whartsell's A-10C cockpit build

[whartsell]

I have been lurking on these forums for over a year now and seeing all the great work people have accomplished so i decided to get my feet wet and start on my own build. My goals are to make it as realistic as practical. For the cockpit i decided on dimebugs excellent plans since my wood fabrication experience is limited to Jr. High woodshop. The area i hope to really focus on is the avionics since i worked in that field in the AirForce for 7 years. Below is what I have accomplished so far.

 

 

I did not cut out the instrument holes for the MIP as im still deciding on what instruments will be mechanical and which will be virtual. Also the top of the glareshield is not installed so i can get in and out of that space for wiring etc. Next up is assembly of the side panels this weekend (if the wife approves) and then the acesII seat to go along with it. After all that is done i will be installing a set of modified RCS with cubpilots hall effect mod (and anxiously waiting for the toe break mod to be released) as well as my warthog HOTAS.

 

 

 

I also took pictures to document what how i handled the build

Edited January 31, 2012 by whartsell
removed annoying link and added more pics

[Mt5_Roie]

Looks nice! Eventually I'd like to build a realistic version. Got my feet wet with my PVC build. I'd love to see your pictures and tip and tricks.

[Strix]

Nice!

My you succeed in your future work!

 

(Dont link to imageshack, got advertised when visit there!)

Edited January 30, 2012 by Strix
Spam advertise

[whartsell]

Nice!

My you succeed in your future work!

 

(Dont link to imageshack, got advertised when visit there!)

i fixed the offending link and added more pics.

[whartsell]

rotary thumb switches for IFF and TISL

 

Just picked up these thumb switches.

should be a good fit for the IFF and TISL panels

for only 20 bucks including shipping i figured i couldnt go wrong

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/230736246843?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648#ht_539wt_1326

[Deadman]

Hm complete panel just sold for $75.00 on eBay a couple of days ago so yu might want to watch there the IFF Panel come on frequently as i have posted in the eBay thread.

[whartsell]

damn i diddnt look for that

[Deadman]

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=81970&page=6

[whartsell]

thanks

[Deadman]

PM sent i have an extra one in great shape

[whartsell]

Episode II a new beginning :)

 

Its been along time since i have posted in here and alot of things have changed. With all that i have learned along the way i have decided to start a new version of my cockpit. Initially i built my pit using dimebugs plans and really wanted to tackle the issue of integration of the electronics so this pit was more of a platform for me to hack on and learn what works and what doesnt.

 

Here is how it currently looks

 

In the beginning I was using pokeys for all my electronics. It worked great but there was alot of programming involved to get everything working.

 

While working on my software I had been closely following Gadrocs EOS hardware architecture for HELIOS. Now that it has matured I am going to be using that moving forward. Along the Way I also came into contact with Flim of VRSimPits. I was very happy with his stick extension and have made a curved shaft mod available for it. Over the past few months I have become involved in working out the electrics for the VRSimPits designs. My new pit will be based on designs from Flim and electrics powered by Gadroc's HELIOS and EOS.

 

What the new pit will look like some day....

 

Right now its just a mishmash of components:

[whartsell]

Current State of the Seat

 

Since my old pit is still usable i decided to take my time a bit and start on the Seat first. Im using the VrSimPits AcesII seat and will be enabling the ejection and safety handles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently its ready for sanding and painting

[Hansolo]

Looking great Whartsell :thumbup: Can't wait to see more

 

Cheers

Hans

[whartsell]

Thanks. I got a backlog of things to post so there will be more soon.

[whartsell]

EOS Boards

 

Got some prototype EOS panel boards in.

 

 

Almost finished with the first one ... then testing and refining the firmware

 

 

These boards will be pretty inexpensive once available. were talking only a little more than an Arduino. So start practicing your Arduino/Electronics skills now cause they are for Enthusiasts and not a POTS solution

[Jarnob]

Wow looking good Whartsell.... nice.....!!! :thumbup:

[JaseGill]

Whartsell,

For us outside the US whats the chance of releasing (for a price) the PCB designs so that we can get them printed locally?

Cheers,

J.

[whartsell]

Whartsell,

For us outside the US whats the chance of releasing (for a price) the PCB designs so that we can get them printed locally?

Cheers,

J.

 

It is my understanding that once completed EOS will be released as open source so you wont need to pay for the designs

[JaseGill]

Thanks Whartsell. I hadn't caught that so good to know.

What you guys are doing for this, and other sims in increasing our understanding is just amazing, thanks for all your efforts.

J.

[whartsell]

Been busy with the little guy for a while so not much news. I have built out the EOS boards and they work very well. Only need to verify the new expansion ports on them work properly and then they should be good to go.

 

Tentatively in the near future I may put in a batch order for pcbs if anybody is interested. I will of course provide a full write up with source code and BOM on how to use them

 

components for the board are about $25 dollars including shipping from digikey. This is enough parts to build a single board. It would be cheaper if you order parts for more boards.

 

The PCBs pricing will also be affected by batch sizes. Currently they are about $15 each min 5 but drop significantly (<$7) as the batch size goes up

 

If you know how to make your own PCBs I can speak with Gadroc about when the files can be released and such

 

In case its not clear anywhere else.

The "standard" EOS panel board has 16 digital inputs,16 digital outputs, one dimmer output for panel back-lighting and 4 analog inputs. There is also an "expansion" port that allows some extras on an daughter board...4 pins intended for high power switching (think solenoid switches), and i2c bus (think more inputs/outputs as needed or LCD etc)

 

aprox 12 EOS Panel boards are intended to communicate to Helios via RS485 and an Arduino Leonardo (about $20). You could also go straight to the computer via serial (and a level converter) but you loose the ability to chain the devices together

if you need more than 12 boards you just add another Leonardo. (i currently have 3 leonardo hosted EOS busses on my test rig)

 

Things like Servos,steppers support are planned on in the near future ( HELIOS doenst fully implement them for EOS yet)

Edited December 4, 2013 by whartsell

[JaseGill]

Whartsell,

Count me in. Even if its just plans so that I can get them printed in the UK I'd be very interested.

J.

[Milli]

Whartsell,

Count me in. Even if its just plans so that I can get them printed in the UK I'd be very interested.

J.

 

Ditto.

 

Regards,

Milli

[shoch02]

Hi ya Whartsell, like you I have been lurking through these threads for some time as I plan my build. I have been playing with Arduino UNO with great results and I'm now interested in the EOS interfaces you guys are working with. Count me in for a few when you guys are ready.

 

I'm planning now and will only be prototyping for a few months so no rush. Thanks for tolerating a NOOB and congrats on all the fine work.

 

shoch02

Edited December 27, 2013 by shoch02

[Rancorusia]

How did you make the front console? Dimebug's documents are missing so many dimensions for me??