Grommet67

Cheers for the info.

Hi Anton, Curious as to where you got your "Master Arm" and "Gun Pac" switches from. Would love to get some for my own panels. Can you tell me what type of laser cutter you ended up buying? Cheers, Trent.

Hey Mate, How is the build going? Have you started to assemble the hardware? I have just marked out the front panel and bought a single 27" monitor for the instruments. Looking forward to getting something that may start to resemble a simpit. Cheers.

I just used a hand held battery drill with a 3mm bit and ran it through each hole. There is nothing on the back of the board near the holes. The drill wont take off much of the material, just be careful about what size drill as you don't want it to blow out the side.

Hi Scarecrow, I have a Bu0836x board and mounted it by enlarging the 4 mounting holes to 3mm and using the finer thread motherboard mounts on a piece of PVC. Worked fine.

Classic answer, awesome. :lol::lol::lol::lol:

Pretty much. Install the card. Download the Phidgets software for the card off their site. This will set up a Phidget control panel on your desktop for testing the card (make sure this is shut down before using Helios profiles). The only got-ya is that you need to update the Phidgets library in Helios with the latest from the Phidgets download (just copy from one to other). Approx 3 files, you'll see which ones match up. Once downloaded add it into the Helios profile as an interface (Profile, Add interface). It will show up as a game controller (Phidgets LED Board (serial no)). From there you can add led's as singles or groups (up to 64) and rename them. It also gives you the ability to adjust brightness, voltage and max current settings. The last thing is to bind the individual led groups to DCS in Helios in the same manner as you would a switch (set power). After that you should be away laughing. Hopefully i haven't missed anything. Should all work after that, hopefully that helps. Cheers, Trent.

Hey Mate, I don't have any documentation on building one. All I did was used the panel template I had (came from "reactorone") The light panel is a block of 25mm clear acrylic with "opal light" acrylic glued to each side. I cut using a tenon saw down to the last layer and then glued black pvc into the cuts to form the light matrix. I then drilled through the back about half way and glued the led's into each hole. I am using a Phidgets LED 1032 control board to interface with Helios and DCS. I have put some photos into an album if you want to have a look. Hope that helps. Cheers.Trent.

I have had my first attempt at making a caution panel using the Phidgets card and solid acrylic block with light baffles to make up the light matrix. Seems to work O.K. Still needs a better face on it as it lets to much light through. Posted a video of it working on google, check link below. https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/117362990415969101741/albums/5899670470085287873/5899670472912415154

Out with the old. Work is getting rid of the old Procedure trainer. I would have put a tender in for it but the Wife wouldn't have a bar of it. So its off to the museum, shame could have been good in the man cave with a bar around it.

Hey Mate, just had a look at your pit, you are a lot further down the track than me. It's looking good. At the moment I have the joysticks and a few assembled panels but no box to put them in yet. Can you tell me where you got your front panel layout and dimensions from. Cheers, Trent.

No worries, glad I can provide some comic relief. If you saw my soldering you would understand. Thanks for the support.

Hi Anton, These are the type of rotary encoders I am using, they cost about $1US each on eBay and have 3 connections for the encoder (A, centre common, B) and two more connections for a centre push ON/OFF switch. Simple to wire up to the Desktop Aviator card if you can solder. Took me a while because I cant solder. :( Trent.

Hi Anton, I started with 2 X GP WIZ40's they seem to be pretty good for straight switches (and reasonably cheap) The joystick interfaces on them seem to be basic digital arcade inputs though. I got a Desktop Aviator "sweet Sixteen" Rotary Encoder Board which will handle 16 Rotary encoder switches and 8 anologs. I have had them bound to DCS controlling heading, bearing and QNH. http://www.desktopaviator.com/Products/Model_2095A/ I also have a "Phidgets Advanced 64 LED controller" which I will use for the caution panel. http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?product_id=1032_0 And I have just got a "LEO BODNER BU36 board". I haven't used that yet but it does have provisions for a 4 way hat switch as well as analog inputs. http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836X/ I am pretty new to this computer interfacing and electronics, as my background is jet engines airframes and hydraulics, but keen to learn and experiment. Cheers, Trent.

Thanks for all the support. I will keep throwing up pics as I go. Luckily my other hobby's don't cost to much so I can throw a little bit at this one. Cheers everybody.

Hi all, I have been following the pit builds like y2kiah's and deadmans for several years waiting until I had the time and room to give it a go myself. I must say awesome builds. If I can do something half as good I would be happy. The time is nigh. I have begun assembling the basics, joysticks and basic interface cards, but like so many others out there I am a bit daunted by the electronics. I have made up a couple of basic panels using GP Wiz40 boards and wired up some rotary encoders and potentiometers. (only with the help of several posts from the forum) Hopefully I can get some motivation and support through this thread. I have added the meager beginnings of what will become my simpit. Any help from here on in will be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Trent.

Hi JT, I am in the same boat, I have been contemplating a build for some years. I have finally got into it but only grazing the surface. Managed to wire up a GP40 wiz and a Phidgets LED board with good success. I would be interested in sharing any info/ideas/cheats etc.