mach7
05-01-2012, 09:07 AM
Hello all,
Here is a video of my completed BAe146 engine gauges. (link below)
I want to preface my text by thanking everyone who got me to this point.
A special thank you goes out to 737NUT and Boeing747Flyer (not sure if i can use there real names...but you know who they are). Without these two individuals i would never have been able to get to the point that i am at now....in fact.... i will be relying on them heavily in the future for more help (sorry guys:)).
Although i still consider myself a novice when it comes to SIOC, these gentlemen where patient with my questions and guided me through the steps to writing scripts and seeing them come alive.
Basically the gauges were gutted, and replaced with HITEC servo parts for operation. The servo's in question were disassembled and parted out for use of the IC chip, motor, and some gears to construct a simple high ratio drive train to allow the small motor to rotate at high RPMs for smooth and accurate needle movement. (I found connecting the motor directly caused the gauges to hesitate and 'jump' at small power settings).
As you can see from the video, my needles move more than the 180 degree restriction that is imposed on the stock potentiometer. This is because I am using the actual pot from the gauge.
The only draw back being that you have to program the script to allow the needle (s) to indicate a couple of points above the zero mark. This is due to engine gauge pot restrictions, as allowing the needle (pot) to drop to the zero mark puts it out of range and the subsequent gauge has to be taken apart and the needle phsically moved to a point where the needle becomes active again. High pot settings do not seem to be a problem, until you get to approx. 280 degrees.
Following the mechanical modifications, a study of SIOC programming and connection of the USB servo cards allowed me to get to this point.
With respect to the fuel quantity gauges...they are aircore driven, therefore all i did was connect a potentiometer (one of the 19 i discarded from the HITEC servo's), up to a 5 volt power source and by manipulating the pot, i can adjust the fuel quantity directly. Although it is not connected up to an interface for FS9 operation, adjusting the fuel manually is a viable solution for the time being.
I connected an additional resistor up to the center fuel gauge so it will increase in proportion with the left and center gauges to indicate 20,640 lbs of fuel at full right rotation (pot). This is the maximum fuel quantity of the 146.
As the pot is rotated to the left, the quantity will decrease proportionally.
I am now in the process of working on the flap indicator gauge, master warning panel and am considering real flight instruments.
http://s794.photobucket.com/albums/yy228/Mach73/BAe146_gauges/
Here is a video of my completed BAe146 engine gauges. (link below)
I want to preface my text by thanking everyone who got me to this point.
A special thank you goes out to 737NUT and Boeing747Flyer (not sure if i can use there real names...but you know who they are). Without these two individuals i would never have been able to get to the point that i am at now....in fact.... i will be relying on them heavily in the future for more help (sorry guys:)).
Although i still consider myself a novice when it comes to SIOC, these gentlemen where patient with my questions and guided me through the steps to writing scripts and seeing them come alive.
Basically the gauges were gutted, and replaced with HITEC servo parts for operation. The servo's in question were disassembled and parted out for use of the IC chip, motor, and some gears to construct a simple high ratio drive train to allow the small motor to rotate at high RPMs for smooth and accurate needle movement. (I found connecting the motor directly caused the gauges to hesitate and 'jump' at small power settings).
As you can see from the video, my needles move more than the 180 degree restriction that is imposed on the stock potentiometer. This is because I am using the actual pot from the gauge.
The only draw back being that you have to program the script to allow the needle (s) to indicate a couple of points above the zero mark. This is due to engine gauge pot restrictions, as allowing the needle (pot) to drop to the zero mark puts it out of range and the subsequent gauge has to be taken apart and the needle phsically moved to a point where the needle becomes active again. High pot settings do not seem to be a problem, until you get to approx. 280 degrees.
Following the mechanical modifications, a study of SIOC programming and connection of the USB servo cards allowed me to get to this point.
With respect to the fuel quantity gauges...they are aircore driven, therefore all i did was connect a potentiometer (one of the 19 i discarded from the HITEC servo's), up to a 5 volt power source and by manipulating the pot, i can adjust the fuel quantity directly. Although it is not connected up to an interface for FS9 operation, adjusting the fuel manually is a viable solution for the time being.
I connected an additional resistor up to the center fuel gauge so it will increase in proportion with the left and center gauges to indicate 20,640 lbs of fuel at full right rotation (pot). This is the maximum fuel quantity of the 146.
As the pot is rotated to the left, the quantity will decrease proportionally.
I am now in the process of working on the flap indicator gauge, master warning panel and am considering real flight instruments.
http://s794.photobucket.com/albums/yy228/Mach73/BAe146_gauges/