how interfacing servos and stepper motors ??

[360kal]

MY FIRST POST YAY !!!

hello everyone firstly i would like to introduce myself. i am nineteen year old student in the UK. I have been in to flight sim for a while now and have recently decided to expand my hobby into realism by using servo and stepper motor gauges. i have a few question i would like to ask you guys

1. i want to buy the mikes flight deck book to build my Cessna 152 cockpit, i know it has info about building the gauges the circuits etc.. but does it also teach how to program the gauges to communicate with flight sim x.

2. i have install fsbus and read through it looks ok but am not sure yet if using Mike powell's book is going to be an easier route.

thanks to whoever is going to input help.

[Jordan Farmer]

Well, first of all, welcome to thecommunity, you are very welcome here, and i hope we can create that feeling! Secondly, glad to see another british lad here :p Thirdly, ive just bought Mikes book, about 30 seconds ago actually, what a coincedence. Now, if this book is anything liek the other, which im sure it is, it will definately show you absolutely everything to do with interfacing with the simulator. I am also building a C152, just so i can fly some GA while the A320 is being built! If you want help with any cessna stuff, drop Alex Jay a line, he is the moderator for this part, and a friend of mine, who has helped me no end, along with many others! Good luck with your sim anyway

Jordan

[Mike.Powell]

MY FIRST POST YAY !!!

hello everyone firstly i would like to introduce myself. i am nineteen year old student in the UK. I have been in to flight sim for a while now and have recently decided to expand my hobby into realism by using servo and stepper motor gauges. i have a few question i would like to ask you guys

1. i want to buy the mikes flight deck book to build my Cessna 152 cockpit, i know it has info about building the gauges the circuits etc.. but does it also teach how to program the gauges to communicate with flight sim x.

2. i have install fsbus and read through it looks ok but am not sure yet if using Mike powell's book is going to be an easier route.

thanks to whoever is going to input help.

There are two books. The first, Building Simulated Aircraft Instrumentation focuses on instruments and was written before FSX came out. It has little about interfacing software and nothing about interfacing with FSX.

The second book Building Recreational Flight Simulators is broader in scope and has only a single chapter on DIY instruments. However, it has sample code for interfacing with FSX using SimConnect and VC++ under Windows XP SP2.

Neither book was written to teach programming. Book 2 has code examples, but if you don't program, you'll need a good reference like one of Ivor Horton's books.

[RobiD]

I used Mike's book (the first one) to build my instruments, and Mike has done all the hard work with dimensions, gearing etc. I chose to continue using FSBus to drive the gauges, and had to learn some C++ coding. I have received an enormous amount of help from this forum with how to program, and also debugging when you have a go but it doesn't do what it's supposed to.

I'll post a couple of photos on my Altitude Indicator.

http://www.safeweightloss4kids.com/dontlookhere/Picture%20006.jpg

http://www.safeweightloss4kids.com/dontlookhere/Picture%20008.jpg

[360kal]

thanks for your input RobiD. i was looking through your old post of how to program an rpm gauge and seeing all those c++ coding scares me haha.

the thing that i do not understand yet is why do i have to write my own program? i thought fsbus was the program and all i had to do was to set up my servos, steppers, and switches to the fsbus admin through the cards that i would build.

[360kal]

thanks for your answer. i got another question, what program do most home cockpit builders use? at the moment i have got the vc++ 2010 and i have started learning on that but i do not want to go further only to realise most of you guys use other programs with a different structure.

[RobiD]

thanks for your input RobiD. i was looking through your old post of how to program an rpm gauge and seeing all those c++ coding scares me haha.

the thing that i do not understand yet is why do i have to write my own program? i thought fsbus was the program and all i had to do was to set up my servos, steppers, and switches to the fsbus admin through the cards that i would build.

Scared me at the beginning. Start small, learn how to get a simple switch to turn the landing lights on and off, and build from there.

FSBus is a sort of program. It is a .dll (dynamic link library) file. You have to give some basic commands to the boards, the FSBus referrences the .dll file (probably a very poor explanation)

Bottom line is, it is all there, you just have to tell it what to do. So if it is a switch, you have to tell fsbus that the input just received is a switch, and on state turns on what ever you tell it to, and then send that data to FSX.

Please, if someone has a better explanation than this, feel free to add it.

As for other programs, there are others, but they all require some type of programming. Some people use OC Cards, but they also require programming with SIOC.

There are lots of options. I've been with FSBus for over 5 years and it has done everything I've needed, except for the stepper issue at present.

David

[360kal]

yh i have have been researching while widening my c++ knowledge.so far i got three options

1. fsxpand - because its easier but unrealistic because i personally don't like the way the gauges would shine from the lcd light.
2. fsbus - ultimate diy, a lot of learning and error's as i build
3.oc cards - pricy but i get the the boards already manufactured.

but am in no hurry am in no hurry of building yet. am just going to be researching till i know all i need to know.

[RobiD]

I really like FSBus. Rumour has it that .dll version 3 is on it's way. So I will be even more happy with it.

I don't know a lot about the other 2. I did look into oc cards way back when I started building over 5 years ago.

David