ncngrr

Hi! I just "finished" building my home cockpit and wanted to share photos of it; they're available at www.dropbox.com using the following link: https://www.dropbox.com/sc/i6us8wcrd9l48wq/AACTh5zxN28Gcb1NmA4Bbxtza Thanks for looking. Scott Colorado

I'm using FSX Steam with five 24" outside window views. The middle three (straight ahead, 45 degree left, 45 degree right) monitors are configured as one 5760 x 1080 monitor using NVIDIA Surround. The outer two monitors are configured for the left view and right view. Here's what I do... in the menu bar at the top of the screen (using Window Mode), I select "Views" > "Cockpit", undock the new window, move it to the outer-left hand monitor, and select Pan Left or View Left. I do the same thing on the right monitor. The left and right side views are tilted even during straight/level flight. I tried using "view left", "view right", "pan left", and "pan right", but none of those seem to provide a level horizon even when flying level. I'd like the capability to make the following adjustments: 1. Adjust the level of tilt 2. Adjust the level of the horizon on the monitor The ability of doing both will enable me to better align the left/right monitors with the three forward view monitors. One final thing... when sitting on the ground at Friday Harbor in an Ultralight Trike, I was able to use the Pan Up/Down to adjust the horizon up and down (rather coarse adjustments, but better than nothing). When I tried to do the same thing in the 45 degree left/right, it didn't behave the same what. I totally changed the direction of the view. I'm sure there's some magic I can invoke to make this all work, but so far it has me stumped. Thoughts? Thanks. Scott

It seems like not a day goes by that I don't learn something new. I created an account at http://www.dropbox.com and posted some in-progress photos of my cockpit project. The link is: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wqvh9aga7w4v5m0/AAB9KMHatxtAFhKzmBuVEYBpa Since this is the first time I've ever used Dropbox.com, I'm not yet confident I've done everything correctly. Please let me know if you're able to view the photos. Thanks. Scott

Jim, Hmmm... I'll have to check that out once I get my computer back up (I'm building my cockpit). Thanks! Scott

Thanks for the input. Eventually, I did a complete FSX re-install. No more tree in the runway to dodge. Scott

Sorry for not responding sooner. I'm using only FSX at the moment. I installed the final two monitors for the left and right windows. I also have my second Nvidia GTX 760 video card, but haven't yet installed it. Each of my window monitors is mounted into its own MDF window frame, then all window frames are mounted into the cockpit, caulked, and painted (actually, I haven't yet painted, but I hope to soon, once I finish the instrument panel). The monitors are installed in the following order, from left to right: 4 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5. The plan is to use the Nvidia Surround for monitors 1, 2, and 3, using bezel correction to account for the window frames. Monitors 4 and 5 will have a separate panel view, perhaps including the wing/door, etc. I haven't gotten that far yet. As far as looking like I'm flying an ultralight... the window frames provide structure to the view, although, admittedly, it doesn't look like any GA, commercial, or military aircraft. With the VC view in the Front Right and Front Left views, I'm not really happy with how it looks (see photo). I'm way okay with letting my homemade windows provide that structure. My two cents. I have a couple photos to share, but I don't know how to post them here. Any assistance in that regard would be appreciated. Scott

Thanks, everyone, for your input!

I'd like to put a small monitor behind each Thrustmaster MFD Cougar Flight Control Panels. I've found some USB-input monitors and some VGA-input monitors in the 7-9 inch range which would appear to be about the right size. Questions: How does the image quality of a small USB-input monitor compare to VGA? to DVI/HDMI? Has anyone successfully integrated the Thrustmaster MFD Cougar Flight Control Panels with monitors that would be willing to share some tips/techniques? Thanks much. Scott

Not sure how helpful this will be... I recently had two monitors, one above the other. The upper monitor was dedicated to the outside view, the lower monitor was dedicated to the 2D instrument panel. I added Track IR and it was a big improvement as I was able to move my head, in a natural manner, to look around. That helped with 3D positional awareness and was much better than trying to use the hat switch on my controller. Having said that, I added more two more 24" monitors. Now, I have three monitors for the outside view (front left, front, front right) and one dedicated to the instrument panel. I ditched the Track IR, at least temporarily. Flying in, and around Bowerman, Washington (KHQM), the difference is spectacular. I have the front/left and front/right monitors rotated approximately 45 degrees from the front. The positional awareness is absolutely wonderful! I can actually see the runway in my peripheral vision while looking out the front. I was pert-near giddy (okay, I was giddy!). I built a cockpit to use 5 outside view monitors. Once I confirmed my suspicions with three outside views, I immediately ordered the final two outside view monitors; I should receive them this week. With these, I will add the view out the left and right windows. I can't wait! By the way, I originally figured I'd put the monitors at 45 degrees from the adjoining monitor, but, at 24" each, there wasn't much room to get to the permanently positioned (bolted to the cockpit base) pilot seat. Consequently, I put the side monitors at 30 degrees from each other with the angle between the front and the two adjoining monitors somewhat more than 30 degrees (could be closer to 45, I don't really know and I'm not at a place right now to confirm). Anyway, I'm thrilled with the results. My wife seems to be warming up to the whole cockpit in my office, and has even started offering suggestions on how I can improve upon it. I love her so much! Scott

In case anyone looks at this post, I did resolve the Saitek radio problem. The problem stemmed from having both radios plugged into the same USB hub. I resolved the problem by unplugging one of the radios and plugging it into a totally separate USB port on the back panel of my motherboard. All is well now. Thanks.

It's been suggested to me to use a PC registry cleaner regularly on my computer. Search engine links seem to point me to all kinds of supposed "unbiased reviews" that seem to imply there's only one good cleaner and the rest are garbage. Any recommendations?

Hi. I'm running FSX Gold on a high-end computer. My only scenery add-ons are ORBX PNW, CRM, and several ORBX airports. I'm now seeing trees where they shouldn't be (in lakes around KHQM). I moved my plane to Cairo (where all I have is default scenery) and I have many trees placed all over the runway and taxiways. How do I correct this? Thanks. Scott

I have two Saitek radio panels. Installed SPAD drivers. When SPAD initializes, both of the radios light up (one at a time), so I know there's at least some minimal functionality. In FSX, only one radio responds to either changes within the games (frequencies updated in the radio panel based on commands sent either from the other radio panel or by virtue of mouse clicks within the virtual cockpit. Changing switch positions on the inop radio does nothing. Frequencies are shown, but aren't changeable. Thoughts? Thanks. Scott

Connected a Saitek Backlit Information Panel (BIP) to my computer, programmed using their software, and installed SPAD drivers. When SPAD initializes, all of the BIP tiles light up briefly, so I know it works to at least some minimal level. In FSX, nothing. I mostly fly a default C172; when things light up in the FSX cockpit (oil pressure, Com 1, Com 2, Nav 1, etc) for which I have a corresponding BIP tile, those things don't respond as I would expect them to. When I try a default 737, still nothing. Thoughts? Thanks. Scott

Connected a Saitek TPM to my computer and installed SPAD drivers. It appears these switches were installed such that "ON" is in the down position. Is that normal? I would like to use those switches to enable the comm/nav push butnos on the radio stack (Com 1, Com 2, Both, Nav 1, Nav 2, MKR, DME, ADF). I assigned tiles to my BIP (with which I'm also having problems) to keep track of what's on/off. In FSUIPC, I can't seem to find the FS functions that correspond to those cockpit push buttons. Is there a complete glossary of all the functions contained within FSUIPC? I've seen a simple list, but no explanation of what each function actually does. Thoughts? Thanks. Scott