G5 hardware bezel

Support for connecting hardware to the Raspberry Pi GPIO

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redman
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:58 pm

G5 hardware bezel

#1 Post by redman »

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since my last post. Hope everyone is doing fine.

Anyway, I'm planning to change my Aspen EFD1000, which I've been using as a hardware bezel with the premium panel, to the G5 I fly in the real world.
Now I'm considering which 3.5" screen to use as I need it to fit in the 3d printed bezel. I'm planning to use the G5 premium panel with Air Player and Raspberry Pi 4B 2GB, one screen and Pi for the PFD and another set for the HSI.

Thing is, I was told that the only way to connect the Air Player for Pi with the screen is by an HDMI connection. Now since I need to fit my screens in the bezel, I would be better of going for screens with the SPI (GPIO pins) connection, rather than the HDMI which sticks out a bit too much and might not fit in the bezel. I was also told that I don't need an Arduino to control the rotary encoder and button since I can connect these directly via the GPIO pins in the Pi.

Does anyone here have any experience on the above issues and could confirm or deny this information? Up till now my focus was on the Air Manager for desktop, and I was only using the Air Player for an additional screen without any hardware devices and only via an HDMI connection. Thus, I would appreciate any help or advice!

Michael

Zrzut ekranu 2021-09-27 o 14.06.49.png
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jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: G5 hardware bezel

#2 Post by jph »

Hi Michael
I think you should be ruling out SPI or standard digital transmission for data to a screen. It is not what Air Player was designed for at all. I wouldn't even begin to look at that if you already have a popout screen. Yoou cant use an SPI type screen in this way at all. Simply not possible.
As for using the GPIO for an encoder etc with the Pi. I don't see why not .

The biggy is the display. So here's a question. How is your soldering - or, do you know anyone who has a hot air rework station and is reasonably proficient ?
If so, and you definitely had otherwise insurmountable issues with your Bezel clearance then I would be looking to swap out the HDMI connector on the screen for a vertical mount. If the main support tags for the through hole tags line up - which it looks like they will (you could snip off the single pin at the rear) - then it is reasonably straightforward with the right gear. Once the through hole support pins have been de-soldered using normal methods then the main connector can be removed and replaced very quickly with just a hot air rework gun and flux. Then the support pins re-soldered. Obviously you would need to look at the through hole spacings carefully - but as I said above, it looks to be ok.

Take a look at these and see if this makes sense ?
3.5" screen
pi-3-4-zero-W-3-5inch-HDMI-compatible-display.jpg_Q90.jpg
.
Replacement connector
19P-Vertical-SMT-SMD-180-Degree-hd-19-PIN.jpg_Q90.jpg
.
Web links for example -

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001 ... 1810%22%7D

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003 ... 9467%22%7D

Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

redman
Posts: 69
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:58 pm

Re: G5 hardware bezel

#3 Post by redman »

Thank you for your remark Joe. That does make sense.

Michael

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jph
Posts: 2846
Joined: Fri Apr 10, 2020 12:50 pm
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow..

Re: G5 hardware bezel

#4 Post by jph »

Any time Michael.
Please keep us updated with the progress and I look forward to seeing your results.
Joe
Joe. CISSP, MSc.

Hingepin
Posts: 19
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 1:51 am

Re: G5 hardware bezel

#5 Post by Hingepin »

Old thread I know. It's been about a year or so since I was on last and I'm not on Discord much.

Would this work?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568054 ... eJ22T0eItf

I purchased a 3D printer that comes on Wednesday and looking to get back into it and try my hand at hardware bezels.

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Ralph
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Re: G5 hardware bezel

#6 Post by Ralph »

Now with Air Player desktop for ARM you should also be able to use a SPI screen. The frame rate isn't great, but probably doable.

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