KLaFaille

More CDU stuff today. I have a PCB design semi-finalized, depending on what goes on regarding screen choices and any modifications that may have to come about. All the switches fit no problem, and there is plenty of room left over for the integration of LED backlighting at some point. I have to figure out how to use some PCB layout software to get all the traces and connections put in place. With my CDU being 5/8" thick, there is about .164" space left from the rear face of the PCB to the bottom face of the CDU panel. That is plenty of room to install a cover to hold the PCB and guts in place, but I have to integrate some sort of connector into this as well so again, it's all subject to change. These are the switches I have sourced, for the CDU and the UFC. http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=P12195S-ND I'm quite happy with how it's coming along though. Too bad it isn't as easy to go from virtual to physical as it is to draw this up. ;) CDU - 24MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr CDU SWITCHES - 2 - 24MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr CDU SWITCHES - 24MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

mmm.. that's tasty! :beer: Red

My ideal solution, for warthog and HOTAS users with a hat bound to the mic switch commands, would be this. Mic FWD / AFT / DWN to select which radio you want. This opens the menu. MIC DWN to scroll down the the list of options, MIC FWD to go to the next page of options, MIC AFT to return to the previous page. MIC UP would now be enabled and would scroll up in the menu. Once you reach the end of the nested commands, a final MIC FWD would send it. Example: You want your flight to engage infantry with rockets from the west. As it is now this is MIC DWN for UHF (or \) F2, F3, F6, F4, F5. With the commands on the MIC switch, it would be: MIC DWN x 2 (UHF, Flight) MIC FWD (next page) MIC DWN x 2 (Engage With..) MIC FWD (next page) MIC DWN x 4 (Engage Infantry) MIC FWD (next page) MIC DWN x 3 (Rocket...) Mic FWD (next page) Mic DWN x 4 (West) MIC FWD (Execute / Send Command as we are on the last page) (Remember that it would by default highlight the F1 options so you your first MIC DWN would highlight the F2 option) Granted this looks like it takes more effort than just hitting the F Keys, but the advantages are three fold: First it keeps your hands on the controls at all times, Second you don't have to take your eyes off the screen to search for the right key to press, and third it keeps the immersion factor high as you are using the MIC switch to communicate, albeit not 100% realistically, but as good as it is going to get flying with AI and with no voice setup. I think if you try doing out the actions just to see how it feels, it actually doesn't take that long, and with practice you build up a muscle memory and could cycle through the menus quite quickly. It wouldn't be for everyone, but that's how I'd like to see it. :) Red

Thanks guys. Yes this is all from SW. The real CDU is quite thick, exactly how much I don't know. I have it drawn at 5/8" right now, which may be enough to get the guts in it, but if not I may have to thicken it a bit more. On the real world side of things, I have a real TACAN panel / unit coming in which means one less I have to make. :) The fun will come trying to interface it. Red

Ok, here's what I've been up to for the last day or so, the CDU panel. My goal here is to get a tactile / pcb setup to fit in the plate and then secure the whole thing together with a backing plate with a connector breaking out the back. It looks do able right now, but I haven't worked out anything regarding the screen yet. CDU - 4- 23MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr CDU - 2 - 23MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr CDU SYS BUTTON - 23MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

1.932" DIAMETER CLAMPS (MS28042 STYLE, 2" ROUND) They are called two inch gauges but they are actually 1.932" per that MS. The bezels can be almost two inches in diameter though, they end up practically touching on the Eng Inst Panel. Engine Instrument Gauge Panel - 22MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

Moar Updates.. Finished the IP-1310/ALR RWR. RWR - 1 - 21MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr RWR - 2 - 21MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

Thanks much, I would direct you here to this great post by Gus (Duckling). It has the information needed for the height of the instrument panel steps. http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1145798&postcount=14 I'm not decided on whether or not I will release my dimensions, honestly. It may all depend on how things work out once I get the panel made and in my hands and can ensure that everything fits like it should. Don't take that to mean that I won't help people when they need it, but don't expect a full set of drawings or anything like that in the near future. Cheers, Red :beer:

As a heads up to anyone interested, the sides on the C Model Instrument Panel now slope up at 20 degrees compared to the 26 degrees of the A model that Gus has there.

I redrew the entire Instrument Panel this morning with the dimensions Gus shared. Come to find out I wasn't off too bad on most of it, but now I'm happy that the steps are finalized and it's only a matter of finishing the instrument cutouts. Then it's trying to figure out how to make this thing for real.... :helpsmilie: Also finished the instrument guage panel. 12 MS28042 clamps with the proper counter sunk and pan head screws, and 1.932" instruments will fit onto that panel along with a post light for each. Did the APU EGT gauge face, pardon the other 11 copies, just filling space. Red Instrument Panel - 1 - 21MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr Instrument Panel - 2 - 21MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

That is a superb resource you right there Gus! Where was that four or five days ago when I started this mess... Off to do some more tweaking.... Red

Awesome info! Thank you so much for taking the time to do that. Red

Hey y2kiah, It seems that depending on what photo one looks at, those steps seem to change all the time.... I've changed the layout of them three times now myself. The best photo I've found so far, and the one that I'm now modeling the steps off of is this one: The way I'm seeing it now is the bottom with the nav select panel is one step, the HSI is another, then the ADI and Counter Measure panel are the third. for the side steps I see one for the Altimeter, and one for the VVI and Indicator lights. Same thing for the Accel and RWR steps. EDITED TO ADD: Well now looking at page 51 of the DCSW manual, it looks like on the port set of steps, there is clearly another drop above the RWR of about .25" where the GUN indicator light sits. It still seems like the CM panel and stbd indicator lights are even with the ADI and VVI respectively. I also just noticed that the CM panel doesn't totally cover the opening from the previous panel. :) Thanks, Red

Small update for today. Redid the cutout for the engine instrumentation and made the plate that the clamps mount to. Also modeled the light posts for each instrument. I'm going to redo the fuel panel, LG cutouts now that I have the gauges in place. The gauges themselves weren't much of a problem fitting in the space, but making sure there was clearance for the instrument clamp mounting hardware took some time and is what caused the do over. Instrument Panel - 1 - 20MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr Instrument Panel - 2 - 20MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr On the actual physically building something side of things, I have a Fluke 179 and a 0-30VDC 5A bench power supply on the way, so if I don't report in after the middle of next week, I've probably electrocuted myself. :D Red

Right you are Gus. It's one of the things I haven't quite got to yet. Trying to get the center stack dimensioned out as best as possible is certainly taking some time. Then again I can't leave well enough alone, so I've tweaked it more times than I can count at this point. ;) I figure that frame and panel are about five inches or so, I'll have to measure it to scale and get a rough guestimate. Red

Thanks Gus, that's excellent information. I would have had no idea to do that, but it does make perfect sense. Did a bit more in SW, so here's an early morning update of the I; added the side steps for the VVI, ALT, RWR, and ACCEL, and Modeled the VVI Bezel. Instrument Panel - 19MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr Red

Lookin' Good!

Yet more stuff. ;) A Vertical Speed (Velocity) Indicator showed up today. This is the correct bezel and size needed for the pit. It's air operated, so that will have to go bye-bye, and I have to change the dial to read "CLIMB" instead of IVSI. Its in great shape considering it's 3 years older than I am. VVI (1 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr VVI (2 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr VVI (3 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr Also got in 10 of these ST42G momentary (ON)-OFF-(ON) switches. These have a really have action to them, and are all brand new old surplus. They have never been out of the bags and I couldn't pass them up for about 2 or 3 bucks a switch. They'll come in handy for something I'm sure. Misc Switch Stuff (3 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr Finally, just a couple pics of a BU0836X USB controller card from Leo Bodnar. I quickly wired up this panel to play around with the card, it's basically the Aux Avionics Panel, but I put a pushbutton for the master caution on there. This is also about the extent of my electrical knowledge right now. Excuse the ghetto crimps and toasty heat shrink, I had to make due with what was on hand in the scrap box.;) Misc Switch Stuff (1 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr Misc Switch Stuff (2 of 3).jpg by KLaFaille, on Flickr Red

Thanks for the info Gus. Actually I'm totally out of my league when it comes to the electrical side of things. Apart from basic, and I mean basic wiring and switch interfacing, it's greek to me right now. I did read that the mag switches sometimes work from as little as 8vdc, but I don't have an available DC power supply to test anything right now. Speaking of which, do you have any recommendations on a Benchtop Powersupply that's worth it salt but won't break the bank? Are there any reasonable ones that supply both AC and DC voltage? I figure I want up to at least 28V DC and three or more amps for testing and playing with circuits, but I could be wrong? Red

Sure thing bud, Without real concrete measurements here, I think the best we can do is work together and guestimate to the best of our abilities the sizes and dimensions of the instruments. This is nostalgic, it's like the early days when even the F16 pit guys were out there looking for info, it does get better with time. :)

Been working on the AAU-34 Altimeter. If I can't a real one of these I'll make it myself and drive it with aircores and servos. Real one is almost if not impossible to get to work without a real A-10 in your backyard. ;) AAU34A Housing - Front - 18MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr AAU34A Housing - Rear - 18MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr

So how do we add things besides sending it to you? Much easier to just upload (wiki-style) pertinent information than to go through a middle man, no offense.

The HSI is 4.25"h by 5.00"w while the ADI is 5.00"w by 5.25"h. There isn't much on either side of the center steps, I have the width set at 5.1" right now which leaves .065 of material or so for the side walls of the steps. Here's the dims for the HSI http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1141871&postcount=91 Red

Are thinking of a dedicated forum along the lines of ViperPits.org or just a data repository / wiki like JimMack mentioned?

A small update on the Instrument Panel. After researching the HSI and ADI on my own and with help from Deadman, I've tweaked the center of the IP to reflect the sizes of the real parts. Also did a little work on the HSI and made a quick and rough front plate for the ADI. I'm trying to get everything as close as possible to reality, but of course there will have to be compromises. I'll be the first to admit that I can get anal when it comes to this sort of thing and I have to remind myself to step back and realize sometimes close enough will have to do. Instrument Panel - 18MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flick I also worked on an UFC design which uses surface mount 10mmx10mm tactile switches, and standoff / panel mounted (ON)-OFF-(ON) rockers. These are all commercial switches which can be easily ordered off Mouser or Digi-Key, and once mounted on a custom PCB and wired and wired into a USB controller would make a handy plug and play solution for the UFC. Problem is, now that I'm looking for the info I seem to have misplaced the part and spec numbers for these. :doh: I plan on going with pitbldr's UFC anyway, but I'll still try to find the info on these again just for reference or if anyone wants them. UFC - 18MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr UFC - REAR - 18MAR11 by KLaFaille, on Flickr Red