Starting out question?

Hello,

I looking at startin out in building a cockpit. I am looking at hte EMB 145. Because of the time and money involved I am going to do a bit at a time ans was thinking of starting with the FGC and get used to interface buttons, switches etc with the FS. Then I will look at playing with project magenta software to create the displays on the moniters. And build the rest of it up from there. I have a couple of questions that would help me get started. when interfacing is SIOC the same as FSUIPC or are they different.
How do I make or where do I buy panels, I would like to go for the backlit option.
I know some of the answers to these questions require depth, so if you could place some relevant links up that would be great.
Any other hints, tips, do's or dont's would be greatly appreciated.

Thankyou kindly
Marc

Hello and welcome, Marc.

SIOC is a scripting language used in configuring IO cards for use with your simulator. See http://www.opencockpits.com/uploads/...%20english.pdf . Also, there is a great deal of discussion here on MyCockpit about using SIOC.

FSUIPC is a utility which, among many other functions, provides a software connection to and from MS Flight Simulator. See: http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html. A great many simulator applications use FSUIPC as the interface with MSFS. There is a lot of information about it in the FSUIPC SDK documents. (Available on the same page.)

As far as panels go, I don't known of a source for EMB panels. However, look at http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/links/links.html and scroll down to the section titled "Flight Simulator Companies having a Specific Focus on the Hobby Market". One of the companies listed there might make EMB panels or have a custom service to do so.