Clarification needed on included hardware code

Questions about deployment and use of Air Manager Instruments

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Kaellis991
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Clarification needed on included hardware code

#1 Post by Kaellis991 »

I want to take an INOP EGT gauge and somehow install a stepper motor to create an EGT for my cockpit panel.
In Air Manager <Hardware> there is a Cessna 172 hardware called EGT Reference Dial. When I open it “rotary encoder” is listed in the user properties.
Being that it is called called “EGT reference dial” and it has “rotary encoder” as the hardware leads me to think this code is for the red reference pointer that is set manually and not the temperature pointer that is displayed by the stepper motor.
Does this stepper motor EGT gauge, that will be displaying the EGT temperatures from Xplane datarefs, require some new customized code?

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Ralph
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#2 Post by Ralph »

Yes, there is no code for a EGT-indicating stepper motor.

Kaellis991
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#3 Post by Kaellis991 »

Looks like my INOP EGT gauge will be INOP in my cockpit panel…just for show like my circuit breakers.

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Ralph
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#4 Post by Ralph »

Not necessarily :) It is doable if you want to invest some time into it. We can help you here.

Kaellis991
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#5 Post by Kaellis991 »

So I received my EGT yesterday. From what I learned a couple days ago it seems like I have two options with this thing.
I was told that I could use a Arduino Teensy and connect it directly to the d’Arsonval meter and use a plugin for Xplane.
And the other way, that I previously assumed was the only option, is to use the case and the dial face with a x27-168 stepper motor.

If using the mechanism as it is with that Xplane plugin requires less coding, I’d like to try that out. If that fails then I can drop back ten yards, punt and then ask for help in programming the stepper motor setup. I’ll probably have to design and print some 3d components to mount the motor to this case.

I have a few different options for Arduino…nano, nano every, uno, a couple Megas and a Sparkfun. I have a couple Teensy controllers on order.
For the stepper motors some kind of a controller board is required. There are so many options so what would I need for the X27?
I also have a 28BYJ-48 with a ULN controller board. But which would be a better motor for this project?
EGT gauge
EGT gauge

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Ralph
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#6 Post by Ralph »

Isn't it possible to put some voltage on the meter and make it move? Similar to what I've done here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTqIq2YDZy4
You'll need to put a resistor in series, like 10K at first maybe, then you can lower it. With PWM you can set the position. I'm not sure if it'll respond linear, but you can make a few steps in code if necessary.

Kaellis991
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Re: Clarification needed on included hardware code

#7 Post by Kaellis991 »

Yes that is what I learned elsewhere and there is a plugin that was created for Xplane for using the datarefs, I assume, to get the data to drive the needle. Not sure yet exactly how that works yet but that is the first option to try.

There is silver disk (don’t know what that is), a resistor and something that looks like a potentiometer with an adjustment screw on the back. Would I just discard all of that stuff?

Does the resister go on what is marked as the positive lead on this gauge which is the one currently connected to the silver disk, the pot and the resistor? Disconnect the wire from those and just connect that wire to a resistor and then to the Arduino pin that is defined in the code?

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