Boards and Instruments

Hi,

I am REALLY new to sim building and my project is an L-1011. I have the MIP and I'm picking up gauges here and there. I know I need to get some sim boards to make the gauges work and I think I can figure out how to connect the boards to my pc. My question is, (and mind you I don't even have the sim boards yet) how does one connect the instruments to the boards? Is it even possible? I was looking on simboards.com but they don't really talk about this.

The instruments I do have, like an engine speed guage, have the original aircraft connectors in the back of them but I doubt the boards connect to those. Do the instruments have to be opened and rewired?

Can you please shed some light on this or point me to a very basic source that addresses this process?

Thank you very much in advance.
Adrian

Adrian,

Connecting real aircraft gauges to a sim computer ranges from simple to impossible. It really depends on what you've got. A basic current driven gauge like a general aviation EGT is easy, but there's no way you'll get a gyro compass to work in sim service without tearing its insides out. Here's a link to some basic information: http://www.mikesflightdeck.com/instrument_panel_4.htm

Hi Mike,

Thank you. The information you provided was very helpful. I have very limited skills in electronics so I don't believe using real instruments is the way to go for me. I think I am going to change my project from the L1011 to the 737ng and use the instruments ready made for sims that I've seen.

Thanks again Mike, you saved me from spending more money on an L1011 project and I probably wouldn't be able to get it to work anyway.

Adrian