PPL Building full SimPit, 90% done, need fine tuning advice.. response needed please ;)

[TreeTopFlyer 0]

It seems I'm not very good at getting responses from forums but I'll give it a try,I'm a private pilot out of florida and have decided to take my joy ,a flying home with me.. I bought some controls , tracker, some screens, a computer to run it all, wood in which were used to build a cockpit,and also 2 aircraft seats, a glaresheild, and the avionics shop will make my panel once everything is in its place... $2500 in all so far.... which leads me to the point of making this thread.. I need help specifically with the type of simpit I'm building.. everything is new , and mostly refundable..first I guess I should give you some info about the computer...I bought an intel I 7 with 8 gigs of ram n 1 terabyte hard drive.. the computer came with a video card, Radon HD 6570 w 1Gb ram, and I purchased another Radon 5450 w 1Gb ram.. also the Trackir5 if I end up needing it.. the screens are : 1 sanyo 42" front, 2 24" side displays, and 1 15" for instruments .. also I have the Saitek yoke, throttle, multipanel, switch panel, and rudders... I have some old x10 components around somewhere to control my cockpit lighting.. So with the various components obtained, I set out to build my ultimate cockpit... I made a basic box of sorts that I was actually planning on moving it in front of my big screen in the TV room, but soon realized that it was too big to move around and would need it's own dedicated displays.. some quick measurements and budget analysis and I had decided that a 42 would fit the best.. I built the frame out if 2x2s and hardboard that was white on 1 side.. the carpet inside was the cheap home depot carpet, and I painted the wood before installing the carpet.. After about 20 hours work, I had myself a nice , comfortable cockpit to fly in.. life was good .... then I realized, all the planning and research was done with hardware in mind, and minimal software concerns at this point.. it seems I'm only half way done again, and honestly I'm already exhausted from everything I've put in it so far... was more work than I expected. Well, here it goes, I'm on my way to learn everything I can about the software and programming aspect. The short list of problems to overcome: 1. The front display and side displays dont match up very well, for instance when the image disappears on the front, it should have a certain point where the image reappears on the side (it should have the impression that the image is moving behind the corner trim where the windows meet the windscreen).. I have FSX and have had little luck with any info or settings to change this, although I downloaded the trial of X-Plane 10 and found that you can artificially change the field of view and zoom on the main display which dont look distorted at all, only problem with it so far is I cant figure out how to add the other displays to other windows,, in FSX I click Views-New View- Undock View and then move to the desired screen.. i did play with increasing the fov to something crazy and was able to stretch over the screens,, but dont know if thats the way to go.2. Im wondering if I should have gone with 2 24" fronts instead (I can still return the Big screen and do this) although it will be very taxing on the system3. I only had 1 PCI slot, which was taken by the Radeon 6570 that it came with, just that alone i would say would suffice, I have the Display Port adapter to HDMI.I have what I believe is 3 other slots that are PCI Express x1 (like 4 slot or something), not the 16x... I filled 1 slot with the Radeon 5450 HD w/1GB, but I dont think the two cards are combining their power as of yet,, I dont think their crossfire compatible, I may have to run the cards seperatly,, Ideas? Does TH2GO have its own memory? Does it take the system memory? Im trying to save money, but do it right..4. My yoke has glitches,, sometimes it for no aparent reason goes full left in a blink of the eye,, sending me instantly in an unusual attitude in which i need to recover,,, prob a problem with the actual unit itself There are a few other minor things I can probably figure out on my own, like why my Saitek Auto Pilot wont disengage when I turn it off on the panel, but any help would be very much appreciated.. I can offer help with upholstery type questions, and can take pictures of most any GA aircraft for reference purposes for your build... Please dont be afraid to offer even a partial answer, I welcome any kind of knowledge,,, lets see how fast we can work through this one... Im desperate! thankyou for your time... Jeff -Treetop Flyer- PPL, 200hrs, 3rd gen. pilot

[SpiritFlyer 987]

I need help specifically with the type of simpit I'm building.. everything is new , and mostly refundable..first I guess I should give you some info about the computer...I bought an intel I 7 with 8 gigs of ram n 1 terabyte hard drive.. the computer came with a video card, Radon HD 6570 w 1Gb ram, and I purchased another Radon 5450 w 1Gb ram.. also the Trackir5 if I end up needing it.. the screens are : 1 sanyo 42" front, 2 24" side displays, and 1 15" for instruments .. also I have the Saitek yoke, throttle, multipanel, switch panel, and rudders... I have some old x10 components around somewhere to control my cockpit lighting..thankyou for your time... Jeff -Treetop Flyer- PPL, 200hrs, 3rd gen. pilot

Hi Jeff,Welcome to AVSIM! That is quite the project you are undertaking. Before getting into other details the members here should have a bit more information. Which CPU do you have on what motherboard? Have you overclocked it? What is the RAM speed and type of harddrive? Why did you choose the computer with that video card(s), and which parts are new and refundable? Those are the immediate things I think first need to be nailed down a bit more.Kind regards,

[TreeTopFlyer 0]

Hello.. thank-you for the quick response.. :) I returned the computer to office depot after I realize it wouldn't be fast enough to run FSX.... I had one built by Ibuypower.com .... I'm pretty sure it will do for now although there are a few choices I could of made differently... intel 2700 k on an Asrock Extreme4motherboard gen3 mobo... I have a regular 1 terabyte hard drive nothing special there... 8 gigs of 1866 ram, but they sent me 2000 instead, is that the same thing? 2 ATI 7770's ( I chose this instead of 1 Card w/ 2gb so I can plug on my monitors in.. but didn't realize in crossfire you can use 1 card anyway so I kinda screwed myself there).. I do have a liquid cpu cooler, closed.. and a 700 watt power supply... I have it all plugged in and working and just need to tweak it now.. I have not overclocked.. a ventually I'm thinking about some sort of s s d... what would that actually help? So yeah I think that's pretty much it. Thanks For the reply

[SpiritFlyer 987]

Hey Jeff,Cool setup for a simpit. Is it too late for you to take the FSX Mark 11 Benchmark test? It needs to be run on a virgin FSX install following the directions to the letter. It would be interesting how your ATI cards rate. Is it also too late for you to take the video cards back and get a single Nvidia 680 GTX? Your FSX performance would be significantly better.Kind regards,

[RickB1293 9]

Hi Jeff-

 

It sounds like you have a tiger by the tail so don't let go. My first suggestion is to develop a specification around the type of aircraft you want to fly. For instance, the hardware and software for a PMDG 737-800 won't work for if you are also flying the VRS F18-E Superbug or one of the WWII war birds. Does your intended aircraft have one, two or four engines? Do you fly with the virtual cockpit or the 2d?

 

Once you determine what you like (it's called a needs assessment IRL) you can start to research the hardware you'll need to simulate the cockpit. Hardware runs from the ridiculous to the sublime so you'll need to have a firm budget or the project will literally bleed you to death. Unfortunately, your graphics cards are not Crossfire compatible. Both cards must be identical to meet the Crossfire spec. Also, FSX can't use Crossfire or nVidia's SLI so dual graphics cards may not be your solution. Many cockpit builders use a large monitor such as your 42" for the view out the window. Trying to spread that view over three monitors is difficult due to aspect issues and monitor resolution. Again consult others through these forums for answers and suggestions. Your two 24" monitors can be used to nest your 2d cockpit views. I use a second monitor (actually an iPad) to keep FSCommander open. I use FSC for flight planning, weather updates and basic approach, SIDS/STARS and transition planning.

 

Use the forums to see what other simmers have done and make sure that your hardware is compatible and adaptable to your computer and your potential software suite. Make your first software priority the simulator backbone. Do you like FS9, FSX or XPlane 10? What level of simulation are you interested in? Establish your priorities as early as possible. Do you want incredible high res graphics and photorealistic scenery at your favorite airports? Believe it or not, you can purchase satellite imagery for the ENTIRE planet. You'll need a couple of TBytes just to store it but it's out there. As a pilot, I assume that procedures and the aircraft model will have high priority. This is where good hardware choices are really essential. In addition to FSX you may want to add several utilities and scenery packages such Real Environment Xtreme (REX), Ground Enviroment Xtreme (GEX), urban traffic simulations, AI vehicles and add on scenery. I "fly" the Hawaiian Islands quite often so I bought scenery packages for Oahu, Maui Molokai, Lanai and Kauai. Take a look at my Gallery for some of the terrain screen shots made possible with these add ons.

 

I'm sorry if I've gotten a little long winded but as you can see there are a lot of variables to consider if you really want a cockpit that suits your purposes. Good luck in your research and please keep us posted on the project.

 

PS: I forgot to mention the best software for composing monitor windows. Look into EZDok for FSX. This utility lets you zoom, pan and rotate user defined windows within FSX. User defined windows can be manipulated using special motion features for added realism. It rates as one of my best buys.

[TreeTopFlyer 0]

Hello again.. yeah, so I figured out these things can be a beast.. Ive been doing alot of testing, installing, researching and more testing.. Im trying to build a somewhat general type of small GA aircraft to fly, I dont want to be pinned down, but for now it will be mostly what I fly in the real world, Cessna Cardinal RG, but still want to fly the occasional twin, possibly helicopter.. I know some people at an avionics shop that can cut a couple panels for various configurations of instruments, but for now will be just a big square hole.. I screwed the pooch on the 2 7770's.. I have 1 big view on 1 card and 2 sides on 2nd (windowed mode) and I can zoom out on the front display and the picture size matches up well right at the point where it only has a small gap between views like on a spar where the glairshild meets the windows.. I just got lucky there... I did however score on the FSUIPC/WideFS registered version and Rex.. Also looking int ORBX,, I have the trial version... I have all saitek hardware on 2nd PC using SPAD. and GA Panel from PIEX (trial) on the 2nd pc... so far rex and orbx are on fsx pc,, how would i move these to a 3rd pc?

Im using mostly 2d panels,, but I do have trackir,.. Later on I might sell these cards along with a 5450 1gb and my 42" and get a 2-3gb card and 2 24"-32" displays to replace it,,, so 4 for outside view and 1 inside,,, and eventually an ipad....eventually motion, although I will build (obviously like highly technical projects)... I saw PFC at Sun-N-Fun,,, they were using dbox (i think) actuators on each corner of a platform,,it raises and lowers only a small amount but enough to trigger the inner ear,, and prob cheaper? I now have a super solid floor with seat tracks and s mooney seat,,,, liking where this is going,,, but alas one thing at a time right?