which 737 overhead to choose?

[dion73]

hi jskibo,

i had no idea, the last time i was on business in the US i was eleven years old, hooking up with mickey and fozzie bear : )

There is also Vitor Amaral in Portugal who is delivering all you want for your 737 cockpit for very reasonable prices. Kilo's will be kilo's though..

dion

[my737sim]

I'm going to jump in here and say any panel manufacturer you go with is going to deliver some good quality. I am a mixed cockpit myself. I have the FDS MIP/Glare/CDU bay, and the Fly Engravity Overhead and CDU. I had to back light the overhead myself (and built my own frame) but that was pretty easy since all the panels are right next to each other. I would not have wanted to do that on the MIP, and the FDS IBL backlighting was the best choice for me.

And then there are real parts of course. Sometimes you will find a deal. I bought real 737 light switches, as they were cheaper then reproductions.

When it comes to cost, I'll quote something I read a year ago which was "Well if you think that part is expensive, consider the cost of a real, brand new version of the same part."

Building a sim is not cheap. Period. That's why it takes many of of years and we still aren't 100% complete All of the recommendations on this thread are excellent and it will just come down to what fits you and your budget.

Good luck!

Best,

Matt

[dion73]

Hi Guys,

It has been a while, but i ordered the complete simworld overhead in the end : ) I am very much looking forward to receiving and building this one. I will interface it through the FDS sys1x board, which proves to be a lot more cost effective than most people think because you not only have 128 inputs and 256(!) outputs but also all the wiring plus connectors and a 5V powersource. For gauges i'll use open cockpits and 4 euro servos from conrad (if i connect them).
I am also planning on connecting the airco systems to an actuator on the main window of my "hobbyroom" : )

dion

[nax228]

I've finally come around to actually build my Simworld OH. Been lying around for over a year now...


Tried different frames, but the original 737-300 just didn't fit and an aluframe I made didn't do the trick eighter so I'm back to the good old wood

.


Good buy and good luck

[dion73]

OH2.jpgOH4.jpgOH1.jpgOH3.jpg

Hi,

Like Nax i have decided for the simworld overhead with all bells and whistles. I will wire it to OC servo's and FDS sys1x board. Also the knobs i got from FDS and spraypainted them myself.
I thought some more detailed pictures would be welcome for further study of which and what to choose. I am veryvery happy with the simworld overhead, and i am sure i will get ALL of their other stuff when i have the means : )

Nax: thanks for all the help on the steering column subject : )

skol,

dion

[lenne]

Very nice and detailed!Im awating the poldragonet kit...4th week of waiting now,my fingers
really starting to itch

Very nice project you got going on and thank's for sharing!
/lenne

[nax228]

Glad to share my ideas.
Looking at the pics in last post, I have mounted the gaugeframes from the bacside... only showing the ring, not the ears to fasten it with on the front.

Look at this picture and see what I mean:


Here is a few pics from a real 737 cockpit I visited the other week:



Spot the difference?

OBS!!!: Another thing... I strongly recomend buying the hardware kit from Simworld to, not the hardwarekit from OC. The OC nuts that go on all the big switches does not fit in the Simworld panels. Takes a lot of work to sand/file all the nuts. Simworlds nuts fit perfect. Another great thing with the switches from Simworld is that they do not interfer with backlighting as the backsine (housing) of their swithces is round and small. OC switches are BIG and square and will give shadows to some of the backlighting!!!

[dion73]

OH6.jpgOH8.jpgOH5.jpgOH7.jpg

Hi, ofcourse i was just checking if people are paying attention. I will never admit i don't have a clue : )
I corrected i it and here's some more photos : )
dion

[dion73]

Hi,

Another update, apart from working on the MIP, yokes, projection and other stuff i am wiring the overhead, so here's some more pictures.
In glued in the announciators and LEDS with robson elastic kit/ Iam soldering each announciators leds in parallel and group 8 announciators per one common ground, as this matches the configuration required for the FDS interface card. I put the red connectors on the anodes so i can easily see what is what.
I got the white toggle caps from GLB flight products. Servo's have not been installed yet, at first i wanted to use the OC gauges, but this is totally unnecessary as the Simworld OH is delivered with dummy gauges that only need a servo and a servocard and a little imput from Prosim for instance : ) I started wiring the Leds with individual wirres, but decided microribbon is an easier alternative. i try to use different colors of heatshrink for each announciator in the group. I hope this will work : )

kind regards,

dion

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

looking at these pictures made me think of building Steve Mitchell's overhead for him.
this really is a nice piece of quality kit. everything just went together easily and
really looked good. you made a great choice dion. i suspect you are very happy
and i've now got another simworld overhead coming over for assembly and wiring up
for another colleague in the next couple of weeks. really looking forward to that.
good idea about the coloured heatshrink, i must remember that
have a great day

rgds

ian