Not another 737NG

[garyk007]

Hi all

My name is Gareth, and I am currently living in sydney, Australia.
I have wanted to build a Sim for about 10 years now.
I started flying FS5 back in the day, and never looked back.

I am considering a Goflight MCP as my first piece of hardware for the sim.
I know a bit about electronics, when i say a bit I mean that I know what a resistor, diode, etc are and what they do in a circuit. But thats it, I cant design electronic components etc.
I am in IT, the networking and server hardware side, so I know how to rebuild PC's and trouble shoot them, but I have no VB or any other programming experience.

First question is what type of IO system should I use?
I have read up on FSBUS, Open cockpit IO, Phidgets, and others but still dont know which one to go for.
I would be ok assembling a Kit of say a Comm or Nav radio, proving it was supplied with the PCD pre drilled and all the components and some basic instructions.
I hope that gives you some idea of what I can do.

As for the sim, I can weld and own a lathe and many tools so making physical parts is not as much of an issue as the electronics for me.

I just cant bring myself to spend over $300 on a single Nav radio from FDS etc.

I would love to chat to any other builders in Sydney.
Check out http://www.flightexperience.com
they are opening a full 737NG sim in Darling Harbour on Sunday. for a couple of hundred bucks I will be the first in the que to take a flight.

If any one out there need advise or help setting up networks or internet connections or trouble shooting PC's etc just yell.

Happy Landings

Gareth

[Michael Carter]

Welcome to the forum Gareth.

Flight Illusion has cheaper radio heads if you don't have to pay VAT. I don't know how much shipping to Down Under would be though.

€200 exc. VAT: http://www.flightillusion.com/FORMgallery10.htm

[Bob Reed]

Hi Gareth. Welcome!! We are all nuts here so pull up a shell and jump right in!
You ask some really good questions. Some of them can not be answered just like that. You need to know exactly what you want to do, what are you willing to accept for compromise... Lets whittle it down a little and maybe we can answer some of those questions.

[NicD]

Gday Gareth, and welcome. Suggest you get in contact with Brad Heller who runs the Australian builders list http://www.b738sim.com/index.html. He can put you in touch with locals.

Sounds like you've got a great skills set for sim building. All the best with your NG.

[paulj]

G'day Gareth,
Welcome to the nut house. Where abouts in Sydney are you?
I'm in the Hills Area not far from Parramatta. Not long started building my 737NG pit.
As Nic suggests, visit Brad Heller's website and see where a few of us Aussies are located.
cheers
Paul

[garyk007]

I am about 200m from the Bridge.
Mcmahons Point. I am going to the opening of a 737NG simulator in Darling harbour on Sunday the 29th. I will pay and book my 1 hour flight.

I am soo looking forward to it. It should give me inspiration to get going.

www.flightexperience.com (http://www.flightexperience.com)

have a look.

Cheers

Gareth

[Westozy]

Hi Gareth and welcome,

I saw your post regarding the GoFlight MCP and thought I would suggest the CP Flight unit as a better alternative. It's a bit dearer but offers far greater expansion capabilities. Check out my sim on my website below, this is a 737NG that only uses 1 PC, PMDG software, FDT Sim-Boards and CP Flight EFIS & MCP. This is a good way to go if you want to contain the budget!

Regards Gwyn

[Paul Thomas]

I very much agree with Gwyn with his choice of MCP. I have studied various MCP's, asked questions and after having myself tried the CP-flight MCP come to the same conclusion and ordered one.

[Paul G]

Hi Gareth,

I was going to go with CP Flight until I got a special with Go Flight. Their MCP Pro is worth getting although it is not backlightable. However it's no-nonsense, plug and play and doesn't even require extra power. Just one connector and the Go Flight drivers.

For radios, again I was going to go CP Flight route but, again, I got a deal with Go Flight. However I don't much like the look of their radios so I repainted one of them. I've included a link to the comparison photo below:

http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=1241

I recommend Go Flight unless you're looking for as much technical accuracy as possible. They're solidly built and work without too much messing around. Also, you can configure almost all of their units to be just about any control. E.g. a radio could, instead, be a transponder / adf, or pressure setting control.

Hope to have been of help, and good luck!

Paul

[Michael Carter]

The biggest problem with Go-Flight is their navcoms will not fit in a standard Boeing equipment rack.

[Paul G]

Good point. I made a custom rack for them, but if you have a standard 737 rack, best to go with something that will fit. Anyone know if CP Flight are standard Boeing Nav Com size?