F-14 Cockpit and instrument dimensions

Question of my own; does anyone of you electrically minded folks know how I might go about getting the Rio Ejection Cmd lever to change the indicator on the Landing Gear Panel?

I have attached some pics of the parts, but the lever evidently works as on on/off type of lever switch as when you move it back and forth there is a metal bar inside that slides back and forward and there are 4 holes, 2 on top and 2 on the bottom.

I tried to get a pic, but open and closed look the same because of the flash. Any ideas on how to figure out how to wire something would be appreciated greatly.

Salute,

I'm not particularly electrically minded but would it not be simpler to allow the sim to drive the indicator on the landing panel?

If you think of DCS as a single source of truth state machine, then your input on the RIO ejector seat switch is completely independent of the reflection of the ejector switch in the sim to a display elsewhere.

Your input to the sim is the switch which changes something in the state of the sim.

Your output on the landing gear panel should be driven by the state of the sim, not the position of a physical switch.

I'm not particularly electrically minded but would it not be simpler to allow the sim to drive the indicator on the landing panel?

 

If you think of DCS as a single source of truth state machine, then your input on the RIO ejector seat switch is completely independent of the reflection of the ejector switch in the sim to a display elsewhere.

 

Your input to the sim is the switch which changes something in the state of the sim.

 

Your output on the landing gear panel should be driven by the state of the sim, not the position of a physical switch.

Hi Snake,

Thanks for your input. I understand what you are saying needs to happen, just unsure how to implement it in this case. I am guessing one of the poles is power, but I do not know which one since there is no electrical schematic on it like some other parts have. I do not even know how much power it takes. 5, 12, 28V? I am clueless right now and boggled by the problem....Did I mention my electronics knowledge is just above none?

Salute,

Hey Mariner.

I am not sure if this will work out for you, but the first image is similar to the above and the same image copied from the DACO book, Shogun who based his pit on it, said he took it to his local Kinko's and had them enlarge the image 747% and print it. He was not sure how close it came. Mind you that the image may be altered by the copy and paste routine I am guessing. But I can give you the exact measurements for a number of gauges and a couple panels if you like to test how close they are. The second image was my attempt to make a life sized image on GIMP. Not sure how it would print out though. Hope this helps a little.

 

Salute,

Punk

Thanks a bunch Punk! Awesome reference to help me set the IPD setting in game for the correct cockpit scale in VR :thumbup:

GRU7A seat

Hi all,

I have been following this thread and I know some of you are working hard on a full F-14 cockpit. I am planning to build just the ejection seat to have some immersion while flying in VR, but I would like to make it as realistic as possible. Apart from the sketchup files that have been posted in this thread, does anybody have any more material on the GRU7A seat, with correct measures etc? That would really help!!

Thanks in advance and happy Landings…

Hi, Great thread guys!

I'm planning to do some of this construction for partial panels (save space).

Searching eBay for "cockpit avionics" or "cockpit instruments" brings up some things you may be able to use for reference or actual panels.

Here's the AN/ARC-159 (UHF radio, left panel) data sheet:

http://www.columbiaelectronics.com/an_arc_159_v__uhf_transceiver.htm

AN/ARN 84 Data sheet

http://www.airco-international.com/PDFs/AN_ARN84AIRCO_Data_Sheet.pdf

For the switches and buttons you can use the Arduino joystick library! Use with a Pro Micro.

Here's the code...

https://github.com/MHeironimus/ArduinoJoystickLibrary

// Simple gamepad example that demonstrates how to read five Arduino

// digital pins and map them to the Arduino Joystick library.

//

// The digital pins 2 - 6 are grounded when they are pressed.

// Pin 2 =

// Pin 3 =

// Pin 4 =

// Pin 5 =

// Pin 6 =

//

// NOTE: This sketch file is for use with Arduino Leonardo and

// Arduino Micro only.

//

// by Matthew Heironimus / edited 24032019

// 2016-11-24

//--------------------------------------------------------------------

#include <Joystick.h>

Joystick_ Joystick(JOYSTICK_DEFAULT_REPORT_ID,JOYSTICK_TYPE_GAMEPAD,

12, 0, // Button Count, Hat Switch Count

true, true, false, // NO X and Y, no Z Axis

false, false, false, // No Rx, Ry, or Rz

true, true, // yes rudder, yes throttle

false, false, false); // No accelerator, brake, or steering

void setup() {

// Initialize Button Pins

pinMode(2, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(3, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(4, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(5, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(6, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(7, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(8, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(9, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(10, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(14, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(15, INPUT_PULLUP);

pinMode(16, INPUT_PULLUP);

// Initialize Joystick Library

Joystick.begin();

}

// Last state of the buttons

int lastButtonState[12] = {0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0}; // 12 part ARRAY - initialised with int 0 //

void loop() {

// Read pin values

for (int index = 0; index < 12; index++) //define index as int 0, index less than 12, increase index

{

int currentButtonState = !digitalRead(index + 2);

if (currentButtonState != lastButtonState[index])

{

switch (index) {

case 0: // B12

Joystick.setButton(12, currentButtonState);

break;

case 1: // B11

Joystick.setButton(11, currentButtonState);

break;

case 2: // B10

Joystick.setButton(10, currentButtonState);

break;

case 3: // B9

Joystick.setButton(9, currentButtonState);

break;

case 4: // B8

Joystick.setButton(8, currentButtonState);

break;

case 5: // B7

Joystick.setButton(7, currentButtonState);

break;

case 6: // B6

Joystick.setButton(6, currentButtonState);

break;

case 7: // B5

Joystick.setButton(5, currentButtonState);

break;

case 8: // B4

Joystick.setButton(4, currentButtonState);

break;

case 9: // B3

Joystick.setButton(3, currentButtonState);

break;

case 10: // B2

Joystick.setButton(2, currentButtonState);

break;

case 16: // B1

Joystick.setButton(1, currentButtonState);

break;

case 14: // B1

Joystick.setButton(0, currentButtonState);

break;

}

lastButtonState[index] = currentButtonState;

}

}

delay(10);

}

Also Here's the AN/ARC-159 (UHF radio, left panel) data sheet:

http://www.columbiaelectronics.com/an_arc_159_v__uhf_transceiver.htm

AN/ARN 84 Data sheet

http://www.airco-international.com/PDFs/AN_ARN84AIRCO_Data_Sheet.pdf

Hey guys,

 

I've uploaded a few of the major front cockpit parts at the link below:

http://media.heatblur.se/F-14_B_Cockpit_Dimensions.rar

 

 

License: non-commercial, personal-use only. We encourage you to share any models you make based on these.

 

Hope it helps! Units are 1 unit = 1.0m

Can we sticky this to the beginning of the thread?

Thought this might help on choosing components.

Thought this might help on choosing components.

Has anyone got rough dimensions for the Computer Address Panel ?

I can feel a project coming on...

Has anyone got rough dimensions for the Computer Address Panel ?

 

I can feel a project coming on...

If you take the image from the NATOPS and cut it out, you can scale it to the rough dimension because it should have the standard panel width of 5.75 inches wide.

Salute,

If you take the image from the NATOPS and cut it out, you can scale it to the rough dimension because it should have the standard panel width of 5.75 inches wide.

 

Salute,

Brilliant, I didn't know the panels had a standard width, that makes life a lot simpler and makes some design decisions possible.

Which is handy, because I just spent £150 on Ebay for the hardware I'll need - may the Lord have mercy on my soul :D

Look back in the thread and you should find the panels I made.

Look back in the thread and you should find the panels I made.

Looks like a good way to proceed - I am just going to create two of the RIO panels\ sub units - whatever they are called - though.

Brilliant, I didn't know the panels had a standard width, that makes life a lot simpler and makes some design decisions possible.

 

Which is handy, because I just spent £150 on Ebay for the hardware I'll need - may the Lord have mercy on my soul :D

Welcome to the sickness...

Salute,

I was wondering if anyone was going to pick this ACM panel up off eBay. I saw it the other day if nothing else it is great reference material. If I had the money and had started my cockpit I would have bought it.

ACM Panel

Somebody BOUGHT that??? Crazy! A cockpit with real parts is cool IF they actually function. It is to easy to fake stuff these days.... For that dough a person could have the badassedest VR rig out there...

Somebody BOUGHT that??? Crazy! A cockpit with real parts is cool IF they actually function. It is to easy to fake stuff these days.... For that dough a person could have the badassedest VR rig out there...

It doesn't look like anyone bought it, it didn't have any bids. $2,500 is a bit high for a starting bid. It's like $500 to $1,000 cool not $2,500. lol Maybe the seller will relist it or the FBI got in touch with them and they took it down. I don't know the legality with the Iran embargo even if it said it was inert and wouldn't be shipped outside the US of A.

Somebody BOUGHT that??? Crazy! A cockpit with real parts is cool IF they actually function.

It's amazing what you can find. I bought an INS control unit from an unknown military ( probably naval ) aircraft last week. Making it work with DCS will be an interesting challenge due to the mechanical design of the switches.

The Lat\Lon display is missing but I've got no idea if it's even possible to get that working.

Currently in the UK there are a lot of Tornado switch and display panels available, some brand new old stock, if anyone fancies waiting for one of those to arrive in DCS. The prices aren't bad, it's flight instruments that seem to fetch large amounts of money.

I don't know the legality with the Iran embargo even if it said it was inert and wouldn't be shipped outside the US of A.

Imagine the geopolitical implications if Al-Bhundee got his hands on a piece of metal with a few lights and switches on it - doesn't bear thinking about :cry::D

I've had a chance to buy a real fully functional thottle quadrant for a VERY reasonable price. That forward panel is rediculous tho. You might get the switches and buttons working but lights and all, no. You really have to watch for fakes. Especially Tomcat stuff. That doesn't look used at all.

You might get the switches and buttons working but lights and all, no.

Is there any way to extract data from DCS for lights and indicators ? be nice if there was.

The stores display looks electromechanical, a bit like the 'dollseyes' used in UK military aircraft. It would probably be possible to make them work with a bit of effort and probably a 28v supply.

Is there any way to extract data from DCS for lights and indicators ? be nice if there was.

You should using an arduino or similar board and the DCS bios that was put together. I will have to look up the actual name, but you can probably search the forums and find them.

Salute,

Here is the link: DCS-BIOS Website: http://dcs-bios.a10c.de

You should using an arduino or similar board and the DCS bios that was put together. I will have to look up the actual name, but you can probably search the forums and find them.

 

Salute,

 

Here is the link: DCS-BIOS Website: http://dcs-bios.a10c.de

Thanks, that should be very handy....