A Generic multi purpose simpit

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den4
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:08 pm

A Generic multi purpose simpit

#1 Post by den4 »

I have for some time now been rejigging my simpit to use AM for the instruments so I thought I would share some pictures of my setup. Currently I am setting it up to fly the Twotter extended and have had a lot of help from both Corjan and Russ to enable this to be accomplished.

It has been designed to be able to swap from single-engined to multi-engined to Glass Cockpit depending on what I need that day so it doesn't faithfully copy any single plane but does the best it can to be a Jack-of-all-trades- or at least I think so.

It is based round 2 pcs, networked, with FSX, boxed and Steam, P3D, and X-plane 10 all running on the main pc. The slave runs all other programs, AM, Vatsim connection, Plan G, and Teamspeak for when I am flying with My VA ( the CIX VFR Club).
The main pc has 6 screen attached via 2 Matrox Triple head 2 Go units which are arranged on a horseshoe to give a wraparound image. This then displays 3 VC views from FSX to give the effect of sitting in the cockpit. Each view spans 2 monitors.
The slave pc has 4 screen attached via 2 GFX cards. Two of these normally run the instrument and have been built into an instrument panel. The fascia of this panel is made from 3mm plywood and is easily changed from one to another depending on what I want to fly. They are attached via 3 thumbscrews at the bottom of each cover. The other 2 screen are uncovered and run all the ancillary programs mentioned above. This allows me to fly without having to touch the mouse at all once a flight has been set up.

Here it is in Single-engine mode using my old instrument program. Eventually this will be replaced with AM as well but I am concentrating on setting up the Twotter at the moment : -

Image

I have revamped it since this picture was taken to concentrate the Button screen buttons to a smaller area of screen to give more room for the instruments.

This shot with the Twotter cockpit instruments being worked on shows to positioning of all the monitors. There is still some work to be done on the sizing and position of the instruments to give me what I want. It cannot be true to the Twotter since the RH of the 2 screens showing the instruments is a touch screen and has the Button Screen facility of Pete Dowson's Wideclient, which provides a huge amount of buttons which are allocated via FSUIPC on the main pc. This, along with the hardware buttons etc, give me all I need to control the plane in flight.

Image

Here is a close-up of the instruments for the Twotter as it stands at the current state of play : -
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As I mentioned there is still some resizing and moving to do. The Button screen can be seen in the bottom RH corner of the Touch screen monitor. This means I cannot put the engine instruments where they really should go, underneath the Fire panel as they would cover the Button screen. To change this would mean a major revamp of the 'pit to move monitors around and so on. I may have to do this if I decide I don't like the compromise of putting the engine panel on the side monitor ( time will tell I guess), which can be seen in this shot.

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When the layout is finished I will make a new 3mm ply fascia for the Twotter cockpit to add to my growing collection. So far I have C172, Chipmunk, generic twin which usually gets used for the C310, and a Glass cockpit one seen in this photo :-

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This is based on the no longer available VasFMC software, which was a freeware bit of kit and very good too.
Regards

Den

den4
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:08 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#2 Post by den4 »

Finally made the panel for the C172. Some of the instruments look a bit out of place but that is because they are positioned for my eyeline when sat in the simpit, I was sat further back to take this picture.

Image
Regards

Den

baumeisterinn
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Joined: Thu Nov 26, 2015 8:32 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#3 Post by baumeisterinn »

Very interesting setup. Thanks for showing!

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russ
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Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#4 Post by russ »

Great work. I love your concept and what you are doing to implement it. What material is your panel mask made of and how to you make the nicely rounded holes.

An idea: I think if you eliminate the bezels ( and place them on your overlay) and have a solid background the color of the instrument face, they will not seem misaligned as you say.
Russ Barlow
Air Manager Evangelist

JackZ
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Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:02 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#5 Post by JackZ »

Nice work! What is the brand of your 23" touchscreen monitors?

The bezel problem is exactly what I was thinking of when talking about "good practices" in gauge development.
Every programmed gauge should allow to remove easily the bezel, at least by a simple mean of a variable at the beginning of the code. The bezel should always be considered as a separate graphic part, as one can reuse the gauge with a different background color and no bezel at all when behind a panel, IMHO. Most of the gauges available in the store are brilliantly programmed but are less usable (aesthetically speaking) when combined with another with a different background/bezel.

Jacques
My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

JackZ
Posts: 2262
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 1:02 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#6 Post by JackZ »

As for your fascia, I suggest you use parts of the shoulder of a PVC evacuation tube connector, which can be exactly the right diameter of your round holes in the panel, and add a nice finishing touch.

Jacques
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My YouTube Chanel on the A320 (Real SOPs by an Airline Pilot IRL):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 0Q6SBASRqJ

den4
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:08 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#7 Post by den4 »

Thanks for your comments guys, I'll try to answer them in order.

The fascias, as well as the rest of the MIP with switches Go Flight units etc are made from 3 plywood primed and painted.

The holes are cut using a Dremel multi-tool with this attachment : -

https://shop.dremeleurope.com/gb/en/pro ... utter--392

It cuts any size hole you want up to about 4" IIRC using a router bit in the Dremel.
I did think about putting homemade bezels on the fascia but decided against it as the RH monitor is a touch screen so I did not want to risk them touching the screen and upsetting it. Apparently the rims off disposable drinking cups are quite good for that!

@ Russ. I will have a look at your suggestion for the bezel removal and see what it looks like.

The monitors, all of them, are 19" Acer AL1916W. The RH one of the instrument display has an addon USB touch screen overlay which I built into the case. The case had to be packed out around the edges to stop it pressing on the edges of the touch panel. I cannot remember where I got the overlay from, it is so long ago(about 10 years I think)

@ Jacques. I'm not sure what you mean by PVC evacuation tube connector, but unless they happen to be exactly the right diameter they won't fit my fascias. The instruments are not made to exact sizes from the Twotter, just a suitable size to fit the monitors and to be able to see them with my computer glasses on! Can you get the tube connectors in different sizes?

I still have to make a fascia for the Twotter so the instrument sizes can be modified on that tough to suit one of these tube connectors, if I can get them.
Regards

Den

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russ
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Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#8 Post by russ »

First JackZ I agree on best practices.

* I think we should always use a separate layer for the background so that it could be changes by any user to match his panel color scheme. The drop shadows should be in a transparent border for the bezel layer so it will no be affected by changing the background color.

* The bezel layer should always be a separate layer so it can be easily eliminated if a cockpit builder doesn't want it. I think the dials need to be clearly commented so they can be disabled if not needed.

* I favor adding a deltaX and deltaY variable to every x, y coordinate in the entire script. For example:

deltaX=0
deltaY=0
img_add( "my_png.PNG", x + deltaX , y + deltaY, width, height)

This way someone can move your entire instrument around to a new position changing only two constants. Peter did the original 'Glass Cockpit" display for the Eclipse this way and it made it so easy for me when I converted it to the full screen Eclipse project with buttons and dials. I just shifted the screen to where I wanted it with the change of two constants.

Just a few ideas.

Den... thanks for the dremel info. I was thinking a hole saw but I like your solution better. I saw a similar nibbler tool attachment for a drill at Oshkosh that could make perfect round holes in aluminum that interested me.

I guess 3D printing would be the best bezel maker but it isn't in my budget yet.

If using an overlay and hardware controls, wouldn't a non-touch LCD be cheaper and better?
Russ Barlow
Air Manager Evangelist

den4
Posts: 45
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 7:08 pm

Re: A Generic multi purpose simpit

#9 Post by den4 »

If using an overlay and hardware controls, wouldn't a non-touch LCD be cheaper and better?
It probably would but my simpit just evolved that way. I had the touch screen overlay before I built the hardware stuff you see now- and I still use Pete Dowson's Button Screen facility in WideFS, which is why it has the touch overlay in the first place. The Button Screen gives me a huge amount of buttons, arranged over 7 pages, which are all pressed through the touch overlay. That is the multicoloured square you can see in the corner of the RH screen in the more recent shots. Plus I use some of them as annunciators by backing them with Lua scripts to change the colour depending on the state of an offset or control. I am a teacher in my VA (CIX VFR Club) and that lets me see when the other person in Shared cockpit switched things on and off such as Battery, Avionics masters etc. Otherwise I would have to pan round the VC- and I don't want to use the mouse or keyboard once a flight is set up.

The only downside to the Button Screen is that is isn't recognised in LINDA- but then she always was a temperamental beast anyway!
Regards

Den

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