Gadroc's A-10 Build

Gadroc and Flim....good to see you guys still bouncing around. Been a long time. Be nice to get together again and do some old school A10 flying ;) I'm sure your playground mission still works...lol.

Gadroc and Flim....good to see you guys still bouncing around. Been a long time. Be nice to get together again and do some old school A10 flying ;) I'm sure your playground mission still works...lol.

ha, nice to hear from ya... It's been a while!

I'm waiting for the rift and then I will go back to flying... Gadroc is still working on his awesome setup and coming along very nicely.

Working on converting my A model throttle into a C model, and getting it converted to a joystick. First test print of my right grip is done. Need to tweet a few tolerances and fix the speed brake switch foot print, but doesn't look that bad.

I'm using the hat switches out of a TM Warthog Throttle, but the Speed Brake, China Hat and Slew Cursor are from the real throttle. I'm waiting on moving over the boat switch from the warthog as it's a destructive operation. They unfortunately soldered switches directly to circuit boards.

Looks great. After the tweaks are made and verified, any chance to buy a printed copy or 'lic' to make the print over here ?

Looks great. After the tweaks are made and verified, any chance to buy a printed copy or 'lic' to make the print over here ?

That would be really cool! :)

Yep. It's an AVENGER 180 setup.

Donno why they use the Avenger and Centurion names in their product. It leads to unnecessary product naming confusion. They're Icarus screens in 180 and 270 degree variants. Better just to call them Icarus 180 and Icarus 270.

Looks great. After the tweaks are made and verified, any chance to buy a printed copy or 'lic' to make the print over here ?

Once I get it dialed in I'll post the files.

Very nice work there Sir. Looking forward to see the final working version

Cheers

Hans

fantastic pit i have been trying to build one for 5 years now and have not been successful but this makes me want to try again

Welcome back Gadroc, we messaged a bit a few years ago but I have been away myself since we had a little boy (2.5 years ago). As I recall I live near you, so if your pit comes up missing, you definitely don't need to come to my house to get it back.......lol. Message me sometime if you feel like flying. I just got back into it last night, and I gotta tell you, the Huey is one unforgiving beast when you have been away for a while. I am a complete noob again. There are at least 3 guys I know local that fly DCS though. So maybe we can get in the air sometime after I finish setting up my profile for A-10

New toy for x-mass came early yesterday. The prototype PCB for my joystick controller with built in amplifier for the transducer.

Here is the raw board as it showed up.

Here it is after fixing some stupid mistakes and tweaking op-amp resistors.

Hardware Features

* USB Powered (Micro USB Port)

* 6 Analog Axis w/ 12 bit resolution

* 2 Channel Transducer Amplifier (5V, 8-15x Amplification, Centering Pot)

* PWM Backlight Controller (Indepentent Power up to 30v / 1Amp)

* 32 Discrete button/switch inputs (No diodes and complicated matrix)

Planned Firware/Software Features

* HID Joystick - No driver required

* Virutal Buttons on Axis Ranges

* Configurable Bounds on Axis

* HID Protocol for Backlight

* C# API to control Backlight

* Configuration GUI Tool (upload firmware, setup rotary encoders, setup virtual buttons)

I've validated the amplifier works with my transducer giving a 0.5 - 4.5 volt read range for full deflection/force. In the process finding where I had the always required crossed wires on first try and fixing my resistor ranges for amplifier settings. I've just started the firmware which is needed to validate the rest of the circuit design / board layout.

Let me know if anyone is interested in these, they should be perfect for converting real throttles / grips for simulator use. If enough people are I may throw up a quick kickstarter or group buy to get a bulk order in.

Very nice update indeed Sir.

Count me in for one. I have a throttle which craves for being hooked up :-)

Cheers

Hans

Rep inbound

Looks excellent, count me in

I am in.

Sign me up for one please

Looks good. If the price is right I will sign up as well.

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

I've got 90% of the firmware workings. Oversampling and filtering on the analog inputs is done. I have also reworked the schematics a little bit adding two additional analog inputs and 4 more digital inputs.

Rev. 2 Specs

• USB Powered (Micro USB Port)
  
• 8 Analog Axis w/ 12 bit resolution
  
• 2 Channel Transducer Amplifier (5V, 8-15x Amplification, Centering Pot)
  
• PWM Backlight Controller (Indepentent Power up to 30v / 1Amp)
  
• 32 Discrete button/switch inputs (No diodes and complicated matrix)
  
• 4 Dedicated HAT Switch Inputs
  

Current Firmware Capabilities

• AXIS Mapping - Assign any of the 8 inputs to usage (X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz, Slider, Dial or Disabled). Disabled AXIS don't appear on the computer to prevent confusing the sim.
  
• AXIS Tuning - Set center and limit dead zones and axis scaling. If your sensor is not capable of a full 0-5v range the firmware can compensate (although at a reduced resolution)
  
• Button Virtualization - Each of the button inputs can be assign to any of the up to 40 buttons presented to the computer
  

Timing wise I need to do a few more bodge wires to my sample board to verify some of the circuit changes and verify the PWM backlight. Once that's complete I'll order another sample which will take @ 3 weeks. Then I can place the order for the final boards.

During that 3 weeks I'll be completing the following software items:

• Firmware - Add up to 3 virtual HAT switches which can be mapped to button inputs.
  
• Firmware - Add PWM control to USB interface
  
• Firmware - Add boot loader / firmware update capability
  
• Software - Calibration/Configuration Utility. Utility to map and tunes axis, configure and map buttons, and update firmware.
  
• Software - DCS BIOS backlight relay. Will listen for DCS BIOS messages and turn on /dim the backlight.
  

Looks like pricing will be $80 ($70 if you want to solder your own headers) plus shipping. PM me if you want to commit to purchasing one at that price point.

:thumbup: PM inbound Sir

Cheers

Hans

Dito

Great, PM inbound

Rev. 2 Specs

• USB Powered (Micro USB Port)
  
• 8 Analog Axis w/ 12 bit resolution
  
• 2 Channel Transducer Amplifier (5V, 8-15x Amplification, Centering Pot)
  
• PWM Backlight Controller (Indepentent Power up to 30v / 1Amp)
  
• 32 Discrete button/switch inputs (No diodes and complicated matrix)
  
• 4 Dedicated HAT Switch Inputs
  

 

Current Firmware Capabilities

• AXIS Mapping - Assign any of the 8 inputs to usage (X, Y, Z, Rx, Ry, Rz, Slider, Dial or Disabled). Disabled AXIS don't appear on the computer to prevent confusing the sim.
  
• AXIS Tuning - Set center and limit dead zones and axis scaling. If your sensor is not capable of a full 0-5v range the firmware can compensate (although at a reduced resolution)
  
• Button Virtualization - Each of the button inputs can be assign to any of the up to 40 buttons presented to the computer
  

Time is never my friend, but Rev 2 is now on the bench and working! Although there are a few changes from above. I switched to a different CPU to reduce part count. I had to remove the 4 HAT switch inputs, but the analog input and ADC is much cleaner with the new circuit. The new board is 2" x 3" with M3 mounting holes in the corners.

I have all of the firmware running on the new CPU and have a bootloader working for firmware updates. I'm working on the configuration utility and communications now. I should be able to order the final batch of Rev 3 shortly.

I've also got my throttle grip conversion complete.

I've also begun work on design of my left console. The new rudder floor, stick mount and seat cradle are already cut on the CNC machine and should be put together later today.

Looks great thanks for the info!!

Some pit progress... finally. I got the left side console console almost ready.I just need to cut out the outside wall panel and I can square up and assemble to frame. The 8/32 press fit inserts work fine this close to the edge, so I've ordered enough for the rest of the pit. I'll cut out the last frame part and can do assembly except for the two rear rails as they need the additional inserts.

Nice Gadroc :thumbup: Very neat setup Sir. Looking forward to seeing it come together. Did you drill and mounted the press inserts before or after the square cut-out was cut?

Cheers

Hans

I cut all the parts out on the CNC and then hammered in the inserts after cleaning up the parts. It's possible to flip the parts and cut with the bottom side up and insert the nuts after the holes are cut before the inside profile paths. The risk is crashing the bit into the inserts which would require a new piece of wood and cutter.