AJS-37 Viggen nav panel build 1:1

StingerSharp · January 23, 2017

Hi guys. I have bit more then 7 days left till I be sucked back to education. I am planing on making 1:1 scale nav panel Constructible with all you need to laser cut / 3D print to make one for yourself. I will be trying to build it on arduino uno r3 platform.

I am thinking of building my Viggen cockpit one module at a time since I am totally new to arduino and DIY community.

I am still working on the planing out the keys and switches I will be using so if you have any good and affordable suggestions please let me know.

Now the main reason I am writing this post is I would like to ask for help making this happen. Could someone help me with finding measurements of the panel?

I will be making the drawing in solid works tomorrow and will be crunching until I am done. I will post the progress as it goes.

CrashO · January 23, 2017

With nav panel, you mean the data panel? Or the actual panel with the navigation instruments?

StingerSharp · January 23, 2017

I am considering making both units the nav point selector and input device. Sorry if I am calling things the wrong names.

amalahama · January 23, 2017

Actually, an Android app with both panels would be fantastic.

Regards!

Lobinjaevel · January 23, 2017

I'd guess that it follows DZUS standard, but I'm not sure.

Scale CrashO's pic with these measurements and it will probably be pretty close.

You'll get the length of the panel by counting "DZUS holes" too, so you will be able to get the correct dzus dimensions atleast.

http://mycockpit.org/tutorials/Panelbuildingfocussedondimensions.pdf

Grimpe · February 14, 2017

Have you made any progress, StingerSharp?

I'm thinking of doing something similar, but including the Rb05 stick and probably excluding the TILS channel selector, the data output display and the oxygen switch. I will probably use Leo Bodnar's joystick controller. I brought a measuring tape to Aeroseum in Säve, Gothenburg the other day and got some measurements:

These might not be all that accurate, and the 177 mm measurement was a bit of a mistake where I measured between one bolt on the navigation panel and one on the Rb05 stick panel (I blame it on the darkness in the cockpit), but it should be good enough to establish a scale. Considering Lobinjaevel's post, I assume that the correct measurements for the data panel are 136.525 mm (5 3/8 ") and 104.775 mm (4 1/8 " = 11 Dzus units).

The buttons on the data and nav panels are approximately 8 mm in diameter (maybe slightly bigger, like 1/3".) On the data panel they're raised 10 mm or so, except for the '0' that I didn't think to check and the "Rensa". On the nav panel, they're just a couple of mm above the panel. I've tried to find buttons that would be suitable and reasonably cheap, but I haven't found anything yet. It seems to be easier to find 12-position rotary switches and suitable dials/knobs for the data selector and TILS channel selector. Both would ideally have stop positions.

For the Rb05 stick, my current plan is to get one of those PSP-like thump slider joysticks and glue a stick on top of it. Although I fear those sticks might be too weak for that.

SGT Coyle · November 23, 2017

Hey!

Just got the Viggen. Love it! Has this project made off the drawing board? Pictures please. Any measurement hardware you've scrownged? Code? I like this bird gonna make a working mock up soon. Hopefully before Christmas.

rubylight · December 13, 2017

3D Sketchup measurements

Hey fella's,

I'm not much of a pit-builder (yet), but i dìd study 3D-animation, and in a previous post i already dug into some sketch-up modelling, using the earlier mentioned DZUS-standards.

Following the numbers from that article, and with a bit of interpretation, i hope the numbers in these renders might prove helpfull.

Cheers,

SGT Coyle · December 17, 2017

That's awesome.

Definitely helps.

Any chance you could set that up for a download.

I'm waiting for a local electronics supplier to get in enough buttons of the same size and color to do the Data input panel.

But that looks good.

Seriously.

Lobinjaevel · December 17, 2017

Here's mine I made a while back, I used push buttons from ebay, they fit pretty good!

Hoping that someone makes a Viggen DCS-BIOS profile so that the display works!

BravoYankee4 · December 18, 2017

Here's mine I made a while back, I used push buttons from ebay, they fit pretty good!
Hoping that someone makes a Viggen DCS-BIOS profile so that the display works!

Really nice. Do you have any link to that ebay seller?

By the way, there is DCS-Bios support for our beloved Viggen, however not an official version. Haven't got the time to test it myself yet but I will start building some panels after x-mas.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3315180&postcount=42

Lobinjaevel · December 18, 2017

Sure, it's these buttons, you can find 100pcs pack also, be sure to get the momentary as the on-off looks identical.

Thanks for the link, will check it out later on! :)

https://m.ebay.com/itm/5pc-Momentary-OFF-ON-Push-Button-Horn-Switch-F-Boat-Car-Waterproof-Black/182655745640?hash=item2a87217e68:g:AZUAAOSwRMtZX3ON

Goblin · December 18, 2017

Nice work, Lobinjävel! :)

I’ve made a Radar controller...

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=189685

Lobinjaevel · December 18, 2017

I've seen that before, a true masterpiece :) Very jealous of that one.

I'm planing on making a larger box with a Viggen throttle on the side, but sadly time is limited, maybe sometime next year :)

SGT Coyle · December 18, 2017

Never mind

Edited December 18, 2017 by SGT Coyle

rubylight · December 18, 2017

Sketchup-file Data-panel

That's awesome.
Definitely helps. Any chance you could set that up for a download?

Despite that the Joker once said "if you're good at something, never do it for free", i happen to feel a bit like santa, with christmas closing in etc...

Sketchup file is in the .zip-attachment. Made with Trimble's Sketchup Make 2017.

I left it flat, since i have no idea what kind of plates, boards, etc., you guys plan on using.

Enjoy :)

Viggen - Data Panel.zip

BravoYankee4 · December 19, 2017

Thanks rubylight. This will be a good starting point for my future cockpit/panel build :)

station2station · October 4, 2018

Why no amber hex displays :(

I am trying to source some form of electro-mechanical displays like this

https://www.ebay.com/itm/7-segment-1-Ferranti-Packard-electromechanical-display-/160945344354

Super cool to see people building these panels. Love it.

aniron · October 4, 2018

Might be a bit late, but here's a museum source for the dimensions.

https://digitaltmuseum.se/011023012039/datapanel

Length: 205mm (8.071")

Width: 125mm (4.921")

Height: 180mm (7.087")

Which doesn't sound like the Dzus standard to me.

rubylight · November 2, 2018

Indeed... Dzus width would be 146mm..

Darn it! just when i thought i had all the numbers figured out. Time to go back into Blender and Sketchup and scale some models down...

streakeagle · November 4, 2018

The dimensions aren't diagrammed. So they might not be taken where you think they have been taken from. It would be better if there was a diagram showing the location of the measurements. One way to check would be to scale the panel to the width and height (or length?) and see if the buttons stay 100% circular (i.e. the diameter is the same in the vertical and horizontal after scaling to the listed dimensions. Of course, if you scale the width, the height should already be correct with fixed ratio scaling, so that alone could be a good indication.

Manolov · December 13, 2018

Hey there, any news from the project?

:)

rubylight · June 6, 2019

Some cockpit pictures and measurements

There is now... :)

Last saturday (june 1st) i drove across the Netherlands to the museum 'Aviodrome', that held their 'open cockpit days'. Normally those are off-limits, but for two weekends per year, they are opened to the public.

And luck would have it, they have a Viggen parked there..!

(Along with a mig 21, but i found it's cockpit was quite different from the Bis we have in DCS, so it was of limited use for reference)

My main concern was finding out if those panels were according to the Dzus standard or not, with a previous mentioned link to a website that claimed they were 122mm.

I can safely say now those people either measured something other than the whole panel, or didn't know how to use a tapemeasure; those viggen panels are 5" 3/4 wide, just like many other cockpit-panels.

The day was quite stressful though; i was of course far from the only one there, awaiting a turn in the cockpits, so it was a case of hop in - quickly measure a few things - hop out - rinse and repeat.

Even some of the supervisors - though understanding of me gathering data for a simpit - were getting a bit impatient with me when i came by the 4th time.

And i don't always thrive well under pressure, so the first image displays the best of 'notes' i made at the time. :ermm:

In retrospect, since we don't necessarily need 'pictures', when we can look at heatblur's virtual cockpit in-game for as long as we want, i could've just left my notebook and pens at home, and simply filmed shots of me holding a ruler next to the panels and gauges..

Ow well, lessons for next time. :doh:

With all that said, i think the pictures below could prove useful.

Also noteworthy, the radar-control-stick has quite the gimbaling range, as shown on image nr.3.

For those interested in also stepping in those cockpits (and doing a better job of taking measurements than me :p ), the next open-cockpit-days are on 7 and 8 september this year, and two months after that, on 2 and 3 november, they have 'Flight Simulator Weekend', where they stuff the flightsimmers, their equipment and displays in between the regular exhibit!

You can check out the Aviodrome's website at https://www.aviodrome.nl/aircraft-theme-park-netherlands/