[simpits-tech] FSX

[Gene Buckle]

> Gene
> What do people think "money wise" when you tell them you have a REAL F15.

No clue.  The jaw drop that happens when I tell 'em I only paid $1500 for 
it is priceless though. :)

As time goes on, the bar is getting lower and lower for people to build 
their own flight simulators.  When I started at this in 1995, the only 
game in town was EPIC.  Now there's a lot of stuff out there and it gets 
better and cheaper with every passing hardware generation.  For example, 
you can build a 32 channel output board that will sink 500mA per channel 
for $20 in parts and a few evenings of assembly time[*]  Commercially you 
can buy the same thing for $100-$150.

Yes, over time the small purchases add up - but the financial cost of 
building your dream project is a lot easier to handle spread over a long 
period of time.  If you're not starting out with a real cockpit or flight 
deck, the only real hard spike in project cost is going to be the video 
system.  Some people will go my route and build their projectors and 
others that can will spend the $2700-$3500+ for COTS projectors.  Sol7 
doesn't offer me enough value for the price they're charging.  I can just 
as easily construct a folded projection system based around convex acrylic 
first surface mirrors in combination with concave screens.  The only real 
feature that Sol7 has that I could use would be the edge blending and 
apparently that's not available in the $470 edition.  I'd rather spend the 
money on those first surface mirrors and do the edge alignment by hand.

g.

[*] "Warning & Status Lights" project in Building Recreational Flight 
Simulators



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