Radio panel with hardware encoders

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flyatr
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Radio panel with hardware encoders

#1 Post by flyatr »

Prototyping a radio panel with #AirManager. The frequency display is on a 15" monitor. On top I put an acrylic glass that holds 2 encoders. An ink jet printed label is backlit through the monitor. I like the feel of knobs better than touch screen input.
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Ralph
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#2 Post by Ralph »

Cool idea! There's enough room for the encoders?

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russ
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#3 Post by russ »

Very cool atr ... but I also worry about the parallax effect of the LCD screen is very far aft of the overlay. I think 1/8" or 3 mm would be ideal.

Which makes me ask: Are there rotary encoders where the "guts" are inside the knob and that could be flush mounted on a LCD panel overlay with virtually no projection behind the thin overlay? That would be ideal for panel building.

It would also be cool if you could daisy chain a number of small arduino or raspi style monitors from a single video card so you could install them into the panel where you needed them instead of having a large LCD screen behind a panel overlay mask.

I guess the only solution now available to achieve this would be a separate RasberryPi running Air Manager with it's own little dedicated display.
Russ Barlow
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flyatr
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#4 Post by flyatr »

The encoder's housing is 6mm high and the acrylic is 4mm plus rubber feet. So only the knob is outside.

Russ: Is that a wish or actually possible? Running several small screens on one video card?

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Ralph
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#5 Post by Ralph »

If you go in that direction, I think it's easier to use segment displays.

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Thair.nl
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#6 Post by Thair.nl »

There is also a possibility to use the encoder from a(n old) mousewheel. They are very small and narrow and can be mounted on its side behind the knob. A space of about 5mm would be more than enough. The only thing is that you will have to use the axis of the mousewheel (in an adjusted shape) for mounting the knob and probably the size is not correct but that is partly the fun of DIY.

Greetings,

Theo.
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russ
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#7 Post by russ »

As far as daisy chaining multiple small displays it was only a wish. I am sure it s technically possible... but I don't think it is commercially viable as a product given limited demand for such a thing. I would buy it. I have looked a several smaller raspi screens that are HDMI and could be driven simultaneously by a multiple output graphics card but they all say the touch function won't work with Windows. When we get the OpenGL version of Air Manager is out I think some very expensive Windows tablets will offer possibilities to add extra touchscreen displays and inputs around the cockpit.
Russ Barlow
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rg77
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#8 Post by rg77 »

russ wrote:the only solution now available to achieve this would be a separate RasberryPi running Air Manager with it's own little dedicated display.
How do I install and run AM on a rasberryPi?

EDIT: Never mind. Just found the wiki

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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#9 Post by Ralph »

The Raspberry Pi version isn't supported anymore, it's 'as is'. Just so you know.
There's a new version coming later this year.

JackZ
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Re: Radio panel with hardware encoders

#10 Post by JackZ »

russ wrote:As far as daisy chaining multiple small displays it was only a wish. I am sure it s technically possible... but I don't think it is commercially viable as a product given limited demand for such a thing. I would buy it. I have looked a several smaller raspi screens that are HDMI and could be driven simultaneously by a multiple output graphics card but they all say the touch function won't work with Windows. When we get the OpenGL version of Air Manager is out I think some very expensive Windows tablets will offer possibilities to add extra touchscreen displays and inputs around the cockpit.
Regarding the daisy chaining of multiple Raspberry Pi cards to display of radios, the easiest way would be IMHO to go to a dedicated display card such as OpenCockpit or a card from a French guy named Fabien http://www.aircockpit.com/viewtopic.php ... &start=200
and a couple of buttons and rotating encoder.

For a DIY cockpit, rotating a dial will always be better than a touch screen, touch screen which is good though for pressing a button(such in a FMC).

The Flyatr idea is an interesting tradeoff using the easy setup of an AirManager gauge, and the kinesthetic feedback of a real dial. Flyatr, btw I'm interested to know how you manage the interface between your encoder and the AM gauge, by using Key2Mouse, Fsuipc control?

When AM will allow either a direct control (via an USB input card or via a cheap Arduino for example) from a hardware potentiometer, a rotating encoder (with acceleration), temporary/permanent switches and pushbuttons, we will reach the "near perfect" for a cockpit builder.

At first, a simple interface with only keyboard keypresses would probably do the trick, as a fairly simple Arduino program can easily send keyboard codes to FSX or any OS such as Windows or Apple/Linux via the USB port, in the same philosophy as the Link2Fs program
http://www.jimspage.co.nz/Link2fs_Multi.htm

Jacques
Last edited by JackZ on Thu May 19, 2016 10:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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