Hello, Thanks to everyones support with my previous posting I was able to understand some of the basic questions for starting my 737NG project. I am awaiting the arrival of my MIP from FDS. Meanwhile Im trying to figure out the best interfacing method (hardware). Ive heard alot about EPIC hardware and IOCards. Could someone help me (or direct me to a good tutorial prefferably aimed at beginners) understand whats involved in the interfacing process and or IOCards and EPIC? Also the basic methods of wiring switches etc. for these 2 systems? Thanks for the support

> Hello, Thanks to everyones support with my previous posting>I was able to understand some of the basic questions for>starting my 737NG project.> I am awaiting the arrival of my MIP from FDS. Meanwhile Im>trying to figure out the best interfacing method (hardware).>Ive heard alot about EPIC hardware and IOCards. Could someone>help me (or direct me to a good tutorial prefferably aimed at>beginners) understand whats involved in the interfacing>process and or IOCards and EPIC? Also the basic methods of>wiring switches etc. for these 2 systems? Here's an overview over the available Interfacing Solutions:http://cockpit.varxec.net/electronics/inte..._solutions.htmlEPIC is definately the hi-end stuff. Allows very flexible scripting, but the scripting language is a bit cryptic esp. for non-programmers.Its also the most expensive method.IOCards and FSBus are sort of similar. But FSBus has been around longer, and more people use it. IOCards seems to be trying to catch up with FSBus functionality-wise. It would be helpful to understand Spanish for IOCards since the majority of the folks using it are Spanish and most of the discussions seem to be in Spanish.If you want to make the boards yourself, FSBus is definately the easier choice due to single-sided boards. IOCards on the other hand are mostly double-sided boards but you can buy premade boards from them cheaply.Since I'm working on my own solution, PHCC, you should take my opinions with a grain of salt :) :) :)Manuel http://wiki.varxec.net SimBuilder's Wiki http://cockpit.varxec.net/electronics/PHCC.html PIC HomeCockpit Controller Project

Thank you for the refferal, As of right now I am completely confused with interfacing. I think I just need to get my hands dirty a little in order to build an understanding of it. Would you have a recomendation for the most simple yet functional interfacing tool? I am actually more afraid of electronics (building cicuit boards, sodering etc) than I am of programming since I tend to pick it up well. Which interfacing products require more electrical work as opposed to programming? Are there devices that come assembled (hardware) and ready to go just requiring only programming scripts. Like I said I am interested in full functionallity and would like to get to know more about EPIC and possibly FSBUS. However their sites and information appear to be aimed at the experienced cockpit builder and they seem to neglect explaining the basic prinipals of interfacing. I constantly worry about these issues, please help. The nervous Guy, Pete

Pete,If you choose the Epic route, I have some help pages that can get you started.http://www.avsim.com/project757/pics/epicintro.htmlMichael Lehkamp

> Thank you for the refferal, As of right now I am completely>confused with interfacing. I think I just need to get my hands>dirty a little in order to build an understanding of it. Would>you have a recomendation for the most simple yet functional>interfacing tool? I am actually more afraid of electronics>(building cicuit boards, sodering etc) than I am of>programming since I tend to pick it up well. Which interfacing>products require more electrical work as opposed to>programming? Are there devices that come assembled (hardware)>and ready to go just requiring only programming scripts. LikeMaybe http://iflightsystems.com/ has something for you. Its relativelysimple, prebuilt and AFAIK a SDK is supplied so that you could start programming with it.Preassembled FSBus boards are sold by cockpitsonic.de:http://www.cockpitsonic.de/index.php?cl=al...991953〈=1 >I said I am interested in full functionallity and would like>to get to know more about EPIC and possibly FSBUS. However>their sites and information appear to be aimed at the>experienced cockpit builder and they seem to neglect>explaining the basic prinipals of interfacing. I constantly>worry about these issues, please help.Hardware interfacing *is* one of the more advanced topics in cockpitbuilding... so finding something targetted at beginners will be harder.Regards,Manuel http://wiki.varxec.net Simbuilder's Wiki http://cockpit.varxec.net/electronics/PHCC.html

Hi Pete,I use IOCards and extremely happy with it. You can purchase just the pcbs or pcb with component kits or fully assembled kits from the developers. Or if you want, you may build from scratch yourself for free. It comes with very good software suite too. Compared to FSBus, each have their own stregths and weaknesses and you may not go wrong with either. on the other hand, if you are looking for simple, commercial systems with support to guide you, also take a look at: Photon (http://www.iflightsystems.com) and Hagstrom emulator (http://www.hagstromelectronics.com).btw, I am from N.E. (as we met in the other post about NE builders). If you need any help with IOCards, I may be able to help you. best of luck-srini