Opencockpits A320 CDU

[bindook]

Hi all,
i was wondering if any1 has purchased & built the opencockpits A320 CDU? I presume u need to buy the CDU, the the component kit ,the USB key card & the 5" screen to get it going?

A few questions:

1) Once built does it look & work realisticly?
2) Is it easy to put together?
3) Is it worth purchasing as in total it comes to about 200Euro (already have the PS1 screen) which is cheap.


Thanks
Michael

[jeehell]

Hi,

I've just received mine!
Bought the panel + hardware kit + 5" screen + usb keyboard card.


http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/MCDU 001.jpg
http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/MCDU 002.jpg
http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/MCDU 003.jpg
http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/MCDU 004.jpg
http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/MCDU 005.jpg

As you can see it is made of 2 layers and a backplate.
The buttons caps come in two pieces you have to glue then put on top of the buttons itself. It took me an afternoon to glue all those pieces, and thus I chose not to glue the buttons to the backplate, easier but might be a pain in the *** if a button breaks down. So I'd say easy to assemble but long.
The look is quite realistic, except for the fact there is no bezel around the screen area. It works like, well, like buttons being pushed :)


As for the PSone screen, I didn't have the time to test it yet, and I need the right cables to wire it up, but it seems to fit perfectly.

More pics coming as soon as I have made any improvements.
bye.

[jeehell]

I've finally had the time and the necessary stuff to wire the screen.
I gave up on the VGA mod you can find on internet since now most video cards cannot handle c-sync. Also, I did already use my main computer's second VGA output for a second FS view (main = pfd + ND, second = outside view) so I had to use my eee pc that I bought for travelling purpose, I guess it'll at least travel virtually :D. But only had a VGA output on it, so I found a cheap VGA to TV converter on ebay and now it works great. Now for the pictures:

http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/mcdu2%20001.jpg
http://www.jeehell.org/MCDU/mcdu2%20003.jpg

I'm still using (and liking) vasFMC software and it fits without any difficulty. The only tweaking I had to was adjusting brightness and contrast to achieve a sharp output on the screen. Now the good news is it cost me around 350€ wich I think is a real bargain against competitors, and opencockpits are now putting on sales MOUNTED FMC for B737 and 747 (no A320 yet) at around the same price. If you enjoy toying with glue and screws and soldering irons, it's a great way to save at least 300€:cool:.

[PittsburghLever]

So, with the sweat, tears and pain in the ***, how much did this thing cost you?

[jeehell]

381€ (around US$540) including:
- the panel itself with all buttons
- the 5" psone screen
- usb keycard
- VGA converter (30€ not needed if you use your svideo out)
- shipping costs

you need to add wires or PCB ( I think this [url=http://www.stormloader.com/users/marius/cdu.htm]one[url] might work but not sure and a soldering iron but these should be in everyone's workshop.

And if you're interested in boeings I suggest you buy their mounted version (358€)

[skywatch]

Can you see a way to make the bezel for this?

Skywatch

[stabell]

I have to ask you, as the Opencockpits forum or download area is totally dead:
What kind of strange plug is coming out of the LCD screen?
I thought it was supposed to be S-Video?
Increadible company: Not sending me an assembly instruction, and no where to be found on their page. And most of it is in spanish!
Do you know how to connect the (PS1-alike) screen to my computer?

[jeehell]

The plug you can see on the picture is the power plug.
To connect the video, you need a mini jack composite with 4 poles (3 RCA + ground)

http://www.computerstuffs.co.uk/images/pcmodding/psone_lcd/psone5.jpg
I searched for a mini jack to s video cable but it seems it doesn't exist, so you'll need a RCA to svideo cable as well, or you could buy the connectors and solder them yourself directly.

Hope it helped ...

[stabell]

ah, so the mysterious flat plug, male and female, is not being used?
I see a black and a green "stereo" mini jack plugs, do you know which one of them?

I am most grateful for a reply!

[jeehell]

This screen is in fact a PSone screen so it "HAD" more feature before you got it.

On the board with the "flat connectors", you have
-the black jack: this is the "A/V in" which you should use to display a picture on the screen
-the green jack was "Audio out" so you could plug a headset while playing.
-the flat connectors are I think sony proprietary connectors for the video in and out of their playstations, and can be modded then used with some video cards compatible with c-sync (some ATI ones)

[stabell]

thank's a lot!
I will stick to the black one then, and search the web (not the Opencockpit's site of course) for info about how to make a connection from a stereo mini jack to s-video plug.