Gadroc

Nicely done. Do you have pictures of the individual parts or it the backlight on?

Damn real life, it always has a way of getting in the way of our plans. Hope things are ok.

Can't wait to see them. I know casting can be an art. I really appreciate the effort.

:thumbup: Looking good!

For the acrylic sheets and acrylic cement check out Delvie's Plastics.

Hmm... PayPal is being wonky right now. I'm about to board a plane, I'll make surfeit gets sent when I get home tonight.

Yes I have.. I'll double check.

I'll take this one.

Looking good. A few quick notes. When you hook up the USB cable the black lead should be towards the top where the pin is labeled ground. The green lead should be towards the bottom labels DTR. See picture below. DO NOT hook up an external power supply while the USB cable is in place (you don't need it anyways, the external power is only when using a daisy chained bus controller). I have a working version of Helios with the panel EOS LCD Board. I want to run a few more test tomorrow evening before sending it out.

ALT-F1

FYI for those with panels in the mail. I will be posting software and a Helios update this weekend to support the panel. I'll also post some instructions on hooking it up. If you get it before I get them posted reach out to me before "hooking it up".

hey Avlolga, Sounds like I was reading that the wrong way. I have no problem with encouraging his work I do as well. Just "always excuses" rubbed the wrong way. I'll let it drop. Fly on! :pilotfly:

First off, excellent work metalnwood! Working with the micro controllers and creating the interfere is a lot of fun. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions about how I got to the internals of DCS for Helios. One thing to keep in mind for using ethernet is the packet overhead for the kind of data we through around. The ethernet tcp/ip headers are probably 10 times the size of the data needed by the panels. While bandwidth is not a problem, when you have 21 panels + 24 gauges updating 10-30 times a second there is a lot of data the micro controllers have to sift through to get to what they really want. May not be a problem, but do some early tests. I don't want to derail metal's thread but I feel I must reply to this statement. You should go back and re-read metal's post and re-read it carefully. I specifically only offered a few CMSP panels, priced at a hobby friendly point, for many of the reasons he's listing. I really only cleared enough to buy my own switches and pay for PCB manufacturing and that's assuming you value my time at $0. If I where to price it at a point to "run a business" and make it a very high priority the CMSP would have been closer to $400-$500. Even at that price I would need to sell several per day year round to cover taxes, health care and feed my family. This also doesn't factor in time and money to develop additional products. When I get sick I still have to do my day job, take care of my family and other things. Also when the job that let's me live, have fun and buy the tools I need to do my pit requires me to travel or evening activities there is no option to say no. I was trying to be very transparent to those who had decided to commit money so parts could be ordered. I have not made progress on my pit (the whole reason I'm here) since the holidays mainly because I do focus productive time at home on completing these panels for others. I'm sorry you see those as excuses and feel the need to post statements like that. You ordered a controller board, and if you don't like the scenario I'll gladly refund you the money. It's amazing how disheartening statements like this can be.

All 5 full kits have gone through final testing and latest firmware load. They are now packaged up and should be in the post tomorrow or friday at the latest. PM sent to you avlolga as well. Missing one part to get you a second board to combine shipping.

My answers are the same as y2kiah.

Ok. All panels have backlights installed. I will finish touch up tonight and start packaging!!!!

FYI for those building of these plans. The center rib in the plans is slightly higher (1/25" or so) than the rear and forward ribs. I believe this was to account for the way y2kiah plans to build his rails. I used C channel aluminum instead of angle which required me to have them at the same height.

The backplate for the panel (switches attach to it and it attaches to the rails. Is 5.75" wide and 3.75" tall. The light plate is approximatley 5/16" thick. The electronics and supports extend approximately 4.5" behind the backplate.

I know.... just tell my bosses to stop setting up dinner meetings ;). I'm on the home stretch with just a few more LEDs to solder and then touch up the paint and ship. If I don't finish up here tomorrow night I'll take Monday off to ensure everything gets done.

Another Status update. As always things are taking longer than I had planned. The connectors I was going to use for the backlight's didn't fit right so I had to switch to different ones which take longer to connect. I have the backlights assembled for three panels and two more to go. I also need to sand down the lip on the knobs so they are more securely fastened. I will need to go into the shop on Tuesday to do that. We are getting very close and I thank everyone for their patience again. Here are some shots of the backlight LED assembly process. It takes me about 2 hours to do one set. First cut wire to length, cut some shrink wrap tube. Next strip ends of the wire and tin them. Now crimp and solder on the contacts for the panel connector. Solder on the LED. Here is a shot of the 13 LEDs for one panel backlight setup.

Sorry for delay. Haven't been able to be on the forums as much as normal recently. Obviously if you drill it's easier for us, also you can create a set of jigs to do several. If you do pre-drill the shaft I would make it 1/8", that way it's usable for both. You're setup/jig gets center and if someone needs 1/4" they can just use the 1/8" pilot hole to drill the 1/4". I wouldn't want to pay a lot extra for drilling though.

Very much looking. I've been busier lately so not as much getting done, but want to compile your switch list with my "possible alternatives" list when I release my panel designs.

Looks good!

Hey guys. Sorry for the delayed update. All panels are assembled except for backlight LEDs. I will have them completed Wednesday evening. I will get invoice for shipping and remaining amounts out Thursday and Friday. Shipments will go out beginning on the 20th assuming payment is received by then.

The input interface doesn't care about how long the text is per line. The code does have to purposely set the row the text is to be displayed on, hence adding the support for the additional lines.