Jump to content

F-15E UFC with 7" screen

MillKris

By MillKris
in Home Cockpits

 Share

Recommended Posts

Sacarino111

Sacarino111

Posted
Posted

Hi @MillKris. Whyat an outstanding job of yours!

Good work, no doubt. I made the A10 C UFC, the F/A-18 and the ICP of the F-16, but yourd look gorgeouse.

I don't know how the Leo Bodnar actually works, but I did my projects with this info ( https://forum.dcs.world/topic/97434-an-arduino-usb-hid-controller-composite-usb-controller), reason being that it has 256 buttons (😱) and up to 8 pots (💪), but the most important thing I wanted to share with you is that the buttons are created over a matrix, witch saves a lot of wire mess and makes troubleshooting more easy (if that is possible). And believe me, that is important... 

I didn't ment to be mean, just I had a rush reaction when I saw all those wires (😜).

If you think I may be of some help, don't hesitate in asking.

Saludos.

Saca111

 

  • Like 1
MillKris

MillKris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@Sacarino111 Thank you very much for the praise. I'm familiar with Arduino USB HID, but I haven't had the time to really deep dive into it. Because I'm lazy, I've been using the controllers from Leo Bodnar so far. They support up to 64 inputs, which is usually sufficient. Dealing with the cables can be quite annoying, but fortunately, my girlfriend enjoys soldering.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Stewmanji

Stewmanji

Posted
Posted

A girlfriend that solders flight simulation hardware?!? A definite keeper sir!

I congratulated you on Reddit already but this project (and your cockpit) deserve a 2nd shout-out. Well done!

  • Like 2

Hangar: A-7 | A-10C | AV-8B | F-14B | F-15C | F-15E | F-16C | F-18C | KA-50 | Mi-8 | SA342 | UH-1H

Sacarino111

Sacarino111

Posted
Posted

Really good setup. Congrats!

And the good thing is, with little mind effort, you can use it for the Hornet and the Harrier. Almost direct translation.

And yes, keep that GF happy, she's a catch!

Saludos.

Saca111

  • Like 2
Vakarian

Vakarian

Posted
Posted

Very nice, thanks a lot for sharing the files.

I will try to build a PCB for this as I've already build a Harrier UFC and it's a frigging mess with the wires inside 🤣 With some luck and free time, this could be a nice holiday season project 

  • Like 3
Sacarino111

Sacarino111

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Vakarian said:

Very nice, thanks a lot for sharing the files.

I will try to build a PCB for this as I've already build a Harrier UFC and it's a frigging mess with the wires inside 🤣 With some luck and free time, this could be a nice holiday season project 

HI @Vakarian.

Think about what I told the OP; Try to use a common ground wire for the most of the buttons as possible, it really helps reducing the amount of wires. And also, if possible, use color wires, so it is easier to follow the track of them when trouble shooting.

For my project, I used ribbon cable (like the ones in an IDE cable), cut so a group of buttons that are close in the board stay together and make less of a mess. As an example, the left 5 selector buttons will go in a 5 wires ribbon cable, another 5 block for the right hand 5 selector buttons and so on... and the common (ground) part of the buttons is connceted together into a single wire, so you can economize lot of cable nest.

It is cleaner but more difficult to keep trak of the cables.

I hope I made myself clear, as it is not as easy to explain in words.

Go for it and enjoy the journey (I did enjoy making my boxes, I almost prefered making them than actually flying with them).

Saludos.

Saca111

Vakarian

Vakarian

Posted
Posted

Yeah, even when using common ground and multiplexers/shift registers, you still have a lot of wires so I'd like to avoid that. 

I've been challenging myself to do a PCB for a while now, it's time I actually build one hahaha. 

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Posted
Posted (edited)

I'll be the first to ask a stupid question.

Is that white mounting board for the keypad buttons something that was bought from somewhere, or is that part of the print files?  I just ask it was obviously a different color and looks like you have more than one of them in the picture.

Edited by Rainmaker
Sacarino111

Sacarino111

Posted
Posted
18 hours ago, Vakarian said:

I've been challenging myself to do a PCB for a while now, it's time I actually build one hahaha.

Yep. That's the way to go.

I tried with "Fritzing", not bad app but not free anymore, but at the end you need that PCB done; so it was a new skill to learn, or make a pro make it (PCBway, as an example), so I stuck with a lot of cables as the less and faster to accomplish.

The end result is astonnishing, I can not imagine flying without a physical setup.

Saludos

Saca111

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Posted
Posted

Slowly going, but going. 

Had some old dupont connector pigtails I tried to use, which were absolutely terrible at taking solder. In a pinch, turns out some old phone line cord is solid strand and actually works like a champ. The. i had to splice them together, hence the excessive cable. Got a crimper/female dupont connectors coming tomorrow, so that drama should end. 

I initially put the grid lines in, but think I’m leaving them out (or maybe just snap in) so I can use it to show a DED or whatever if ai fly other jets. 

Thanks for being kind enough to share the plans, have had a few snags a long the way with some things not printing perfectly (I suck as trying to make the keypad font work), but am amazed how tight of a fit everything is could have never pieced that all together myself.  

IMG_3136.jpeg

 

  • Like 2
MillKris

MillKris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@Rainmaker Awesome! I noticed you're using the BBI 64. I just ordered mine as well. Just a heads up, I initially uploaded the wrong 'UFC Display Button,' which caused some interference with the display when pressed. I've since replaced them with the correct ones, 'UFC Display Button v2'.

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Posted
Posted
On 10/9/2023 at 8:53 AM, MillKris said:

@Rainmaker Awesome! I noticed you're using the BBI 64. I just ordered mine as well. Just a heads up, I initially uploaded the wrong 'UFC Display Button,' which caused some interference with the display when pressed. I've since replaced them with the correct ones, 'UFC Display Button v2'.

Hey!  Thanks for that. The keypad buttons were def a bit of a fight for me. Even with the new ones, I had a heck of a time getting them to work around the display frame. Definitely a tight fit and tight tolerances. Hot glue to help dry fit is def your friend IMO. 
 

With that said, I finally won the battle, I believe. Had to do some audibles on the BBI board to get the cabling routed where I was okay with it. The lower frame made for a descent place to mount the monitor boards. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have made some sort of table that fit over the screen with a bit of elevation on it to keep if off the back so I could have mounted everything onto it. I wasnt doing that all over again though. Haha. Bit of a rat’s nest with the wires, but I am tired of soldering so as long as it all holds, its staying as is. 
 

I just need to figure out how I’m going to mount it to my WW mounts. At this point, probably going to just do a piece of 1/4” ply across the back and bolt through the mounts. TBD. 
 

IMG_3139.jpeg

  • Like 1
MillKris

MillKris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

@Rainmaker I would recommend starting with a test print for the buttons to see how the fit is. If necessary, you can scale down X and Y until it fits. This also depends on the printer. In my case, the buttons fit perfectly. In this instance, the STL files have already been scaled down by 1%. I'm glad to hear that you're making progress.

  • Like 1
Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Posted
Posted

Finally had some time to finish and get it mounted temporarily for testing. Curious as to whether anyone else is having the same issue or perhaps knows what the cause might be. The main menu is fine, but all the submenus get garbled text and ghosting of previous menu text on the screen. Super weird and never seen the issue before.  I might try flipping the exports around to different screens when I get some spare time. IMG_3142.jpeg

IMG_3143.jpeg

Rainmaker

Rainmaker

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, MillKris said:

looks very good! The malfunctioning UFC export appears to be a bug. I'm optimistic that it will be rectified in the upcoming update

Thank you!  For the words and the build plans. 
 

I wondered if it was a bug or not. I’ll try messing around with it. Would be the first time I’ve seen an exported diplay have that issue so it was a weird one. Can bring it up with the devs and see if they might have any ideas on a solution. 

  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...
MillKris

MillKris

Posted
  • Author
Posted
On 11/19/2023 at 12:18 AM, Maclamule81 said:

I have the same bug. i think is a afterglow page menu

there is a temp solution to fix the UFC ghosting bug.

 

go to : DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\aircraft\F-15E\Cockpit\UFC\Indicator\UFC_Rear_init.lua

find line : try_find_assigned_viewport("UFC")

replace by : try_find_assigned_viewport("UFC_rear")



Credits to this guy on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/hoggit/comments/16x8y49/comment/kctay6x/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...