FlyEngravity CDU v.2

Together with CPFlight FMC and NAV2, I bought a FlyEngravity CDU v.2.
The product is quite expansive but does not need an additional display.

It has been shipped with a good packaging and once opened it lookd very solid and robust. The feedback of the switches is very good as well as the back light. Sorry for the poor quality of the photos..

The connection is very easy: it needs the power supply and a ethernet cable. The manual is pretty clear and the process quite easy (it took me around 5 minutes to have the CDU up and running).
However note that the network connection procedure described in the manual is not correct as it assigns a static IP number to the device regardless if it is connected to a DHCP as normally happens with modern modem/routers.

It is possible to assign the CDU a dynamic IP number even if the procedure is not described in the manual.
I suggest to assign a dynamic IP to the CDU. Then associate the device to a static IP in the DHCP server.

I am planning to use the device with PMDG 737 initially. Later n with ProSim.

FlyEngravity claims that a driver for PMDG will be available soo.

MCP backlit

The MCP and the CPT EFIS have been mounted into the wooden frame sitting below the monitor.
The quality of the product is impressive compared to the 10 years old RS232 model I was using before.
The picture below shows the MCP with backlit on.

I have mounted also the auto throttle off button and the T/O GA on the left side of the MCP.
The feedback of buttons, switches and toggles is worst the money I spent for this toy.

Insallation has been very easy as well. The picture has been taken while flying with P3D v2.5 and PMDG 737.

After many years I replaced the 2 old monitors with a new one, the BENQ B2711U 4K UHD 3840x2160 pixel with IPS tecnlogy. The quality is very good but have to reduce the screen resolution with my PC and graphic card that I will replace soon.

Project restarted

It is long time I am not updating this blog. In fact the project was on hold because I could not decide if it was the case to phase out FSX in favor of P3D or XPlane.
Finally I decided for P3D 2.x that is a great product from my point of view. Never ever had a crash till now.

I had also decided to develop the cockpit of a B737 instead of the 767. The reason is that 767 D has never been updated for years and is compatibility with P3D and new operating system is very limited. It is pity: I really loved that plane. I will get rid of the panels I built and sell the FMC.

I tried the PMDG 737 and B777 . Both are great products but the hardware available on the market offers much more for the 737. My plan at the present is to develop for the PMDG 737 and switch to ProSim when possible. I have tried ProSim demo and it is great but without a throttle is difficult to use. I have bought one for the 767 that will adapt to the 737 and it makes me closer to ProSim.

I still do not have enough space for the simulator and it limits my setup. But we are now actively looking for a new apartment so.. cross the finger.

In the mean time I have decided to renew my CPFlight MCP and EFIS devices and add the second NAV. All these parts arrived few days ago and I am now installing them. The MCP pro seems a very good. Unfortunately I have not yet tried on the simulator. The MCP has also few buttons more then the old 737 (speed and alt intervention for instance) and buttons commanded by a relays that disengage depending on the status of the plane. Look the picture below:

The A/T and the disengage buttons  will move to the OFF position autonomously depending on events from the simulator. Switches and buttons have a much better feeling then the old ones.
The MCP connects to the sim through a USB. As I said I have not yet installed the device but it seems that the device internally has a serial port and there is a intgrated converter serial to USB to interface with the computer.
I wish to report once more that CPFlight staff, Paolo for instance, are very kind and professional as usual. Their products are quite expansive but the quality and reliability is very good.

I am also going to replace the open cockpit FMC with a FlyEngravity one. It arrived at home at the beginning of this week and well be the topic of a another post.

FMC installed - final review of the device

The FMC has four LEDs already connected on the grren board and the manual from OpenCockpits describes very well how they are wired.  The cables to light the LEDs are available in the 40 pins connector: the ground is common and there is one wire available for each of the four LEDs (However in the picture of the manual there is an error in the way the holes of the 40 pins connector are numbered....)

I preferred not to scrape the gumi of the cables but instead to put another thin cable in the hole before inserting the 40 pins connector in the socket.

Actually, I ended connecting in this way only the LED for the MSG and preferred to wire the EXEC in a different way. The reason is that for the EXEC I had to put a LED with a resistor and, at least for me, there is not enough space for that. I suggest to use a LED with a incorporated resistor for the EXEC. They costs a little bit more but for this specific case I think they are of a great help to reduce the cabling and the space needed for the resistor. I did 2 new holes in the board just below the black BRT pin, as you can see in the following picture of the rear side of the board:

There is enough room for one of the holes but for the second one it is a little bit risky.... As you can see at the bottom of the right big hole there are 2 little holes one close to the other. They are the holes supposed to to be used for this LED and that are wired in the 40 pins connector of the board. The reason I did not use them is because I need to mount the LED in the frame, then put the keys in place and only in the final step to close the box. I need the LED to be moveable and to be able to turn left and right the frame before closing. It might be that I am not skilled enough ;-)

Note that the LED must be connected to a master card or to an output card to be lighted because the FMC as an OpenCockpits key card that has no output lines.

Pay special attention to the position of the keys because is very boring to dismantle the device only for that.  And pay attention to the keys also. Each key is composed of two parts: the black upper side with the engraved letter and a transparent squared frame at the bottom. They are simply glued and in my case the glue went banana on its own and I had to fix the pieces again... I hope these pieces are glued well because it is a lot of time to dismantle the device, glue and remount!

I put the FMC into a box. The cable run out of the box from the bottom. The box itself has been fixed on the left side of the monitor. As I said, unfortunately I have no room to build a pedestal. The following picture shows the FMC in its final position:

Theis shows part of the cockpit during a flight:

And the last one shows the FMC during a flight:

As you can see the quality of the image is quite good and the written are placed exactly in front of the left and right keys. Some light comes out of the upper side I have to better seal the frame): it is produced by the screen of the FMC.

Flying a liner with the FMC improves the feeling of the reality so I really suggest you to have one in your home cockpit. The feeling of the OpenCockpits one is quite good. I mean the screen is very good and if I press a key the reaction time is very good.

But is is not perfect. As I said the glue of one of the keys failed without having done anything. The keys are too loose; this is not a problem normally unless you mount the device in a vertical position as I did.

Very good to have the lines to connect the LEDs but why are they in the 40 pins connector together with all the other wires? It would be better to have a dedicated connector considering that they must be connected to an external board.

Finally a couple of words about the missing EXEC LED. IMO the other LEDs are not very important. In the 767LD for example there is an annunciator in the cockpit showing that there is a message in the FMC. But the EXEC LED is really important because it is used very often and it is the only way to know that the FMC is waiting for you to press the relative key. 

I consider a big lack the absence of such LED. I appreciate the wiring in the board (even if I preferred not to use).. But where one is supposed to put the LED? And IMO it is very complicated to wire....

Why don't have the LED in the place of the BRT black pin? It is a fake and useles... The best solution would be to have the LED incorporated in the key of course...

We must take into account have to consider the price that is very low compared with other similar devices on the market. 

Logitech G940

One of the thing I mostly missed while simulating is the throttle for a twin jet engine like the 767 I always fly. There are several alternatives in the shops and I believe that the most used throttle comes from the saitek. Saitek in fact sells the Pro flight throttle quadrant that can be customized for a twin jet, for the flaps. IMO these lever are so ugly that nobody should really buy them. But I know this is my opinion and someone could prefer a ugly device if it works well.

Walking in a shop I found the Logitech G940, a gaming device composed of a 2-axis force feedback joystick, throttle for a twin engine plane and the pedals. I looked for info on the net and found a very interesting review that convinced me to buy the device.

I am well aware that such a device does not match with a 767 home cockpit. So why I decided to buy it?

The reason is that my home cockpit is not intended to be a replica of a 767 cockpit because I do not have enough room at home. My goal is instead to fly without the keyboard and this device gives a lot in this sense: 2 throttles, a set of configurable buttons. And i gain much more realism with the pedals. 

Is the force feedback joy adding something to the realism? I don' t really believe as I have already had the Microsoft Sidewinder. If it does not add any realism, it adds a good feeling while flying because it transfer to the hand some of the forces that act to the plane surfaces. I could feel the bumping of the plane in the asphalt, the force in the wings to counter act with the trims and so one.

The logitech G940 is meant for a twin engine jet fighter. It is not the only one alternative on the market. Saitek is also offering something very similar at an higher price, the X-65F. This last product can or cannot be better, I don't know. And the price play a role in my choice because I don't really know, at the present, if I will build the pedestal at a certain point. But  the pedestal is a very complex piece of hardware and even if I will build (or buy) it, it will require long time before being ready. The G940 will help from the time being.

I will write my own review after installing and testing G940.

Return date postponed again

It seems that my temporary transfer in Chile lasts longer then expected: at the present the return date has been postponed to may 2011.
I have no chance to bring the simulator and the cockpit in Chile because there is no point in organizing a removal for a few months only.

In the mean time I am thinking about the future of the simulation because Microsoft flight simulator seems stuck since long time and there are no rumours of any future development.
I am planning to buy and test X-Plane that seems the only valid alternative. Since september 2009, CPFlight supports X-Plane and there are libraries to interface SIOC to this simulator too.
I will report after the testing.

AeroPlayer53 follow up on my blue light

This period I do not have so much time for the cockpit: a new digital camera, the Nikon D300, the sunny weather and a lot of work keep me well far away from the simulator.

Riccardo just added a thread in the italian forum I follow describing the progresses of his home cockpit. As he said, the work started from the description of blue light of my home cockpit in the Cockpit light post of this blog. I found his proposal very interesting: he used strips of blue LEDs to lighten the instruments instead of the whole cockpit. He fixed the LEDs below aluminium arms fixed on top of the instruments.

For my taste, the arms are too far over the instruments and can interfere with the movements during the flight. But having the LEDs almost in contact with the panel could lead to a very good result. The reflexions, especially against a plexiglas cover, should be taken into account.

I wish to thank Riccardo, AeroPlayer53, for reading my blog and sharing his experience in the forum.

In the mean time I have received the landing gear and a new master card from opencockpits. The landing gear seems to be good and smooth even if not as smooth as I expected. 

A picture of the Master Caution

As I promised a few days ago, this is a picture of the MC.

You can see the two squared pipes, one inside the other. The upper handles will be fixed to the cockpit frame. The two springs at the bottom keep the two pipes in the right position and allow to press the button. A switch at the bottom left side catches the pressure of the button.

Now the difficult part is to fit the leds in the upper side. I have already shaped a little holes card to fit in the big pipe. The card will be hold by a set of screws in order to keep the leds upon the hole and avoiding the lights to pass through the holes of the pipes.
At the present I plan to put 4 red and 4 yellow leds in the holes. Over the card of leds, I put the plexi and over it a little piece of white paper with the written.

I hope the final result will not be so bad. As I said, at the present I have the impression that the movement of the button is not as smooth as I hoped at least compared to an electronic switch. I will go ahead building that button but I am still not 100% that this tool will never be part of my cockpit.

in fact last week I went to conrad and bought a squared button where it is possible to fit one led. I am investigating if it is possible to fit two colored leds inside the button and if I succeed I will probably choose this second solution even if the button is not as big as I wish.

Master caution button project

Here below you can see a picture of the master caution button project.

The green box is the bigger squared pipe. The litle pipe, inside the green box, is represented by a black box.
The big green box moves up and down around the blue supports (there are 2 holes in the big pipe and the supports, screwed in the little pipe, will pass through such holes).
Two springs kee the button in the upper position. When the user presses the button, a switch is closed activating a line in the SIOC software.

The blue supports in the upper side are screwd to the panel and fix the button in the right position. The other 4 supports, at the bottom of the 2 pipes are needed to blck the switch and the screws. You can imagine a hole in a pipe whenever a support is fixed in the other squared pipe.

Plexi has to be fixed very carefully because it needs to support user pressures that could be quite strong. The plexi will have a written but the caution/warning message will be distinguished by the color of the leds (yellow for warning and red for alert).

The picture has no sizes but if someone is interested I could write down a better project with measures. However, the little squared pipe is 7cm long and the biggest is 6cm. I have bought such pipes in a workshop for around 3EUR each.

At the present I have cutted the two pipes and made the holes in the biggest one. The holse still needs to be refined. and I ma still thinking which is the best way to do that.

The design is quite clear for me. But there are a lt of techinical issues that i don´t know yet how to address. For example how to fix the springs and the switch. And even which type of switch to mount.
Another point is the plexi that should have the same level of the surface of the pipe but fixed somehow to allow the user to press it without bracking or moving.
Finally, until the whole button will be ready I don´t know if the bissgets pipe will move smoothly enough inside the little one.

As usual, I will post some picture in the blog.

Master caution button design

After browsing the web I have found that master caution buttons ready to use are quite expansive (something like 50EUR or more). I found that price so unbeliavable for a single button that Ideide to try to build one from scratch.

I bought two squared pipes with a very similar size in such a way the biggest one surround the little one leaving a very little space. I will put the leds into the little one while the bigger one moves forward and backward. When in backward position it will press a switch in order to clear the warning.

I kno that what I said is not clear enough. If I have enough time I will draw the project and put here an image.
I still have some concern about this idea but I found it a very interesting challenge.

That´s it for now. Merry Christmas and happy new year to everybody!

Cockpit light

If you fly by night you know that it is very dificult to see the landscape outside of the windows. You can trick the monitor but the result is always bad looking. To enhance the situation you can think of turning off all the light and fly in a dark room. This strategy works of course but it is very difficult to find the keys of the keyboard or, even worst, you can't write down notes while flying online. Well, I don't know you but I have to write down al least metars, radio frequencies and take off clearances.

I agree that the problem of the lighting is temporary because when all the controls will be implemented at hardware it will not be needed anymore to find the keys of the keyboard. But what until then?

I thought about this problem for a long time and arrived to the following conclusion. I need a light that can be turned on and off independently of the simulator and maybe later on integrated with the 767 light switch. The light should be strong enough to allow writing notes and reading the keyboard but not too strong to reduce the visibility of landscape details flying by night.

I bought a couple of blue led strips and positioned in the upper right and left side of the closet. They are turned on and off by an apposite switch positioned below the table.

The following picture shows the environment while flying:

You might easily find it kitsch but for me the final effect is quite good: no artificial light reflected in the two screens, lightning is soft and relaxing but strong enough to read the keyboard or write down notes.

A possible next step could be that of integrating the lighting to the 767 cockpit. The two 24 leds strips needs 12V power that I already have in the power supply. The SIOC software already catch the events of the cabin light switch but up to now it only sends the command to the simulator. It would be possible to close a 5V output line that in turn powers on the leds with the help of a raleigh or something like that. It is something I will think about...

Last but not least the price. I payed the two strips of 24 blueleds, a 12V dedicated power supply, cables and the switch around 50 EUR. Half an afternon was the time to mount the hardware in the closet.

New radio and MCP panel

The refactoring the radio and MCP panelsis finally completed. You can see a snapshot of the previous situation in this post. The radios were in the left side in two white wodden frames. The MCP and the EFIS were below the two monitors in a very big wodden box bought from Ikea a lot of time ago.

The idea was to have a new box with the EFIS and the MCP in the upper side and the radios at the bottom.The new panel is shown by the following picture.

As you can see the new panel is much more compact. The little screwed panel in the upper left side is intended to contain some buttons controlled via opencockpit. That panel is not as wide as I hoped so I think I will put there not more then 4 buttons. For sure it will contain the master switch and the toga.

Just behind the webcam there is the power switch and another switch to close the contacts of the dip switches of the CPFlight MCP for upgrading the firmware.

The wood is painted with a water paint and the color is RAL7043. The new CPFlight radios have almost the same color of the panel while the old ones, the MCP and the EFIS, are quite different. However the final result is not bad and for sure much better then the original situation.

Yesterday night I made my first flight with the new panel, from EHAM to LIMC. I took this photo while climbing to final FL310 under Brussel CTR:

You can see the panel back lighted. In the left screen the VC and in the rigth monitor IVAP, the FMC and the radio panel. Most of the time, I use the left monitor to browse the charts.

Just upon the rigth screen you can see the three leds of the cabin light, the read and white beacons from the opencockpits light panel.

Work in progress with MCP and radios

Last weekend I began the building of the new panel with MCP, EFIS and radios I bought from CPFlight.

The panel is composed of a box of 64x17 cm to be positioned below the left monitor. In the upper side of the box there will be the EFIS then the MCP. At the bottom, from left to righ, XPNDR, COM, ADF VOR. 

At the present the scheleton of box is completed and the elictrical components are in place. There will be one button for turning ON/OFF the electronics and a two poles switch button for upgarding the firmaware without insering the 2 dip switches in the rear side of the MCP by hand. In this way the firmaware can be upgraded without moving the panel.

At the right upper side of the front panel there is less space then I initially supposed: only  a 8x6 cm little panel. I will put there the master switch, the GA and the button to switch between auto and manual setting of the VOR for the capitain.

In the first step this panel will be empty but ready for the replacement with the panel with the buttons.

For the GA button I have found at conrad a little squared button that can be reasonably used. It has no led on board and so it can't be back lighted. 

The master switch is the most complex button because it has more then one led, at least a red and a yellow one for caution and warning. Till now I have found no button like that on the market. Of course it is sold by specialised web sites but it is very expansive.

The button to switch between manual and automatic VOR tuning can be one of the button (with a green led) I have already used for the light panel.

I am currently investigating the way to build the master switch and korry buttons. I subscribed to mycockpit forum and ther I have found some interesting solution. I will create a new post later with some good solution.

Refactoring of the MCP/EFIS/RADIOS panels

It seems that next week I have to put all my stuff out of the shelf :(

I'll take the chance to fix the not working button of the light panel. At the same time I want to change the setup of the MCP, EFIS and radios. Current setup was in fact a temporary solution that is in place for more then one year. 

The idea is to create a wodden frame having the MCP and the EFIS in the upper side and the 4 radio modules at the bottom. If I have enought space, I will insert some controls in the upper side of the panel. I am thinking of the master switch and GA button or the annunciators or something else. The new panel, painted in RAL 7043, will be placed below the 2 monitors, where the MCP and EFIS are at the present. Giving that I already have at home all the wood I need, i guess that this remake will last for some days only. 

At the end, I will have the left side free for new panels and space on the left for e new panel that I am designing right now.

My idea for this new panel and for the following is to be modular. I mean that frame of the panel will be fixed and sub-panels will be mounted. In this way it will be possible to unmount a sub panel for upgrading or fixing without the need of open everything. Actually, this is nothing new...

Beside this refactoring, I am thinking of a new panel to put on the right side of the MCP/radios panel. I ahve thought a little bit on what controls I have to put in and I am now focused on the engines startup, the gera lever and myabe the flap. I have brosed the net for componets and I have found a gera for the 767 for 280EUR. It is crazy so I am going to build my gear level from scratch and depending on the result I will build a flap lever too.

I am quite disappointed fro the prices of hardware components on the net. Specialised web sites have crazy prices and I am probably not the best to browse electorinc web sites...

Done!

I did the first flight with the panel over the table and all the cables around me. The panel worked as expected and the simulator behaved very well without slowing down the simulator. Reaction tme was very good also under stress. This is didn´t surprise me because the hardware is connected to the laptop and the software runs there too.

I have discovered that one of the button of the panel is not implemented by 767LD SDK and so now the second button at le left side (the aisle flood) is free. I am thinking to remap this button to something else.. I don´t know yet. It might be the parking brake until I implement another panel. Or the external power supply... Well I don´t know yet...

The pictures below show the panel with the front cover and the second plexy screwed over it. I like it... I have put all these screws thinking that the final looking was better but I am not fully convinced... However it is how it is and I am not going to change it!


Sorry for the red pen... it is there to keep the panel straight in front of the camera. And sorry again for the miserable quality of the pictures...

I don´t need to paint the wodden because it would be invisible in the place where I have decided to install the panel.
And I have decided that this panel will have no backlight because the final result would be very bad in any case.

Panel connected to the simulator

Today I connected the hardware with FSX.

First of all I would thank Niko Kaan once more: it has been very vey easy.

SIOC runs in the laptop where I connected the OpenCockpits hardware through the USB. leksseecon instead runs in the same PC where the flight simulator runs.
I have a lan where each PC has a fixed IP number so I had to change the lekseecon config file giving the IP address of the laptop.
On the SIOC side instead I had a little problem because I forgot to configure sioc.ini telling which MasterCard is in the system and how it is connected. This problem was not easy to find because everything seemed to work well but it was not possible to read/change hardware values. At the end I found an hidden written in the main SIOC panel saying Stopped and after a short search in the forum I got the solution. What about writing iStopped in red?!?

Programming SIOC was much easier then I though but I have to say that the SIOC editor panel is slow and boring even for a short program like mine is. Next step is to program by writing a text file.

Before finishing and go to have dinner, I have to spend a couple of words on lekseecon. I think it is really wanderful and almost transparent. It connects to the remote SIOC with no need to buy WideClient from Peter Dowson.
Beside that, synchronization with the hardware happens by magic and in this way the SIOC program is shorter, faster to write and to debug. Thank you again Nico.

As I said everything worked Immediatly and I did what I want in just an afternoon playng with the software. I had to say that I am an expert programmer and sytem manager so I would not be surprised if those steps are less easy for someone else. But believe me, it is easy ;-)

Next step is to make the first fly with the panel. It is months that I am waiting this moment...

Successfully tested

A few minutes ago I succesfully tested all the connections (led sand buttons) with the OpenCockpits Controlador.
Initially nothing worked. I guess the problem was that I connected the MasterCard to the 4th socket of the expansion card instead of the first one.

The picture upon shows the test session where a couple of buttons are in the ON position and a couple of leds in the botton are lighted.

As I said in one of my previous post I decided to put the first masterCard together with the power supply. If you follow the cables of the picture upon you can that thea are connected to the upper right side of the box. The following picture shows the internal of the box.

The muster card is in the upper side. The first ouput socket is connected to a 40 pin flat cable. Tha cable is divided in 2 DB25 sockets. The output is taken from the DB9.

Having all in this box is a great because I can move the master card and the usb and the power supply eveywherewithout caring, for example, if it is upside down.

Sorry for the very poor quality of the attached pictures: my canon PowerShot S60 is almost dead!

Next step is to finish the panel by attaching the printed picture and the protective plexi over it. For the time being I am not going to add the backlight but in principle I have all I need in place (one free output line and 5V line).

It is also time to start connecting the panel to the 767LD. I will use lekseecon from Niko Kan together with SIOC. While testing I took the indexes of buttons and leds.

Power supply

These points should all be implemented while building the power supply:

• the unit must be positioned into a movable box
• the unit can be positioned in any way even upside down
• input: one socket powers the PSU
• output: one socket with 5V and 12V output power lines
• it must be possible to add more output sockets in future
• one switch to turn on or off the PSU
• each output socket has a 2 LEDs showing if the 2 output lines works (a yellow LED for 12V and green one for 5V)
• the USB expansion card is positioned into the PSU
  • the box has an USB socket to connect to the PC
  • one LED shows if the USB card is powered (the power is takes directly from the USB card)
    
  • one DSUB 25pin socket to connect the master to the USB expansion card
  • it must be possible to add more DSUB sockets in future to connect more master cards
    
• the box must have a cooling fan

I have bought a box for the PS from OBI: it is a tool box that costs around 9 euro.
I am going to build the PS into such a box by installing cables, sockets and LEDs as specified by the requirements written upon.

The observatory where I work has a disposal area where they put old PCs and old hardware before throwing away. I went there a couple of times and I have taken an ATX power supply from an old broken PC. This will be the core of my PS because it produces stable 12 and 5V power lines.
The only items I have to buy are the sockets (especially those bringing 5V and 12V lines), the USB connector and the DB25 poles to connect the USB card to the remote master.

The following picture shows a schema of the PS. Red lines are power lines. Blue lines represents computer data flow. As you can see the PS has only one power socket and one DB25 socket but there is enough room to add more in future.
The switch to power on/off the PS is not shown but it is close to 220V input line.

Some pictures will be added soon showing the building process.