpadSub}{RAlt Up} SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_5, off return 2Joy13:: Send, r ; Sends r to the application SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_13, 10 return WaitForButtonUp2_13: if GetKeyState("2Joy13") ; The button is still, down, so keep waiting. return ; Otherwise, the button has been released. Send, r ; Sends r to the appliation SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_13, off return 2Joy16:: Send, f ; Sends f to the application SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_16, 10 return WaitForButtonUp2_16: if GetKeyState("2Joy16") ; The button is still, down, so keep waiting. return ; Otherwise, the button has been released. Send, {+} ; Sends + to the appliation SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp2_16, off return /Oakes

Autohotkey, as far as I know this has support for many joysticks, also supports separate on/off keys, From the help file: "Multiple Joysticks: If the computer has more than one and you want to use one beyond the first, include the joystick number in front of the control name. For example, 2joy1 is the second joystick's first button." Example: 2Joy3:: Send Down ; Send press keys (Down in this case) SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp3, 10 return WaitForButtonUp3: if [url="http://forums.eagle.ru/../Functions.htm#GetKeyState"]GetKeyState[/url]("2Joy3") ; The button is still, down, so keep waiting. return ; Otherwise, the button has been released. Send Up ; Send release keys (Up in this case) SetTimer, WaitForButtonUp3, off return I use this for my collective (which has both momentary and normal switches), works like a charm and it's very customizable. /Oakes

Datalink is done::) And a little video too: /Oakes

Soldering...bleh... /Oakes

Well the buttons are made out of POM (Delrin) so I run the CNC at arround 3000 RPM. Feed is about 500 mm/min rough and 200mm/min for finish. The top material is called Gravoply and is from a company called Gravotech Nordrad AB http://www.nordrad.se/gravyr_material_ip.html. Gravoply is a two layer material used to make panels etc. I glue this material to the buttontops before milling the contours etc. For Gravoply I find it is better to lower the RPM a little, otherwise the edges become somewhat raged. /Oakes

I've been thinking about how to do this as well. I was going to try a open-top reservoir instead of a closed system. Like this: "opentop reservoir" | | valve | | "cylinder top plug" If the valve is closed no fluid can flow in or out of the cylinder and the collective is stuck. With the valve open fluid flows freely both directions from the reservoir. With the open top reservoir any temperature changes, leaks etc won't affect the amount of fluid/pressure in the system. /Oakes

I bought some pigments for Epoxiresin Epoxiresin http://www.kinn.com/es/product/product.asp?productid=167567&visible=1 Pigment http://www.kinn.com/es/product/product.asp?productid=167785&visible=2 They recommend that you don't mix less than 100gram of the resin (about 1/8 the of the bottle) but that is a waste. I went to the pharmacy and bought a 100 pack of 5ml syringes (really inexpensive, btw) and used those to mix the resin with the hardener. Worked like a charm. /Oakes

Nope, I milled a cavity which I then filled with colored Epoxiresin. The plexiglas didn't work so well. /Oakes

Finished the mechanical parts for the datalink today. Now I need to do the wiring. /Oakes

Symbols for the datalink are done, now I just need to engrave the symbols on the actual buttons and then assemble the datalink panel. /Oakes

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Wow....just...wow.. /Oakes

Finished the Datalink panel button holder yesterday (time to start working on making the "real" buttons), picture below is with the prototype buttons: /Oakes

Been busy trying to make good looking buttons for the datalink panel, had to write a little engraving program for the cnc, here is a little sneak preview of a couple of prototypes: The white line on the top will be painted black. Note: There's dirt, scratches etc on the prototypes in this picture, the "production" versions will look neater. The green/white/clear stuff is epoxy resin, the button leds will be shining through the epoxy for a nice effect. /Oakes

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: Yikes, I'm in awe...... /Oakes

I bought a couple of red ones of ebay, trouble is the kind I got has a spring and other stuff where the hole should go so those can't be easily drilled. /Oakes

Well the CNC is great but it has a learning curve on how to cut etc to get good finish and so on. I've been mostly experimenting up until now but I think I'll be able to make some progress soon. Right now I'm writing a little program to generate GCode for engraving the panel and button texts. Couldn't find one that was reasonably priced with the functionality that I needed. /Oakes

Well the main benefit of the OC cards is that once ED releases the PCIP thingy we will be able to interface directly to DCS, i.e no out of sync problems and so on, LED's and segment displays will work correctly (like the PVI). If I was only interested in inputs, I might have gone the USB keyboard route or bought a Xkeys Matrix board (where you don't need any relays etc for toggle switches to work), but since I want feedback I went with the OC cards. /Oakes

I've never really counted, but excluding the OC cards, I'd guess about 15-20 USD. /Oakes

Hi Rockeyes For the targeting panel I used the following (search on ebay for): For the right hand rotary: PKG 20, ALPHA 5 POSITION NON SHORTING ROTARY SWITCHES The bigger toogle switches (Laser, Train etc) PKG5,SPST ON OFF CAR BOAT Latching Toggle SWITCH,701A Burst length PCK 8,B-103 MINI SPDT Toggle Switches-ON/OFF/ON CAR DIY Other small switches (rate of fire etc) PKG12,R202 MINI DPDT DIY Toggle Switch ON/ON,UL SWITCH Pushbuttons (Auto turn, Reset etc) 8,Push Button Led DPDT OFF/(ON) Momentary Switch,GLKD3 For these I replaced the red led with green ones bought at ELFA(dimensions are 2x5 mm) + I made custom labels out of laminated laser printouts glued to 18x18x6mm pieces of acrylic which in turn were glued to the GLKD3 caps. The pushbuttons for the targeting panels should be momentary only, pushbuttons should be connected to inputs and LED to outputs of the OC cards, this will enable the OC software to turn on/off the LED independently of the pushbuttons (the real panel has the same functionality). /Oakes

Yep, I use the thumbstick on the collective for this purpose and it works ok, but it is supposed to be on the cyclic..... /Oakes