Can this be made

Hi All,

I have been giving a lot of thought to the functionality of an MCP for the 737 using prosim737 and Leo Bodner USB input boards. Sitting at my computer looking at the Prosim737 MCP and thinking to myself , what is it that I really need to make one of these. The inputs are handled by push button and toggle switches, the knobs are taken care of by rotary encoders, prosim737 server takes care of the function induced by the action of the switches and encoders. I have been experimenting with the "direct input" of the prosim737 server and it appears not to be very complicated at all. What is left, the readout of the displays is the only other thing needed to be replicated. The panels can be made by various methods. My question is, can I just replicate the displays easily using some type of electronic board and is my theory of this being more simple than one would think, correct? I understand that this method would require more wiring as there would not be any need for a PCB except for the mounting of the segment displays but this is only labour. Could someone please give me some direction for the displays and comment on the theory I have suggested.

Kind Regards

Bernie.

People building their own MCP often use OpenCockpits hardware, since the SIOC program provides an adequate "middle layer" that is very handy when building things like an MCP. The SIOC middle layer can take care of processing rotary encoder inputs and running displays. With some small SIOC scripts, you can convert the inputs from your rotary encoders into values, which you can feed ProsimMCP and the 7 segment displays.

For overhead panels, this middle layer is not really required, since you can simply feed the software button pushes and let the software turn on lights with something like a phidgets card, but an MCP is a bit more complex.

Hi Metamarty,

Thankyou for your response. I will now follow through with the advice you have given me and hopefully get a grasp of the use of SIOC and the use of the OpenCockpits hardware.

Kind Regards

Bernie.

Hi,

I have been looking at the OpenCockpit Hardware and it seems that the Hardware I will need is 1x master Card, 1 x USB Expansion Card, 1 x Display Card, 4 x 3 x 7 Segment PCB's, 2 x 5 x 7 Segment PCB's. Apart from the Associated hardware, does this list seem correct? Will the Gray Encoders that connect directly to the Master Card be suitable? I have quite a reasonable aptitude for PCB assembly but am wondering if there is any other reason that you would recommend NOT buying the kit form. Also, does the master card come with the Microcontroller chip, as I noticed that these were sold as a seperate item. Can anyone from Australia point me in the direction of a supplier of hardware(Electronic) that I could source the switches and knobs that replicate the 737 hardware. I intend looking for myself but thought if someone had already found a supplier, it would save having do it all again. I hope I am not asking too much in my post.

Kind Regards

Bernie.