[simpits-tech] Who is using a Centipede shield to drive their LED's ?

[Matt Bailey]

On Mon, 25 Nov 2013 17:41:37 -0600
Cris Harrison <phoenixcomm at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 11/23/2013 12:36 PM, Matt Bailey wrote:
> > On Thu, 21 Nov 2013 19:24:40 -0800 (PST)
> > geneb <geneb at deltasoft.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, 21 Nov 2013, Matt Bailey wrote:
> >>
> >>> I used a couple of these stacked on an Uno to read all the analog
> >>> radios (including the old-style dial ADF tuner) in a 737 cockpit.
> >>> Works a treat. :)
> Ok I must be missing something but how did you interface the
> old-style ADF tuner 
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/phoenixcomm/11035935653/in/set-72157634078960474
> that is the collins radio in the uper left?? I have the pin-out and I 
> got the switch (bands) ok but the dial is connected to a sychro 
> transmitter in there.  Any help would be cool..
> Cris H.

That's just like the one I worked on, a Collins 614 if I am not
mistaken. These things were everywhere back in the day.

My solution was to gut the original synchro, and use the synchro can to
mount a rotary potentiometer. This is one of the few cases where
dumping the synchro in favor of a pot actually works, because there is
a pre-defined start/stop limit to the travel of the dial. It was a bit
of hacking, but ultimately ended up working very well. Obviously the
analog nature of the device is not well suited to the rigid digital
requirements of a flight simulator (because, unlike on a real ADF
radio, being one or two digits off from the station's frequency gives
you nothing, you have to be EXACTLY on the right frequency). It was
still good enough to be usable for navigation with just a bit of
fiddling on the tuner knob.

I didn't worry about detecting the two higher scales, since no NDBs use
frequencies in those ranges anyway in the real world.

Matt