Oc master 64 outputs???

[shafian]

Firstly, a big thank you to one and all who share their experience and helps me out with my twisted questions.. I have stumbled yet again.. this time with the outputs from the opencockpits master card.. the oc website says the mc offers 72 inputs and 64 outputs.. Now, can anyone explain how I can get 64 outputs from master card? There is only 38 outputs from J2 and 7 outputs from P2 38 +7 = 45 where are the other 19 outputs? "head scratch"

[Kennair]

Hi Shafian,

You are slightly misunderstanding the specifications for the Master Card. The documentation states "The Master Card provides control for 45 outputs, 72 inputs and 64 displays. The card's communication bus has a total of 64 outputs. 8 are used to provide the 72 inputs by clever circuitry to the parallel port and 11 are used to control the 7 segment displays, leaving 45 outputs to light LED's etc (64-11-8 = 45).

Hope that makes sense,

Ken.

[shafian]

G'day kenn.. i reckon i should cut the spanish some slack.. they've done a wonderful job with these interface cards.. on a lighter note i have been trying to contact you through your website.. more so to appreciate the work you have done and by great lengths it has been a source of reference and inspiration for me although im not building the pc12 but i have copied your rudder pedal mechanism.. I was also wanting to find out how the spring is loaded when making the gear lever.. would appreciate if you could explain in detail.. i did try and comprehend it from the reference website you got the idea from but for some reason i cant get my head around it as the screw on the far end is fixed how is this providing any tension???

[Kennair]

Hi Shafian,

I think there may be a problem with my website mail diverter. I'll have a look at it, otherwise sending me a PM me here is fine.

I have since changed my lever mechanism for the new PC12NG sim to a much simpler design i.e. no springs at all! However I have attached a photo of the old mechanism complete with explanation of the various bits. I hope it clarifies things for you? If not, let me know.

The first pic explains the workings of the old gear lever and the next two show the new one. It's simply made of plastic and slightly tensioned with a locking nut at its axis to provide adequate stiffness.

Ken.

[shafian]

thanks ken.. could u pls clarify how far the spring extens? ie from end to axle bolt or from ed to end ? what i don't understand is how its providing any tension as the axle bolt is secured or is it not?

[Efe Cem Elci]

I am guessing the spring extends to the slider bold at the halfway point of the lever. This way, when it is pulled to move the lever up/down it extends and creates more force that will allow the lever to pop back in to the opposite groove.

On second thought, connecting to the axle bolt probably makes more sense as I'm guessing the slot the bolt passes through is wider to allow for the lever to move forward without being impeded by the axle bolt during the pulling movement.

[Kennair]

I am guessing the spring extends to the slider bold at the halfway point of the lever. This way, when it is pulled to move the lever up/down it extends and creates more force that will allow the lever to pop back in to the opposite groove.

On second thought, connecting to the axle bolt probably makes more sense as I'm guessing the slot the bolt passes through is wider to allow for the lever to move forward without being impeded by the axle bolt during the pulling movement.

OK, I think I see where the confusion lies. Close Efe but the spring is a compression spring inside the main tube between the axle bolt and end bolt, it's not a tension spring, and the main tube has a slotted hole at the axle point.

So to clarify, the compression spring is placed between the axle bolt and the end bolt. The tube has a slotted hole at the axle point so that the handle can be pulled forward to move up or down. The internal spring then compresses and provides spring tension to pull it back into the upper or lower resting slots.

Here's the same photo with the extra explanation included.

Ken.

[shafian]

how this works i do not understand how will it be pulled back in groove when u have secured the axle bolt there will only be up down movement possible.. guess the only way to find out is on the weekend when i plan to build it on the weekend.. i was hoping to have fully understood the concept as this would allow me to build it quickly and most of all right the first time

[shafian]

sorry mate i reckon we were both writing the same time ... you have clarified everything.. i wanna start building it now.. although your new concept is much simpler hmmm

[Efe Cem Elci]

My bad. Tension spring would only work if the slots were carved toward the handle and you pushed to move the lever as opposed to how it is set up here.

[Kennair]

sorry mate i reckon we were both writing the same time ... you have clarified everything.. i wanna start building it now.. although your new concept is much simpler hmmm

Yeah it's really hard to explain in text form. Even photos leave a lot to be desired. Glad it's sorted, however my new version is much, much easier to build, explain and use. Unless you are specifically copying a real world gear mechanism I would recommend the easier method. After all, you rarely look at it, you just reach and lift.

Ken.

[paulj]

Ken,

I'm glad I've seen this thread today as I was just about to try and make my gear lever.
I like the simpler style that you now have but can you tell me why you are using 2 miniture switches?
I was thinking of just using 1 connected to an o/c mastercard input.
Using SIOC I was thinking that you would program something like
when switch is ON gear is DOWN illuminate GREEN annunciators.
when switch is OFF gear is UP illuminate RED annunciators.
What are you using the other switch for?

Paul

[Kennair]

I don't have my OC Mastercard installed in the new sim yet so I'm just using two intputs of my CH Yoke controller. It's easier having two switches to command each state when using a simple joystick input. In my previous sim with full OC cards and SIOC, I had exactly as you suggest, including a transition light while gear was moving.

Ken.

[paulj]

Ok thanks.
Thought there might have been something that I overlooked.

Paul