Need a list of things to get started on building

[visualchaosfx]

I'm lookin to get this to interface with my puter:

http://www.hagstromelectronics.com/products/ (http://www.hagstromelectronics.com/products/)

Which one of these am I gonna need to for a boeing 747 MCP?

And what will I be able to use the LED displays with these keyboard emulators?

I'm also lookin to get these pushbutton switches to decorate my future overhead panel:

http://www.surplussales.com/Switches/SWPushB-1.html (http://www.surplussales.com/Switches/SWPushB-1.html)

Thw name of it is DPDT Pushbutton Switch. Its towards the bottom of the page.

Still undecided as to whether I'm gonna get am actual landing gear mechanisim from flight deck solutions or just use a toggle switch.

What do you guys think?

[Michael Carter]

Hagstrom cards are good for what they are, but they will not control any logic operations.

For keypresses though, the cost/fuction ratio is pretty good. I'm using one for my entire overhead and half of my center control stand. No logic operations required there.

If you can control an entire MCP with nothing more than keystrokes, I say go for it.

There is the small problem of key ghosting using an emulator. If you use contacts located close to an ajacent key within the matrix, an unexpected and unwanted keypress can occur.

It's best to get the biggest card you can afford and wire all switches in the direct mode.

Another shortcoming of these particular emulators is that an ON-ON switch is needed to control ON-OFF operations. The Hagstrom boards (to my knowledge) cannot recognize the open state of an ON-OFF type switch. The emulator needs to see two states to turn something on or off without having to flip the switch unrealistically back and fourth three or four times to get the card to see the OFF state.

ON-ON or ON-OFF-ON type switches should be used with the Hagstrom cards.

[Bob Reed]

To help with the ghosting use diodes in with the switch to stop that. As far as 7 seg displays.. a Hagstrom will not work. I don't think the Hagstrom is the right interface for a MCP.

[visualchaosfx]

I'm looking at these Sim boards over at, http://www.flightdecktechnology.com/products/SIM-boards (http://www.flightdecktechnology.com/products/SIM-boards)

and is FSUIPC required for these boards?

[visualchaosfx]

If you can control an entire MCP with nothing more than keystrokes, I say go for it.

Yeah I can control the MCP with keystrokes. I am looking at the PMDG 747 keyboard assignment list for the MCP and there's 58 commands that can be assigned to a keyboard. I've got 15 of them programmed for my keyboard. Hagstrom has the Rotary switch interface so I should be able to control the IAS/MACH, VERT SPD and the Altitude with the rotary switch interface.

Hmmmm.... the only thing I'm not seeing so far on that list is a command for the Autopilot Disengage bar. I have commands for CMD L,C,R though.

[Michael Carter]

Use the command Auto Pilot Master to perform this action. Located in the FS assignment list.

I have this programmed on my Boeing yoke for the 727 using this FS command.

With that many functions, I would get the biggest card you can afford and wire it direct to avoid the diode wiring. It works, but it's a PITA.

[visualchaosfx]

Hmmm.... I was over at the flightdeck solutions website and viewed a video about the InterfaceIT cards. All I've got to say is WOW! The card seems so simple to setup and the majority of the work is already done for you in terms of wires with connectors.

I've put alot of thought into this for the past couple of months and have decided to build a desktop 747 simulator instead of a full on replica sim because of the limited space that I'm going to running this in. But with the desktop, I would like to have an overhead panel and some form of a MIP, CDU and MCP.

At present time, I figure one computer will be able to do this job.

My computer has a Nvidia GeForce 7600 GS dual DVI graphics card.

For the display of visuals and intruments I made a rough diagram:

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/7742/diagramec9.jpg

Anyways, thats the planned setup and I'm open to any suggestions.

Now for actually interfacing with the flight sim, I thought about starting out by getting this board from Flight Deck Solutions:

http://www.flightdecksolutions.com/list_products.php?id=22&PHPSESSID=48c8b8868836a2f488fd8a23e51439d4

The second one down from the top. I figure this would be perfect for the main part of the MCP because I can use LED number displays for the speed, Heading and Altitude.

What do you guys think?

[Michael Carter]

The FDS cards have a lot going for them except for voltage and current supply for the outputs. Other than that, I hear they are a great product.

I would have probably used them, but they could not solve my problems like FDT did.

You won't have anything to worry about using LED's.

[visualchaosfx]

Yeah they look pretty good. I'm gonna try out the Hagstrom boards first and see where that leads me. It'll be a couple of months before I have anything solid to show.