in need of some ideas

[FSAddon_boss]

Hello everybody,

hope this is the correct place to ask. I am a newbie here and the number of forums is a tad overwhelming.

Here's the thing: have finally, after, oh, some 30 odd years, started building a real home cockpit for my swimming.

I usually fly bush planes, single engine, twins at most, never 747's and that stuff.... so opted for a ' sort of' Baron 58 cockpit.
It doesn't need to be perfect..... I only want to fly without a mouse as much as possible, be able to fly a variety of ' small' planes, and add a ' sense-around' display system.

Over the years I collected a bunch of hardware, even a complete Flightlink system, which is probably totally obsolete by now.
So I want to use what I have.

The only thing I have planned on buying is a GNS530 (I am a GPS freak) and projectors for the final 180 degrees display. And small materials of course.

Here are two photos of possible lay-outs with what I have ...... not sure which one makes more sense. I need your help on that.


The left part of the panel will have a 24" monitor behind it with all the steam gauges. The right half will house the GoFlight radios, GSN530, and...... what else?

The other question I have is how to make the myriad of switches, found underneath the main pane. I have read about Arduino, but have no clue about that.....
Am open to suggestions.

Sorry for the long post, and if there's a better place to post this, then please let me know.

Warmest regards from Umbria, Italy,
Francois

[Joe Lavery]

Good morning Francois, it's been some time since we last spoke.
You might like to look at AirManager for your instrument displays and Mobiflight for an easy way to settup some switches and other controls. Mobiflight utilises Arduino boards but does all the programming for you. There are plenty of YouTube videos for both of these products, and incidentally Mobiflight is free.
Best regards Joe.

[FSAddon_boss]

Hi Joe, great to hear from you !!!
And thanks for the tips.
I do have AirManager (and set it up for the eft part of the panel), but have not heard of Mobiflight. Will check it out !

Thank you !!

[RayS]

I've used more interfaces in this hobby than I care to admit to.

However, I've found the FS SYS-X boards to be probably the best solution for switches and LED lights.

Granted, there is some middleware involved and they are somewhat pricey, but as far as usability, programmability, connectivity and portability, you can't go wrong.

fds-sys4-xt

Not only that, but you can use it with X-Plane as well with absolutely no reconfiguration) simply by starting an applet called XPUIPC instead of WideServer, and then the FDS software.

[FSAddon_boss]

Thanks Ray, will check it out too. Thought they only provided for the 'tube' crowd out there, but I guess switches are switches