tigert

What do you use for your interfacing? If it is iocards or fsbus, it migth be possible to program some logic there that is triggered by a microswitch ("reverser on") and then treats the axis value in a different way?//Tuomas

>I have also read something about wiring the pots in series.>Would this work?Possibly. FSUIPC (the registered version, which you want anyway if you do cockpit building) has a feature where you can have a certain point in the axis be "idle" and anything below that becomes reverse. So if you wire the stuff like that the main throttle axis is 70% of the total potentiometer resistance (thus, throttles back leaves on ~30% of the axis) and then pulling the reversers back moves it to 0 - then it should work. Read the fsuipc documentation.//Tuomas

I think if you want an airliner, then of the MSFS add-on planes the Level-D 767 is the best choice, since they have a SDK that enables you to hook up with all the internal data of the systems, so you can wire warning lights etc..Or of course the other choice is Project Magenta (www.projectmagenta.com) - while more pricey, it is designed from groun up to be exactly what you are looking for - a home cockpit system simulator.Most other add-on planes (in the complex system range) do not let you access the internal data easily, thus it will be hard to simulate everything in your hardware cockpit.Then again, most GA planes work nicely because there is not much extra crap simulated :) The basic steam gauge stuff usually uses the FS2004 internal gauge stuff, which can be interfaced to.Also check out www.reality-xp.com - their gauges can be controlled with keyboard shortcuts, thus you can use them. Here's my GPS for example:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/gns2.jpgBut please check www.mikesflightdeck.com if you havent already, it's a huge resource that will give you a lot of the initial "how do I?" -answers :)//Tuomas

Yep. It's become pretty clear to me that simuator flying is *no way* a substitute for real flying :-/ One then just wants both :DFAA? Wouldnt the sport pilot stuff work out for you btw?//Tuomas

>I did find that offset, but put more thought into it and>realised that if I was starting up the sim and powering up all>the anologue gauges, MSFS would put me in a particular heading>and my mechanical gauge wouldn't agree. So, adjusting the>Gyro Drift would not only alter the mechanical gauge but also>the gyro compass in MSFS so it would still not agree.The stepper controller of fsbus must have some method of calibrating the direction ("zero point") of the gauge, otherwise it would not make any sense. You are trying to work around a problem that already must have a solution implemented in the controller itself.//Tuomas

Okay, the site is back up now :-)http://gallery.tigert.com/gallery/c172dimLooks like the floor-to-glare is roughly 93 centimeters (depends on the shape of the glare itself anyway) and the seat height from the floor is about 40 centimeters. BUT be advised that the seat height is adjustable on the C172, thus just make it whatever makes you feel comfortable. The idea is to see above the glareshield too :)I dont know what the extreme limits of the adjustment are, but I'd say roughly 10cm range and the 40cm might be around in the middle, but like I said, just find a suitable spot for your own pants-to-eye-height :) It might be best to try to find a local flying club (its very likely they have a C172 anyway :)) and sit on the seat, preferably outside at the airfield and observe the "picture of the world" from the seat - where the horizon is etc, and how you sit in relation to it. Plus, if you make friends at the club, you might be able to get new friends and could even find yourself in a real plane.. but it's dangerous to the wallet though, since you could be wanting to get a PPL yourself next :)Our cessna sim just has extra seat cushions for smaller pilots that work reasonably well (our "cockpit" is a Cessna 150 too, with a plywood seat that is not adjustable at all otherwise)//Tuomas

Hi Ferdie!What is the practical difference between this AC motor card, the servo card (well, servos turn only ~180 degrees, so I know this) and the stepper motor card?Just "more powerful motors"? Or is there something else?Awesome to see new development going on :-)//Tuomas

>Happy learning, you wern't kidding. Had a look through all>the variables that were listed and couln't find what I was>looking for, that's if I was looking for the right thing.0C3E - 2 - Gyro drift amount ( *360/65536 for degrees)Looks like a worthy one to poke into with a rotary switch..? :)//Tuomas

Yea, the hosting guys have some technical issues, should be fixed soonish. So the pics will be back soon.Do you need some certain dimensions?//Tuomas

Hey, you fixed the spelling mistake that's on most airliner cockpits today! :-)//T

Of course when one talks about a C172, www.simkits.com is of course worth mentioning, although it is not exactly low budget. But in case you want mechanical gauges it is the cheapest way to do it.//T

>I'm still surprised how loyal builders are to FSBUS and how>reluctantly they approach Opencockpits, as if that's something>from another planet (not invented here) ... Spain is a full>member of the EU too, and a highly developed country form a>technological point of view. Yes they speak Spanish, but the>documentation is also in English and in French.Well, I dont think it is "reluctancy towards iocards" - more like that people already have FSBUS systems that work okay and they spent some effort to build them, and rather not want to switch since the setup does work for them.I use both. Our club 172 sim runs on fsbus happily, the logbook has now 800 hours of logged sim flights.. a lot of them in Vatsim as "OH-SIM" btw - if you see such a plane on your airspace, you know it's one of us from our club :)http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/miksimu.jpgFSBUS drives the radios, marker leds, 7-segments and all switches and some potentiometers (I think rudder and throttle levers) via the AD-module. Simkits CCU board runs the gauges and the main "warning lights panel". Then we have one Plasma MiniME (equivalent to USBAxis or whatever-the-flavor-of-usb-joystick-card is today :))Then again, I also have IOCards, and I am happy with it too. I know the people are very enthusiastic, there are more people working on it and they are trying very hard to make this stuff easier for non-spanish speaking people as well. This is done with iocards and the sioc key stroke system:http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-stuff/gns2.jpg(it's the reality-xp.com gns)IOCards was harder to learn though, but once I did, I am liking SIOC quite much. Although I dont understand why the numbering of variables cannot be done at compile time, thus I wrote a script for myself that does the numbering.. the numbers really do not represent anything useful to the cockpit builder, one really wants to use the named variables.. :)But I still think both fsbus and iocards work okay.//Tuomas

Check out the FSUIPC for Programmers.doc, it has all the offsets there are. It's part of the FSUIPC SDK, available from: http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.htmlIf there is an offset in that document, it can be used in FSBUS. If it is not in fsbus software by default, you need to add it via myfsif.ini. This forum has some instructions you should be able to find via search, and the syntax of myfsif.ini is the same as fsif.ini.Happy learning ;)//Tuomas

>What about Finnish then? That's even more acacadabra for meEi se nyt niin kauhean vaikeaa ole, yrit

>There are other harware arguments that are in favor of>IOCards. They only need 5V power supply, which can easily be>taken from a free Molex connector from your PC Power supply.>So there's not a separate +9V powersupply needed as it is with>FSBUS.Just for the record, FSBUS apparently runs OK on +12V from a pc power supply also, the regulator just needs a good heatsink (which doesnt hurt even on 9V)FSBus is very nice, the apparent problem is Dirk's limited time available for (especially) software development. It has some bugs, but we need to remember most of the stuff works just fine, and has worked for years.The iocards/opencockpits folks speak a strange language :) and the iocards software is harder to learn (it's more "technical" programmer-oriented approach) But they are trying very hard to make their stuff available to others for a very reasonable price. And they are very friendly and nice people.But then again, if you are learning-challenged and want finished solutions, this is not the right hobby. :) Same goes for the "I paid for this ####, so fix it for me!" -attitude :)//Tuomas

>I'll re-attach my original design as it has been deleted>already.One thing that is looking obvious is that the centering force with this cannot really be very strong, because the arm of the yoke is so much longer compared to the bungee arm trying to center it.If you want more force, one thing is to do like Philip did on his Fokker sim and build a centering mechanism in front of the yoke assembly (if you have the space) and connect it higher on the pole, (behind the pipe so you won't be able to see it anyway) thus you can get more leverage on the arm.The centering force trick is quite similar to what I did on my control stick and works, the motor just makes a lot of noise on mine :) I used an electric drill/screwdriver and a threaded rod connected to a kitchen drawer rail to stretch the bungee.//Tuomas

>I looked at it but as I understand, it is not available yet>and no mention of price. Yea, it'll be out in april they say. Suggesting $299 in the FAQ. //T

At least FSUIPC can have per-aircraft assignments of switches and axis settings. Also I think there is the trick where you can rename fs9.exe to "foobar-fs9.exe" and it then uses "foobar-fs9.cfg" in the settings folder, if I remember correctly. I am not sure if this works, but I recall reading something like that somewhere a while ago.So it doesnt sound too impossible to do.//Tuomas

You guys probably missed the Matrox TripleHead2Go on my earlier post, as you should be screaming around with your hands in the air by now.. check it out again.For the google-challenged, a picture is worth more than a thousand words:http://www.matrox.com/graphics/media/th2go.../fs2004_400.jpgOne PC. One graphics card, even SLI = LOTS of frames with full goodies turned on. It looks like it's the old workhorse Matrox Parhelia. But the performance and looks of your NVidia or ATI monster. Wake up :)//T

>Looking at a WideView setup, yes. I want a centre view so>would choose a single centre rather than two for a generic>single seater pit setup. Checked out the new Matrox TripleHead2Go product that is due to be released in April?We decided to give it a try on our "retire the parhelia" -project, I want to avoid wideview if at all possible (due to the extra mainteinance and hardware needs/costs and such) - and this looks like it might work out nicely.//Tuomas

>Dirk is always hiding in the back of the word "freeware".>Here is the answer that I received when I posted an email to>him telling how much "sloooow" is the development of the FSBUS>and the problems that it has:Well, even if the answer does not feel very good when you struggle with a problem, what he said is very true.Dirk is one guy, working on his own home cockpit. He just wanted to share his design and interface solution with others who might be interested in it. He also has a daytime job which keeps him busy, and the copious free time we all have so much, it needs to be divided between family, the sim and the software development.How else should he answer?//Tuomas

Good news! :) No photo though :///Tuomas

Look more closely in the "Joystick" page. And note the small arrows on top which lets you page through "sub-pages" in the dialog. On the page where you can calibrate engine 1-4 stuff, you have a checkbox to map engines (1,2) into 1 and engines (3,4) into 2.//Tuomas

>Just what WOULD supply a SXGA signal to this projector?Yeah, like others have said too, pretty much anything you can stick in the AGP slot will do that.To those with the resolution concerns, my personal view is that both resolution and big projection size is of course best (and most costy) - but if I would have to pick just one, it would be the 800x600 projector.Wide visual is what gives the feel of immersion. I'd take that over super sharp detail anytime if "both" is not an option.//T

>Hi Tuomas,>>I agree with you in some ways. However I can say that the>centering feel in a little aircraft is no extremity talk at>all. In fact when you trim your aircraft you kind of make the>force in the stick or yoke disappear by adjusting some little>surfaces profile (called trim elevators), I can feel that when>I'm flying the Robin Hr200 for example.Yeah, sure. In small planes you pull the stick to get the airspeed/attitude you want to flyin, and then "trim out control forces".I built a very rudimentary proof of concept system that does quite a bit like the example on the other thread here - a bungee cord is being stretched tighter by a threaded rod that moves the attachment point closer and farther from the stick. The rod is being rotated by a rechargeable power drill. It works, but makes so much noise that I cannot really use it if I fly later in the night :) It wouldnt be nice to the neighbours. But it works, and it works beautifully. I just need to find a less noisy mechanism to re-implement it.Crappy cellphone video: http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-...ectric-trim.3gp (RealPlayer can play this)Here's the basic idea, I have posted these also before.http://tigert.com/aviation/vatsim/cockpit-.../kludge++-5.jpg(The screws on the top of the photo are just a test mechanism to see if the idea at all would work) You can see that pulling the bungee to a farther away screw will tighten the rubber, pull the yoke bottom part forward, and thus the control stick moves back. This feels as if you trimmed the nose up. The small plywood wheels contain inline skate bearings inside, thus making the bungee move quite smoothly through the angles.It works fine and feels real. I can totally use it to trim out control forces, just like in real light aircraft.As far as I know, big jets do not have this behaviour, the yoke does not move its centering point when you trim. But it still does have a centering force. It is just very heavily dampened, thus it takes force to move it even just a bit. But if you let go, it *will* return to center.//Tuomas