How To: Build a A-10 flight panel controller

[fael097]

that simple leo bodnar board seems to fit my needs!

thanks a lot guys!

 

last thing, any tips on where to find the switches? leo's website has few options, and overkill potentiometers for me.

 

thanks in advance!

[fael097]

guys, is leo bodnar still selling his items?

his website seems to have been updated last time in 2009. also he wont answer my emails.

any clues?

[159th_Falcon]

that simple leo bodnar board seems to fit my needs!

thanks a lot guys!

 

last thing, any tips on where to find the switches? leo's website has few options, and overkill potentiometers for me.

 

thanks in advance!

Yup, depending on how many ya need, if your planning on building a pit and thus use a lot of switches look here;

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=73706

[fael097]

thanks falcon! I had a look, but I'm not sure if those switches are right for me. I'm looking basically for two kinds of switches, first those 3 position toggles, that return to the center, like the speedbrake switch, you know? at the local hardware store, i can only find common 3 position switches that stay where you leave them. I'm also looking for hat switches (4 directions), but didnt find any. probably because all of them are made with 4 tactile switches positioned around the center stick, but I dont know how to mount one myself. did you find any of those there?

 

thanks in advance!

[159th_Falcon]

The first one are momentary switches, the ones i found on alibaba are pretty heavy ones though, as in 20A 250V.

 

As for the HAT switch, try searching google for cross switch.

They are available on alibaba but quite big and a price tag of around 15$ a piece.

 

Below site has some info on different kinds of switches and there names,

maybe you can find what you need once you know its "proper" name?

http://momentaryswitch.org/momentary-toggle-switch

 

that's all i can do for now im afraid, good luck whit your projects.

 

~S~

[fael097]

wow, thats right, momentary switches.

I found it once, but the guy was selling regular switches with the name of momentary, thats why I was confused, but thanks mate, exactly what I needed!

about the hat switches, i suppose i better make them myself, with tactile switches, should be easier than finding them lol... so yeah, thanks a lot.

 

@TigerShark: mate, could you please explain how to wire the switches to the game board? thats bugging me, i cant really unterstand without my board here, but wanted to be sure before i buy.

also, if its not asking too much, id like to know how to work with the other pole. i have a DTDP 3 way switch, (on-off-on), and i managed to get 2 different lights working depending on the switch position, but nothing happens when i connect them to the other pole.

last thing i wanted to ask you, how does DCS handle single throw switches to two different actions?

thanks in advance!

Edited May 17, 2011 by fael097

[m0jo]

@TigerShark: mate, I was watching your tut "all about switches" and got confused. I bought 3 switches for my LASTE panel. one 3 positions and two 2 pos. the 2 position ones have only 4 contacts on the bottom.

These are probably Dual Pole, Single Throw (DPST), also marked as ON-OFF

while the 3 pos has 6, like you showed.

These are similar to a Dual Pole Dual throw (DPDT), also know as ON-OFF-ON, the middle position on the switch is not-connected to any outside pin.

i thought thats how it worked, but guess it's not, since even your 2 way switch has 6 contacts under them.

These are Dual Pole, Dual Throw (DPDT), also know as ON-ON

if I want 2 commands to be sent, I need 3 contacts in a row, right?

That question is quite unclear, if you have a ON-ON switch, you can wire each side to a different input and these 2 input will be always in opposition, one input will be OFF while the other will be ON but this is quite a wasteful arrangement, this could be done in software to reduce the size of the input board.

 

You can also send 2 different command with a ON-OFF-ON switch, for example, the left connection can be connected to input#1, the middle contact to either Vcc or GND depending of the board and the right connector will be connected to input #2. When the switch is in the middle position, both input will be at the OFF state and when the switch is in either the left or the right position, one of the two input will be at ON while the other will be at OFF.

 

also, could you please explain how to connect to the game board? thats bugging me, i cant really unterstand without my board here, but wanted to be sure before i buy.

If you are using a Leo Bodar board, you can use this schematic to wire the different buttons in a matrix. You can use some 1N4148 diode to correct possible ghost key. If you don't use them, you will not be able to push more than ~3 button at the same time. If you use a BU0836X, you do not need any diode in the circuit.

[fael097]

thanks Mojo, guess i finally got it about throws.

 

so basically, for the 2 way switches, i have only ON-OFF (single throw i assume). you're saying that you can easily configure the software to understand the OFF position as a second command, right? are we talking about the game software, or the controller software? will this work with all games?

 

if i follow this logic, I wouldn't need some sort of 3-throw switch for the auto pilot selection mode 3 way switch toggle (wich i currently have one ON-OFF-ON) i just set up a software to recognize the off position as a 3rd command.

 

sorry I'm a little bit confused, but when I'm speaking theoretically, without the actual thing in my hands, it gets a little difficult to understand.

 

and thank you for all your help

[m0jo]

so basically, for the 2 way switches, i have only ON-OFF (single throw i assume). you're saying that you can easily configure the software to understand the OFF position as a second command, right? are we talking about the game software, or the controller software? will this work with all games?

SV mapper can be used to send keypress when the key is pressed and/or released.

 

if i follow this logic, I wouldn't need some sort of 3-throw switch for the auto pilot selection mode 3 way switch toggle (wich i currently have one ON-OFF-ON) i just set up a software to recognize the off position as a 3rd command.

The middle position can be detected in software but I don't think this is possible with SV mapper or Xpadder. Maybe AutoHoyKey could send the corresponding keypress when both outer switch are LOW. One working solution is SIOC with Opencockpit, or PHCC but these are a lot more complicated but they can also control LED, stepper, servo and other usefull thing in a pit.

[fael097]

Mojo,

 

I'm an xpadder costumer, and I didn't know this was the method used with switches.

but if it is so, then yes, it's possible to do anything with it. you can map 2 virtual buttons for each of the 3-way switch "on" positions, and set a "release" action for both of them, to press certain button when released. it's some sort of work around, but should work flawlessly.

 

I'm willing to buy either groovygamegear board, or leo bodnar's board, but none of them is replying to my e-mails. I'm trying to contact them for like a week, but nothing.

[PanelBuilder]

I'm also looking for hat switches (4 directions), but didnt find any. probably because all of them are made with 4 tactile switches positioned around the center stick

Try SKQUCA. It's from Alps.

 

Cheers,

Colin

[fael097]

Try SKQUCA. It's from Alps.

 

Cheers,

Colin

are you kidding me? thats perfect! thank you so much...

 

I've been looking for this for a week. I even bought some tactile switches, and was trying to figure out how to assemble them around a stick to make and improvised hat switch, but it would never fit a joystick.

 

really appreciate!

 

Rafael

[fael097]

btw, there is a switch like that one, but it says "snap in". does that mean it stays in the position you place it?

[159th_Falcon]

btw, there is a switch like that one, but it says "snap in". does that mean it stays in the position you place it?

Could be, could also refer to the way of mounting?

Got a link?

[fael097]

here, try this http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ALPS/SKQUAAA010/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsFLoxuNbFfpYqB%252b1KTCXelZiBcq3T2oHA%3d

[fael097]

btw, now im looking for buttons to place over the switch. lol

any remote ideas?

[fael097]

I'm gonna guess snap in is indeed referring to the way of mounting. it has an identical switch, except, this one is PCB and the other one is SMD. that probably means PCB has pins to mount, and SMD contacts. so snap in makes sense.

[m0jo]

I'm gonna guess snap in is indeed referring to the way of mounting. it has an identical switch, except, this one is PCB and the other one is SMD. that probably means PCB has pins to mount, and SMD contacts. so snap in makes sense.

From the datasheet:

Two types are available: snap-in type allowing automatic flow

soldering. SMD type allowing reflow soldering.

[fael097]

about that :)

 

btw, i was watching the part 3 of tigershark tuts, and I got confused.

he mentioned the ground wire, the input wires, but he barely mentioned the 5v wire. you don't need power for the switches? lol i'm confused.

[fael097]

f***, this is so frustrating, I want to buy a game board, but there's no shipping option for me, and Randy or Leo just won't reply to my emails.

guess I give up?

 

any other unexpensive gaming boards out there?

[TigersharkBAS]

about that :)

 

btw, i was watching the part 3 of tigershark tuts, and I got confused.

he mentioned the ground wire, the input wires, but he barely mentioned the 5v wire. you don't need power for the switches? lol i'm confused.

 

5V is already being supplied to the board via the USB connection. The 5V on the board is for you to tap into that source for LEDs or other stuff. For the board to work you only need to hook up ground and input wires.

[fael097]

thanks. Tigershark, that explains a lot!

 

also, I'm sorry for insisting on the subject, but do you, or anybody, knows another way to contact Randy from GGG?

 

I was buying a board, but when I was registering, my country wasn't on the list, so I just wanted to know if he can or can't ship the board to Brazil.

If not, I'm buying it anyways, but I'll have to ask some folks to receive the board and then send to me.

 

thanks again.

[PanelBuilder]

btw, there is a switch like that one, but it says "snap in". does that mean it stays in the position you place it?

If you mean the actuator stays in the position you place it, then no, it doesn't mean that. I think they just mean the switch snaps into the board.

 

The CA one has a centre push switch and the AA one not.

 

Cheers,

Colin

Edited May 19, 2011 by PanelBuilder

[fael097]

yep, sounds about right, thanks Colin!

 

btw, good news, I managed to contact randy at last. had to reach him through arcade forums. guess Leo Bodnar lost a costumer :P

 

cheers

[fael097]

Tigershark,

 

I was watching your tut for turning continuous pulses into single pulses, sounds great for other sims!

 

I personally use xpadder, but I like your idea of making stuff out of the box, without using software.

 

so I was wondering how do you deal with 3 way toggles? I know for ON/OFF switches, you use double throw (wich if i understand, actually makes them ON/ON, for emitting a pulse that DCS will recognize as off, or the other option that 2 way switches might have), but how about 3 way switches? I found only double throw, are there any triple throw? or you actually use software in this case?