Boeing 777 Sim

[Michael Block]

Hi Everyone My Name Is Michael And I'm Trying To Build 777 Sim I Have Ran Into Trouble I Don't Know Were To Get The I/o Boards To Contorl The Toggles I Have Put In And I Am Making The Overhead Right Off Off Real Pictures Form The Internet If Some Knows Were To Get The Supplies Or Can Give Me Some Hints On Building This Is My First And Most Liky Last Simulator And I Plan On Using FS9 With It With Project Megenta Software And I Need To Do This As Cheap As Posible Thanks

Michael Block

[fweinrebe]

Hi Michael,

firstly your post is very difficult to read since you've capitalised every word.

Have a look at this link which I saw in a post yesterday:

http://777simulator.nl

For B777 avionics see:
http://www.sim-avionics.com

The rest of the info will be embedded in the forum here somewhere. You will just have to use the Search function.

[tomenglish2000]

Hi Michael,

I cant help you with 777 suppliers but I would also recommend
www.sim-avionics.com for your avionics as their 777 is far superior to the project magenta version. It is also a lot cheaper.

I have flown in the sim-avionics simulator a few times now and it is brilliant.

Thanks. Tom

[salautom]

Hello Michael,

you can have a look at my site for some info about the IO interfaces I use (as Fritz mentioned in his post).
I use http://www.opencockpits.com I/O interfaces, cheap (you can solder your cards if you want), nice interfacing software included.

for the avionics etc. I use sim-avionics (as mentioned before ), way cheaper the Project Magenta, and special build for the 777 (with an option for the 737 now)

[Michael Block]

Thanks guys and about the caps it's just a thing with me sorry but i/m looking on the links and they look hopeful for my price range i also found i could build a Keyboard Emulator so i'm trying to build one of those with the 20 or so keyboards i have but thank you guys so much i will try to buy some of the parts but i will keep you guys updated on the sim as i go

[tomenglish2000]

Hi again.

Now that I am home from work I have given your original request for info a bit more of a thought.

Of course it all boils down to budget. If you have £$£$£$£$s to spend then you will be able to make your sim the best it could be. You always get what you pay for.

Although OpenCockpits I/O is very cheap it is also very good! I use it myself and find it the most reliable and versatile set of cards money can buy. OpenCockpits also works with sim-avionics. In fact the sim that belongs to the sim-avionics guys has a motorised throttle (built partly by me!) which uses OpenCockpits DC motor boards and was 100% reliable during this years WorldFlight event (a 7 day 24hr event, so you can see how reliable that is!).

I would advise against keyboard emulators unless you are making an FMC which actually has a keyboard. Emulators usually take momentary inputs and so wont work for switches or rotary selectors which make up the bulk of cockpit selections. Also a keyboard emulator has no outputs for LEDs or any way of taking in analogue input for joystick axis.

A professional IO card setup will save you money in the long run and get you started quicker.

As for panels. It again depends if you want to spend lots of money for really accurate panels (although for the life of me I cannot think of ANY supplier of 777 panels). FlightDeckSolutions do offer FMCs for the 777 but they are pricy and have long waiting lists.
If you make your own there are a lot of problems.
1 is sourcing dimensions and accurate information for the panels you are making.
2 is what material to use. If you want to backlight you will need plastic. Acrylic will usually require a CNC router to manufacture and engrave plus for a good finish you need an airbrush for paint. This is the route I have chosen.
If you dont need backlighting then you can use MDF or similar. This is much cheaper.

Then you have to trade accuracy of switches and selectors for their price.

So good luck, save hard. If you are only ever going to build one the get it right!

Tom.

[Michael Block]

Yeah i just quit on the keyboard emulator so now i have to spend the big $$$ to get the real stuff but i need it really cheap but i can try buying it new but the PM software i have been using is very cool i have one of my monitors on it's side for the software and it's pretty cool i will keep looking and i'll keep posting
see the reson i say i need it cheap is i'm under 18 so i need it cheap but if i have to buy new for the joy then i will

[W9XE/Project777]

Michael:

You might check out http://www.innovativefsp.com/ for B777 panels. Joe has plans to build panels for the 777. His first panel is the CB overhead panel. Looks really nice...

[fweinrebe]

While we at the B777 topic, what flight model in MSFS is used for the B777?

[salautom]

when using sim-avionics, you can youse the meljet B777