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lesthegrngo

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With regards to the Saitek rudders.....try these. Replaces the pedals on a Saitek rudder set. More realistic pedals and allows use of the toe brakes. Easy installation as well. Woks great on mt setup...

Link to the guy on ebay - he does various versions, Cessna, MD, Combat plus some other FS related bits... 

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133935246818?hash=item1f2f29ade2:g:e7kAAOSwAiFhkiWr&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4HD4N8tYXKuxMB6snd7XybOGSWLdmYCqwMAiQ%2BOHP62gyUBcu5JESDMzeX65H%2BMLubyOas6CD%2FQNodE9rDfq%2FIJc1YErtxpqSaqBjxizeJTBnBgRSl59xjHFFygi5tZQFYxxkbS3LykFCGHSC3Fw%2BTvhuO9%2FUlNSdcQYsJUhX%2BQpLhRYnHYjwyndcmK9vATFU4iT7aYYodyUQfXicJzisFQGAuWBimYeMTmzl4YpwS6Z13OZzALogUs4bayVX9Li3H2lwcsLlpzuK6adn%2FCITEVh3RJogWI%2Bs7%2BfGIjewGnU|tkp%3ABk9SR8br9vb0YA

Pit.jpg

Pedals.jpg


Edited by redtcat2001
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Hi again all

I'm still waiting for the 0.66 OLED modules I ordered months ago for the UHF and VHF radio panels, so have started looking at other bits and pieces to work on. One of the things that I did when I started out was to use the small toggle switches you can get quite easily, as they were easy to incorporate, came in differenet 'flavours' (On-Off-On, On-On etc) and could be made to be soldered directly to the PCB, making On-On-On switches a breeze as well.

The problem with them is that they are small, which means they end up with a slightly toy like feel. Additionally, in some cases they are entirely the wrong type of switch, for example I used them on my Oxygen panel in the picture below, when reference to pictures of the panel show them to be a rotary type lever mounted vertically. I suspect that in real life two of them are actually potentiometers or RVDT's, and the third a three position rotary switch. None of these are available as far as I could see so I deceided to play around with what I have and see if I could replicate them. Looking at the DCS Bios outputs, they can be replicated with one three position and two two position switches

This is one of those recurring moments where the effort invoved is nowhere near in proportion to how much it adds to the rig, but nonetheless I couldn't stop it from niggling at me. As a result I came up with the little geared switch unit you see in the foreground. At the moment the two type, one geared to allow three positions, two to allow two positions, just about fit behind the existing panel, but with some refinement of the mounting assemblies these will fit easily to a modified backplate with the same footprint. They also feel really good, with a chunky positive feel. By using a custom PCB to surface mount the rotary switch which will also double up as the lower mount plate it looks like I will be able to make a nice, accurate looking Oxy panel that also feels good. 

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I also redid the electical panel to accommodate the larger toggle switches that are freely available, I'll get some pictures up here of before and after but the difference in feel is incredible. I was also very surprised at how little extra room they take up, so will not bother with the smaller ones going forwards. The only negative is that they require 3mm eyelet lead terminations, but I am happy to pay that price.

I was wondering how to make switch covers to replicate the ones on the actual panels (the environmental panel is a good example of different shapes) so I took one of the switches apart. The good news is that they are really easy to modify, and so I will be doing one and posting here including instructions so that you can copy it if you want

Lastly I was adding some more little details to the mock ACES II seat, here are the two pitot probes that stick out either side like Shrek's ears. All 3D printed, the round part on the Mono X and the other parts on the Lulzbot Mini. I'm happy how they turned out

20221013_102437.jpg

Cheers

Les


Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 2 weeks later...

With a huge amount of help from Vinc Vega, I finally have a 'proper' standby attitude indicator; the software and electronics development was entirely his, and he's also been very patient in helping me get my (slightly different) hardware working. I then did the easy bit, which was to make a suitable instrument surround to show it off properly 

It works correctly in game and has functionality built in that so far I haven't tested, but I will get round to it

By the way, for a sense of scale the allen bolts are M2

Cheers 

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Edited by lesthegrngo
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With the continued help of Vinc Vega (and a lot of patience by him too!) I have finally got my standby instrment panel finished. The clock and the SAI look fantastic 

I still have to make the new AOA gauge glass as the old one is too small for the new panel, but that is a minor detail. For info, the picture makes the light areas a lot more blue than they are in real life

Cheers

Les

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Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 3 weeks later...

I have the Saitek combat pedals but below deck they are the same as yours.

I installed bearings in place of the sliding plastic pieces. Makes them glassy smooth. 

 

Saitek rudder pedals bearing mod. by Thick8 - Thingiverse

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

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  • 2 months later...
  • 2 months later...

Dude, the Standby AI looks fantastic. Is there any chance you can go into a bit more detail on how it's made? 

I'm making an F-14B pit and some of the instruments on the MIP are a bit to difficult for me to make work without a screen to drive it. This looks like it would fit right into my build. 

Cheers,

Mumbles.

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Sure, I certainly can, although the ever helpful VincVega is the true genius behind it.

The display is one of those round OLED displays you can get on the web that are used in smart watches like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/265030625039 - whichever you buy make sure it comes with a connection cable

The rest of the hardware is made from laser cut or engraved acrylic, a small 3D printed part and an ESP development board like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VJ34N2Q/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If you want any of the CAD drawings or files, let me know, I'm happy to give you them

For the software, you will need a dedicated F-14 sketch, as clearly the one I have is for the A-10, and it was Vinc that was the author of that. However I imagine that you could probably reverse engineer the A-10 sketch if you had a bit of knowhow. It uses some bitmaps for the instrument sprites which you can modify in paint. I ended up having to change the bitmaps slightly from those that Vinc supplied, but that was due to mistakes by me in getting the hardware. I changed the ESP device I got in the end, which resolved some memory issues

Hopefully Vinc is reading this and can advise on the conversion to the F-14

Les

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The Saitek pedals broke (the usual toe brake spring retainer) so I am getting the MFG Crosswind pedal set, which with bespoke pedal plate adapters will fit inside my rig. I wanted the TM TRP set as they seem to have a more accurate action, but they were far too large for my rig without extensive mods to the frame. The MFG set were cheaper and have a good reputation, and are customisable so I think they will be fine.

However I will try and make my own pedal pads that look more like the real thing, and also sit at a better angle . The ME109 style ones that come with the set will be fine to be getting on with but I think with some aluminium tube and plate plus some 3D printed bits I should be able to make a stand off replica set. 

If anyone has experience like this, I'm all ears!

Les

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Got the Crosswind pedals, you can read what I think here  

From a cost view, the Crosswind pedals are vastly better that the Saitek ones they replace, and that view was reinforced when I opened up the Saitek pedals to see if they could be fixed for someone else to use.

I was unimpressed with them when they worked, but diving into them for the repair showed me just how bad they really were. All the major parts are floppy, with a lot of slop in the joints, the parts were not very strong, and the internals really scream built down to a cost. My wife then pointed out how (relatively) little use they got considering how old they were. They were purchased in mid 2019, and for at least half the time since my rig has been under construction, and another six months in a container floating on the ocean somewhere. That means effectively only about a year and a half of actual use, and even then not that hard use to be truthful.

As ever it comes down to cost, but the Saitek pedals weren't that cheap, really - certainly not worth what I paid. I now know that it is worth paying a more for the more premium devices, and so if I want something but don't have the money, I will wait until I do. The MFG pedals have hammered that point home, much like the Racing sim kit.

Still, you live and learn

Les  


Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 3 weeks later...

True to form, now that I have the MFG Crosswind pedals I can't help myself - I had to see if I could make some pendulum pedals to work with them.

As a result of some initial test parts, I have come up with the pedal arrangement in the pictures below. Essentially there is a stirrup (the brown Dexion structure) which is pivoted at the top, and then there is an MDF pedal which is pivoted at the bottom of the stirrup. A 3D printed twin point rod end bracket is fixed to the back of the pedal, which has 3D printed toe brake and lower foot rest bumps attached. A matching twin point rod end bracket is made and fitted to the MFG pedal pad in place of the original pedal. Finishing off the assembly are the two parallelogram linkages with the rod ends fitted.

All the pivot points are 3D printed trunnions with 6mm ID ball bearings. The intention is to make sure that all the pivots are good quality so that they do not affect the pedal movement or induce any unwanted geometry changes. As a result one of the design considerations which can't be seen from the pictures below is that the the pedal fore and aft movement is essentially on the same horizontal plane as the MFG pedal pivot axis. This (hopefully) will ensure that any fore and aft movement of the pedal is translated into a linear movement by the lower push rod, but that rotating the pedal using the toe brake will act above the MFG pedal pivot axis and so act only to rotate the pedal with no fore and aft movement.

So as you can see this is all cobbled together with very adjustable materials so that I can alter angles, distances and pivot points before finally settling on sizes for a better aluminium structure. All that remains now is for me to install them solidly in my rig in such a way that the angles and movements can be tested without any flex or looseness affecting how the pedals move or actuate the MFG pedal base. That will allow me to determine the final sizes and geometry 

I made some 3D models of most of the MFG pedal base to allow me to model the movement in CAD, and I will probably make those available on GrabCad, but please note that I am deliberately not modelling certain parts and am using reduced accuracy on other parts as I do not want to undermine MFG's proprietary info. As a result they are good to see if the pedals will fit in your rig, but not much more. For the other self designed parts, I will happily share those.

As soon as I have been able to fit them into my rig I will report back on whether or not it is a workable project. 

Cheers

Les

 

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57 minutes ago, lesthegrngo said:

True to form, now that I have the MFG Crosswind pedals I can't help myself - I had to see if I could make some pendulum pedals to work with them.

As a result of some initial test parts, I have come up with the pedal arrangement in the pictures below. Essentially there is a stirrup (the brown Dexion structure) which is pivoted at the top, and then there is an MDF pedal which is pivoted at the bottom of the stirrup. A 3D printed twin point rod end bracket is fixed to the back of the pedal, which has 3D printed toe brake and lower foot rest bumps attached. A matching twin point rod end bracket is made and fitted to the MFG pedal pad in place of the original pedal. Finishing off the assembly are the two parallelogram linkages with the rod ends fitted.

All the pivot points are 3D printed trunnions with 6mm ID ball bearings. The intention is to make sure that all the pivots are good quality so that they do not affect the pedal movement or induce any unwanted geometry changes. As a result one of the design considerations which can't be seen from the pictures below is that the the pedal fore and aft movement is essentially on the same horizontal plane as the MFG pedal pivot axis. This (hopefully) will ensure that any fore and aft movement of the pedal is translated into a linear movement by the lower push rod, but that rotating the pedal using the toe brake will act above the MFG pedal pivot axis and so act only to rotate the pedal with no fore and aft movement.

So as you can see this is all cobbled together with very adjustable materials so that I can alter angles, distances and pivot points before finally settling on sizes for a better aluminium structure. All that remains now is for me to install them solidly in my rig in such a way that the angles and movements can be tested without any flex or looseness affecting how the pedals move or actuate the MFG pedal base. That will allow me to determine the final sizes and geometry 

I made some 3D models of most of the MFG pedal base to allow me to model the movement in CAD, and I will probably make those available on GrabCad, but please note that I am deliberately not modelling certain parts and am using reduced accuracy on other parts as I do not want to undermine MFG's proprietary info. As a result they are good to see if the pedals will fit in your rig, but not much more. For the other self designed parts, I will happily share those.

As soon as I have been able to fit them into my rig I will report back on whether or not it is a workable project. 

Cheers

Les

 

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wtf-is-going-rycmxm.jpg

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Here are some better pictures of some of the parts

20230421_103417.jpg

These are the push rods, MFG attachment on the left, pedal attachment on the right. The longer rod goes to the top for the toe brake actuation

20230421_103606.jpg

The upper stirrup pivot trunnions, the larger block houses the bearing. 

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The individual parts for the parallelogram link; left to right at the bottom, rudder push rod, two part rod end saddle for the back of the pedal, toe brake push rod 

At the top is the rod end adapter saddle for the MFG base  

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The rear of the pedal showing the saddle attached, and the pivot bearing housings

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Front of the pedal, with the main rudder push block on the left and the toe brake push block on the right. 

All these parts are just for proof of concept , and once I have correctly positioned everything better designs will follow

Les 


Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm waiting for a few parts that I sent out to make for the pedals that are too big to make at home, so I turned my attention to the UHF radio panel to keep me moving forward

You will see in a separate thread that I had a bit of a song and dance getting the larger of the to OLED panels to display correctly, but with Vinc and Outbaxx's help I managed to get it up and running fine. In the end I opted to split the displays over two Nano boards as I needed the extra pins anyway for all the rotary encoders and switches. I have a 3D printed load cover assembly to add to it, though I don't think that I will be making it a switched part, at least not in this iteration. It's a level of complexity that I think is unnecessary for my use. 

UHF Radio.jpg

The OLED displays look a bit blurry in this picture, not sure why, but in real life they are very sharp and clear. I will probably play with the frequency font size to reduce it by a pixel or two in height so that it has a bit more border around it. Unfortunately u8g2 doesn't have the ability to scale fonts which would have made this more easy, but it's not a huge task to make a new font once you have been shown how

Also, looking at those 3D printed knobs, they are unpainted but I think I need to paint them a darker shade of grey; they look a bit toy like  

Cheers

 

Les


Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's the progress on the CDU update using a 5" HDMI LCD screen, and a direct to slave mega circuit board. The second PCB is the key lighting that goes behind the switch PCB. I need to just fettle the fascia key apertures to ensure they are all smooth, 

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Cheers

Les


Edited by lesthegrngo
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  • 2 weeks later...

Here are the new pedal parts to convert my Crosswind unit to pendulum type pedals. The parts are a bit over engineered, but are nice and beefy so once tightened up are very rigid and rugged. They use 19mm OD 6mm ID bearings to make sure everything is smooth and free of any unwanted movement. You can see the 3D printed pedal pad with a 4mm aluminum sheet backplate to ensure strength, and to eliminate flex.

The parts are predominantly laser cut, with the major parts from 10mm thick sheet pocketed to take the bearings. I will have to have to either turn or 3d print some spacing bushes to ensure the pedal pads sit in the correct location, and also to ensure that the stirrups are located correctly. I can fine tune using the bushes. The crosslink mounting is also mounted with bearings, and should help me with the adjustability

I'm a bit disappointed in the rather scratched surfaces of the parts, this is from the shop that laser cut the parts for me - I expected them to be a bit more careful. I have cleaned some up but have a way to go yet but eventually I will have them looking more presentable

Cheers

Les

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