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Boltz's A-10 Build


Boltz

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you Anton, I hope you are well.

 

Progress is slowing now but I’ve made a start on a new instrument panel as well as the caution panel I have. It has some damaged components on one of the PCBs but I’m working to replace them. Failing that I will remove the original electronics and make something new. I’d also like to replace the bulbs with LEDs as currently the caution panel draws 4.5A at 28V when the Lamp Test button is pressed, so looking for some reasonably priced T1 3/4 LED bulbs.

 

I’ve mostly completed the ILS panel, just need to make the lightplate. I took the frequency display and switches out of an old Nav radio from another aircraft and added them to a new backplate. Turned out that only 8 input pins were needed to cover every frequency so I was able to use an Arduino Nano here. Had to add the Power switch to the right rotary which is just a Grayhill switch and two small alu plates. The knobs are a combination of real ones from old panels and replica cast ones.

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Next up is the Intercom panel. I bought an old one from a C-130 a few years back. I had to add the Hot Mic switch which is just a cheap Push/Pull toggle from eBay. I also added a potentiometer to the top right volume control, since this was the old HM switch. Took a bit of time drilling and filing parts for it but now works well.

Due to the number of analog inputs needed I used an Arduino Mega and designed a shield which includes RS-485 circuitry and small 10pF across the input and GND of each pot to reduce noise. Again, I still have to make a lightplate...

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I won a CRU-73 on eBay recently for the grand sum of £15. There is no way to use the real regulator for controlling DCS so I salvaged the pressure gauge and test ports to use in my own version. For the flow indicator, I’ve simply used a dim white LED which shines through some acrylic, painted with a single layer of black paint so the light still passes through. I was going to use a small motor to drive the real mechanism but decided against it. The back of this panel is very simple.

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For the NMSP, I salvaged the illuminated push buttons from an old Tornado panel and created new lenses for them. I split the inputs and outputs for this panel onto 2 systems. For the inputs I created a small enclosure with a Nano seen below. The lamps will be controlled by a central lamps system which will run all the annunciators. This is due to them being a mix of LEDs and bulbs running on different voltages and I will include the Bright/Dim functionality. Apologies for not having any photos of these lit up, I will get some soon. I would also like to replace these bulbs with LEDs since the switches get to the point of being too hot to touch with bare skin.

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Finally, I have finished the Landing Gear Panel. This is another panel which went through a lot of changes during the design and construction stages which is why the back of it is a bit of a mess. I still have to add the flaps gauge which will be built in a real 2” tube and will slide and clamp into the panel.

The gear lever must be pulled outwards to move from UP to DOWN and there is a solenoid to lock the lever in the down position.

Currently I have the solenoid disconnected since somewhere along the way I had the great idea of it defaulting to the unlocked position and when the solenoid is engaged it locks the lever. I thought it would be easier to build and would result in less wear on the solenoid. In fact it is the opposite and there is little point in connecting it up with the way I have it currently. The lever should be mechanically locked in the down position when no power is applied, and only becomes unlocked when there is no weight on the wheels, i.e. after takeoff.

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Progress will slow moving into the Autumn since I’m away from the pit but I will work on designs for the missing panels.

Cheers,

Boltz

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  • 6 months later...
  • 4 months later...

PCBs for the CMSP arrived last week so I tested them over the weekend. I am using an Arduino Mega, due to the number of inputs and outputs, which will be mounted within the panel. The dot matrix displays are working with DCS BIOS and for the first time I have added synchronised backlighting to a panel. The brightness is then controlled by the Console lights control in DCS. This means no external lighting system or dimmers are needed but you give up the ability to control the lighting without DCS running. There are 2 lighting channels on the panel, 1 for the illuminated switches and the other for the lightplate backlighting with a trim pot each so that the maximum brightness can be balanced and adjusted at any time. Also allows me to set the maximum brightness at the workbench and the set value will be stored in the panel itself.

The brightness of the displays is controlled by the BRT potentiometer on the panel. This needs some more work with balancing the 2 lines of displays.aVrDfmr.jpg

 

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Edited by Boltz
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I want to use these displays for the CMSC Panel.

By my "proof of concept" I confirm the comfortable brightness settings if using HCMS-297x displays and the LedDisplay library.

Just use a standard value for the brightness variable at startup (e.g int brightness = 10) and when running DCS let do the "onCmscBrtChange" command it's work.

 

Regards,

Vinc

 

example code from CSMC

...
// CSMC set Display brightness to DCS output
void onCmscBrtChange(unsigned int newValue) {
    myDisplay.setBrightness(map(newValue, 0, 65535, 0, brightness));
}
DcsBios::IntegerBuffer cmscBrtBuffer(0x10ea, 0xffff, 0, onCmscBrtChange);
...

 

Edit: should be the same for the CSMP when using "onCmspBrtChange" command.

 

 

IMG_20210711_104620.jpg


Edited by Vinc_Vega
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Regards, Vinc

real life: Royal Bavarian Airforce

online: VJS-GermanKnights.de

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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Looking good Callum. And  It looks like you used actual CMSP as foundation.

 

I happened to be working on CMSP as well, will be using the mini mega for it. For dimming I built a 555 PWM circuit directly on board,  and jumper solder points to be be able to select an output from andino to drive the brightness as well.

 

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Anton.

 

My pit build thread .

Simple and cheap UFC project

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Thank you both for the suggestions. I haven't used the LedDisplay library but I'm looking at it now. The bottom row of displays are similar to HCMS-297x but for dimming the top line I think external PWM circuit is needed. Those displays are the SLG2016 and only have a Blank pin for dimming.

Anton, that CMSP looks great. The external PWM circuit should give the best results for those displays. Hadn't heard of the Mega Mini before, having that many IO pins in the small footprint is giving me some ideas.

I will probably get an updated PCB. There's a few changes I want to make now

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Yes, the Data sheet for the SLG2016 shows only the blanking pin to be used with external PWM for dimming.

Fortunately the HCMS-29xx series has that blanking pin too, so you probably combined that functions.

 

Your bottom row displays look like HCMS-2963 series that easily could be written by the LedDisplay library.

By using the Cursor option that library allows you to write to all your four display as if it was only one display (from left to right).

But the four displays have to be connected from right (display 0) to left.

 

Regards, Vinc


Edited by Vinc_Vega
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Regards, Vinc

real life: Royal Bavarian Airforce

online: VJS-GermanKnights.de

[sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]

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On 8/16/2021 at 1:22 PM, Boltz said:

PCBs for the CMSP arrived last week..

 

 

Looks like you've worked some pull-action hijinks into the rotary on the CMSP 🙂

How is it - pull between OFF and STBY?

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  • 2 years later...

Well 2 years later and I finally got some time to work on the pit again. Trying to find some small weekend projects to do indoors. Got some code written for the X27 family of stepper motors. The SwitecX25 library gives smooth movement if allowing the motor to accelerate up to speed but is not useable for a constant data stream such as with DCS. The motion will end up very "jerky" as the motor attempts to move at full speed to each new position.

Instead I am calculating a speed before every move giving very smooth motion even with very low update frequency. Results in a smoothing of stepper position and removes the jerking motion, see picture below. Only my PC graphics card appears to have died so can't test with DCS now but I can create a data stream with Python to send to the Arduino. Results are very nice. If it works well with DCS then it will be worth completing and likely as a new library.

Input and Output.png

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