Encoders and Outputs System (5 Encoders + 8 Relays)

[when acting as a wave]

I hope I'm in the right place to be self-promoting - I don't wanna turn into Kanye (even if Beyonce's video was better) ... 

Anyway, here goes ...

Due to my father's hobby having very nicely blended into a portion of our family business, he's developed several home cockpit products that came about as a direct result of him working on his own simulators over the years - only now are we in the position of being able to manufacture them to sell commercially however.

The first one I'll introduce is the Encoders and Outputs Board (5E8R)



This USB connected board can accept 5 rotary encoders and 2 switches as inputs, and has 8 relays as outputs. The supplied software allows the user to first set up the inputs and outputs as they desire in the configuration program, and then when the main program is run, all of the rotary encoders and switches will directly control Flight Simulator. The relays will respond to Flight Simulator conditions so that LEDs, Lamps, Solenoids, etc can be turned on and off appropriately. Instructions and full connection details are included.


This photo shows some real gear indicator units from a QueenAir aircraft. Instead of controlling three red LEDs and three green LEDs, we are controlling the solenoid mechanisms inside these indicators. They show black and white stripes when in transition, the word UP when the gear is up and stowed, and they show a picture of a wheel and struts when the gear is down and locked.


This screenshot shows the supplied configuration software.

To watch a short tutorial of how to use the configuration program, and examples of how the complete system works in an actual simulator, please visit here: http://www.youtube.com/RuscoolElectronics


Here is a screenshot of the application software running. It starts minimised on the screen but may be expanded like this for viewing purposes.

You can see by the colour of the text if the items are ON or OFF, and you can also see the values being received from, or set to, MS Flight Simulator.

The retro-fitting of Optical Rotary Encoders is fully supported.

Specifications

-    USB Connection
-    Computer power supply connector
-    Eight 3-way terminals (changeover relay contacts)
-    Five 3-way terminals for Rotary Encoders (mechanical or optical)
-    One 3-way terminal for two switches
-    One 2-way terminal for outputting +12Volt DC to LEDs etc
-    One 2-way terminal for outputting +5Volt DC to optical encoders etc
-    All Configuration and Application software is supplied
-    Power supply required: +12VDC and +5VDC

Price:

Encoders and Outputs (5E8R) US$255-00

Freight: US$22-00

These can be purchased from our website at http://www.ruscool.co.nz/enc_out.html although if anybody here is interested in doing so, send me an email first mentioning that you saw it here on cockpitbuilders.com and we'll give a 5% discount on the combined cost of the product plus the freight.

If anybody has any further questions, please let me know.

Dean.

[Trevor Hale]

Excellent..  Thanks for showing us. I would be interested to see the list of software functions that can be assigned to the card.  I will go poke around a bit to see if I can find it.

Best regards,

Trev

[when acting as a wave]

Hi Trevor

My sister is the software developer so I can find out any specifics you need from her (not now though, because it's nearing 2am down here!). The part you're meaning however might be at around the two minute mark in the following video (there's an extensive drop-down menu which houses all of the available options) ...

Ruscool Flight Sim Product: Encoders/Outputs (5E8R)

This Youtube tutorial shows how all the different sections relate to each other (config file, the PCB operating, the actual program running, how it responds to FS etc). It's 10 minutes long though and the quality isn't too flash (it looked okay here but considerably worse once uploaded) ...

I'll be in here again tomorrow though, time for some sleep!

Regards,
Dean.

[Trevor Hale]

Sweet..  That look like one heck of a nice piece of kit..  I like that it uses FSUIPC offsets..  Hopefully there is a selection in there for custom FSUIPC offsets.  Your sister has done a great job with that.

Looks like you guys have taken the family business beyond..  Great stuff..  What kind of Input interfaces do you have for just switches?  Anything with larger numbers on it?

Trev

[Trevor Hale]

Nevermind, Looking at the site I see the 64 Switch interface..  Nice stuff.

Trev

[when acting as a wave]

Hopefully there is a selection in there for custom FSUIPC offsets. 

Hi Trevor

From my understanding, we can add whatever custom FSUIPC offsets you want (provided they're valid); it just requires us modifying the original file within the software - or perhaps sending an additional file post-purchase. As far as being included as a selection within the software as it currently stands, I'll return with an answer shortly.

Dean

[Trevor Hale]

Cheers Dean..  As the offset lists grows all the time, this would be an asset.

Trev

[when acting as a wave]

Alrighty, so I now have an answer with regards custom offsets...

There is a (Custom) option in the category dropdown which allows the user to add their own FSUIPC offset details.  Manually adding these offsets would mean the user would need a reasonable understanding of FSUIPC though, as the data type (eg byte, single, etc) would need to be entered as well as any calculation that is required to convert the data.

600 FSUIPC offsets are already configured in the application, but these can also be added to 'on-request' with a file including the new details e-mailed back to the user.

[Trevor Hale]

Perfect.  thanks for the info.

Trev