[simpits-tech] Now I'm lost.

[RickInNoCal at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/30/03 7:58:54 PM Pacific Standard Time, 
mattb at rtccom.net writes:

> Cool, thanks. You just using a hacked keyboard (all the keys share a common 
> 
> ground anyway, right)? How did you do the LCD panels? Wouldn't happen to be 
> a 
> variant of the rig posted on digital-flight.com would it?
>   I'll probably end up going the Hagstrom or phidgets route at some point, I 
> 
> want to also have a mini systems panel for things like icing systems, 
> lights, 
> gear, flaps, etc, and I want to use toggle switches for all that so I know 
> what setting I've got without having to have something on the on-screen 
> panel.

        Thanks. No, the inputs are based on a 64-input USB card from 
www.betainnovations.com. The interface card lives in my main panel, and is connected 
to two 34 core ribbon cables, one of which goes to the radio panel, The other 
goes to the switches, knobs etc in the main panel - flaps, lights, alt setting, 
avionics master switch, etc. I have a total of 78 controls that way, the 64 
from the USB card and 12 from the yoke that I hacked and installed in the main 
panel. I'll go ahead and u/l a picture of that too.

I decided not to use a hacked keyboard because although you can get more 
controls that way, the wiring's more of a pain. Using the USB interface, all the 
switches share a common ground. A keyboard is a matrix, so you actually have to 
run two wires from the card to every switch, and keep a track of all your 
wiring so that the common ground of the rotaries can be a shared row or column of 
the matrix.

The problem with toggles for the switches is that as toggles they're not 
necessarily in the same position as the real controls. It's better to use FSUIPC 
and have a "light on' command to the 'make' and a "light off" command to the 
'break'.

Richard
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