The modular FPS/flight/racing sim pit.

[PeterP]

Metalnwood,

Don't you think it is time to ask a Mod to rename this thread?

 

I know for sure that this is no more a FPS/Racing pit. :)

[metalnwood]

Metalnwood,

Don't you think it is time to ask a Mod to rename this thread?

 

I know for sure that this is no more a FPS/Racing pit. :)

 

Yes you are right, no mare racing in this one! Although the thread title does fit it's legacy which takes up a couple pages. No doubt if it's title was replica a10 thread or something it would get a couple more people looking at it.

 

 

Just got all the screens turned on, what a pita that was for various reasons - mostly small cable lengths!

[ilikepie]

mostly small cable lengths!

 

need more fibre in your diet if you wanna lay longer cables :music_whistling:

[deaconjb]

Fantastic pit MnW! Many great ideas. I really like the seat rail idea and will try to include it in my pit.

[metalnwood]

I thought I would get back to doing my CDU. I wasn't really happy with the keys from my last effort as the laser melts the top edges of the keys a bit when cutting deep.

 

So its on to engraving the keytops and moving machines to mill out the keys. I did it yesterday to much disaster lol :) I didn't put enough glue to laminate the engraving layer to the acrylic used for the main body of the key.

 

When I started to mill out the keys the tops started to pop off. Hopefully that will no happen this time.

 

So, here is a small plate of acrylic, engraved with some registration marks as well so that when I move it from machines I can line it up properly.

 

After I pick up the kids I will finish it off later tonight.

 

[MacFevre]

Sure, I could get in if it was the real aircraft, thing to hold on to , foot rests in the side of the fuselage and I can stand on the seat.

 

That made me smile. You'd be surprised how the pilots would dislike us mechanics standing on their seats! Of course, occasionally having hydraulic fluid on the boots didn't help any. Oh how Skydrol can burn after awhile! :cry:

[metalnwood]

Possible to guess I have not finished the keys, got sidetracked.

 

From time to time I get pm's to make some panel kits and I was doing one today but due to an error, the way the software works I had a setting defaulted that wasnt great.

 

So I cant send the panels out and will have to make another set but the good news is that my own pit is something good at acquiring my 'seconds' that I dont like to give to people who pay :)

 

I have meant to do mine for ages and now, inadvertently I have lol.

 

picture is bad, out of focus and the panels have not been fully cleaned - you can see the enviro panel is still wet from wiping before the picture.

 

They are actualy not bad and only a handful of letters on some panels exhibit a slight wave on parts of them. Doesnt worry me for my own pit though.

 

[metalnwood]

I put one mostly together. Also managed to spill some chemicals on it and ruin the black finish at the top right! Full of mistakes lately. I have decided I will re do a full set for myself anyway.

 

So I assembled it with just a couple of switches missing and tried it out for lighting. Before I do the next lot I need to make sure that the light plate covers all the text properly. The panels I cut for the other person were based on the plans he wanted, not mine so I will have to recreate all the ones I don't already have to incorporate proper backlighting.

 

This has come out OK but the light is not covering a couple of words fully. The illumination is very even though.

 

 

[Laurius]

Oh man ! All of those panels look awesome ! Really nice work Metalnwood ! :thumbup:

[Hansolo]

Very nice panels. Is it Rowmax you are using?

 

Cheers

 

Hans

[metalnwood]

Very nice panels. Is it Rowmax you are using?

 

Cheers

 

Hans

 

Thanks Hans, yes thats the product I am using. I am going to try the backlighting again with another product though. I am hoping I can get it all lit up with only a few LEDS in corners rather than a lot dotted all around near the engraved parts.

[Hansolo]

Thansk Metalnwood. Looking forward to hear your result on new product. With regard to the backlit, did you see the idea on Combat2468's thread. Looks quite promissiong:

http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1752889&postcount=17

 

Cheers

Hans

[metalnwood]

Thanks Hans, I did see that and my first thought was when I thought about using led strip which is not as easily bent and layed out. This looks good for that but the downside is having to then route out a path for it.

 

Thinking again I guess I dont have to route, the laser could just cut a channel all the way through as the wire would be sandwiched between the front and backplate anyway.

 

I will see of the other goes. If I can do an average sized panel with only four leds I will be happy

[metalnwood]

Tried the new product, went from 19 leds to 6 of the same leds.

 

I reckon I could get away with 5 and move one of the others slightly. Its doing an excellent job of moving the light across the entire face an up through the front panel.

 

This is going to make for much easier to assemble panels with far fewer lights.

 

[metalnwood]

I made a few changes to my pit. I decided not to go the route of a full a10 but go a bit more minimalist and hope that the rift does a lot for me in the future.

 

Until then I will rely on the touchscreen/helios etc for access to all aircraft controls that are not on the hotas. I am also scaling down from the 3x42" screens to a single 42" with the touchscreen.

 

I giess the truth is that while the three screens add the immersion with the side views you dont actually look at them with trackir. It took a few hours flying without them to get used to not having the view where it was but the additional smoothness and extra frames make up for it.

 

Now I am used to one screen again it is great and I can max everything for better image quality.

 

I also went with flims plans and built his current aces 2 seat as well as a couple others for local guys.

 

I have been flying on it a bit. I sure wish DCS will look like the new arma landscape at some point!

 

[TimeKilla]

Nice buddy, It's good to be able to convert it for other games, I've got the feeling that it might be getting less and less convertable as time goes on?

[metalnwood]

I am possibly going to make another one for helicopter flying. I can then hang one of the other 42" screens from the roof like this one but have the helo controls on it and the screen set in duplicate mode, all running off the single computer.

 

On this one I do want to play arma as it looks so good on the big screen. For most other FPS games that I dont need the joystick for I will just do them on a desktop machine.

 

I also still have the original pit for just racing so this one is really just for flying but I wanted to trim it all down. I was getting a little concerned about the nature of having only a single dedicated pit. Interests change and all that :)

[Flim]

The new pit has a pretty small foot print... you might like it!

[nobrot]

Looking at the original post, I would love to turn up to a LAN party with one of those.. very cool design...

[metalnwood]

Looking at the original post, I would love to turn up to a LAN party with one of those.. very cool design...

 

You would have to turn up with a trailer and a friend to help carry it!

 

For a little bit of today I was trying to figure out a good way to use my G15 keypad for arma and have somewhere to stash the keyboard.

 

I wanted to go from flying to infantry and for it to only take a couple of seconds. A bit difficult given the throttle is normally where the keyboard would go. I didnt want to have to take the throttle off and put something there to hold the keypad. That would take far to long and be clumsy. No doubt I would be dead by the time I exited the aircraft rearranged all the controls..

 

What I came up with is purely functional. It detracts from the look of things though so I am not 100% happy about that. I tried to make it slim but in the end it is fairly bulky. It looks more so because the only reference is the seat, which is only a seat not a full pit so it is quite small already.

 

I may redo it and try to make it a really bare bones structure to support the keyboard and armrest.

 

The good thing is that when sitting down it only takes a second to move it in and out of place. The throttle is low enough that when getting the armrest at the optimal height it still clears the throttle. Luck rather than planning there.

 

It works well, I just have to up the ante on the looks of it. For a start I will make the armrest only half the width, it doesnt need to be so much of a table top. then I can cut down the profile of the sides.

 

The rail it is running on is from an old cnc project, some left over parts.

 

Have a look and waste 30 seconds :)

 

Edited September 13, 2013 by metalnwood

[ilikepie]

can i get a refund on those 30 secs please?

[metalnwood]

You talking about the video or that other thing? Don't matter if you take 30 seconds or 30 minutes, price is still the same dude.

[MacFevre]

I liked the rail idea. I've been searching for a way to incorporate a mouse/keyboard into my pit without interrupting the flow of the realistic settings. I've been looking for some kind of wall mounted arm, but never thought of a slide that would move over a side console. Props MnW!

[Succellus]

Nice work.

Went you go big screen 3 screen doesn t make much sense with track ir unles maybe you go 3 big screen but its too system taxing for few result.

 

As for the slider, it s a good idea. I see you are left handed as me, altought i use the right hand for mouse.

 

Isn t the trackball too high to be confortable for long sessions, working or playing other games ?

Actually i was thinking of rail + hinge so the tble would get vertical and slide down so the mouse table would disapear. it would save lateral space, but i don t know if this solution exist (havent found it where i live anyway.

 

Nice job on the cockpit.

[metalnwood]

For a moment I was wondering what gave away my left-handedness. Then I see you refer to the trackball!

 

It's a logitech g13 mini keyboard, mostly used for first person games. I am right handed and use this in my lefthand just like I would for a keyboard, essentially giving me the left side of a keyboard, the important keys.

 

It turns out to be just the right height for me. On the other side I have a small table I push out of the way to get in and out of. Thats for the mouse which was also made to be the right height for using a mouse in the seat.

 

You are right with the 3 screens, in this case a large one with good frames is better for me than 3 large ones as the center large one occupies so much fov anyway.