My 737NG "ElephantAir" build (updated January 1, 2014)

[jackpilot]

Neat
Nice mini LED strips
Home made?

BTW your pedestal , (from AirMau 1  737)   is supposed to UPS-out today.

Thanks for your patience.
JP

PS Update: Shipped!

[Flying_Fox]

Thanks Jack! 
Your packaging is bulletproof, as usual!   

Yes, LED strips are homemade from   this one: [ebay]http://www.ebay.com/itm/220768025616?item=220768025616&viewitem=&vxp=mtr[/ebay]

I used weatherproof LED strip - easier to work with and thick transparent plastic covering  seems to work like a kind of lens, making the backlighting more even.

[Flying_Fox]

December 11 2012 - Monitor supports

Built monitor supports for my MIP.






Bottom part - piece of standard particle board shelf. 300 x 260 mm




Top part - leftovers from laminate floor board 8 mm thickness, 185 x 260 mm.



Pair of standard 2.5" angle brackets from hardware store. One standard hinge.



Moving parts: standard 300 mm drawer sliders $3.79 for pair (4 parts).



Because of the sliders design, they sit on a narrow strips that are cut from the same laminate floor board. Sliders are screwed through the stripe to the bottom part. On the other side sliders are tightly supported by the aluminum angle profile (3/4" by 3/4", 25 cm length, ~210 mm in between)

There is a 8#x32 machine screw installed on the angle support side for fixing the position.

Slots (100 mm between) were cut with miter saw.
Connecting piece - aluminum U-channel profile 26 cm length.

With the above dimensions the assembled support already provides ~72 degree angle, which matches my MIP angle. The actual required slide travel range is small - just for some adjustments.

This design should fit any 737 MIP monitor installation. My monitors are two 18.5" Acer  and 15" Dell. You might need to check where power and VGA connections are on your monitor to make sure the support does not obstruct them.





Total cost for all three supports ~$30.    They all can be built in one or two evenings.

Nick

[Nick1150]

Great job Nick 

[Flying_Fox]

August 2013: MIP is functional!


Finally, (7 month later than scheduled  ) I have functional MIP.
FDS Signature panels, homemade dimmable backlighting.

MIP is controlled by two Pokeys55 cards, Prosim 737, Jetstream flight model.

Here are the pictures:

Lights test:


Ready to roll:


In flight:







The inside:

I never liked and idea of directly soldering huge tails of wires running between  MIP elements and control card.
My thanks to Axel (N737AG), who pointed me to the right direction!

So here is my fully modular design  Any MIP subpanel can be easily disconnected and removed in minutes for maintenance or repairs.

The control module  with Pokeys 55 cards and LED extension boards (homemade) is connected to actual MIP controls by  4 standard DB-25 cables.



One Pokeys55 operates all annunciators (and two F/O DU brightness inputs) and another one operates all switches (and 4 CPT side DU brightness inputs).

Main computer in addition to visuals runs Prosim 737 System module and Prosim MCP.
Two notebooks are located in MIP and currently run:

First one runs Prosim Display for Captain side and Upper EICAS.
Second one runs  Prosim Display for F/O side,  lower EICAS and Prosim CDU.

I have third notebook there which is not used yet.









More details later.

[727737Nut]

Great job Nick!  You could use that pokey to drive the flaps gauge as well.

Rob

[Flying_Fox]

Great job Nick!  You could use that pokey to drive the flaps gauge as well.

Rob

Thanks Rob! 
Yes, that will be next step - that's what third Pokeys is there for (partially ). Working on it now. And will be finally interfacing throttle quadrant too. 

Nick

[Maurice]

Great progress & workmanship Nick. I admire your patience.

Maurice

[Flying_Fox]

What MIP and Christmas have in common? 

Yes, MIP may look like lit up Christmas tree:




Yet there is another more direct connection.
My MIP that I bought had annunciator boxes  but no LED lights/panels. So I needed some DIY solution. And I bought nice panels from Opencockpits. Then, for the actual LEDs I turned my eyes to cheap and inexhaustible source - Christmas lights. 










The leds from Christmas lights are typically for 3.1-3.6 v, so they will not work well with FDS cards - they will be too dim. But they are perfect solution for those who use Pokeys cards, however Pokeys itself can guarantee only 4 ma current per output, so LED lights need LED extension board that can be build yourself, like I did:



or such board can be bought from www.flightsimparts.eu

Note also, that Pokeys card outputs need a common plus, not ground. In case of using LED extension boards the outputs go through ULN2803A chip then limiting resistor (560 Ohm in my case for +12v) then through DB-25 cable to MIP that has common +12 connector for LEDs.
Another detail is that Opencockpits annunciator LED panels have pair LED connection in series, not in parallel like FDS cards do.

I actualle had to rework my FDS 6-packs when I decided to replace LEDs in them to the ones from Christmas lights. I had to reverse the LEDs so they could have common + instead of common ground. Those 6-pack LEDs are powered from dedicated 5-volts LED Extension board (with 120 Ohm resistors), as well as AFDS single LED lights.







So, this is how Christmas lights are connected to MIP. 
Now would be a good time to get them on sale. 

[Flying_Fox]

Here is my dual linked yoke system for my sim. I  work on them in my workshop outside the simulator. The wooden box matches the sim's yokes compartment, so the yoke can be just moved into sim compartment later. The whole assembly can also be easily taken out for maintenance.

The mechanical design is based on the info posted by Edward (sluyt050) here:
http://www.cockpitbuilders.com/community/index.php?topic=3614.msg28297#msg28297   Thanks Edward!!

It is not fully completed yet, and I do not have actual yokes right now.










Here are the details:

The inner columns made from aluminum railing posts (2 x 2 inches)  from Home Depot.







The threaded rod was temporarily installed for initial assembly and adjustments:










I tried to use all standard details that can be bought in hardware stores wherever possible. The outer columns supposed to be the familiar 3" ABS pipes from Home Depot   Their outer diameter are slightly bigger that 76 mm real Boeing column diameter, but they will do. Especially in the dark cockpit. 


The standard 1/2" bearings used as top column units and for bottom fittings.
Sawing off the bearing "ears":













There are six 10-tooth chain  sprockets used with two  #35 chains. Two sprockets for the chain inside each column and two sprockets with the chain connecting the columns. Each chain  has two turnbuckles installed for adjustments (thanks for the tip about installing two, Edward! )




The mechanism works the same way as in Edward's case, however the design is somewhat different, adjusting to my local dimensions and requirements. I had only 200 mm gap between floor and simulator base floor, so I had to fit the mechanism there .






Turn left (spring removed for greater visibility):



Turn right (of course, depending where from you look at it  )






Here are the videos:

SAM 4823

This video shows the mechanism work with removed spring first for greater visibility:

SAM 4825



Since I used sliding (60mm) pot from Phidgets, I had to allow ~50 mm linking mechanism  travel to simplify pot's movement.



In this video you also can see the sliding pot movements:

SAM 4824


Nick

[Flying_Fox]

You all will be laughing 

Here is my pitch amortization design. No springs, no gas springs. Then what?
A pair of socks and tennis balls.   




6-mm aluminum plate fixed between two hardwood pieces. Pieces may move in front/back direction - that's the way to fine tune the column angle in neutral position.





Two socks with 5 tennis balls each.




Socks are just tied up together and wrapped around harwood pieces. Hardwood pieces have small channels to restrict balls moving a bit.



Lower balls are hitting the floor. Top balls push into the sim platform floor through a couple of wood pieces that regulate the gap. In the neutral position (8 degrees forward) both ball rows are just slightly pressed on.




In both extreme positions the force on the yoke reaches above 40 pounds. The force can be regulated by the number of balls. Can't do more precise measurements as light test frame tends to jump itself. 




Advantages? Cheap and easy. Absolutely silent movement.
Disadvantages? Will see how it will hold the correct neutral position - so far so good (however that's what trimmers are for  ).

Nick