Dave's World – A WWII pit

Hello Everybody,

I've been lurking about on this forum and a few others like hornetpits and ATAG for quite a while. It never ceases to amaze me how much information flows through these communities. It's really a great thing you guys do to share. I decided it might be fun to try to document my own pit building experience.

First a few words of introduction about me. I am an electrical engineer by degree and have also done extensive software development during my career. I spent the first part of my career working for some of the big boys in simulation (Singer-Link and Hughes Aircraft) developing high fidelity simulation devices for training our armed forces. I can describe that part of my career in two words: “LOVED IT”. My career grew and I moved on to other industries, started a family, etc. But the love of flight simulation never left me. Now that I'm semi-retired, I want to put some time back into this hobby.

For this pit (yes that implies that I have in mind to build another one...) I am building a WWII era sim. Currently I fly some on IL-2 Cliffs of Dover, but have recently started using DCS. I'm really looking forward to the DCS WWII map to be complete. My build progress will probably be stop-and-go and I probably won't travel a straight line from beginning to end, but maybe that's OK. It's the journey not the destination right? (I think that's what you are supposed to say when you can't justify the time or money being spent.)

Right now, I'm working on a set of simulated instruments and starting the design for a visual system. For today, here's a short video of the instruments in action. In the video, I'm flying in COD. The instruments are moving in response to the data I'm extracting from the sim. I still have a few bugs to chase down, but overall I think they will work OK. (Please excuse the poor lighting in the video. I'm still learning how to make a video look good.)

Thanks for looking and hope you find my journey interesting.

Dave.

Cool. :) Do you have some more pictures to show us? :)

Cool. :) Do you have some more pictures to show us? :)

I will. I think my next post will be on the visual system. I'll post some pics of what I'm doing with that, along with some of the thought behind how I'm doing it.

Hey welcome to the nut house. I am sure you will bring a ton of information to the form your self. Can't wait to see your build develope.

As I said in my first post, I don't tend to work in a straight line, so I've jumped to the visual system for a while. My wife gave me permission to turn the guest bedroom into a sim room so there's the green light for a big screen visual system!

I'm thinking of a 180 degree curved screen with three projectors. It should be possible to upgrade later with a “top” and a fourth projector to get a view above as well.

I ran a few quick tests with DCS on my dual monitor setup to convince myself I could get three or four "out the window" (OTW) scenes to cover left, center, right and above. After reading some posts in these forums, it didn't take me too long to get that figured out.

I've got a few constraints I have to work within:

- Obviously I have to fit in the room, but I also need to leave space for my workbench.

- I want a free standing screen so I don't permanently mount anything to the walls or ceiling.

- I want to be able to disassemble it and take it out of the room without too much trouble.

- I want to keep costs down where ever I can so that I have the cash for things that require it (like projectors).

That leads me to a 180 degree screen with a diameter of 8 feet. I'm thinking to use either MDF or plywood for the screen backing. I think 1/4” or about 6 mm will bend easily enough into a curve. I will make it in three sections, front, left side and right side. The front will be a 4'x8' section with each side being about 4'x2'. This will give me two seams but since they will be to my side view I think they won't be distracting. I've laid out the center section in the pic below. I need to finish laying out the side pieces but with the radius established in the center, the sides won't be too hard to finish. I also need to design some stands to hold it up. Haven't yet determined how high off the floor. I think it will be dependent on the height of the seat in my cockpit (which sets my line of sight) so I might have to estimate that, then build the cockpit to match.

I was thinking to paint the screen backing and project on it. But then I read an article at projectorcentral.com about seamless paper. It's used by photographers as a backdrop and according to the article it's a passable projection surface. It's not very expensive. I'm thinking to glue this to the screen surface.

The projectors will hang from a tower that I will place behind the cockpit. I saw a neat way to do this over at hornetpits in Baldrick's pit thread. I'm thinking to use electrical conduit for the tower structure as it can be had quite cheap. I need to figure out how to connect the conduit pieces the way I need. Standard conduit connectors don't fit everything I need so I'm looking at options like using galvanized pipe fittings. I just need to check fit. A trip to Lowe's will figure that out.

Projectors is where I'll have to spend serious money. From reading what others are using it seems the BenQ W1080ST is a good projector for this. Even though it's at the low end for HD short throw projectors, it's still pretty expensive. I found a couple places that sell refurbished units for a couple hundred bucks less.

The video from the three projectors will probably have to be “warped” to account for the curved screen. Most of the warping software is pretty expensive. Right now I'm leaning towards either Simpit Warp or maybe Immersive Display Pro.

Some questions for the group:

- Does your experience tell you that a 8' diameter will be acceptable for the screen size? (Maybe it's too close to the eye point.)

- Have any of you used seamless paper and can comment on it?

- Anybody have recommendations for a project that is around $500-$600 and good performance for use in a pit? Anybody have experience with factory refurbished projectors?

- Anybody have a recommendation for warping software?

'till next time...

Dave.

It looks as though you are off to an excellent start Dave :thumbup:I'm looking forward to your build updates.

If I might make a suggestion regarding projectors. I use a 120" flat screen and a JVC projector. Because of the quality and cost, this setup doubles as our home cinema . And since it cost over $5000.00 it needed to have dual usage or my wife would have removed certain important body parts while I slept. That said, the image quality I have is quite breath taking. One reason for that is because I was told very early on to find suppliers whose setups allowed you to do direct (almost side by side) image comparisons. Ten projectors, with a switch to pic one or another so you can see what a $500 projector can do and what a $5000 Projector can do and flip back and forth between them. There are huge disparities in quality between low end, mid range and high end($25,000) projection setups. Unfortunately they are not that apparent to see without having a direct reference to compare with. Hence the multiple projector setup.

That all said, the most important part of a projector setup is actually the screen...yet most people would think it's the projector. .... Yes, the screen can destroy a good projected image. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, being able to compare side by side is very important. My own screen is one of the higher end screens and when budgeting for this setup, the screen was given a higher priority than the projector...$3,000 for screen and $2,000 for projector. The differences in image quality are extreme to say the least and all I can really say is "seeing is definitely believing".

I spent considerable amount of time and effort investigating all of the factors in projection systems. Since this was a rather large expenditure to say the least, I needed to be confident my choices were well thought out and I would be maximizing the use of a rather limited budget.

So take the time and choose well. Anton, on this board, is also doing projection so you may want to talk with him to get further insight. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=155487

Dave, I was wondering about the details of the gauges you built. Do think you might be able expand upon how you built them, the motors you used, any PCB's you built and the interface used with PC, etc, so that others might be able to replicate a similar type instrument. I try and post small photo tutorials or PDF's when I can, to get people past some of the more difficult hurdles of building a particular component for the cockpit. I know it takes time to do this but if you can, it would be most appreciated.

Thanks so much Dave... and keep on posting. :thumbup: We all love to see how others are progressing.

John

PS. I have changed my signature to include the photo sites I use to document my A10C build just in case others would like to see how I handled various cockpit parts/components.

John, Thanks for the info. Good thoughts all the way around.

... the most important part of a projector setup is actually the screen...

You make a good point about screen quality and how important it is. Since the seamless paper is pretty cheap, I think I will get a some and run a test.

Dave, I was wondering about the details of the gauges you built. Do think you might be able expand upon how you built them, the motors you used, any PCB's you built and the interface used with PC, etc.

Sure. It will probably be a few days as I have to gather the info and organize my thoughts. I am back to work for a few days next week so that slows me down a bit too.

Hello everybody,

In this post I will catch you up on some work I did before I started this build thread. In my first post I included a video of some prototype instruments I've been working on. In this post I'll give you some information on them. I'm not currently working on the instruments due to one of my distractions – squirrel! – wait, where was I?... Oh yes instruments. I'll get back to them again, just not right at this moment.

First, a few words about my decision process and how I ended up on this path. I wanted simulated instruments (physical instruments, not just extracted to another display screen). For me this will bring another level of immersion that I want from my pit. So being the google fan that I am, I thought I'll just find some and buy them. After weeks of searching on the internet, I found that simply wasn't going to be affordable. Then came the thought that has doomed many of us: “That's easy and I can do it myself way cheaper.” (Ranks right up there with: “Hold my beer and watch this!”.) I am able to do it for about half the cost of what I saw on the internet, but it's taking a lot longer than I thought to find a good balance between inexpensive and good enough immersion value.

The major components of my instrument system are shown in the figure below. Right now the software apps only support COD. I think DCS will be next, then probably FSX.

Cockpit Builder is an app to configure what types of instruments are in your pit. It also lets you configure what sim program you are using and what data goes to what instrument in your pit.

Cockpit Interface is an app that runs during simulation. It gets the data from the flight sim program, performs any needed units or data conversion, then transfers it to the instruments in your cockpit.

The instrument controller maintains the USB interface to the PC and distributes the data to the individual instruments. It also provides power for the instruments. Each instrument receives the data from the instrument controller and converts it into the physical movement for that instrument. The instruments are daisy chained in “strings” from the controller. Having a single cable that runs from the controller to all the instruments keeps wiring and cabling to a minimum. The controller supports up to 4 strings of instruments. The controller is a custom designed PCB with a PIC micro controller running custom designed firmware.

As you may recall from my first post and the title of this thread, I'm working on a WWII pit so my first set of instruments are for that era. I am loosely modeling them on the P-51. Right now, I have working prototypes for the airspeed indicator, rate of climb, tachometer and manifold pressure. You may notice that I started with the simpler single movement instruments. I'm working on an attitude indicator but it's still in the very early design stage. The instruments are driven by custom firmware running on a PIC micro controller on a couple of custom PCBs. The movement is driven by a stepper motor and a planetary gear box. A servo or motor would have given smoother movement, but the accuracy of pointer positioning would have suffered. While flying, I will notice positional inaccuracies much sooner than I will a slight stepping motion so I opted for steppers instead of servos.

A few things on my instrument “To Do” list:

• The pointer movement is pretty good, but not quite as good as I want. I'm fine tuning an algorithm to smooth it out a bit.
  
• The front bezels are a bit too obviously 3d printed. I would like them to be smooth surface, but I need to find a cheap way to get that done.
  
• Finish the other primary flight instruments.
  
• I'm OK with the instrument labels/face plates, but I'm still experimenting with alternatives to get them better.
  
• Update the Cockpit Builder and Cockpit Interface apps to support DCS. (Probably others as well, but one thing at a time...)
  
• I found a smaller stepper motor that uses a lot less power and lets me reduce the length/depth of the instruments. I need to finish reworking the design to use the smaller motors.
  

Until next time...

Dave.

What ever you do, remember to enjoy the journey.

That's was a great dissertation Dave. What motors are you using for your gauges? I've been working on the analog gauges for the A10 for some time now. With respect to the motion, are you using any drivers ICs for the stepper motors? You should be able to get smooth movement with microstepping. Also how many steps per revolution are your motors. I have motors that do 945 steps/rev and have very smooth movement. I can also make my Nema motors (200 spr) run at 8 to 16 times that with driver ICs depending on how precise and smooth the movement needs to be. If you want some ideas just have a look through my picture sites linked in my signature. Lots of pics of gauges in various states of construction.

John, that's some really good work in your photos. :thumbup: I'm quite impressed. Your instrument face plates look great. (The dial part with the numbers and tick marks on it.) Are those engraved?

I'm using 200 step motors along with drivers from Pololu. The drivers can run up to 32x microstepping. I added a 4:1 gear box to smooth the motion even further. It looks really good for the most part. The only part I'm not completely happy with is very slow movement or very small movement. (Like in a fuel gauge that moves slowly over time.) If you stare at the gauge while it is at that slow movement, you can still see some stepping. Not sure if it's just my focusing on it or if it really should be smoother. (Also during flying you shouldn't be staring at the gauges :pilotfly: so I might be obsessing over this to no real immersion value.) At 200 x 32 x 4 = 25,600 steps per revolution I though I might not be able to detect any stepping but that didn't turn out to be true. So I'm still looking to see if I'm not doing something right or if I can smooth it with firmware somehow.

I recently got a new smaller motor that looks a lot like the ones in your pictures. They are used in lots of cars for driving the speedo and other gauges. I think they are X25 or something like that. Is that what you are using? I found that when switching to those motors (without gear box because they aren't strong enough to drive it) that the stepping is noticeably worse. Do you have any visible stepping in your motion? The X25 motors are way smaller, use a lot less power and cost a lot less so it might be worth the trade-off to use them. I watched the gauges in my car quite closely and can't see any stepping at any rate of movement so I wonder a bit how they achieved that. (No, I wasn't driving at the same time...)

One last note. I've only 'live' tested my instruments using COD to drive them. I found that COD doesn't update the data it outputs as often as it updates what goes on the screen. I think at best it's about 30 Hz. I'm not sure how much stepping this is introducing but I'm pretty sure it is contributing some amount. I am looking forward to when I update my software to interface with DCS to see how much that impacts the stepping. I've done a lot of electrical/mechanical work on the instruments since the last time I drove them offline with a test program so I may do that again soon too. That will be another indication of how much of the stepping is being introduced by COD.

John, that's some really good work in your photos. :thumbup: I'm quite impressed. Your instrument face plates look great. (The dial part with the numbers and tick marks on it.) Are those engraved?

Thanks Dave. Yes the faceplates are all engraved on my CNC mill.

I'm using 200 step motors along with drivers from Pololu. The drivers can run up to 32x microstepping. I added a 4:1 gear box to smooth the motion even further.

You may have issues with torque, or lack there of, if you gear down that much.

I might be obsessing over this to no real immersion value.

I think they are X25 or something like that. Is that what you are using?

Yes. I use the VID series of stepper motors from China. Very inexpensive and they work well. They are identical in all respects to the Switec x25 motors. They are not very strong so I have to be careful where I use them.

What code are you using to drive your motors? I don't have to much visible stepping but sometimes I can see a bit when its a long pointer and the the gauge moves very slowly.

I attached a really crappy video I made not long ago. There are parts of the video where the motor is moving very slowly and I can't see any stepping at all. Maybe if it moved slower than that but its not to bad as it is. I wonder if its a combination of the code your using and COD with low refresh rates. Yet it should still move smoothly even if the refresh is slow.

I just recently added a driver board for each motor. The Easy Driver board is only $1.50 (chinese knockoff) so it wasn't an extravagant addition by any means. But it does cut down how many pins I need for one motor by 50%. It seems like there is never enough I/O pins when you need them so this was a good move. It also gave me flexibility over the stepping rate which I can change on the fly if need be. Haven't tried that yet but it should work.

Once I have my dash cut out, I'll start to install all of the gauges and then do some more testing and fine tuning. I have been waiting for the next release of DCS-BIOS (which just came out last week) to get more serious about fine tuning the motors.

I'll post some (better:music_whistling:) videos once the gauges are up and running. As far as the x25 or the VID 28/60 motors, virtually all of the commercially made flight sim gauges use the same motor so I believe we made the correct choice.

[ame]

What code are you using to drive your motors?

I have written my own C code that runs on a PIC18F2550. The micro processors are cheap enough that I can put one processor and one driver for each instrument. (Although I'm paying a bit more than $1.50 for the Pololu drivers so I need to check out the $1.50 knock-offs you mention.)

I don't have to much visible stepping but sometimes I can see a bit when its a long pointer and the the gauge moves very slowly.

That sounds pretty much like what I'm chasing down. I can't obsess over it forever, so at some point I'm going to have to make myself happy that I have the right combination between not spending too much money and getting good immersion. (I don't worry too much about my time since I don't charge myself by the hour!)

I just recently added a driver board for each motor. The Easy Driver board is only $1.50 (chinese knockoff) so it wasn't an extravagant addition by any means. But it does cut down how many pins I need for one motor by 50%. It seems like there is never enough I/O pins when you need them so this was a good move. It also gave me flexibility over the stepping rate which I can change on the fly if need be. Haven't tried that yet but it should work.

With the Pololu drivers I can change stepping rate on the fly but haven't found the need to do that yet. You're right on the money about always watching pin count. By holding my step rate constant, I'm using only two pins per driver - increment and direction.

As far as the x25 or the VID 28/60 motors, virtually all of the commercially made flight sim gauges use the same motor so I believe we made the correct choice.

It still bugs me that the same motor in my car dashboard drives the fuel gauge and tachometer with absolutely no discernable stepping. I know there is a special driver chip they use. I read the data sheet for it and didn't see any magic in it. I'm gonna keep digging into that one a bit longer.

i use an Arduino Pro Mini to run my stepper motors and I also employ the Accel library in my sketch. I don't use any of the acceleration or deceleration functions but the rest of the library handles the bulk of the work. That may be why you don't see much stepping action on my motors. Unfortunately I can't help much with the programing part as I'm still very much in the learning stages with Arduino code writing.

I'm also using DCS-BIOS for accessing the data and that too may be a contributing factor in the performance of my gauges.

Projector Screen Material

Today I ran some tests with some different projection screen materials. First a mention to Carl's Place . For less than $5 you can order from Amazon with free shipping a sample pack with a variety of screen material types and see what you like.

I have a projector and built in screen that I use for watching movies. So my test method was to compare these samples to what I see on my movie projection screen. I hopped into my P-51 in DCS and paused when another aircraft could be seen as a dot in the sky. Then I hung the different samples from Carl's Place in front of that spot on the screen to see how they compared. This is a crude test to be sure, but it gives me more information than I had before. Here are the results:

This is my baseline. This is my movie projection screen It is an Elite Screens. I don't remember the exact material but it is a form of white. I have been using it for some flying and I like it. It has pretty good color and contrast. So I'm looking for something as good or better than this baseline. The room is darkened but it's mid-day so there is some light bleeding through the curtains. This is a likely scenario for the sim room so it should be a reasonable baseline.

This is Pro White. I couldn't see any difference between this and the baseline.

This is FlexiWhite. I couldn't see any difference between this and the baseline.

This is Silver Screen. This was a little darker which made it harder to see the target aircraft. It also was a little sparkly. I think in a totally black room this might have been better. Interesting to note that in this picture, the right side of the sample looks brighter than the background screen but in real life it was darker. I think the camera picks up the light from the "sparkles" better than my eye.

This is FlexiGray. This was a little darker which made it harder to see the target aircraft. Kind of like Silver Screen but without the sparkle.

This is Ambient Light Rejecting. Viewing straight on, it looked pretty much like the baseline. When you looked at it from an angle it started to get darker like the gray screens. You can see this in the picture since the sample didn't hang flat. The left side of the screen is curled out a bit and looks darker since you see it at an angle.

This is Pro Gray. This was a little darker which made it harder to see the target aircraft.

So for me, the Pro White and the Flexi White are the best materials. The choice may come down to mounting. The Pro White is stiffer. The Flexi White is floppy and feels like it has a rubber backing on it. The Flexi White is a bit heavier too. It may come down to which material is easier to glue to a curved screen. That may be another test to run...

hello... i like to know how are you are extracting airspeed data from DCS!!!

is Cockpit Builder aircraft specific, or generic to run on any DCS aircraft?

where do you find info about the cockpit builder app in relation to DCS? and links?? please please share! :)

im hoping airspeed function would be part of the commondata set in the DCS-BIOS library on their next release..

Hey Hannibal,

The demo I posted of the instruments is taking the flight data from IL2 Cliffs of Dover. I still have to adapt the software to read from DCS. I just haven't gotten to that yet.

The Cockpit Builder app is something I have developed and not released (yet...) so the only place for information is me.

Cockpit Builder is not specific to an aircraft. You configure it to match the aircraft you are flying in the sim program and you also configure it to the setup you have in your physical cockpit. Then Cockpit Interface does the translation of data from the flight sim program to put it in the right units for your cockpit instruments. For example suppose your physical cockpit has an altimeter that displays in feet but you are flying a FW190 in the sim (which has altitude in meters IIRC). You tell Cockpit builder you are flying a FW190 but that you want the altitude in feet for your instrument. If you later fly a Hurricane (which already has altitude in feet) you switch to a different Cockpit Builder config file and off you go. Currently, Cockpit Builder supports the aircraft in IL2 COD and the simulated instruments I've prototyped so far. My next step for the application will be to make it talk to DCS (and eventually to other sims like FSX, P3D and Falcon BMS). My next step for the instruments is to complete the basic set of flight instruments. Then I'll move on to the less essential ones.

I haven't done all the research yet on interfacing to DCS so I can't answer right now how Cockpit Builder will handle the different aircraft in DCS but I don't see any reason it can't support multiple aircraft types.

- David.

your project is looking great.

thanks for the reply.

im sure its possible too, i mean those other applications like helios reads DCS data also.

i just dont know how to start, although i was thinking of just testing out the one or two aircraft that DCS-BIOS has airspeed already implemented.

though at the same time i dont want to spend so much time on something that might or might not work and that its limited on some aircraft, but not all. i already spent 6-7 building my simming chairs.

So for me, the Pro White and the Flexi White are the best materials. The choice may come down to mounting. The Pro White is stiffer. The Flexi White is floppy and feels like it has a rubber backing on it. The Flexi White is a bit heavier too. It may come down to which material is easier to glue to a curved screen. That may be another test to run...

Couple notes .

Baseline is not really a ready screen material but a canvas for painting your own screen. Home theater enthusiast with high end installations apparently often go for oddly tinted screens biege, gray and use that material as base .

Flexi screens are not for gluing but for stretching on a frame - not something we can do for a curved sceeen. From what I read there is practically no way to glue the flexi without wrinkles.

When gluing spray both sides. sprayed single sided 3M super 77 did not provide sufficient adheasion and I had to redo which didn't improve the screen smotheness at all. If I to do it over again I would use the stronger version (super 80). And make sure to cover surroundings with plastic - that stuff flyes effin everywhere when spraying

Hey agrasyuk, some good points. Thanks for that. What material did you use?

I found I like pro grey the most. With projectors very close to screen slight loss of brightness is not an issue, but I feel like the blacks came out somewhat better. Ambient rejection sample preformed excellent too but I was concerned about gluing.

It depends on environment, amount of ambient . General rule of thumb white for totaly dark rooms, grey if ambient light present. But t's all subjective and white indeed can look better to you in your situation.

PS, its very hard to judge from the small sample patches. Subjective me says give grey another chance :)

Sorry, I know I am not making it any easier to choose.

Hello everybody,

 

In this post I will catch you up on some work I did before I started this build thread. In my first post I included a video of some prototype instruments I've been working on. In this post I'll give you some information on them. I'm not currently working on the instruments due to one of my distractions – squirrel! – wait, where was I?... Oh yes instruments. I'll get back to them again, just not right at this moment.

 

First, a few words about my decision process and how I ended up on this path. I wanted simulated instruments (physical instruments, not just extracted to another display screen). For me this will bring another level of immersion that I want from my pit. So being the google fan that I am, I thought I'll just find some and buy them. After weeks of searching on the internet, I found that simply wasn't going to be affordable. Then came the thought that has doomed many of us: “That's easy and I can do it myself way cheaper.” (Ranks right up there with: “Hold my beer and watch this!”.) I am able to do it for about half the cost of what I saw on the internet, but it's taking a lot longer than I thought to find a good balance between inexpensive and good enough immersion value.

 

The major components of my instrument system are shown in the figure below. Right now the software apps only support COD. I think DCS will be next, then probably FSX.

 

 

Cockpit Builder is an app to configure what types of instruments are in your pit. It also lets you configure what sim program you are using and what data goes to what instrument in your pit.

 

 

Cockpit Interface is an app that runs during simulation. It gets the data from the flight sim program, performs any needed units or data conversion, then transfers it to the instruments in your cockpit.

 

 

The instrument controller maintains the USB interface to the PC and distributes the data to the individual instruments. It also provides power for the instruments. Each instrument receives the data from the instrument controller and converts it into the physical movement for that instrument. The instruments are daisy chained in “strings” from the controller. Having a single cable that runs from the controller to all the instruments keeps wiring and cabling to a minimum. The controller supports up to 4 strings of instruments. The controller is a custom designed PCB with a PIC micro controller running custom designed firmware.

 

 

As you may recall from my first post and the title of this thread, I'm working on a WWII pit so my first set of instruments are for that era. I am loosely modeling them on the P-51. Right now, I have working prototypes for the airspeed indicator, rate of climb, tachometer and manifold pressure. You may notice that I started with the simpler single movement instruments. I'm working on an attitude indicator but it's still in the very early design stage. The instruments are driven by custom firmware running on a PIC micro controller on a couple of custom PCBs. The movement is driven by a stepper motor and a planetary gear box. A servo or motor would have given smoother movement, but the accuracy of pointer positioning would have suffered. While flying, I will notice positional inaccuracies much sooner than I will a slight stepping motion so I opted for steppers instead of servos.

 

 

A few things on my instrument “To Do” list:

• The pointer movement is pretty good, but not quite as good as I want. I'm fine tuning an algorithm to smooth it out a bit.
  
• The front bezels are a bit too obviously 3d printed. I would like them to be smooth surface, but I need to find a cheap way to get that done.
  
• Finish the other primary flight instruments.
  
• I'm OK with the instrument labels/face plates, but I'm still experimenting with alternatives to get them better.
  
• Update the Cockpit Builder and Cockpit Interface apps to support DCS. (Probably others as well, but one thing at a time...)
  
• I found a smaller stepper motor that uses a lot less power and lets me reduce the length/depth of the instruments. I need to finish reworking the design to use the smaller motors.
  

 

Until next time...

Dave.

 

What ever you do, remember to enjoy the journey.

Would you be willing to share your App/Code?

I too have built my own working Hurricane cockpit. Switches are all genuine Air Ministry parts that work in Cliffs of Dover via an 0836x.

Gauges are servo driven connected to a pololu. And that's as far as I can go. However your App/Code may take me another step forward. If you are willing to share?

Regards -Nails

Hi Nails,

Small world. I used to pop over to Doughnut city (Basingstoke) every once in a while for my last job.

I like what you've done with your cockpit.:thumbup: Do you have a build thread? I'd love to see how it came together and continues on.

I hadn't planned on releasing the apps yet partly because right now they only support COD and partly because they haven't been tested by anyone but me on my rig. You are flying COD so that's the first hurdle done.;) If you don't mind being my first external tester maybe we can help each other out.

Since you have your own instruments driven by something, the best place to marry the two together might be the interface between the PC and the instrument controller. If I provide you the two apps that run on the PC (Cockpit Builder and Cockpit Interface) and publish to you the interface they use to talk to my instrument controller, then you could code your own instrument controller and drive your instruments using data you get from my apps.

If you are interested in being my first guinea pig, PM me and we can exchange emails and work out the particulars.

Cheers,

Dave.

Hi Nails,

Small world. I used to pop over to Doughnut city (Basingstoke) every once in a while for my last job.

 

I like what you've done with your cockpit.:thumbup: Do you have a build thread? I'd love to see how it came together and continues on.

 

I hadn't planned on releasing the apps yet partly because right now they only support COD and partly because they haven't been tested by anyone but me on my rig. You are flying COD so that's the first hurdle done.;) If you don't mind being my first external tester maybe we can help each other out.

 

Since you have your own instruments driven by something, the best place to marry the two together might be the interface between the PC and the instrument controller. If I provide you the two apps that run on the PC (Cockpit Builder and Cockpit Interface) and publish to you the interface they use to talk to my instrument controller, then you could code your own instrument controller and drive your instruments using data you get from my apps.

 

If you are interested in being my first guinea pig, PM me and we can exchange emails and work out the particulars.

 

Cheers,

Dave.

Good morning Dave. Thank you for your gracious offer. I would love to help out!

PM sent with my email address.

Build thread is on ACG (COD flyers). With a bit of luck, DCS may release a fly able Hurricane one day.

http://www.aircombatgroup.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=4121

I sent you a PM Dave with my email. Can you let me know you received it OK.

My "sent" messages box is showing a big fat 0.

Cheers

My "sent" messages box is showing a big fat 0.

When sending a PM on these boards, there is a Save a copy of this message in your Sent Items folder checkbox, which defaults to off.

You might want to go to User CP / Edit Options and check Save a copy of sent messages in my Sent Items folder by default in the "Private Messaging" category.