triise Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Hi there! I started flying the DCS A-10C a couple of months ago, and soon after bought the TM HOTAS system, TrackIR and some Saitek pedals. As if it wasn't enough, I now decided to build my own pit. I have been reading a lot here in the forums and got a lot of help by reading what others do. I also found a couple of blueprints which have helped me a lot. Now, I've just started and my first thing is to work on the front panel. I had an ambition to build it as realistic as possible, but due to the fact that I don't own a CNC or have access to one, I had to lower my ambitions. Anyway, I have just started and have a *LOT* on order from different eBay sellers (Ardunio board, Leo Bonard boards, switches, buttons, rotary encoders and so on). Currently I have the landing gear panel partially finnished, just need a flap indicator and a gear indicator. And I have the armament panel complete. I have some 8" and 5" LCD modules on order. 2 of the 8" will go to the MFDs (Have the TM MFD frames). the 5" will go to the CDU. Haven't decided yet if I'm going to build analouge engine gauges yet, but I'm thinking of making one with servos and an Ardunio board). Next steps will be the electrical and fuel panels. Then I have to find out if I'm going to have a screen as the HSI and nav instruments. As far as I can tell, the process of building your own HSI looks pretty complicated.. And of course, a UFC is pretty far up the list as well :) Will be posting my process as it evolves. Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puma Posted February 10, 2015 Share Posted February 10, 2015 Welcome to the never ending journey. Looking good so far! Custom Pit 476 Recruiting i9-12900KF, 32 GB DDR5, Gigabyte Aorus Z690 Master, Gigabyte RTX 2080 Ti, 1TB Sabrent Roket 4+ 2x750GB RAID-0, TrackIR 5 /w clip, CRG9 49” Curved Ultrawide Flight Display+15" Touchscreen+17" Gauges display, Thrustmaster Warthog+7.5cm, Saitek Pro Combat Pedals, Streamdeck, Butt Kicker and pneumatic G-Seat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 Well... seems like I will get access to a CNC afterall :) eBay is my friend and made me buy this little thing... http://www.ebay.com/itm/180833438028?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansangb Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Good luck on your build Triise! Let us know how easy it is to use the CNC. hsb hsb HW Spec in Spoiler --- i7-10700K Direct-To-Die/OC'ed to 5.1GHz, MSI Z490 MB, 32GB DDR4 3200MHz, EVGA 2080 Ti FTW3, NVMe+SSD, Win 10 x64 Pro, MFG, Warthog, TM MFDs, Komodo Huey set, Rverbe G1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 (edited) OK, parts starting to arrive. Got the 8" LCD's for the TM MFD's. Couple of extra Leo boards also arrived. And of course - my workbench in the shop has been expanded to house my new CNC (it was only 2,5 meters previously) :thumbup: Edited February 19, 2015 by triise spelling Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramzessii Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Hi triise, I was also looking into buying 3040 CNC router. I'm also at the very beginning of my journey of "building A10C cockpit". Let us know what your thoughts are about this CNC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hansangb Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Here's what I did for the MFDs. I bought one of those "Keep out" signs at Home depot. Thin aluminum/tin'ish signs. Cut it to size so the MFD was lined up to either side of the LCD screen. Then cut the sign to size, painted it matte black and it looks like one LCD. Something to consider since I didn't want the lights bleeding out the (either sides) hsb hsb HW Spec in Spoiler --- i7-10700K Direct-To-Die/OC'ed to 5.1GHz, MSI Z490 MB, 32GB DDR4 3200MHz, EVGA 2080 Ti FTW3, NVMe+SSD, Win 10 x64 Pro, MFG, Warthog, TM MFDs, Komodo Huey set, Rverbe G1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ok, so now the CNC is in-house! Still waiting for the UC100 LPT/USB adapter (Windows 7 64 doesn't support LPT) So I won't have a chance to try it yet. Tried to mill some parts fully manual (by turning the motors and having the spindle spinning). It cuts like a warm knife in butter :thumbup: Tried both aluminium and acryl plates, both turned out very well. Hopefully the UC100 will be here tomorrow or monday, and I'll give you an update. :joystick: Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrasyuk Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 hey there triise, cute looking cnc there :) looking forward to see how will this engrave letters. id think you will want to get some sort of spoil board for it though. Anton. My pit build thread . Simple and cheap UFC project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 (edited) First test ${1} Now I have a lot to learn about :book: EDIT: Seems like the youtube embedding has a bug. The video is here: Edited February 22, 2015 by triise Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Letters engraving went quite well. Used 3mm acryllic painted black with two layers of "bumper-paint" (From Biltema, a swedish hardware store). Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramzessii Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 It looks very promising. Anything you don't like about this particular model so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 It doesn't come with limit switches, so you'll have to make your own. I bought these: https://www.elfa.se/elfa3~tr_en/elfa/init.do?item=35-830-37&toc=20356. The controller card does have inputs for limits inputs. Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted March 2, 2015 Author Share Posted March 2, 2015 Ok, first panel starting to look like something. Used aluminium for the bottom plate, white acrylic for the middle plate and a special engraving plate from http://www.cnc-plus.de. The engraving plate is 1.5 mm white acrylic with a black coating. When engraved the light shines through. Next step is to mount green 3mm LEDs inside the middle plate. Haven't figured out how I'm going to do this, but I'll think of something. Pretty pleased with the result, but now I see why chinese CNC's cost so much less than european / US machines. The accuracy isn't so good, especially with the small characters engraving. But it's good enough for me :thumbup: Next up is the electrical panel, and landing gear panel. To be continued... Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thick8 Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Very nice indeed. I used the same top plate material as you. Be careful as the top black layer is easy to scratch off. It won't rub off but if you stack the panels the switch terminals on the top will cut right through it and it won't be evident until it is backlit. Had to re-cut mine. I used clear plastic for my middle and bottom layers. That allowed for the LED strips to be glued directly to the bottom of the panels. Are the panels of your own design? Asus ROG C6H | AMD Ryzen 3600 @ 4.2Ghz | Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce WB 1080ti | 32Gb Crucial DDR4/3600 | 2Tb Intel NVMe drive | Samsung Odyssey+ VR | Thrustmaster Warthog | Saitek pedals | Custom geothermal cooling loop with a homemade 40' copper heat exchanger 35' in the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansolo Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Looks good triise :thumbup: Keep em comming Cheers Hans 132nd Virtual Wing homepage & 132nd Virtual Wing YouTube channel My DCS-BIOS sketches & Cockpit Album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 (edited) The panels are not my design. I got them from a thread here. I'll have to link to it later as I can't find it right now. Will be starting with the electrical panel this evening. I'll keep you posted. EDIT: It's reactorone's design. http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=84791 Edited March 3, 2015 by triise Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 Got the armament panel done tonight (almost). Descided to use acryllic as the bottom plate from now on. It needs to be painted black and I also need to paint the edges of the middle panel. I'll drill ø3mm holes from the bottom, 4 mm deep. Then insert 3mm green LEDs to light the panel. Tomorrow; landling gear and electrical panel (if there is time). Will be gone for over a week from Friday, as I'm scheduled for field manouvers at work the next 10 days. Hope to finish the two panels before I leave. Keep you updated :pilotfly: Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intrepid1 Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Very nice armament panel ..I can't wait to see your next Randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boltz Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Looking very good there. Crisp lettering and very professional. Looking forward to see more A-10C Cockpit Build Thread My YouTube Channel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Tonight I finished the Electrical panel (except LED's), and started the landing gear panel. I'm still waiting for parts for the flaps indicator, so I don't think it will be finished before the weekend. Not happy with the text in the LG panel. Have to do some modifications in the CAM software I think. LG panel has a lot of slots for 3mm LEDs as you can see. LG panel CADs i got from agrasyuk, complete with LG handle. Also I did paint the edges of the bottom and middle plate of the armament panel and fuel panel. Looks better that way. Perhaps I'll get around to do some work tomorrow, but probably I'll have to serve some quality time with the boss (wife) before I'm off on exercise Friday. I'll keep you posted. Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrasyuk Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Yep, the letters look quite dinged. Not sure about your process, but its maybe due to how the text is exploded - that's how I need it for the laser. I'd say delete the text and use the same approach as you did in your other panels. Anton. My pit build thread . Simple and cheap UFC project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triise Posted March 5, 2015 Author Share Posted March 5, 2015 Ok, so now I tried to use my own text. Looks much better. Also finished the middle layer of the LG panel. Regards, Tore - Newbie simpit builder and electronics geek - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrasyuk Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 Letters are better . and while in general that front panel is usable the fat line around the 3 indicators is quite distracting . The reason it is drawn as it is in my dxf is due to how areas to be engraved are defined for laser. It seems that in your case you would need to modify it to be single line. Same applies in lesser extent to the box around "tems ". Let me know if you need help with that. Anton. My pit build thread . Simple and cheap UFC project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thick8 Posted March 6, 2015 Share Posted March 6, 2015 I had some light bleed through issues around the edges of mine even after painting. I ended up using liquid electrical tape. It is much thicker than paint and doesn't bleed between the layers. It's also a brush on paint so you don't have to tape off the panels to prevent overspray. BTW I have Reactor1's panels too. He really did a nice job on them. John Asus ROG C6H | AMD Ryzen 3600 @ 4.2Ghz | Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce WB 1080ti | 32Gb Crucial DDR4/3600 | 2Tb Intel NVMe drive | Samsung Odyssey+ VR | Thrustmaster Warthog | Saitek pedals | Custom geothermal cooling loop with a homemade 40' copper heat exchanger 35' in the ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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