Nice job Prop! Hang a damp rag on the intake side and you might be able to get some cooler air coming in if the heat is an issue. I'm beinging to be inspired by your work to download the MWO beta... there always seems to be something new to play with!

I am using the guts out of a dual window fan unit. I am told that there is a helicopter rotor noise in the background when I speak in TS but otherwise it does not bother me. I thought about having one in the front of the pit sucking air out for good flow but I doubt I will need it.

My shop has radiant heat flooring so it is a constant 60f in the winter, heat is no worries. The summer months get hot but again since I have concrete floors it stays pretty cool out there and the fan is enough for cooling then.

PropNut, when making my pit I studied yours and Choowys ...if you have time take a look

Looking good. The font works great. I've found that my design with a 30" monitor is significantly limiting my ability to fit control panels. I may resort back to a 27" monitor to see if it fits.

I used to be on the multi monitor or huge monitor bandwagon but I find that with head tracking I really do not need a larger screen space, as a matter of fact it is a detriment to comfort and visibility. And as you mention, it allows for more control space.

Finished (finally) a full switch panel to add to my Mechpit. As this is really a generic simpit I wanted an engine control panel but something that looked a little different than just a row of buttons.

As pointed out by Andy below...I should have used spellcheck!

Hi Propnut,

Panel looking very good. Did you screen print text and lines ?

May just be 'cause I'm from across the pond, but should it not be "extinguisher" instead of "extinguser" ?

Sorry if I've just ruined your day .....

Cheers,

Andy

DoH!!! Spellcheck Spellcheck Spellcheck!!! Now I will have to make another one...otherwise it will bug me forever, lol. Good thing I have lots of blanks and they only take 10 minutes or so to turn out on the CNC.

The text: No, the lines and text are all engraved using a 1/32" bit on my CNC router table. That text is 1/4" high, I have done another panel (for Evochron Mercenary) that has 3/16" lettering as well. The paint that I used is awful, it sort of chips up with the cutter. It was very very cheap, I should have (and later did) spent a bit more money for a better quality rattle can paint. A different panel that I used with the better paint worked perfectly.

Edit: I want to point out that the text and lines are all backlit. The base material is white acrylic (cast) painted white. All I do is engrave it by 1/32" deep and then, as Dudley has done, put cold cathode lights behind the panels.

That looks great Propnut. Too bad about the typo... just look at it as a practice run that was highly successful!

I do more practice runs than finish runs, lol. But I have to admit that it is always fun.

A couple of updates to my CNC table have really helped. I built a Zero Z tool (automatically finds the zero for the material) and changed my shuttle controller over to a Contour (brand) Shuttle Pro (v 1.0) to move the head around. Awesome, and cheap @ 20.00 via Ebay, way to control the movement of xyz. Lots of buttons so I can control start/stop, zero for each, etc.

If you are like me... in the garage...
The summer is to HOT and the winter is too cold to play...

winter I use two space heaters to just warm it up fast and shut em down and the PC and electronics keep it warm enough in fact enev in the winter I have to run the AC if im going to play awhile
summer I have a small 110 AC window unit

either way insulating the pit is a good idea for noise factor alone not to mention weather

sorry for the pic prop not trying to hijack your thread...propnut and choowy inspired my design

Interesting Hotwire. Scroll back a couple of pages to see the discussion on heating and cooling. I have radiant floor heating so nice and toasty in the winter. In summer the heatsink in the center of the concrete floor keeps it nice and cool.

By the way, love the warning sign outside the cockpit door

Important News!

We have accepted an offer on our home and will soon (spring) be starting work on our new house (and shop).

This means that the enclosed Mechpit will have to go.

I am willing to sell it as is without the electronics for 500.00 if you want to pick it up in the vicinity of Grand Rapids MI.

What stays in: Anything made of wood, the seat, the controllers (joystick, throttle, rudder pedals and the Teensy++2.0), the trackball, AC light and switch, and AC fans.

If you want the entire pit as it sits I will take 1200.00 as is.

Thanks everyone for following along.

Grats on the sale of the old and grats on the new Home...sounds like a new pit will be in the works soon...hope you budgeted in the home loan LOL

Actually the buyer tried to do a last minute renegotiation and we told them to bugger off (not in those words but they did come to mind).

We are going to keep our house for a few more years.

How is this project going? We've got a good group in MWO, are you playing?

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/forums/359/1/Outer_Space_Simulation_Combat_