What have you done for your simulator today?

[crazydunc]

Duncan regarding your MIP clocks and the screens, where did you buy them? Also, what program are you using to generate the image? Nice to see this being done...

John,

Fairly straightforward to be honest:
2 Raspberry Pi 5" screens from Amazon, and two USB to HDMI adaptors, again from Amazon. Using the Sim-A Clock display module (i believe ProSim has a similar function) Mounted them using 3M Command Strips.

The Plan is to add microswitches to the clock bezels in the future, but for now, they look pretty good!

Dunc

[Nolatron]

Managed to get the radio panels assembled and installed into the MIP, and nearly finish the wiring.  Just waiting for a PCB to arrive to make the connection from my LED Flaps board to the I/O card a wee easier.  Waiting on the display frames I had 3D printed at Shapeways to arrive as well. then it time to program (and maaaaaybe start an overhead, heh)

[Trooping]

Hey Guys,

Jonathan here, and hello from sunny Arizona!

Had a free morning today so I thought I would finally post up my BeechMax 1900D.  I've been a long-time reader of this site, unfortunately I have always been in the build and experiment stage so never got around to posting anything up.

I started out with building my King Air B200 simpit.  I don't have the room for a full size enclosed sim (although rest assured that's coming next year) so I have always had to make do with a "single seat trainer" style sim.  I worked in real life in the Regionals and always liked the B1900D, Dash-8's, Saab 340's etc so I wanted to go down that path when building my sim. 

It's also nice to do something different rather than the same old 737 and A320, and to be honest while I love seeing the amazing detail and realism that come with these two platforms, I don't think I could actually sit there for hours on end in a 737 or A320 so a regional commuter aircraft doing short hops seemed like the appropriate choice.  Having said that, I also wanted something more involved than just a Cessna 172 or light GA aircraft.

Building a Dash-8 floated around in my brain for a while, but eventually that was out of the question.  Majestic make nice software, but virtually nobody makes any panels or even has attempted one so that was just too much of an unknown to try go down that path.  So my next logical choice was the B1900D. 

With that said, I went ahead and built a King Air.....lol

Yes, my first attempt was my B200.  There were a lot of reasons at the time why I went with a KA instead of the 1900. I wanted a G1000.  I wanted pre-made panels.  I wanted something that other people had already done so I didn't have to re-invent the wheel, so this was a logical choice at the time.  Flight1 make the King Air with a G1000.  From everything that I read it was also the most realistic version, far better than Carenado so the B1900D was out and the KA was in!

Long story short, I got it to about 60% functionality until I decided I really wanted that B1900D. Ray's 1900 also inspired me, and I always look forward to his posts, so I can sit there and be envious....

The major factors to change it was so that I could simulate Airline Operations and not charter work and I wanted to switch to Xplane.  It felt a bit silly pulling up to the gates at airports in a KA....   I won't get into it about which platform is better, everyone has their opinion and needs and mine is that Xplane is far superior, so I decided that I would go ahead and convert my KA to the B1900D.  Luckily these aircraft are almost one and the same so major modifications were not necessary, just a remake of the MIP.  I also decided to go ahead and build a center console which I didn't have on the KA at the time.

Downside to all this is that I have to use Carenado, who are well known for their lack of system depth regarding the avionics, but they are the only ones who make one, so beggars can't be choosers as they say.  It also meant going back to steam gauges, but I don't mind, I'm sure one day you will start to see the 1900's retrofitted with more modern avionics.   On the upside, Air Manager has all the gauges for the 1900 so this has made the transition a lot easier.

I chose to just use all my Saitek gear rather than invest in more expensive solutions, I think I will wait until I can build my full-size set-up then I will start to look at outfitting it with some custom-made gear.  I'm getting a few quotes now on getting the lower switch panels made and will also start getting quotes on the rest of the panels eventually.  Until then I just built most of them myself, MDF, paint and dry decal lettering is pretty much all I've used.  I have used a couple of 3D printed parts that are available on Thingyverse and the like.

My big thing was my twin GTN750's.  I wanted a better solution than the old Collins radios and a 430. There is not a lot of 1900's around with them, but I found a picture on Controller.com of one with twin GTN's so I decided to emulate that using Reality XP's version.  I built the bezels myself, and the dual rotary encoder, and Direct and Home buttons both work as well, and they are mounted in front of an 18" touchscreen, so they function perfectly.  It's really a pleasure to see them in action.

The rest so far is all a work in progress but nearing completion (yeah, right...).  Waiting on a couple of screens to arrive for the rest of the MIP and fuel panel, and in the meantime reading up a lot about how I could go about integrating functioning upper and lower annunciator panels and trying to wrap my brain around teensy, Arduino etc etc.  Software for this it seems is non-existent, so Im open to all suggestions or ideas...  Also, would love some advice on where to get some fire-pull handles...

Well guys that's it for now, I will try to post up more pics with any latest progress.

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A real 1900D with twin GTN's

My BeechMax 1900D

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The original build, my KA B200

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[Trevor Hale]

Wow, that's a pretty nice looking project.  Nicely done.  Although I would have stayed with the King Air LOL..  Just kidding.  Looking forward to seeing more as your project progresses.

Trev

[RayS]

Cool! Another B1900D project!

[727737Nut]

 I sat in it and flew it... Not much else to say 

[kurt-olsson]

Rob, when is the -"Updated my plastic MCP to OEM" coming in this thread? =) 

[GyverX]

Today Since it was such a pretty day I spent some time and built "Phase one" A Test Bench for Created Panel gauges.

[Trevor Hale]

What a great Start.. Nicely done Jason...  Awesome Job.

Trev

[RayS]

I'm in a bit of a holding pattern until my custom PCB arrives....

[Trevor Hale]

One of these days, you're going to have to tell me the story with the Giraffe.  Apparently one go hurt when you crashed the other day, and now I see a Giraffe, on your new custom PCB.

Needs to be a story behind it.

[RayS]

That's a story best shared in person. :-)

Remind me next time we get together. It involves giraffes and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

[Bob Reed]

Oh no... Take a look at this!


http://www.rochesterfirst.com/news/local-news/giraffe-captured-after-escape-from-fort-wayne-zoo-exhibit/1135970505?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_News_8_WROC_Rochester

[Marco ERJ]

For that article, a Bell 407 woulda been a great sim! Any builders? 

Marco

[FredK]

It was a rainy day here today, so it provided an opportunity for me to finish my CB panels.

I had been thinking about finishing the back walls of my cockpit for some time now.  John's "spring sale" here spurred me on.  I acquired the FDS circuit breaker panel kit that he offered for sale.

There was quite a bit of work involved with building out the kit.  I needed to fabricate Lexan panels (they are not part of the kit), apply the decals, and assemble and mount the CBs.  Much of this work was mindless activity, but sometimes I find that relaxing and very therapeutic.

I had to reorganize the positioning of some of the panels to fit my wall space since I have a larger than standard opening into the cockpit.  So there was some actual thinking with all that.

I am happy with how it all turned out.  It has added a "cozier feel" dimension to my cockpit.

Oh....and many thanks to Jack for his helpful advice on a number of aspects.

Fred K

[Joe Lavery]

Following Michael's video tutorials, I decided to fill in my cockpit walls and windows. So yesterday I built this at my friends CNC workshop, it beats cutting MDF out by hand. Now on to the windows. 

Joe.

[blueskydriver]

OMG! You guys have been busy...

-Fred, you gave the CB kit life and here I let it sit for a couple of years and then you get it done in a few weeks! Ther build up of the back walls for the CB panels really shows your dedication to the details...it all looks very natural. Plus, like you said "It has added a "cozier feel" dimension to my cockpit.", and that is the biggest thing about back walls, they close out the outside world that much more...everyone should have a back wall.

Awesome job!

-Joe, just like Fred, you make leaps and bounds to surprise all of us. Going for the CNC MDF cutout job shows how much easier it is these days to get this accomplished. Let's face it, the OCD...uh, devotion that Michael has is amazing and knowingly, we all wish to have his talents, but hand crafted wood work is a world of it's own that takes years to learn. Thus, for us non-craftsmen, getting the CNC work makes perfect sense and as I mentioned, it's much easier and more common place nowadays. Way to go!

-Jason, thanks for posting and you show us what can be simplistic done to get started. It is a proven point that no matter how you start, you just need to start somewhere and you've done that very well! Keep posting updates because I am sure there are a lot of guys who just read posts or "research" for weeks, months or years before taking the plunge, that are watching your project, saying "I can do this!".

And, not that there is anything wrong with waiting for a while to get started, but I encourage everyone who has never posted or mentioned your project before, please do it now. I assure you, no one will ever say anything negative about your build or intentions; instead, there are so many members that are just waiting to help you.

Why? Because the Cockpit Builders' website is about helping others and remaining professional like the real pilots we are or aspire too be...real or simulated...

John

[RayS]

Well-said, John!

As for me, my custom circuit cards arrived yesterday and I wasted no time in getting one put together. (I did make one mistake in the design, but nothing a simple jumper couldn't fix.)

Now the coding begins....

[Sam Llorca]

As for me, I opened up my motion platform electric motors for a "what the heck inspection" SURPRISE!!!!

Not a happy day!

John: here is the YouTube link,
https://youtu.be/Wu4mLPscQy0

[blueskydriver]

-Ray, thanks for posting about your card and I am curious, will it be plane specific or can it be used for other aircraft types? Also, what programming are you using?

-Sam, went to watch your movie, but iPad not pulling it down...can you YouTube it? Otherwise, some pics would work, I really want too see your electric motors...

-Jonathan, hey what an amazing project you got there! Thank you for posting about it and if would like, do a new member post and tell us more about yourself, link here:

http://www.cockpitbuilders.com/community/index.php?board=10.0

I know Ray is really going to like you and who knows, his hardware cards might be of interest to you...?

John

[FredK]

As for me, I opened up my motion platform electric motors for a "what the heck inspection" SURPRISE!!!!

Not a happy day!

That is not good!

Fred K

[blueskydriver]

-Sam OMG! That totally sucks with all that water! Are they salvageable at all?

Thanks for posting the YouTube video.

John

[RayS]

John, the card is pretty much X-Plane Specific. The programming is done using Arduino/Teensy libraries. As the code evolves I'm trying to keep it non-aircraft specific, but it's tempting to look up the datarefs for the Carenado 1900D and see what I can do there.

It is possible to convert the card code to P3D, but then you'd have just another joystick interface card.

[navymustang]

Ray, I'm new at that level of coding - where would one find the datarefs published for an airplane such as the 1900?

[GyverX]

Ray, I'm new at that level of coding - where would one find the datarefs published for an airplane such as the 1900?

Look at datareftool  Not Editor. and read the readme.md
You can set it up and then click a button in the virtual cockpit and if the tool is set up correctly you can see the ref that is changing as you click the button you are looking for say like Landing light button

Link here https://github.com/leecbaker/datareftool

Also if you have access to a spreadsheet program like excell or google docs make a list of what you want to get datarefs for so you can make a list and copy and paste the ref in your spreadsheet. Its a way to keep things organized