I just finished the pit's ventilation system and thought it was time to resurrect this thread with some new pics.

I found a couple of aircraft vents mis-listed on eBay, for cheap. I replaced the gaskets and felt washers (which were rotted), cleaned up the inner iris ring, and re-painted them.
Then, riveted them to a couple of steel plates and mounted them to the front of the pit's frame.

The fan is a 10" AC fan in a MDF enclosure, with PVC fittings and 2" hose running back to the vents.
The whole thing sits underneath the monitor deck, on the front electronics cabinet.



SIDE VIEW


FRONT VIEW


CLOSE-UP


ORIGINAL VENTS

Looking good

what fresnel were you using in your prior post? I recently acquired a larger monitor and a longer focal length lens than what I have might be beneficial.

Wow! Very impressive. Can I come over and play?

It was a Lumenlab 650mm Pro, found in their DIY/Optics section here .
Although, be aware that it is not cut for a 4:3 aspect ratio (it's more square), so you will need to carefully cut it down to size yourself.


Sure, just no sleep-overs! (That's a little too Neverland Ranch, for me. )

Vents? Bloody hell. Vents! Any more modifications and it will be capable of taking flight

A minor update....

My original throttle quad had a continuous label, for the markings on the side plates.
I never really liked it much. It worked... but it looked a little too cheesy.





So, I decided to make some metal replacements.
I cut down some thin galv sheet metal, rolled it and formed on a scrap piece of MDF, painted it black, and used smaller labels for the markings.
I also drilled for some small rivets, to help hold it on and define the zones.





I"m much happier, with this result!

A bigger update....

I just finished the MISC panel, too. (If you look at earlier pics, it's the big gray block, on the left side.)

All the functions of the software have already been assigned to existing panels. All that was left was to bring power into the pit.
I needed a panel to control the new ventilation system, the cockpit's interior lights, and bring AC in for the MFDs and the indicator's power supplies.

note: I used banana jacks and plugs, for the connections this time.
One, because I felt more comfortable with a heavier connector for 110vac. Two, because I had a bunch of new ones laying around already.


FRONT VIEW




SIDE VIEW




BACK VIEW




INSTALLED




That's all for now.

Grizz

A couple (or three) questions if you can spare the time please...

1) What are the panels made from, are they machined and how much do they cost?
2) What do you use for labelling them?
3) What do you use to control the throttle - as in EECH it is advanced by the < and > keys. 4 presses for power up and 5 presses with the CTRL key to power down?

Many thanks

Always!


The top plates are 3/8" MDF, the back plates are .094" FR-4 (double clad), and the rear I/O plates are made of aluminum sheet metal.
I really can't say how much they cost, per panel, because I bought everything in bulk some time ago. The MDF I bought in a full 4' x 8' sheet and the FR-4 in 2' x 2' sheets. You may have to special order the MDF (as I did) because local lumber dealers usually only carry 1/4" and 1/2" in stock. The FR-4 I found on ebay. The sheet metal scraps I just have laying around, from other projects, but I would bet I ordered it from McMaster-Carr originally. (As I do most of my raw materials.)

The reason all my panels use FR-4, is because I started making my panels, with the MFDs first. I used surface-mounted tact switches and soldered them directly to the backplates, which were custom etched circuit boards that I made. So, for consistency I kept using it....even though all the other panels have all the copper etched off.

As for machining... The backplates were hand cut using a band saw. The drilling of both top and bottom plates were mostly done on a small drill press. (Although, all of them could have been hand drilled.) The top plates were cut out using an automated router that I have at work. It just so happened we picked it up, at the same time I started working on the panels. I needed to learn how to program it and what better way, right?!?! Although, they too could have been cut out by more "manual" means.

After sanding, everything got two coats of primer and about 4 coats of flat black.



Well, my method is not the best and would probably be frowned on by master builders (like Gene Buckle) who have laser etchers at their disposal and go for the whole back-lighting thing. I use a P-Touch labeler, with white-on-black label cartridges. (Just choose the font size, type it in, and hit the print button!) Then, I cut away the excess label with an X-acto knife and stick them on. They are probably not going to be the longest lasting, or the most realistic solution but they are alot easier. And since they are vinyl they do last longer than labels you would do on a regular printer. Besides, if a label ever gets messed up I'll just make another one. (They're also alot easier to deal with, if you ever change your mind.)

The white lines that seperate the sub-systems is 1/4" automotive pin stripping. (Available at most auto parts stores.)



I use a Hagstrom KEAD6 to control it. It's designed to turn pot signals into key strokes. (Perfect for EECH which has the throttles mapped to keys, instead of axes.) The configuration software also allows for setting up multiple zones and outputting different keys in different directions. Each of my throttle arms is connected to a double pole (stereo) slide pot. Then, all 4 outputs (left up, left down, right up, and right down) are connected to 4 of the 6 inputs, on the KEAD6.

I hope that helps!

That does help thanks.



I have Leo's BU0386 which I have finally finished wiring up (apart from the blocking diodes).

and

(More pics on my Sim pit Flickr page )

That has the ability to add up to 8 pot controls as well. I will have to have a look see if there is any software (i.e. Joy2Key etc) that can allocate zones in the same way the KEAD6 does...

Cheers