brydling

Interesting. I can try it out. Tell me exactly the name of the products I need to install please.

I hope someone of all the enlisted buyers will start a thread sometime :) Otherwise I will do it myself when I finish the first panel, in about 20 years ;) That depends on what you mean by unique ID's. They all have the same VID and PID like all USB products, but they have a unique serial number. That serial number is visible in the game. However, the two joysticks that are on the SAME board will show up with the same name due to some bug in Windows. They have unique GUID's however, so that is no problem. The only issue with it is that it causes slight discomfort, since in for example DCS you can't see which one is which without testing. Takes about two extra seconds of your time ;)

The link to the For Sale-thread is http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=80201. Thank you! :)

The cheapest shipping method is $15. If you want an insured package that is traceable (in some countries, otherwise it's only traceable until it gets to the Swedish border), the price is $24. This is based on my estimate of the weight, where I have used a large estimate to get a "it's definitely not more expensive than this"-price. I can weight the parts when I get home.

Thank you! Yes, unfortunately I don't think this is the best place of showing this either, but the forum rules are against advertising in other parts of the forum. Maybe when the first few people has bought one the word will spread automatically :)

Hi, I developed a joystick controller for myself and the community in Sweden that are building simulators out of real cockpits. When I made the second revision it struck me that there must be more people out there that would benefit from a joystick board like this, so I decided to order a few extra and sell them. This is how it looks: The B256A13 is a high input count USB joystick controller with 256 digital inputs and 13 analog inputs. It is intended for those building a full simulator cockpit or those building panels with many switches. It uses standard HID drivers which means that drivers will automatically be installed the first time you plug it in. The DCS series has support for joysticks with 128 buttons, 4 POV hats and 8 axes. To allow for 256 buttons and 13 axes, this board shows up as two joysticks at the computer. The first joystick has 124 buttons, one POV hat and 8 axes, while the second joystick has 124 buttons, one POV hat and 5 axes. If you want to know more, read the User Manual or send an e-mail as stated under Questions. Summary of features: USB 2.0, type B connector Firmware upgrade over USB Uses standard HID drivers included with most PC operating systems. No software installation required. Button matrix with 256 digital inputs allows for connection of up to 248 switches and two 8- way POV hats. 13 analog inputs with 10-bit resolution and advanced digital filtering allow for connection of 13 potentiometers or other devices with a 0-5 V analog output. Seen as two HID Joysticks in Windows allows for direct support in games that handle 128 buttons and 8 axes per joystick. One separate pin for each input allows for much easier connections than most matrix-based input boards while still maintaining the great wiring advantages that a matrix brings. All 256 inputs can be used with only 32 wires going to the board. 40-pin connectors keep the number of connectors to a minimum which let you unplug the whole joystick controller in just a few seconds and minimize the risk of putting it back in the wrong way. Pricing: B256A13 as a DIY-kit: 550 SEK B256A13 assembled and tested: 820 SEK Eight 40-way connectors and 80 cm of flat cable: 90 SEK You will need to press these yourself. A vise can be used for this. This is only for the switches. The axis connectors are regular 3 way pin headers (2.54 mm pitch) used for RC-servos. Eight 40-way connectors with 10 cm of flat cable attached to each one of them: 160 SEK 100 diodes, 1N4148: 20 SEK USB cable, varying length, min 1.5 m, max 1.9 m: 40 SEK Shipping: Depends on weight and location. Typically between 130 SEK and 180 SEK. Note: The quantities given above for connectors, flat cable and diodes are just my guess of what people want. If you would like 150 diodes or four 40-way connectors with 30 cm of flat cable attached to each one of them, just send a request. I think 10 cm of flat cable for each connector is good though, because you will want different lengths on each individual cable anyway, and 10 cm is enough for joining them together with other cables. If you would buy 200 cm of flat cable to one connector just because the longest cable you need to that connector is 200 cm, while 80% of the other cables to that connector is just 100 cm, it will be a waste of money. Payment: Advance payment. Sweden: Bank transfer Others: PayPal Ordering: Send an e-mail to farbror_brydling@hotmail.com with the subject "B256A13 order". The e-mail should contain the desired products and quantities, the full name and the full shipping address. I will respond with the total price and payment details. Questions: Send an e-mail to farbror_brydling@hotmail.com with the subject "B256A13 info". Firmware updating: Attached to this post is a zip-file called B256A13_firmware_updating_suite.zip that contains all the programs and instructions needed to make a firmware upgrade. The firmware images themselves are attached as separate zip-files called B256A13_fw_xx.zip where xx is the version number. The real image is found inside the zip. News: The following applies to boards with a serial number from A0001 to A0036. Due to a software bug in the bootloader of the B256A13, the 4:th row from the top in each connector (I13, I29, I45, I61, etc.) should only be used for pushbuttons and other momentary switches! The bootloader starts when one of these inputs are active while the board is starting up (computer restart or USB plugged in). If you use toggle switches or rotary switches on one of these inputs, you must make sure they are in a state that doesn't activate one of these inputs while the board is restarting! The best way to make sure this never happens is to only connect pushbuttons to these inputs, since you probably won't hold cockpit pushbuttons pressed while the board restarts. The following applies to boards with a serial number from A0001 to A0041. Due to a software bug in firmware versions 1 to 3, inputs can be reported as PRESSED even though they are not. This mostly happens with long cabling to the switches and has been addressed in firmware version 5 (version 4 was never released). I would recommend that all boards with a serial number of A0001-A0041 be updated to this new version. Instructions are in this post. The following applies to all boards sold by me. Two users have reported corrupted serial numbers, Vendor ID or Product ID in their boards. This may make you lose your calibration settings and game mappings, but it may also cause the board to not show up anymore. Firmware version 6 tries to make this problem less likely to occur, but it is only with a bootloader-upgrade that it can be completely removed. It seems that it is more likely to occur with certain USB-supplies that enable the +5V too slowly. If the error has already occured, this firmware will not get the serial number/VID/PID back to normal. The firmware is a preventive measure only. Contact me for support if your serial number is corrupted or your board doesn't show up in Windows anymore. B256A13_firmware_updating_suite.zip B256A13_fw_2.zip B256A13_fw_3.zip B256A13_fw_5.zip User Manual.pdf B256A13_fw_6.zip

I am starting a new thread in the "For Sale"-section instead, since that is where it belongs.

The firmware and the configuration software (which sounds more fancy than it is, used by me to set serial number and such during manufacture and not for configuring any behaviour) is 99.9% done. Only some configuration settings that need to be decided. That will take about ten minutes, and will have to wait until I have ordered all of the components. I am planning to do that in the weekend, and hopefully the components will be delivered in a week or two at most. All of you that are interested, please send me a PM telling me if you want the 40-pin females included with 10 cm of flat cable attached to them, and if you want the board assembled or not. The cost for that will be $40 if I have to do it by hand. I am investigating alternatives (we got a new soldering machine at work ;)). Do you want the board but don't dare to assemble it yourself and think $40 extra is too much? Let me know so that I know how many people would be interested if the boards were to be assembled at a lower cost. Obviously I won't put any effort in to it if I think that nobody is interested in it anyway. Also don't expect any miracles. I don't think it will get cheaper than $15 even if done automatically since the volumes are so low and the start-up time of the machine probably is about 10 times longer than the actual soldering time. Pricing: B256A13: $81 8 40-pin females with 80cm cable: $13 Assembly (and testing): $40 Shipping: Don't know. I will look up the price based on your location and charge exactly that, nothing more.

Thanks for the interest! :) They are not finished yet. I have only one assembled board. I have to order the components for the rest of them. Please send me a PM where you tell me if you want the females for the button connectors included with 10 cm of flat cable attached to them, and if you want the board assembled and tested or not (I don't know what the cost of that will be yet). If you know where to buy 40 way flat cable and 40 way IDC females, you can probably get those cheaper yourself (things are expensive in Sweden).

Hi! The 32 button limit is not a limit in DirectInput itself but rather in how it is used by many games. DCS series can handle 8 axis, 128 buttons and 4 POV's on a single game controller, and the B256A13 has 124 buttons and 1 POV on each of the two virtual joysticks that Windows sees. There are no limitations on the inputs, they work just as you would expect.

Thanks for the compliments guys! Filtering of the analog inputs have now been implemented too. What remains to be done is a configuration software that lets me set VID/PID and S/N when producing them. Also, I need to order a lot of components :) Yoda: Sounds like a useful program! I'm sure someone should be interested. I designed everything from scratch. It enumerates as a regular HID joystick, and needs no special drivers. Windows driver development is something that I don't have any experience with.

About 3 weeks ago I got my PCB's and soldered all components except the connectors to one of them to get it up and running over USB. It worked and looked good (at least if you're into electronics ;)). Work and other musts then kept me occupied a couple of weeks until yesterday, when I soldered the connectors and took a photograph. Today I updated the firmware to handle the 16 new inputs and also added code for the POV hats. The controller's 256 digital inputs are now distributed over 248 buttons and two 8-way POV hats (4 inputs/POV). Everything tested in DCS:WH 10 minutes ago and worked like a charm! :)

I have reverse-engineered the protocol to the USB Stepper board about a year ago, so I have begun ;) All I have to do is write a new firmware for a PIC and replace it, the hardware of Opencockpits' board is already fine. However that board is on our low priority-list, since we will replace the stepper motors in all critical instruments with DTS-interfaces or other solutions anyway. The more you learn the less you know is very true ;) Niclas

Exactly. It will first spin until it finds the zero position. Then it will spin until it finds the sensor again, counting the number of steps in a full revolution. That way it doesn't matter what gearing you are using and what step size the motor has. I know of at least one stepper motor interface board that has this functionality built-in, and that is the Opencockpits' USB Stepper board. Unfortunately that board loose steps when it passes the zero-position, some bug in the code that we have been telling them how to fix but it hasn't been done and probably will not. We have even sent them a piece of code and said "add this and it will work better", but nothing... So if you have a motor that will pass zero alot, it will have a significant error pretty soon. If you can find another stepper board with this functionality, use that one instead. For the pitch you can do with a geared RC-servo since that axis only has 180 degrees of travel. Niclas

The DTS in the video was the first prototype but worked very well. A nice thing about it is that it shows up as an Opencockpits' USB Servo board, so that it can be controlled directly from SIOC. Since we are still using SIOC and will be doing for some more time (until we have time to develop our own scripting software), it's nice to have the DTS controlled from there too. Thanks for the kind words! The Draken truly is an amazing simulator. The Viggen is in a bus so that we can travel to various flight events with it. Due to the space constraints in the bus, there has not been any development made for it since it was put there (many years back). Next summer we will make the simulator room twice as big and put the Viggen in there too. Then it will get a huge overhaul. Just an upgrade to FSX will be a huge improvement, and that will also give us much more possibilities to develop simulations of various systems in the aircraft like we have done in the Draken :) Due to the nice interfacing possibilities in FSX we have been able to make accurate simulations of both the autopilot, the radar, weapons and the various navigation systems in the Draken. The Viggen is missing both radar, weapons and autopilot. Remember that you need to have an optical sensor on the shaft of the synchro so that you don't need to manually calibrate the stepper motors at every start-up. Niclas

I know them very well and I know very much about their DTS interface. I'm one of them and I developed the DTS interface :smilewink: Niclas

I think I would just build a simple analog 400 Hz oscillator instead of doing it with a PIC, but that's just because I'd rather do things in hardware to keep software simple :) I haven't seen real military single pointer gauges made of only a synchro receiver (except for one, but that may be a simulator instrument), but I have mostly seen swedish stuff. May be different in US aircraft. I have seen a lot of single pointer gauges for simulator use that are made with a single synchro receiver though. Aren't real engine gauges usually made with a spring-loaded coil? /Niclas

The first second or so (before the engine start-up sequence begins) you hear a cockpit just as it should sound :thumbup: Niclas

Ok, interesting! I use MDAC's in MSOP package, it's not the easiest thing to solder. I have all my passive components in SMD packages too. Don't know why I did it, it takes more time to produce by hand :) I guess the idea from the beginning was to use SMD because of their better performance, but you can always use software calibration to correct errors. I know of another group of sim-builders in Sweden that are developing a DTS with the approach that don't need a separate 400 Hz power supply. The DTS itself generates 400 Hz for the synchro rotor. It's not finished, but I am very interested in seeing the performance once it's done since the 400 Hz is generated by a PIC and a low-bit resistor ladder. I didn't think there were a lot of synchro-only gauges out there? The ones I have seen are simulator gauges, and I believe these are even more hard to get than the real thing? Niclas

Ok, I'm glad you got it all worked out! :-) My solution uses a DAC-circuit that can multiply by -N to N instead of 0 to 2N, so I can invert the signal just by sending a number in the lower half to the DAC. The way you do it is a little bit trickier but you get one extra bit of resolution instead :-) Niclas

No problem! Quite a feeling to be able to control it, isn't it? ;-) Stepper motors with good resolution is hard to find. Usually you get a step size of 1,8 degrees at best (0,9 degrees if the controller can handle half-stepping). You will probably need a gearbox. The problem then becomes speed. I don't think there is a perfect solution with stepper motors since it is a tradeoff between speed and resolution, but maybe it'll be enough to begin with. I would recommend any stepper motor controller that supports the use of an optical sensor to automatically find the zero-position at every startup, except for Opencockpits' USB stepper board. That one unfortunately looses steps and quickly drifts away from where it should be. If you can find a controller that supports microstepping, you may be able to get good resolution without a gearbox and get good speed at the same time. Niclas

Ok! How could the circuit work for you and not for them? Is the new solution something that you got from them or did you make your own fix? I have designed a DTS-converter myself, but I hadn't looked at your design until today when I saw on the news page that there was an error with it. Finding errors in circuits is something that I find amusing, so it got me interested :-) Our solutions are very similar, I guess there's not alot of ways to do this :-) Niclas

Things are going very well! I see that they are for you too :-) I will answer your last question first: Yes, you can controll pitch, roll AND heading with three synchros (one synchro for each channel). It's actually very simple, but you need a stepper motor for each channel. You use the stepper motor to position the axis of the synchro, the synchro will then output true synchro signals corresponding to the angle that it's rotor has. You need to feed the synchro rotor with 26 V 400 Hz for it to work. EDIT: I just noticed that the ADI doesn't have a heading scale. I'm used to the one in the Viggen ;-) You will only need two synchros then. Niclas

I know of a group of sim builders in Stockholm (Sweden) that have built your DTS-design and said it didn't work, so they said that they made their own design. Could it be due to the transistor that you mention on the news page of your site? Forward biasing of the FET-diode is of course a bad thing, what symptoms did it have? Niclas

If you can get your hands on three synchros and an 115V -> 26V 400 Hz transformer, you won't need a D/S-converter. A D/S-converter is a much more elegant solution however :-) Niclas