Bignewy's simple pit project

[BIGNEWY]

Finished today :thumbup:

 

basic helicopter collective with twist handle, 8 way hat, 9 buttons

 

 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[OGREMAN]

Very good piece of work there NEWY, Looks the biz and it was good to see you fly it on mission tonight, Cool dude. Look out for that HUEY.... BIGNEWY is a coming.

[Cali]

Big, you should make that for people here, see how much they are willing to pay.

[BIGNEWY]

It was my first attempt, I think if I was going to make them for others I would want to do it better quality as this one was literally made with bits laying around the house and the garden lol

 

Maybe in the future :) we will see

Edited January 7, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[BIGNEWY]

Moved my warthog to the front and collective to the back, and started work on a left side panel for use with the Huey and other choppers :music_whistling:

 

my left side can be moved backward or forwards depending on which controller I am using :)

 

forth 15" screen and front will be coming out and eventually replaced with a 19"

 

Edited January 9, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[BIGNEWY]

The start of more madness

 

I am starting a new cockpit for 2013 with the use of a single projector and a spherical dome mirror.

 

still in the planning stages, but have recently purchased a very cheap DLP projector to test some ideas out.

 

I want to engage my peripheral vision more, and do away with screens and bezels.

Edited March 23, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[Hansolo]

Looks very interesting :thumbup: Will follow your progress with great interest

 

Cheers

 

Hans

[Panthro]

time to rename this thread me thinks ;)

[BIGNEWY]

A little update...

 

I looked into the half dome mirror setup and even purchased a cheap projector and a security mirror to test the concept.

 

The results were better than I expected however distortion was to much for me and to correct it would mean using wrapping software, the half dome mirror has to be a first surface mirror and these are not cheap. Cheapest quote I had was from New Zealand at $400 NZD but then I would also of paid shipping and Import duty on top.

 

I decided for what I wanted the expense was to great.

 

Not to be disheartened I decided to go for a single projector setup, so I purchased a Benq MP525ST short throw projector, still in the early stages of testing it out but I like what I have seen so far. Currently on a 55" projected screen which is 4' in front of me, so it engages my peripheral vision.

 

Below is a little you tube clip my 10 year old son filmed

 

 

I will update as I make more progress :)

[MTFDarkEagle]

Holly damn by jezus frickin' mackrlles...

 

The lack of shaving amazes me..

 

LOL! :P

 

Nice job mate, finetuning to be done and I look forward at having a go at this years 9th Shrek BBQ :D :thumbup:

[BIGNEWY]

Some progress pics

 

Enjoying using a short throw projector instead of 3 screens, not having bezel's and nothing distracting your peripheral vision is great.

 

Starting to build a generic cockpit for all of the aircraft I fly, it will consist of a dashboard area and a left pedestal which includes my Warthog throttle and my helicopter collective.

 

 

In the next picture you can see the slight curve in the screen which is made from a Matt white 3mm foamex sheet

 

As I am sticking with one projector for now ( Benq MP525ST ) at a distance of about 4.5' I have installed side vision flaps so I dont have to look at the kids while flying lol

 

Its slowly coming together, and is all being done on a low budget as times are hard for all :)

 

Short video of me flying the A-10C apologies for the quality it was filmed on a android tablet :megalol:

Edited May 8, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[Cali]

Looks very nice, love seeing people's pit come together.

[BIGNEWY]

A little update and redesign for my pit.

 

Loving using a single projector for my flight sim's but also needed to use my pc for normal work. This pit has a flip up 19" screen so I don't have to use the projector all the time.

 

 

Going to do some painting and have ordered a new projector screen that will wrap around the front end.

 

My projector is currently fixed to two post on the back of my chair, but I have ordered a ceiling mount as well :)

 

[Raven68]

I am in serious envy over here BIGNEWY!!! You can nominate me for biggest hater of the year now!! :smilewink::thumbup:

[BIGNEWY]

Thanks :)

 

I will post more once its painted up and my projector is ceiling mount

[BIGNEWY]

My new screen arrived today,

 

Just fitted it so it wraps around, ( apoligies for poor shot it was taken on my iphone in day light )

 

 

 

waiting for ceiling mount and then a paint job.

 

I have enough room above the keyboard for some dials, when I am feeling up to making / getting some :)

[BIGNEWY]

I see a red door and I want to paint it black . . . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painted skin black, will have decals on it eventually, added HUD Mount ( spare roof vent yet to be painted and finished off, just for effect :) )

 

(poor photo quality, damn iphone )

Edited April 18, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[Cali]

I'd love to see a better quality pic. Looking good, I'm going with a 40" LED, at least that's what I'm gonna try.

[Hansolo]

That looks really nice. I may have to try that since the girlfriend and I have bought a house and it looks like my 40" has been impounded as TV instead of simulator monitor :mad:

 

Just means that I have to buy something else... a projector looks like a good choice :thumbup:

[BIGNEWY]

I am really enjoying using the projector, it is a short throw one which was important for me, as space was an issue. I am getting better frame rates now I am only using one screen :)

 

Also I never used to use vsync but then I realised I was running the projector at 1280 x 960 @85 HZ and vsync was working great :)

[Mr_Burns]

That is awesome, how do you select a projector for gaming?

 

I dont know if I can justify it, I play Stronghold Kingdoms and Arma 3 (the latter maybe!!)

[BIGNEWY]

Selection was easy for me,

 

It had to be under £200 and short throw, I was lucky to find this one on ebay used but with low lamp hours for £145.

 

Ofcourse I wanted one of the optoma range but they were priced out of my budget.

 

The main thing to consider with a projector is the running costs, lamp life varies with each projector so when the lamp hours diminish you may get colour fade and then eventually failure of the lamp. So always check the price of the Lamps before choosing a projector.

 

These are the ones which I was considering for my pit

Bignewy's Compare Short throw projector List

 

for me it was price first, then price of replacement lamp, then brightness (2500 lumens or more ), and finally contrast ratio.

 

Everything about my pit build is based on budget, I save hard for bits, I wish I had the money to make an all singing and dancing pit but times are hard. :)

Edited April 20, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[BIGNEWY]

Small update for my pit

 

Just treated myself to a new pc build

 

Windows 7 Pro x64,

ATI Sapphire HD7850 OC 2gb,

AMD FX 8350 @4ghz,

Corsair 8GB DDR3 1866Mhz ,

Asus M5A78L-M/USB3,

x2 60gb OCZ Vertex

 

added some decals to my pit skin, and currently reworking my collective ( as I busted it with over use lol )

 

 

Jobs I hope to get done in 2013

 

My left console is functioning, but it still looks very amateurish, I want to get some panels cut that suit my generic one pit fits all aircraft style.

 

And I hope to start playing around with dials the basic T which will be fitted above my keyboard.

[BIGNEWY]

hgiOokkCJU4

 

Short clip of my projector in action with the huey ;)

 

Any flickering seen is my camera which is old but does the job

 

due to copyright it will not play on mobile devices, this is because the music industry is trying to destroy creativity for $$

Edited May 11, 2013 by BIGNEWY

[BIGNEWY]

I have had my eye on a few components recently and decided to take the plunge !

 

Going to have a play around with these parts I have just ordered :music_whistling:

 

 

 

 

It will keep me busy for a while :)