Building a COM stack.

[tunatuk]

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[Bob Reed]

Hi Charles. There is more to your question then you might think! First off is this to be a hard ware radio stack or are you just talking software? If it is hardware you need to take the question one more step. What interface to use? Ah and here lies the billion dollar question! There are so many of them out there right now, my only suggestion would be to start looking and reading. They all have plus and minuses! I will give you a few to think about. There is Flight Deck Technologies, FSBuss, Phidgets, IO Cards, Beta Innovations just to name a few. There is an old one called EPIC and so on. Think about what you want to accomplish and then start looking on the internet. Ask questions about the different ones here. And remember while you are doing this, the interface will be for more then then the radio stack so watch number of inputs and outputs, what modules are needed for input, output and things like 7 segment displays. There is no easy answer to this question. It will be to talk to as many builders as you can and go by what you fell you need!

[tunatuk]

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[Bob Reed]

Hi Charles. Yes you are making sense... BUT, to do dials (rotaries) or 7 segment displays you need an interface. Phidgets to the best of my knowledge still does not do 7 seg displays. With a Hagstrum you can do "rotaries" with a type of switch called a Knitter or pulse switch. When you turn the knob one way you get a key press. I am using them now on my MCP. THey work but have a few draw backs like if you turn the knob too fast they do not send any presses. Do a web search on those interfaces I mention in my post above. YOu could get some to do 7 segs at a fair price if you do not need anything else.

[tunatuk]

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[AndyT]

If you use Flightdeck technology (I think its their stuff) then the 7 segment displays are very easy. Phidgets also. They have it designed so that you only have to plug everything in and the hardest part is wiring the switches themselves.

The rotary problem you describe is common when you use a rotary with too many steps per revolution. I think that 12 was the magic number. And yes, you can increase AND decrease the freq with the rotary encoder.
I reccomend Phidgets simply because I feel they are best. Other people will have a different idea and will reccomend a different product.

Good luck!

[dnoize]

phidgets are a good way, but not cheap.

I build my pedestal with IOcards from opencockpits.

I think its the cheapest powerfull IOcards around, however, not very comfortable in programming.

I think i think my pedestal electronics cost me 2 to 300 dollars. But thats for a full functional pedestal with 2x nav, 2 x comm, txpdr, adf1 and adf 2.
And thats with all digits working, real dual concentric rotaries, etc.

pictures of my medestal can be found here: http://www.boeing737ng.com/imagespedestal.htm

Its also showing how normally rotary switches can be used as dual concentric rotaries (before i started using real dual concentric rotaries)

If i understand you right you dont want the digits to work. You only want rotaries to change the values.
you could convert standard rotary switches for this. cheapest way to go. But still you would need a interface board to connect them to. I think the rotary switches and interface board will be much more than your 50 dollar budget.

The IOcards mastercard is 50euros alone. more comfortable boards like FDT and phidgets are even more expensive (but much easier to configure).

rotary switches are around 3 dollars each. If you use dual concentric system you will need 12, so that alone is over 30 $ for just the rotaries.

So i think you have to reconsider your budget first.

Stef

[tunatuk]

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[dnoize]

depends on your wishes.

prices for IOcards can be found here:
http://www.opencockpits.com/modules....e=get_iocardsi

i use 1 mastercard, 3 display cards and 3 encoder cards. The dual concentric rotaries i use are 30 dollars each.

but you could make your own converting rotary switches. That will give you a dual concentric rotary for less than 10 dollars.
Extra plus on this is that you can connect these directly to the master card and you wouldnt need the encoder cards, which will save you some money.

If i understand well you dont want displays...only the rotaries and you will watch the freq. on the monitor. Then you only need a master card and you could make your own dual concentric rotaries.
That would mean you can have what you want for around 100 $ in electronics.
If you want radios with digits you need to add 3 display cards (100 euros) and the digits ( around 50$)

So that would give you a total of between 2 to 300 dollars for radios with displays as i stated in my previous post.

You can cut down a bit on this by ordering the boards as kits.

But please dont forget what i said earlier. Although IOcards are cheap, they are not close to the userfriendlyness of boards like the ones from flightdecktechnology. So you will need to learn about offsets, variables, fsuipc, etc.

Stef

[Capt Bobby]

It seems to me that building a Com Radio or even buying one with LEDs is an expensive proposition. The I/O boards needed to "Talk" to your computer; is expensive. The software needed to communicate data to the board; is expensive. And not to mention the NAV/COM Radio for the center console can run another $200.00 to $300.00.

Seeing that MS Flight Simulator already has the Radioshack displaying NAV and Com frequencies why not just get a Panel that looks and acts like a NAV/COM Radio but without LEDs. Leaving out the readouts also leaves out all the extra money for the additional electronics and software to run it all.

By surfing eBay, I came across a company that listed inexpensive Avionics Panels. They call themselves Desktop Aviator.

They have a NAV/COM Radio Panel that sells for less then $100.00 and it looks really good for the money. I just bought one last week and I must say, I think it's GREAT. Using their panel instead of clicking with the mouse adds to the illusion of really flying an airplane. And best of all, it has the look of a real NAV/COM. They even have 2 twelve position Rotary Switches to select the desired frequencies.

It needs to be programmed, but by using FSUIPC it was easy.

I already have their Throttle Quadrant and the Cessna Avionics Panel (Model 1010 w/5 position key switch for simulated engine start), so purchasing their new NAV/COM Radio was a No-Brainer

I really do recommend it.

http://www.desktopaviator.com/Produc...2010/index.htm