Grommet67 Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mt5_Roie Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Looking nice! Coder - Oculus Rift Guy - Court Jester Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansolo Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Looks nice. Happy building :thumbup: Best hobby I ever had and probably also the most expensive appart form motorcycling :lol: Cheers Hans 132nd Virtual Wing homepage & 132nd Virtual Wing YouTube channel My DCS-BIOS sketches & Cockpit Album Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Succellus Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Looks nice. Happy building :thumbup: Best hobby I ever had and probably also the most expensive appart form motorcycling :lol: Cheers Hans Yeah if you have a custom, and customize it, i guess its even more expansive than skydiving. I wish i had the same ressources in my country as you guys have. HaF 922, Asus rampage extreme 3 gene, I7 950 with Noctua D14, MSI gtx 460 hawk, G skill 1600 8gb, 1.5 giga samsung HD. Track IR 5, Hall sensed Cougar, Hall sensed TM RCS TM Warthog(2283), TM MFD, Saitek pro combat rudder, Cougar MFD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agrasyuk Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Hi Trent. judging by your pictures you already past the point of "meager" . what interfaces besides gpwiz are using ? How do you handle encoders? Anton. My pit build thread . Simple and cheap UFC project Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swaty Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Happy hours during building! [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] My Pit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) Hi Trent. judging by your pictures you already past the point of "meager" . what interfaces besides gpwiz are using ? How do you handle encoders? 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. Edited July 11, 2013 by Grommet67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited July 11, 2013 by Grommet67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacFevre Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Wow. Looking great. Wish I was as organized. I start with this, go to that while waiting for something to come in the post. Find that I want to do something else instead. Definitely don't have the patience to get everything together first. :) Buttons aren't toys! :smilewink: My new Version 2 Pit: MacFevre A-10C SimPit V2 My first pit thread: A-10C Simulator Pit "The TARDIS." Dzus Fastener tutorial, on the inexpensive side: DIY Dzus Fastener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
159th_Falcon Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Simple to wire up to the Desktop Aviator card if you can solder. Took me a while because I cant solder. :( Trent. :megalol::megalol::megalol::megalol::megalol: Sorry mate, that just sounds to funny. Best of luck whit your simpit. Panels look great. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] The keeper of all mathematical knowledge and the oracle of flight modeling.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 No worries, glad I can provide some comic relief. If you saw my soldering you would understand. Thanks for the support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 Wow. Looking great. Wish I was as organized. I start with this, go to that while waiting for something to come in the post. Find that I want to do something else instead. Definitely don't have the patience to get everything together first. :) 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 11, 2013 Author Share Posted July 11, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 12, 2013 Author Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) 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 Edited July 12, 2013 by Grommet67 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacFevre Posted July 12, 2013 Share Posted July 12, 2013 (edited) 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. Thanks. Just did a big update and tried to show a pseudo dzus fastener on the cheap. For everything you need, try Dimebug. That link will have the front panel, and the sides. Your panels are looking great. Also, though it looks like you know all about it from your work, (would have been a very cool man cave,) once you start a pit build, it will never end. Even when it's finished, there seems to be one more thing you could do or one more step to make it more realistic. :D Edited July 12, 2013 by MacFevre Buttons aren't toys! :smilewink: My new Version 2 Pit: MacFevre A-10C SimPit V2 My first pit thread: A-10C Simulator Pit "The TARDIS." Dzus Fastener tutorial, on the inexpensive side: DIY Dzus Fastener Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulishaknight Posted July 13, 2013 Share Posted July 13, 2013 I would sure like to see some documentation on building the caution panel and wiring it up :( can't seem to find out much about how people are building these. Just that they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mulishaknight Posted July 14, 2013 Share Posted July 14, 2013 This is great. Is it as easy as wiring it up then programming it in helios? or is there more to it then that? I see your using lolz profile does it come set up for the phidget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grommet67 Posted July 14, 2013 Author Share Posted July 14, 2013 (edited) 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. Edited July 15, 2013 by Grommet67 Add a bit more detail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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