Very nice!

awesome work Viper, Being new here Im still learning to navigate the forum but are the STLs available somewhere ? TIA

Thanks!!!!

So, the last lot of the RC stuff (my two drones) is also sold and thus again some money for the pit was left.

I decided to buy a 34'' UWQHD (3.440 x 1.440) curved monitor for the 2D-display and a 22'' FullHD monitor (1920 x 1080) for the mainpanel MFD's, gauges and the rest of the instruments. The latter disappears behind the panel and only the cutouts in the panel then show the instruments that are swapped out on this TFT.

I didn't want to go too high with the resolution so that the performance is at least reasonably good in pancake mode. Unfortunately, even with an RTX3090, the whole thing is no longer really smooth under VR, or you have to reduce the graphics so much that it's no longer fun. For this reason, I wanted to have a proper backup next to VR, where playing is still fun and that's why I wanted to continue to have the possibility to play properly on the monitor with the use of the TrackIR.

I hope for performance improvements through multicore and/or Vulkan in DCS, but I don't really believe in it. I think there will be again other, not absolutely necessary graphical gimmicks implemented, which will cancel out the advantage of those new features again and you will end up back where we are now.

An RTX4090 is too expensive for me at the moment, and I don't see the point of burning money again. Until last year, the 3090 was the non plus ultra for VR and now nothing really works with it anymore, or you have to tweak like stupid and also have to waive a lot of the graphical details to make it work smoothly.

The old 19'' TFT's, which I had previously arranged at the cockpit as triple view, are stored as spare parts for my "command unit". Since I also play retro simulations at this command unit, a curved monitor makes little sense there and if I play modern fleet or tank simulations there, I can also connect the three 19'' monitors to a triple view, if it makes sense for the game.

Ok guys,

the end of the project is really here, unfortunately. I'm separating from my partner and in the course of this I have to turn everything I can into money.

This is the second time now, first my 16 year marriage broke up and now this 11 year partnership. If I manage to get back on my feet, I might start again with such a project.

Until then, there may be all the DCS modules that I have always wanted and maybe they are then already out of Early Access. 😉

Thanks to all who accompanied my project and I wish you success with your own stuff.


Viper1970

alias Sven

D@mn... doubly sad for you Sven.

Sorry to hear that Sven.

Good partners are hard to come by.

Will be thinking of you buddy.

Cheers,

Andy

We feel for you... stay strong!

Sorry to hear this Viper

Okay, that was the guy behind the project. An old bag, but with a lot of imagination and some ideas.

I hope you have more success than I did and maybe when I get back on my feet I'll start all over again.

Cheers Viper (Sven)

I am very happy to inform you that we have found together again after all. However, in the future I will no longer pursue my hobby to such an extreme and spend more time with my wife.

Now we will fly to India for a short vacation at the beginning of May and then I will tackle the project again. She wants it too, because it has always been my big dream and therefore I should not give it up. But as I said, I won't push it that far now.

The partnership is simply more important and it always has been, but the Covid lockdown and the associated constant being together in a confined space was simply not good for the partnership.

That is great news!

Well said! Family ALWAYS comes first. I'm happy for both of you.

Very glad to hear that Sven. I good woman is worth her weight in simulators !!!!

The Covid lockdown took a toll on a lot of relationships.

As I told my step daughter when I took her down the isle "A relationship is just two individuals trying to live together without killing each other".

It is easy to lose sight of how much somebody means to you until the last moment. As least you two have managed to come back from the brink so well done to you both.

Cheers,

Andy

So that we can also "simulate" a little together and she can't really do that much with flying, but likes car racing, I got hold of an old Logitech Driving Force Pro for 20 bucks on ebay.

This is now the "living room steering wheel", where you can drive relaxed on the couch with the HTPC on the TV. 🙂

Of course I had to rework it right away and wired the shifter pedals in parallel with the sequential shifter. This left two functions that could now be used for an attached rally handbrake and the starter button. I also modded the pedals with aluminium ones and added additional springs for a progressive brake force. I also added two shifter pedals on top of the original shifters at the back of the wheel. Repainted it is too, of course. 😅

I just can't help it, original is boring! 😂

Another small project I'm working on right now from time to time, since continuing to build the cockpit isn't really worth it before our vacation and my also following surgery in June.

But I just have to build something, otherwise I'll get bored.

Car racing is also fun for me, but the absolute priority is flight simulation. Therefore, it is not profitable for me (at least not yet) to invest a lot of money in good equipment for racing.

I have a Logitech G29 with H-Shifter, which will also be modified (visually then similar to the G923, with black shifter pedals and black buttons), a modified original pedal set with brake and clutch hanging, gas pedal standing and a Truebrake addon. In addition, there is a self-built sequential shifter, which can be used in alternation with the H-shift. The whole thing runs with Leo Bodnar adapters, so that both the shifter and the pedal are separate devices.

I can then also change the steering wheels and instead of the G29 use my Driving Force GT with the rest of the equipment, so pedals and shifter. This is also modified and has an additional console on top of the base with levers for turn signals, lights etc. to use it for simulations like City Car Driving, Beam Drive NG, Testdrive Unlimited 1/2 or even the ATS/ETS series.

Now I'm building a F1/GT style steering wheel out of an old Driving Force EX, which can then be used with this remaining equipment. For this I sawed out the steering wheel rim and left only the rubberized segments, then printed additional parts for the steering wheel plate and caps, where this can then be screwed to the steering wheel rim. The steering wheel can be disassembled after the conversion similar to the original state, should something need to be repaired.

This steering wheel gets an additional board to integrate more buttons and pots or rotary switches. The turning angle was increased from 180° to about 270° (stop milled off and 180°-poti replaced by a high quality 280°-poti), which is sufficient for Formula 1 cars.

All the steering wheels I bought used for little money. Of course a Fanatec or Thrustmaster steering wheel with changeable rims is a better solution, but for me it will have to go like this for now.

The whole racing equipment can be used in my cockpit and the conversion from flight to driving simulation takes only a few minutes, because I built the steering wheel mount so that it can be simply folded up after removing the centerstick console.

Just upgraded the HTPC. I replaced the Ryzen 2600X with the 2700X I had left over from the Command Unit (replaced there with the 3900XT) and also used the RTX 2060 graphics card from there since the Unit now has a 2070. I increased the memory from 16 to 32GB. Now you can also gamble properly on the HTPC. 😄

It wasn't that easy, because it's a TFX case and I needed a TFX power supply with enough power for the RTX. I found one with 700W and so it was also possible to install the RTX 2060 there. Originally I wanted to use a 1660 TI which has a lower power consumption.

The TFX-Case is open at the top (no covering) and built into my self-built HiFi cabinet. The whole thing is closed with a bezel. Thus, I can also use graphics cards with normal height.

However, I had to make a separate bezel for the graphics card so that I can attach it to the slot cutout in the TFX case and also mill it out so that the HDMI cable to the TV can be plugged in.

Until I resume work on the Homepit after the holiday and the subsequent surgery, I'll be doing a bit of driving on the HTPC. It's great fun to actually play after all these years of constant tinkering 😁

Even if it's only with the steering wheel on the coffee table. And because I also have motorboat and ship simulations, I'm quickly making a motorboat throttle out of an old Suncom throttle base that I still have lying around.

This can then be connected directly to the 9-pin Sub-D socket on the steering wheel instead of the pedals and thus uses the original axles of the accelerator and brake of the Driving Force Pro.

The Formula 1 wheel is also so a little further, but there's no need to rush, because it's supposed to go in the universal pit and can be used with the other steering wheels in exchange. I only work on it when I feel like it. 😅

Just doing the F-15E Grip 😄

Ok guys I am done with this. My partnership has unfortunately gone down the drain, I sold all my equipment to start my own life and I don't know if I ever want to do this hobby again. Are too many bad memories associated with it, unfortunately.

Take care and "Happy Flying"

Viper