My A-10C preparation

[Duckling]

Switch labled "8749K13, MS25128-1, Nov 62" "CH"

Plate 34,8 x 53,7 mm

Hole distance 46 mm

pole/level 21 mm obove plate

Center pos is non electrical connected

Auto (Up) is "latched"/hold and act as a standard toggle

hot/cold (left- and right -down) position is momentary positions

 

 

Switch is from a F-104 panel so I can't say for sure same is use in the Hog but it fits the environment panel

 

/gus

Edited March 6, 2010 by Duckling

[Alex_rcpilot]

Well that's cool! I'm revising my code to support this kind of mixed-type toggle switch on my card.

[rocketeer]

Ok some updates again. Made replicas of the knobs and painted them, except for the arrow/line indicator painted white.

 

 

For the CODE and MASTER switches in the IFF panel, I just saw some wood and painted them black. I have a round plastic disc under the white circles, which eventually will be printed white letters on black background.

 

It's great to have these knobs done. Now my panels are looking more '3D' with the knobs instead just flat pictures.

[rocketeer]

 

Added a hat switch knob that I stole from my old F22 Pro stick.

 

Also added a big red knob for the Manual Reversion switch as I saw that was so in the actual picture.

 

Added a big long rectangular block for the big round disc in the Inter panel.

 

Also the hard-to-find UHF knobs are done so I'm happy with that.

 

For the KY58 panel, the knob on the left was the same knob from the other big gray knobs but I removed the disc below it with a dremel tool, just to be like the actual knob with the disc.

[rocketeer]

Right side panels.

 

 

I also noticed that there is one square knob so it did likewise.

[HitchHikingFlatlander]

Nice work Rocketeer really nice work!

[Alex_rcpilot]

Came back with a question: I don't know whether all the toggles are reported as distinct inputs as they look. I remember back in the day, there were complaints about two way or even three way toggles which are only mapped as single control items in the cockpit. That means when someone connects a toggle to the I/O card, it may generate 2 or 3 different button events, but they need to be merged into one control event to operate the corresponding toggle in game. Has anyone got an idea if that will happen to A-10C? So far, my card doesn't merge inputs at all, and I don't wish to add this capability coz it's overwhelming for the chip.

[rocketeer]

Does anyone know (esp. ED Team) if the rocker switches in the A-10C CDU are on-off latched or momentary? From the picture they look level, not one side down and the other up. Sitting level suggests to me they are momentary, or maybe I'm reading wrong form the picture. Finding rockers of this dimension (approx 9 x 20mm) is hard enough. I don't want to end up getting the wrong type.

[Avilator]

Hello, everyone, this is my second post on these forums. (My first was over in Meet and Greet, but nobody responded.) Anyway, I'm the very early planning stages of an A-10C pit, and I have a couple of questions.

First:Rocketeer, if I PM you, can you send me the images you taped to the cardboard to lay out your panels?

Second: Can anyone give any thoughts on using real aircraft instruments in my simpit? I'm thinking of the ADI, HSI, and altimeter, as they have many small parts that I'm not sure I want to build.

 

Thanks for your input!

[Feuerfalke]

Hello, everyone, this is my second post on these forums. (My first was over in Meet and Greet, but nobody responded.) Anyway, I'm the very early planning stages of an A-10C pit, and I have a couple of questions.

First:Rocketeer, if I PM you, can you send me the images you taped to the cardboard to lay out your panels?

Second: Can anyone give any thoughts on using real aircraft instruments in my simpit? I'm thinking of the ADI, HSI, and altimeter, as they have many small parts that I'm not sure I want to build.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

Hey and welcome to the forums.

 

Long story short: Your bank-account is the limit on the answer of adding realistic instruments:

http://www.simw.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_products_list&mid=2&smid=146

 

If you don't have the money, there's a lot of different approaches, reaching from TFTs displaying the instruments behind a panel to selfmade instruments.

[Avilator]

Hey and welcome to the forums.

 

Long story short: Your bank-account is the limit on the answer of adding realistic instruments:

http://www.simw.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=dsp_products_list&mid=2&smid=146

 

If you don't have the money, there's a lot of different approaches, reaching from TFTs displaying the instruments behind a panel to selfmade instruments.

 

Thanks for the link, but I was thinking more along the lines of how difficult it would be to get a real instrument to recieve and respond to output from the simulator. ie, how to make a gyro-powered ADI or HSI move when the ones in the sim move

[Feuerfalke]

Your question consists of two different questions.

 

1. How real aircraft instruments can be used, which they can't for obvious reasons.

 

2. How data is transfered to external devices working as cockpit instruments. Now, that is done via LUA-export and custom written programs and configs to interpret the data. AFAIK there is also a sim-cockpit support planned. Well, I hope it still is.

[Deadman]

Feuerfalke Your answer about using real instruments is incorrect Mike Powell has addressed the use of real instruments on his site and in his books http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/

[Avilator]

I do have Mike's instrumentation book. Maybe I should refine my question: If I bought a real ADI, took out the gyro and used just the mechanics of the pitch/roll indication, would that be eaiser/cheaper than building it myself?

[rocketeer]

You can buy instrument gauges that look like the real thing, from sim kits or flight illusion etc. and then connect to the PC via I/O solutions like Open Cockpits. You don't need to buy real aircraft instruments.

 

As for PM, sure, anyone who has PMed me for the pictures I've sent to them. We are here to share info and help each other.

[rocketeer]

Still hoping for someone to confirm if the rocker switch in the CDU is latched or momentary type.

[Deadman]

I have bought real instruments for much lees than either site but i started in 2005. I just depends on the level of detail that you want in your cockpit.

[Avilator]

Rocketeer: I sent you a PM. (I don't know if it worked, I'm still new at this.)

Deadman: My standards are pretty high in terms of realism, but cost will be the deciding factor.:( Although, being a student at a technical college with access to metal and woodworking shops with CNC and rapid prototyping machines can't be bad!:thumbup:

[rocketeer]

Although, being a student at a technical college with access to metal and woodworking shops with CNC and rapid prototyping machines can't be bad!:thumbup:

 

I want to trade places with you!

[Alex_rcpilot]

I do have Mike's instrumentation book. Maybe I should refine my question: If I bought a real ADI, took out the gyro and used just the mechanics of the pitch/roll indication, would that be eaiser/cheaper than building it myself?

 

Well, if you bought a real ADI for less than 100 bucks in the first place, I guess you might end up with a cheaper solution. Not sure about the simplicity coz I never had the pleasure to come across one. A ground crew told me even a damaged backup ADI on a B737 would still worth as much as a BMW, or at least a Volkswagen?:music_whistling:

[Avilator]

I did some searching on eBay, and found some instruments, but none exactly like the A-10C. Most of them were under 200 dollars, but some were over $20,000!:shocking: Anyway, looks like I have to get busy with some designs!

[Alex_rcpilot]

I believe A-10C virtual panel will be out soon after the add-on is released. So if you don't mind using an LCD behind a piece of plywood, you don't need to get worried.

[Avilator]

Well, I wanted actual instruments (self-made or otherwise) to look at, but I just may use the LCD-behind-the-panel approach until I complete them all.

[rocketeer]

Wags just confirmed that the rockers in the CDU are momentary just as I guessed. That's great! Now the challenge is to find momentary rockers of that dimension, or somehow make latched rockers into momentary ones. I haven't tried that. Has anyone?

[Deadman]

Possibly but there are a few thinks to consider.

1How many LCD are you going to hook up I want at least three for the outside view 2 for the Color Multifunction displays and possibly one for the engine gauges now the ati 5870 hd are $400 to $600 dollars so your making an investment before you ever add the lcd monitors.

 

2. getting the main instrument panel structural sound to hold ever thing after you have cut all the holes out for all the instruments. Remember the main instrument panel is not flat in realty but it is stepped for different instruments and has some thing like 2.75 to 3.25 inch thickness at the thickest point and around .75 inch thickness for the main flat part of the main panel. The main panel has to be strong to support the pulling on the landing gear handle and the fire handels.

 

3 Cutting the LCD to fit the 5 inch wide center raised portion would be and interesting exercise so it would fit the raised section and not be 3 inches behind the panel.

 

I believe A-10C virtual panel will be out soon after the add-on is released. So if you don't mind using an LCD behind a piece of plywood, you don't need to get worried.