DIY MFD

[Jyge]

I got an inspiritation and started tinkering myself DIY MFDs. I got couple of arduino pro micro controllers and bunch of different quadratic buttons and rocker switches. Now I am doing myself a frame for them. As I am too cheap to get myself a 3D printer I went the traditional way. Here are some WIP photos:

Now my only dilemma is, whether I should now paint it black with airbrush or actually leave it and wax it. I mean beech is not that bad as a decorative element. Normally you pay extra for getting some wood on your dashboard in your car as a decoration, so why not in F/A-18...

Edited January 9, 2019 by Jyge

[hansangb]

I kind of like the wood look, myself. And get/make a zero clearance inserts for your Dewalt since you're working with small margins! :)

 

Looking good. You'll have to drill some holes for the buttons, tight tolerance there.

 

Best of luck. Looks good.

[Jyge]

I kind of like the wood look, myself. And get/make a zero clearance inserts for your Dewalt since you're working with small margins! :)

 

Looking good. You'll have to drill some holes for the buttons, tight tolerance there.

 

Best of luck. Looks good.

 

 

I got bunch of these:

 

 

 

 

 

I only need to drill holes for the feet of the buttons to get them through and do some soldering on the back side. The tolerances are ridiculously small for wood. I yet have to see how snugly the buttons sit in the frame. Then I need to make some sort of box for the electronics as well...

[hansangb]

I got bunch of these:

 

 

 

 

 

I only need to drill holes for the feet of the buttons to get them through and do some soldering on the back side. The tolerances are ridiculously small for wood. I yet have to see how snugly the buttons sit in the frame. Then I need to make some sort of box for the electronics as well...

 

Maybe replace the back with a thin acrylic? But I guess the structural support is coming from the frame surrounding the buttons. Even if you blow it out, no one would see it.

 

Good luck and make sure your controllers have unique USB Device GUIDs so you can use them simultaneously.

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

I respect and admire your work, but I don´t think it´s worth the hassle having TM Cougar available and, from my point of view, not expensive at all.

Please take no offense on my statement.

I like DIY, I built a Monstertech-alike mount for my throttle, so that´s why sometimes I appreciate effort commercial builders put into their products.

 

But of course, have good fun building them, obviously there is a sense of achievement that market parts fail to get :)

[Gearbox]

I respect and admire your work, but I don´t think it´s worth the hassle having TM Cougar available and, from my point of view, not expensive at all.

Please take no offense on my statement.

I like DIY, I built a Monstertech-alike mount for my throttle, so that´s why sometimes I appreciate effort commercial builders put into their products.

 

But of course, have good fun building them, obviously there is a sense of achievement that market parts fail to get :)

 

 

That's the problem with this hobby, it's made of so many sub-hobbies that eat away your time and money...

 

 

Computer building

Cockpit building

Cockpit subassembly creation

Software writing

Systems integration to make them all work together

Forum posting

Reading tactics and operations manuals

Actually flying the stupid thing

[Jyge]

I respect and admire your work, but I don´t think it´s worth the hassle having TM Cougar available and, from my point of view, not expensive at all.

Please take no offense on my statement.

I like DIY, I built a Monstertech-alike mount for my throttle, so that´s why sometimes I appreciate effort commercial builders put into their products.

 

But of course, have good fun building them, obviously there is a sense of achievement that market parts fail to get :)

 

 

I could easily afford Cougar, that is not at all the issue, maybe I just like the hassle ;)

[Guppy]

While the Cougars do allow less hassle dont forget they are sized smaller than the L/R DDIs and AMPCD for the hornet. And they are smaller than the R/L MFD in the Warthog.

 

I've long considered building my own to make those panels a big larger but - meh.

 

Nice work!

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

While the Cougars do allow less hassle dont forget they are sized smaller than the L/R DDIs and AMPCD for the hornet. And they are smaller than the R/L MFD in the Warthog.

 

I've long considered building my own to make those panels a big larger but - meh.

 

Nice work!

They look great to me on VR :D

[Jyge]

Is there actually a limit to the number of joysticks that DCS supports?

[Gearbox]

They look great to me on VR :D

 

 

I have a pair that I bought back when they came out, are they worth using with VR? Can you use them by feel well enough to be worth it?

[Ala12Rv-Tundra]

I have a pair that I bought back when they came out, are they worth using with VR? Can you use them by feel well enough to be worth it?

 

absolutely yes, I put a silicone sticker on every center button so it's easier.

put them fixed so you develop muscle memory quicker

[Jyge]

So first button row ready and functionality checked. Progressing to the second one (brushing up my rusty soldering skills again):