F/A-18 inspired

[Mr_Burns]

Im not going full on here, plan on getting VR is a year or so, also, living in a rented house whilst ours is being built and no space to finish it.

 

I started on the left side:

 

 

 

 

Then the upper left panel:

 

 

Then the Fuel panel - i need to do this one again and the grey needs to be black.

 

 

And this is my DIY jettison switch, I am going to sand it. One point, the rotary does not match the location of the text but as I am only printing them on paper I can easily change it:

 

Plastic circle, used the brass fitting from a rotary switch cap.

 

 

The grey thing is off a garden hose connector I found lying around glued to the circle. Bit messy.

 

 

Needs sanding:

 

 

Glue a disk inside with a small pcb tactile glued in it:

 

 

 

I cut a small groove to allow the wires to move, obviously this method wont work with a 360degree switch!

 

[ward8124]

Pretty cool Mr Burns! Where did you get the panels done? Also - recommend going down BnQ and getting some black flat head screws to use other than the silver countersunk ones. They will fit nice and flush and make it look neater :)

 

What are you going to do for the air vents to the sides? I've been struggling for an answer to this for a while now and can't make up my mind!

[bnepethomas]

Neat idea on the Jettison knob!

[Mr_Burns]

Pretty cool Mr Burns! Where did you get the panels done? Also - recommend going down BnQ and getting some black flat head screws to use other than the silver countersunk ones. They will fit nice and flush and make it look neater :)

 

What are you going to do for the air vents to the sides? I've been struggling for an answer to this for a while now and can't make up my mind!

 

Just used a jig saw, it's only printed paper glued to Perspex, I gave up on engraved panels, figured if the wear out will just print more and glue them over the top.

 

Not sure on the vents, havnt looked at them yet, are you making a replica? They would be good here in summer with a hat for track ir and bid headphones it gets bloody hot in the pit!

[Hansolo]

Looks like you are off to a very good start there Mr. Burns. I like that they are done without use of cnc. Keep up the good work Sir.

 

Cheers

Hans

[Duckling]

Good start Burns. Think that sideconsole will fill up with panels in soon future

you seen this ? http://www.opencockpits.com/index.php/en/tutorials-contents/item/building-a-rotary-switch-with-push-button-english

Haven't tried that approch but could be an option if the wiring weare out or a 360 rotary is required.

[BIGNEWY]

Looking good Mr Burns

[Deadman]

Looks very Good Mr Burns

[javelina1]

Very nice, subscribing to keep an eye on this.

[Mr_Burns]

Good start Burns. Think that sideconsole will fill up with panels in soon future

you seen this ? http://www.opencockpits.com/index.php/en/tutorials-contents/item/building-a-rotary-switch-with-push-button-english

Haven't tried that approch but could be an option if the wiring weare out or a 360 rotary is required.

 

I looked at that after you posted it, was intersting but seemed a bit out of my capability.

 

Problem I have is the rudder trim on the FCS panel. I am sure that is a Pot and not an encoder, so i tried drilling down the pots shaft but I didnt have the right drill bit. I did find this product:

 

Electro-Mech's SW44687

 

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1313618

 

Although its 7 years old I am surprised the Chinese havnt copied it on Ali Express, might look at trying to buy one. Do you think it will work?

 

Just had a thought, what about re-purposing a simple push on/off dimmer switch for lights in the house?

Edited September 29, 2017 by Mr_Burns

[huzar]

I'm not sure if I understand this correctly but a pot with push switch is a common thing:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/B50K-50K-Ohm-7mm-Dia-Thread-Adjustable-Rotary-Taper-Potentiometer-Switch-/121678471464?epid=1543776859&hash=item1c549a2128:g:iPkAAOSwfa9Zunmh

[Sokol1_br]

In this model the switch (click) is in initial turn of pot' - like in old car radios, not in push action.

[Duckling]

I looked at that after you posted it, was intersting but seemed a bit out of my capability.

 

Problem I have is the rudder trim on the FCS panel. I am sure that is a Pot and not an encoder, so i tried drilling down the pots shaft but I didnt have the right drill bit. I did find this product:

 

Electro-Mech's SW44687

 

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1313618

 

Although its 7 years old I am surprised the Chinese havnt copied it on Ali Express, might look at trying to buy one. Do you think it will work?

 

Just had a thought, what about re-purposing a simple push on/off dimmer switch for lights in the house?

 

 

Hi Burns. To avoid missunderstandings. The 'drilled' rotary switch just an example to place the 'push' switch below the rotary switch to avoid stress on the cabling. I'm sure you be fine with current config for along time on.

(Same approch as the link can be used to build dual shaft rotaries with a bit more tinkering), Both can be wired as either a standard rotary (break-before-make internal connection), by removing the 'stop' internaly and rewire the connection to work as an encoders (opencockpits card in this case)

 

For a trim with mechanical fixed endpoints, a pot is ideal, just remember that low cost pots has a lot of jitter. Center position marked by the knob and marking on the panel, or if the pot itself has a centerposition that you can feel when turning.

An encoder can be used as trim but with a bit more tinkering, then you probably need one with a push function (to ease the task), the push button to reset to mid position controlled by software. Problem with encoders and 'trim' function is to mitigate the min/max area you use. Low resolution encoders tend to need more then one revolution to reach the logical endpoints (dependent on resolution) and there is no visual feedback to show where on the scale you are on.

 

A HAL based pot 5-10kohms is ideal for most interface cards but a bit pricy.

 

 

- edit: have you decided on how (with what cards) you will use to interface your consoles with DCS ?

 

Best

Gus

Edited September 29, 2017 by Duckling

[Sokol1_br]

Multiturn pot - 3 or 5 turn is another option for trim. 10 turn result a bit slow.

 

http://www.potentiometers.com/MH22.cfm

[Mr_Burns]

Hi Burns. To avoid missunderstandings. The 'drilled' rotary switch just an example to place the 'push' switch below the rotary switch to avoid stress on the cabling. I'm sure you be fine with current config for along time on.

(Same approch as the link can be used to build dual shaft rotaries with a bit more tinkering), Both can be wired as either a standard rotary (break-before-make internal connection), by removing the 'stop' internaly and rewire the connection to work as an encoders (opencockpits card in this case)

 

For a trim with mechanical fixed endpoints, a pot is ideal, just remember that low cost pots has a lot of jitter. Center position marked by the knob and marking on the panel, or if the pot itself has a centerposition that you can feel when turning.

An encoder can be used as trim but with a bit more tinkering, then you probably need one with a push function (to ease the task), the push button to reset to mid position controlled by software. Problem with encoders and 'trim' function is to mitigate the min/max area you use. Low resolution encoders tend to need more then one revolution to reach the logical endpoints (dependent on resolution) and there is no visual feedback to show where on the scale you are on.

 

A HAL based pot 5-10kohms is ideal for most interface cards but a bit pricy.

 

 

- edit: have you decided on how (with what cards) you will use to interface your consoles with DCS ?

 

Best

Gus

 

All good Gus, I really liked the link, it does give better ideas when you see what can be done, I do have another one to make for the front console and will be trying to drill the shaft out of a pot, it could be easier and tidier.

 

I have 2 GGG controllers from other builds but also bought some Nano's and as I want to LED i might also go for MMJoy and get a Mega.

 

For the front screen it is going to be designed around a 32" monitor so I can upgrade to Touchscreen if I go for the Super Hornet on later releases.

[Mr_Burns]

All the panels are the same deep color as the FCS panel, must have been the angle of the photo and the light:

 

 

Aldo, that button on the FCS will be replaced its just stuck in the paper, there will also be a LED properly seated in the APU panel.

 

[Mr_Burns]

These are the basic plans, bit of on the fly adjustments to make the Panel deck longer and that angle steeper but not a bad start for anyone interested:

 

 

Thanks to Klu at Hornetpits for the Sketchup of the cockpit.

[Mr_Burns]

I was thinking about modding my Warthog for F/A-18 but I have an X-52 throttle and stick in pieces when I started and never finished a cyclic so I decided better of it.

 

Found an old thread on here where Linden posted a panel .dxf so I though being as though the throttle is there the external power is, plus I am not going to be able to to a t/d trim push on the FCS panel I would just create a custom panel. Not sure of the functionality of F/A-18C - so the hatched box is for a warning tone silence if there is one!

 

Feel bad following BB's lovely pit but I can never do that so have to work with what I have!

 

 

I bought a Scroll Saw today, should assist making some of the panels. Also decided putting a dot in the middle of the printouts will help with making sure all the switch cut outs line up.

[ward8124]

Feel bad following BB's lovely pit but I can never do that so have to work with what I have!

 

Can't feel any worse than me looking at my Frankenpit! That guy is on another level and so is yours so far mate so stick with it!

[Hansolo]

Feel bad following BB's lovely pit but I can never do that so have to work with what I have!

 

No need to feel bad at all Mr_Burns. Main thing is you are building your pit, it works and looks good :thumbup:

Keep up the good work Sir.

 

Cheers

Hans

[Mr_Burns]

Just added my "panel" to the Warthog throttle to see how it looks. Note the screw position on the top left isnt aligned to the template.

 

 

 

[ward8124]

Like this idea mate looks good!

[ward8124]

How's the pit going Burnsy? Been looking to emulate your selective stores jettiison switch as i can't find ANYTHING on the web that i can get my paws on which would do the job :(

[Mr_Burns]

Just building the UFC, wired the key matrix for the input, just need to do a few more.

 

There is a link higher up, if you have a spare encoder and a small drill you can drill done the middle of the shaft and out of the bottom of the encoder?

 

You are right though, nothing on line.

 

Word of advice, check the rotary you are using matches the panel engravings, mine doesn't align to each of the jettison points.

[ward8124]

I was looking at doing just that already though i'll need to use some really small gauge wiring to do it. I've not got any engraved panels so don't need to worry too much on this but point noted. I was also looking at the UFC too and have a bunch of led momentary switches that i can wire to a board but i've the issue of finding suitable end caps that fit them. Would be nice to get a panel made up for this but i've not got the tools or design software/experience