[simpits-tech] Controlling synchros

[Matt Bailey]

On Thursday 02 June 2005 23:25, Simon Bennett set 1,000 monkies in front of 
keyboards and came up with the following:
>
> Since these computers run DOS,  the graphics software will be written by
> me. It should be just fine.  I'll just write my own DOS graphics library
> for C. Considering the simplicity of the MFD and HUD symbology, I don't
> have to do anything special.

	Hmm, can you get realtime anti-aliasing with this?

> >	Ehh, couldn't you store the last known state of the switch (assuming you
> >get
> >unique signals for "on" vs "off" events)?
>
> You don't. I suppose I could with another set of 74HC148s and some inverter
> ICs, but that would greatly increase complexity, chip count, and cost.
> Using latches and a counter would be much easier.

	Oh.......so you only know that the switch has changed from on/off or off/on 
(but don't know which one)? That would still work. Keep all switches in off 
position on startup, and make the software startup with all virtual switches 
in the off state, sending a state change whenver a state change is detected 
on one of the switches.

> >	Heh, you're definitely taking the homegrown route. :) I originally was
> >really
> >concerned about the expense of a pit, but I've long since resigned myself
> >to
> >this being a fairly pricey project.
>
> See, it's easier to spend the money in small chunks than large ones. I need
> to keep costs down. Besides, skipping an EPIC card gives me a few hundred
> dollars I can spend on real parts. Also, I firmly believe that if you want
> something done right, you do it yourself. I just can't justify spending so
> much on an EPIC and expansions when I can get the same functionality by
> soldering together a few dollars of components.

	Yeah, I'm picking up stuff a little at a time. I've also ruled out 
EPIC..Phidgets will do most of what I need, for a lot less (and it's a lot 
simpler), plus it allows me to use Linux exclusively. I'm still keeping 
pretty conservative....the real collecting will come when I've got a better 
income and can stock up on Phidgets and airplane parts on a regular basis. :)

	-Matt Bailey