Leo Bodnar's Site Down?

[NeoMorph]

I just bought some bits from Leo Bodnar's site the other day... Well they arrived today and I went to check out some wiring and most of the site is now throwing up 404 errors.

I hope this isn't another business folding. 

[Efe]

What is it that you are looking for exactly?

[NeoMorph]

I was looking for the datasheet for the dual encoder.

In the end I used the WayBackMachine to see an old version of the site but those didn't have the dual encoder on it. Then I managed to find a link from mycockpit that says they are the Elma E37... looking on their website I think it is the right one...

[Efe]

The site doesn't have the datasheet but rather a connection diagram:


Think this is what you were looking for?

[NeoMorph]

That's even clearer than the datasheet I found...

http://www.elma.com/Admin/ProductionFiles1//ProductTypeFile/841/English/09%20Dual%20Concentric%20Encoder%20Type%20E37.pdf

Thanks btw... much appreciated.

[Efe]

Sorry my bad... I found the one you did as well at the same time as you wrote that message...

http://www.elma.com/Admin/ProductionFiles1/ProductTypeFile/841/English/10%20Dual%20Concentric%20Encoder%20Type%20E37.pdf

[Efe]

No worries... by the way, just FYI, I used Google cache to open Leo's site and then proceeded that way until I got to the images, which I copied the links of and searched by way of Google image search.

Another way is to use Google search shortcuts like typing "site:leobodnar.com" (without the quotation marks of course) and then clicking the images tab on the left of the results to see just the images.

Not too confusing I hope, just wanted to share for those that were not familiar in case it might be of use in your day-to-day searches.

[NeoMorph]

Nah... I'm just slow today... I usually hibernate in winter heh.

I wonder what is happening on Leo's site though... I hope I'm not his last customer. There aren't that many flight sim suppliers in the UK as it is!

[matta757]

I can't imagine Leo's closing up shop. Last I heard, his business was doing quite well. If I remember correctly, Gwyn struck up a partnership with Leo for Aerosim, so I am skeptical that Leo's shutting down. Hopefully just a glitch on the site!

Matt

[jskibo]

Second that, Revolution Simproducts are using his cards as well.....  Likely just a web issue.   

Or WikiLeaks hacked him

[NeoMorph]

I hope it's just a glitch too... I love this little board... I was thinking of ripping out some of my existing home automation system and slapping that in instead. The existing bit is an old joystick where I ripped the wires out and connected them to a bunch of PCB terminals. Having the push in connectors is great for prototyping... and the 12 bit A-D and encoder support is just the icing on the cake!

[matta757]

Having the push in connectors is great

Agreed, the push in connectors on the 836X are brilliant. They are the main reason I don't want to switch to OC or FDS boards, because I hate soldering!

[jackpilot]

Matt, FDS SysCards have Prewired push in Connectors (Input and Output)

[Joe Lavery]

Jack, don't you still have to solder them at the other end? Or did I do it wrong...

[NeoMorph]

I could have sworn that the pics of the syscards showed connectors to wire, not push in connectors.

Yup...



The Bodnar board has a true push in connector in that it takes a bared wire.  To release the wire you press a little tab that lets you pull the wire out. The FDS boards on the other hand need you to connect the wire to the plug and then plug that into the board. When you are testing components the Bodnar board is loads easier... for the final layout though I would say the FDS boards would be better as they have a bigger capacity. The wires on the Bodnar board can get a little crowded.

[Joe Lavery]

The sys board is supplied with the wires and header plugs to locate on the ones on the borad but none of them are long enough, you have to extend most of them depending on where you site the board.
I found the easiest way was to solder the wire onto those suplied and shrinkwrap the join.

Joe.

[Garys]

I havent soldered two wires together in years. I use the same principle as electricians do in your house.  Twist the wires together nice and tight fold back on the wire and heatshrink. Ive had bad solder joints fail before but have never had any doing it this way. Its faster than soldering and also much easier getting into some of those tight spots but I must note that I only do use stranded wire.

[Joe Lavery]

You know what they say... if it works for you it works.... 

I've never tried that approach but worth a go I think. The trouble is I'm used to soldering, I'm in the middle of soldering all the switches and wires in to my second FMC. It's the Open Cockpits one, and quite well made for the price.

Cheers
Joe.

[Garys]

Absolutely, and could be a nice alternative for Matt as well to go ahead with some FDS or open cockpit cards. Anything high current the wires should be soldered or crimped of course but for switches or low current leds its fine. At first it was hard to do, as everything weve been told is to solder solder solder, but at the end of the day your still achieving the same thing, just without the workload.

[NeoMorph]

The only way to get good at soldering is to practice... and the secret is to tin every connection first. Makes like loads easier. Having a decent solder station helps as you can set the temperature of the iron... Too hot and you melt the insulation... too cold and you have problems melting the solder. I've had irons that have covered both those problems.

Also, cleaning the tip on either a wire wool type cleaner or a damp sponge before you put it in the holder. Get into the habit and it makes it loads easier to get clean joints without spikes.

The soldering station I use is only about the price of four or five regular irons but it makes up for making soldering easy. I even wore out the one element and bought a replacement that plugs into the main unit.

I too thought soldering was a pain until I went on a proper electronics course where they taught us to do it right... and now I find that it's easy as anything...

One thing Gary... Did you know that the foldback method works but it does introduce what is called a high resistance joint? Also if you are putting a bunch of current though it then that joint could generate heat? I'd never do something like that... 

[Garys]

"One thing Gary... Did you know that the foldback method works but it does introduce what is called a high resistance joint? Also if you are putting a bunch of current though it then that joint could generate heat? I'd never do something like that... "

Yep, and thats why I said anything high current should be soldered or crimped. For the purpose of the cards being discussed all we need for switches and leds is continuity. We are running very low currents and a bad or cold solder joint has higher resistance than the fold back method anyhow.As I said Ive been doing it for years now without any problems.  Im not saying that everyone should stop soldering, absolutely not, I actually enjoy soldering myself,  but soldering two wires together is a PITA no matter how good you are at it.

[NeoMorph]

I know what you mean about bad solder joints. "Dry Joint" syndrome is the bane of my existence. Even my laptop tried to set fire to me due to dry joints in the power connector causing a "high resistance" joint that raised the temp a LOT. When the laptop shut down I touched where the power lead plugged in and nearly burned myself it was that hot.

[XOrionFE]

Having the push in connectors is great

Agreed, the push in connectors on the 836X are brilliant. They are the main reason I don't want to switch to OC or FDS boards, because I hate soldering!

Guys....I am reading these post and I just want to highlight something here.   I have owned OpenCockpits cards and programmed SIOC.  I have also owned and still own the Bodnar boards, and yes, they are nice and the connectors are great.    I now own FDS cards.     First off, the bodnar card has its place.  It is wonderful for encoders and pots.   But when it comes to Inputs and outputs though...nothing can beat the FDS SYS boards.    If you are going to compare boards by how you connect to them I believe you are making a big mistake.   Take a look at the software capabilities of each of these before you make decisions on whether you like to solder or not or whether push in connectors like Bodnars are better than Harnesses like FDS.   I mean seriously....would you really want to try to hook 128 Outputs wires and 64 inputs wireds into individual push in connectors.  That would be a huge nightmare not to mention once you get a bunch of wires in there you will not even be able to see the connectors anymore let alone push a little screwdriver head into them.    This is ok for doing a small cockpit project like a cessna 172 with minimal switches to wire and the Bodnar board would be ok and fit the bill but get into the amount of wiring it takes to do a larger airliner project and forget it.   I even used the screw in breakout boards from OC and never want to go back there.   The FDS SYS board harnesses in groupings of 8 make the job a snap to do (albeit yes, you do need to learn how to join wire with solder).    On another note, and I dont mean this in a degrading or mean spirited way but rather as constructive advise, but if you cannot do basic soldering then you probably should think twice about building a big cockpit project.   Stick to a desktop sim.    Cockpit building on any scale requires a fair amount of soldering no matter how you slice it.    Again, I hope this is taken for what it is and that is plain old advice from someone who has been through all of these boards and has experience in building a large cockpit.   I've also got the solder spatter on quite a few pairs of jeans to prove it :-)

Best regards,
Scott

Scott

[jackpilot]

Right, could'nt say it better!

[Maurice]

Right, could'nt say it better!

Ditto!!

Maurice