I haven't posted in a while and thought it was time for an update. First....
531 Ghost - Nice update to the pit!
Gene - I been following the work you're doing on the "pit kit" closely, both here and on the mailing list....very cool!
Not only will a budget minded kit help to bring more victims.....uh... I mean <cough> "enthusiasts" into the fold but it could make for a nice side project 2nd pit, for rotorheads like me. For the cost, I was thinking how cool it would be to have two of them set up head-to-head, running CFS, for some some good ol' fashioned yank-and-bank (guns only) WWII dogfighting....Keep the pits stripped down and simple so they're more accessible to everyone (arcade style).....Sure beats a pool table, right!?!?!
Anyhoo, enough of the small talk. Here's what I wanted to share.
I've been busy lately wiring up the pit and
documenting all the wiring.
(A very tedious process.)
Along the way, I have been working on the cockpit night lighting, too. Since my panels were constructed sans backlighting, my idea was to use EL (electro-luminescent) strips, to side-light all the panels. These are the same 1/2" self-adhesive strips used in case mods. They are powered by 12vdc and can be sized and formed very easily. I've even seen them advertised on homebuilt aircraft parts websites, for the same purpose. What I found is that they work great close up but do not throw light very far. So, they had their uses but didn't solve all my lighting needs. For the areas where I needed more light being "thrown", I turned to LEDs.
Here's the front dash lit up, before cockpit lighting.
Here it is after. My cheap camera doesn't do dark shots too well, so the effect the EL has doesn't really come through. There is a strip that runs around the inside edge of the cowl and it lights the MPDs and the corner panels.
Here's a side shot, from a lower vantage point. You can see the left side panel lighting and the LEDs used on the MFDs.
Here's a closeup of the left side. It shows the EL off a little better but the pics really don't do it justice.
For the LED strips I used green, surface-mounted, high intensity LEDs (600mcd). I mounted them to a PCB I etched using the toner transfer method. Since the EL strips were running off 12vdc, I had to string together little series circuits of 5 LEDs and a 100 ohm current limiting resistor. The length was determined by the width of the MFDs. So each strip ended up with 6 circuits in parallel.
This is the lighting assembly for the MFDs. I wired two of the strips togther and mounted them inside a DIN rail, then screwed it to the overhanging bottom side of the top warning panel.
Here's a closer shot.
There's also a single strip mounted up under the dash that's aimed down at the anti-torque pedals, to light up the floor a bit.
(It just didn't come through in the pics.)
Well, I guess that's it for now. (Back to the wiring.)