Boltz's A-10 Build

Boltz I love your panels!

We are making the back panels exactly the same and you are making the front panels the way I am planning to do them when I either buy a CNC router or source someone who has one.

@Hansolo:

Are you talking about the Rivnuts? I don't see any float nuts on the last couple of pictures.

Search for Rivnuts or blind rivet nut on ebay. You'll get them cheap just make sure to buy a halfway decent puller.

Cheers Sven

Hi Hans, Alburg is correct. I just went with cheap rivnuts instead of floating nuts couldn’t afford to spend that much on them. They’ve worked perfectly.

Alburg it’s a great way to construct them. Just took me some time to acquire all the tools and ability to actually produce them consistently. I’m leaving light plates till the end in case anything changes since they cover a lot of the workings from the front

Alburg & Boltz thanks a lot for the info. Much appreciated :thumbup:

Cheers

Hans

Started the altimeter project a while ago but last night I designed the parts to get it working and ordered the off the shelf components. Today decided to get on and convert the front end of the instrument. It started life in a tornado and looked much the same as this one

I took it apart about 6 months ago but never really got anywhere with conversion. Today I finally realized the part of a dream by converting the front of the instrument. I changed the flag from STBY to PNEU, changed the faceplate and painted the bezel. Finally I changed the drum from the millibars reading in inches of mercury. Took some time to figure out where the stops were and how to get past them but I managed to wind it all the way up to the correct part of the scale after disconnecting the mechanism that adjusts the main scale. I still need to file a profile into the stop piece to increase the travel but that shouldn't be too difficult.

I'm going to attempt to 3D print the pointer through shapeways. It should come out nicely. And then I need to make the parts for the backside to make it work again.

Calum, you are a freakin' machine! Fantastic job, man! Can't wait to see what you do with the TACAN. Can I just send you money just so that you can finish faster and post more pictures!? ;) Really though, good show.

Nice work. I think it was your Cockpit pictures from a few years ago that inspired me to start building a cockpit of my own.

Thanks guys. GSS Rain your videos have been a huge inspiration for me! I've started following along with your ADI and HSI. Just looking for a few suitable synchro transmitters. I've got the parts to build a 115V 400Hz power supply just not got round to it. I can't stand that 400Hz sound so opted to build much lower rated supplies.

It's really been off and on with working on things for me but I've kept on designing and learning some new software packages. I finished putting together the fuel receiver lever and emergency brake housing. Took time to fill and sand that one but it's together. Just need to paint the actual handle so I'm currently looking at the best way to paint the letters and stripes. Any tips would be most welcome.

Altimeter is still in pieces. The one I have has such a gear ratio such that I need a very fast spinning motor to turn the shaft even slowly. That led to some alignment problems and vibration because of the speed so I'm more or less back to the drawing board on getting it working. I've figured a mini lathe would make it easier so that maybe an excuse for a purchase sooner rather than later :music_whistling:

I've tapped all the knobs I need for the left console. I purchased them from DM's Shapeways store and I have to say they are brilliant. Fit all the panels perfectly. I just drill the set screw holes to 2.5mm and then tap for M3 and the set screws hold fine. No stripping of threads and they have a good hold on the shafts, even the tough Grayhill switches.

I managed to completely assemble the first VHF radio head, and it all works! From a long time ago I wanted mechanical radios instead of digital displays and finally realized that plan. Pics don't give the best views but it's all I have since it's now apart to paint the last parts. I'm going to add an extra plate to support the extended shaft of the large rotary switch.

All the digits will be illuminated through the frontplate, at least that's the plan. If it doesn't work I can go back to backlighting them. The 164 UHF panel is also nearly completed. The small plates on the lightplate need cut and a filter over the displays. The lightplate is nearly 16mm thick, since I thought this would be a great idea. It does look good not being in layers but I think it cost me far more to produce than splitting it.

I also got back out to the garage where the pit structure is and modified the left console to fit the throttle and then the left side to fit the console in. Need to test the slew control of the throttle. There's not space to keep the PCB in the grip so I'll have to relocate it under the throttle or build a new amplifier circuit which is probably simpler and easier to interface.

Ground Safety panel and utility light are nearly finished. Just need wired up. No backlighting here and just 28VDC for the light. Tested working on 24V which is already in the pit so that'll work fine.

Annunciator lenses are all engraved. I'm playing with resistors at the moment to find good "bright" and "dim" values so that the signal lights switch works. Built the indexers and MIP annunciators. For bending the metal I only have a set of brake jaws in a 4" vice so even some of these parts were beyond their capability and I had to improvise. A larger folder is definitely on the never ending list of tools to purchase.

And finally I picked up a suitable HSI for the pit

I'm really going to try and post more regularly now that I've got imgur on my phone it's much simpler to upload pictures. Currently waiting for paint to dry and then should get into engraving lightplates next week.

Cheers,

Calum

Sweet jesus that looks amazing Calum :worthy:

This is IMHO the most accurate home made AN/ARC-186 panel I have seen by far. The construction looks very familiar to the real ones I have. Really nice job indeed. I guess that 20 position rotary haven't been cheap :cry:

Oh it probably too late and I forgot all about it. DCS has an error in the AN/ARC-186's. On the first channel selector the number 8 doesn't exist on the real ones. No biggy.

Did you 3D print the lid on the AN/ARC-164? Very nice build as well. If you can you may want to exchange the Squelch out to a smaller one as it looks a little big.

Can't wait to see the result when you fire them up.

The annunciators looks awesome as well. Hats of to you and you skills my friend. Really beautiful job there.

Have a great weekend and take a well deserved beer on me :-)

All the best

Hans

Love your HSI. I could never find one that had the two bearing pointers. I had a question though for the coarse and heading knobs. The ones I saw output synchro to tell the system the position of the knob. I thought about using a synchro to digital converter that would give us a 12 bit output. Then I got stuck on how to have DCS-Bios read the bits. It only does encoders I think for the knobs. Were you going to change out your knobs to encoders or does that HSI has encoder outputs for the knobs? I know a guy selling another HSI that has the cars hdg knobs on the HSI. It only has one bearing pointer though and the knob output is synchro signals. I think he selling for around $700 to $900 though. Can’t remember the price.

Amazing work Boltz. Just had to catch up on my reading. Been a while since I was in the forums again. Well hope to talk to you soon.

Hi Boltz how are you. Good I hope. One thing how I found the synchro transmitters was this. The HSI was from Collins so I did a ebay search for heading coarse control panel to see who was selling the remote control panel that had the coarse and heading knobs on it. Same for the ADI. It was Sperry so I did a search for Sperry heading coarse panel and theirs came up under Remote Instrument Controller. So when they came in I opened them up and took the synchro transmittter out. The Collins box had 4 inside. The Sperry box had 3 inside. So the price wasn’t too bad based on the amount we were getting. Also between the two boxes they had a lot of gears inside. So I kept all the gears and small screws and spacers and things. I used some of the gears in one version of the altimeter mod for which otherwise I would not have had it.

For the display the original HSI used a form of serial data communication for the display. It was from the 1960s so it wasn’t a standard as we know today such as RS-232, or something similar. It had a clock input, a data input, and a sync input. It also had a built in watchdog such that if the sync pulse didn’t show within every 2 seconds it would blank the display. The illustrated parts breakdown didn’t go into the message format on what the bit sequence is to display data. And it may have been a hassle to get that from Rockwell Collins so I just removed the display and installed normal 7 segment BCD displays there and drove it with a MAX7219 chip. I notched a hole in the rear and brought in my wires that way so we didn’t have to cut wires out of the main connectors.

I used a DSC1706511 digital to synchro module. It’s obsolete chip so I was hoping to find some for cheap. The used one I bought had the 2nd most significant bit broken so it would only do from 0 to 90 degrees but’s good one works perfect with DCS-Bios.

https://www.westfloridacomponents.com/mm5/graphics/N08/DSC1706.pdf

CSI sells the new versions but I’m sure they are expensive so I never inquired about the price.

http://controlsciences.com/digital_synchro_resolver.php

Well I’m hoping to get lucky on some used equipment from ebay. Some times you can find these modules inside the computer I/O cards so I ordered this one from France. It be here next month.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NORTH-ATLANTIC-538-10-DIGITAL-TO-RESOLVER-SYNCHRO-CONVERTER-C247/282849264333?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2648

I actually have a second ADI I got for $70. The pitch motor doesn’t work on it. I was going to take the synchro resolver motors out and put in stepper motors. The roll channel is easy and plenty of room to work with. The pitch channel is a bitch because you have to disassemble the entire ADI to get to it. Maybe one day. I love your wood frame structure and the creation of your panels. That $$()*! is sweet. Can’t wait to get further along.

Sweet jesus that looks amazing Calum :worthy:

 

This is IMHO the most accurate home made AN/ARC-186 panel I have seen by far. The construction looks very familiar to the real ones I have. Really nice job indeed. I guess that 20 position rotary haven't been cheap :cry:

Oh it probably too late and I forgot all about it. DCS has an error in the AN/ARC-186's. On the first channel selector the number 8 doesn't exist on the real ones. No biggy.

 

Did you 3D print the lid on the AN/ARC-164? Very nice build as well. If you can you may want to exchange the Squelch out to a smaller one as it looks a little big.

 

Can't wait to see the result when you fire them up.

 

The annunciators looks awesome as well. Hats of to you and you skills my friend. Really beautiful job there.

 

Have a great weekend and take a well deserved beer on me :-)

 

All the best

Hans

Thanks Hans. The 20 position switch cost 70USD, so I'm waiting a bit before buying the second one. More than I'd like to spend on it but finished the panel nicely. The flip cover on the radio was printed by shapeways. Came out well but took some time cleaning up the surface.

I've got fingers crossed that everything works as expected. Can't wait to get the engraving done and backlighting on. I'm still touching up paint at the moment on front plates then I'll leave them a full week for all the paint to harden, there's 10 layers there.

Cheers

Calum

Love your HSI. I could never find one that had the two bearing pointers. I had a question though for the coarse and heading knobs. The ones I saw output synchro to tell the system the position of the knob. I thought about using a synchro to digital converter that would give us a 12 bit output. Then I got stuck on how to have DCS-Bios read the bits. It only does encoders I think for the knobs. Were you going to change out your knobs to encoders or does that HSI has encoder outputs for the knobs? I know a guy selling another HSI that has the cars hdg knobs on the HSI. It only has one bearing pointer though and the knob output is synchro signals. I think he selling for around $700 to $900 though. Can’t remember the price.

I haven't put a whole lot of thought into the HSI yet and my knowledge isn't very good regarding how it should work with DCS. The Course knob is mechanically connected to both the course readout and the marker on the compass rose. I'm not sure if it also is connected to a synchro, I really need a lesson in DCS navigation to know what to expect.

The heading knob is mechanically connected to the so called "captain's bars" on the HSI and also the shaft of a synchro. A friend told me that this synchro's stator is wired to the same pins as those used to set the magnetic heading which allows the "captain's bars" to follow the magnetic heading. And the rotor connections are available on other pins. The system seems a bit vague to me and I really want to get the HSI powered up on the bench and hooked up to a test setup.

I still haven't totally decided on whether I will use synchro transmitters or generate the synchro stator signals from digital electronics. I'm about to get a few test PCBs that should do this.

My ADI actually has a some damage inside as well so I'll be having to convert it mechanically unless I can find a replacement in working order

Painted the throttle left grip today to match the right. It will need sanded down and at least another coat first

Also cut the plates needed for the front of the 164 and engraved the metal display bezel and A32 plate

Finally removed the masks around the digits on the 186 panel to see the lighting. The edges of the cutouts still need to be cleaned up but the lighting looks good. There's also another LED to go in the top right corner but not sure if it will be needed. There was no way for the PCB to reach the corner so I bought a 3mm LED of the same wavelength and made a cutout in the front plate so it can be pushed in

Nice. Well when you get to the HSI I posted the code I used on Github.

You are doing an amazing job Calum. The detailing in your work really shows the amount of thought you've put into each panel.

It too bad we all live hundreds to thousands of miles away. It would be wonderful to see each others builds as in close up and personal like, sitting around with a beer, talking about all the things we fracked up during our builds. :lol:

Update 14/07/2019

I've had very little time to work on much pit related work this year. I started a degree in Mechanical Engineering last year and moved into a new flat. Changed jobs along the way and currently in Austria for the summer. At least I have some time in the evenings now to start on the pit again. I've been working through my notebook, building some designs in CAD.

3 weeks ago I managed to sit down and work on the caution panel. This is a real panel that I have got working. It has the flashing and master caution reset logic built in which took some time to reverse engineer. No video for now but I've got the PCB designed to control the panel by Arduino. I will make a video when I'm back and have it running again. Apologies for the panel being upside down and notice the cheap pushbutton sitting on top acting as my master caution for the time being.

Filled the NMSP with the illuminated push buttons. I've cut most of the parts needed to convert the lenses for the A-10. Still working on the process to have the text white and triangle masked but still having them backlightable.

Got a couple small panels engraved

More switches acquired

Wired post lights for engine instruments to a connector. Tested them on an off the shelf dimming circuit but they need to be changed to a custom high-side circuit instead.

This was a small side project I tried. Both images are the same size but using a fresnel lens to magnify the RWR. This isn't going to work due to the users viewpoint not being perfectly perpendicular to the lens. I might have found a suitable screen though.

When I have time I'm trying to work on some PCB designs. Hopefully I will be able to put in my order at the start of Autumn and finally get some parts properly wired up and working in a more final location.

Boltz

Good catch on the caution panel and awesome work in reverse engineering it Calum :thumbup:

Very good to have you back in pit building again. You have been missed sir.

Looking forward for more progress (time permitting).

Chers

Hans

Looks great welcome back

Thanks guys. Hope you are both keeping well

Welcome back Calum. I too had toyed with using a fresnel lens as well. I kind of gave up on it because of the parallax issue you noted. Still looking for another solution. I am hoping someone will produce a square 3 inch tft or oled display.

Looking forward to see more of you and your cockpit as time becomes available. BTW, If you ever want to look at some of my Arduino sketches, I now have them available through a link in my signature below as well as some more recent photos of my own progress. Might actually have it finished this year. Also check out Hansolo's signature. He too linked his sketches.

Hope to talk with you in the near future.

Looking great John, incredible how much you have completed.

I have another design for the RWR using a 4" LCD which ends up just larger than the original. It needs some dimensions changed IIRC but I will find the design tonight.

Thanks for the links to sketches, can't wait to get things connected up. Then I have to update DCS