Here's my idea. I want to build a pseudo-cockpit, I just don't want a dedicated, Airbus-style, permanent cockpit. My idea is to get a three-tiered shelf (built by yours truly) to house, one monitor on top (for overhead panel), one monitor in middle (with fresnal lense to house outside view), and one monitor on bottom (to handle gauges and panel). I've got two good computers, enough monitors, and one other shady computer. My plan was to fill the great computer up with three cards, running the three monitors, use the second computer to run accessories like ActiveSky, RC, acars, and such. I'm worried about the interference of running three monitors in close contact like that, I was getting a little 'vibration' in my screen when I had a second vid card installed. The reason I want to go to a set-up like this, instead of a dedicated cockpit are because I'm not great with electricals, I don't have the space for a huge cockpit, and I use a variety of planes when I fly, from the PSS A320, to Oleksiy's Dash 8, to PIC767. I thought this might be a good way to enjoy all three.Any thoughts?Lobaeux

Someone had mentioned lining some cardboard with aluminum foil and placing that between the monitors to minimize the interference.As for the multiple machines and monitors, unless you have a card such as the Matrox Parhelia that can stretch a single wide view across multiple monitors (opposed to multiple views on multiple monitors which many multi-head cards do), you'll only be able to drive one 3D display with one PC. But, you can have panels on the other two displays of the same PC.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator

That's my original, ver 1 of this will be, just one 3D outside view, with two panel views. Later I'll add in the left and right views with wideview.Lobaeux

Sounds like a good idea there. I do something similar myself - for more or less the same reasons.Just a couple of things. You mention a 3 tier shelf - depending on the size of your monitors, this could give you serious neck ache - looking up at the o/head and down at the panels. I also wondered where and how the yoke would be positioned relative to the monitors. My arrangement is 2 monitors side by side, one directly over the yoke which has main panel - to its right is a monitor with ancillary panels and above those, an o/head monitor which is angled downwards [one day it will fall on my head I'm sure1!]. These are run from one machine. [You might think of getting a dual head vid card to run 2 monitors and a second matched PCI card for the third]. I then have additional hardware under the main monitor and under the right hand monitor.Like you, I have a second linked machine on the left of the main monitor to run the type of add ons you propose. Must say 'tho some of these progs don't run as well as they should when networked.These monitors are all tightly packed together but I've not experienced and probs with any type of interference.Good luck - hope it all works for you.Bud

PeterK Any idea works...Basically once you have this layed out sit and useit...You will find out not how it looks but how does it feel..It does not have to look like an airlpane inside and out becausewhen your in the middle of this sim flying IFR through some fogtrying to land are you really standing there saying well its not a7## airbus speedbird thing... I think your going to find out the office chair lasts about 30 minutes...The shelves are going to become less important than your back... pete Http://home.attbi.com/~fs-boneyard