Happy days with a Hagstrom

[David Rogers]

Hey all,

Some of you may recall my recent questions asking advice on wiring up my first switch (ever!), via my newly acquired Hagstrom Board.

Yesterday was D-Day! .......

For my first attempt, I was using:

- Hagstrom KE72, with Breakout board,
- Basic SPST on / off toggle switch,
- An unused (surplus) CAT 5 cable.

Firstly, I installed the KE72 software and read the instructions on how to create a txt config file.

I decided to do this part first, so I set up a txt file and entered:-

IN01: [G]
IN01| [G]

....those of you that know your Hagstroms, will know that these commands program the board to make a 'G' key stroke when a switch is made on input 01, and a further 'G' keystroke when the switch at Input 01 is broken (switched off).

I then connected my Breakout Board to the main Hagstrom Board (via the supplied ribbon cable), and plugged the Hagstrom into my PCs keyboard port, via the supplied PS2 cable.

Now onto the wiring, I split open the outer case of the Cat 5 cable and identified the brown wires (one solid, one striped).....any wires will do of course but I just chose the brown first . I wired these to my toggle switch (one to each terminal) and then I screwed the other end of the solid wire into the 'IN01' screw teminal of the Hagstrom Breakout board, and the striped brown wire was screwed into the 'ground' terminal.

Next I booted the PC back up and clicked on the KE72.exe .....this then asked me to load up a conf file, and presented me with a browser .... I browsed to the txt file that I set up earlier and clicked 'ok'..... the hagstrom then popped up a box asking for a COM port ...this was a drop down list and at the bottom of the available COM ports, the word 'Keyboard' was an option, so I selected this.

The Hagstrom software then told me that my config file was valid and had been loaded onto the board.

I then opened up Notepad and flicked the switch to see if I had done everything correclty ..... to my delight, a nice 'G' popped on the screen of notepad, and the same again when I flicked the switch off !



I then loaded up the sim, took off in my A319 and flicked the swtich after take-off ........... up went the gear!

Ok, so this was a really basic test but now the possibilities are endless!

I want to thank everyone here who helped with advice - it may be an infant lesson for some, but for someone with absolutely no electrical background, this was a real achievement !

The said switch has now been incorporated into my panel, as a temporary landing gear switch..... and I can't wait to get more switches programmed into the Hagstrom!


.

[andarlite]

Fantastic David, way to go.

This past weekend, I wired up the toggle switches and pushbuttons that make up my MCP to the KE72. I found that single keypresses worked well, but once I started putting in Ctrl and Shift, the functions were intermittent. It would show fine in Notepad, but then not in FS9 (would work maybe 10% of the time). In frustration, I fired off an e-mail to Hagstrom...... just received a reply back from them that I might need to add a delay of 10 to 20 msec between the keypresses because it's possible that FS9 isn't scanning the keyboard buffer fast enought on my computer. Can't wait to get home to try.
Just an FYI to you if you have similiar problems.

Merry Christmas

Henry

[David Rogers]

Thanks very much for the heads up on that Henry. I'll be ready for it now

Have a great one!

David.

[Matt Olieman]

Hi wired my EFIS (CPT side) using a KE72, using PM software. Worked fantastic

Glad to read your success story David

[mounty]

Dave,

Tha Hagstrom is a pretty good way to go. I use it in conjunction with the Key2Mouse (which translates mouse clicks to key strokes) and FSUIPC key presses. I've got some 68 switches running thro the Hagstrom, a couple of them are rotary switches. I use them with the PMDG 737NG. You might want to explore the Key2Mouse, I think you'll find it really useful especially for overhead panels. What I did when I installed the PMDG was to go into FS9 and delete most of the keystroke assignments so I could use them for other assignments with the Hagstrom. If you want I can email you my keystroke commands list.

Rob

[JBaymore]

Glad to hear it is working so well David. As you know, I've been using two of them (on two different machines) for a long while. They are quite versitile pieces of hardware and the support from Hagstrom is excellent.

best,

.................john

[mounty]

Henery,

Have you deleted that keystroke commands from FS. I found that if I used a keystroke combination that was in FS, I had to make sure to delete it in FS as sometimes it would work and sometimes not, and sometimes I would get wierd things happening. I had to check my commands in notepad several times to sort out a single digit problem - I out one too many square brackets in one line and couldn't see the trees for the woods - it's easy to miss something.

Rob

[andarlite]

Rob

I'm using FS9 keystrokes that are default for the Level D 767 so there will not be any conflicts. And yes, you are correct in that one must be careful with either too many or not enough square brackets.

After adding in delays it works much better now, not quite 100% (maybe 95%)..... seems to be more problematic with the toggle switches. Do you need to add in delays to any of your macro's?

Regards,
Henry

[mounty]

Henry,

No I don't have any delays in my set-up. I use three position toggles which ensures a more complete make before break. I did use the LevelD for a short time and If my memory is correct, some of the default programmed key commands were incorrect. I didn't use the Hagstrom, just the keyboard. You might try reassigning a different keystroke to the function in Level D to see if that changes anything.

Rob