Simpit Builder looking for feedback

[Simaviator13]

Hello fellow simpit builders and aviation enthusiasts. I am new to this forum and figured I'de make my first post under this category.

Anyway I have spent the last 2 years of my life modding FSX and building my simpit on as tight of a budget as possible. Its come a long way and is now a fully functional 2 seater cockpit with a total of 9 monitors, 8 of which are running from 1 PC ;). I wont bore you to death with technical specs or the details of my mods at this point.

I also run a 24/7 Multiplayer server in FSHOST (server name is Simaviators free flight) and I welcome everyone and anyone to join my server if you need a place for you and your friends to fly in. (If your interested I can provide more details)

The real purpose of this post, was to gain feedback from the community of my simpit, I feel I have approached my build differently than most. And wanted to build a pit that has controls for all types of aircrafts, from gliders, to jets, to heli's and everything in between. My pit is still in the mock up stages and am trying to get all the controls placed just right for maximum comfort and feel. Anwyay check out my sneak peek videos on youtube. These vids dont go into technical details as they are sneak peeks, and I still have alot of work ahead of me. Heres the first video, but be sure to click my username and check out the other 2 videos which briefly show the navigation monitors.FSX Home Simulator Cockpit - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIAeHK8Yhx8)

Let me know what you think, or if you have any questions, I'de be happy to answer them. Feel free to respond here or on my youtube page, also feel free to share with anyone who is interested.

See you in the virtual skys!

SimAviator13 aka PyroMan

[Steve5006]

Looks great. tight budget compared to the million dollar boys still looks like you put in quite a bit. I'm working on a similar project and I've been eyeing the saitek panels for certain things but it looks like they're a bit more than I'd like to invest in a panel. Count me as jealous of your setup:)

[Simaviator13]

Thanks for the feedback Steve.

Its been a long journey to get it to this point and I still have a long road ahead of me, mostly finishing the enclosure and making it look pretty. And I agree the Saitek Panels are pricey, as you can see I have quite a few of them in use. I dont want to think about what I have invested in it, but the saitek panels do provide an easy way to get the functions you need without building one from scratch yourself. Currently I am considering picking up a USB micro controller from desktop aviator so I can re-build my overhead panel functions into something that looks more like an overhead panel. Currently the CH MFP and Thrustmaster MFDs are doing the job, but they look a bit out of place.

Anyway, best of luck with your build, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

[jonesthesoftware]

Hi Simaviator
please bore me with how you got 8 monitors running from 1 PC. WIn 7 I presume but what hardware? 2 X TH2GO?
regards
geoff

[Simaviator13]

Sure Geoff, and thanks for reading my post.

I'll lay it all out on the line here, first I'll provide the main specs of the PC running the pit which is a gaming PC I built:

Processor - AMD FX 8320 (8Core) (Overclocked to 4.8Ghz on liquid cooling (Antec Kuhler 920))
Motherboard - Gigabyte 990FXAUD3
RAM - 8GB DDR3 1866Mhz
Video Card - 2 Nvidia GTX 480's (not in SLI - independent)
OS - WIN7 Ultimate
Hard Drive - Multiple WD Velicoraptor 10,000RPM

Now thats out of the way and you all now know im the only simmer running an AMD processor LOL.

And you are correct, I am using TH2GO, obviously the 2 video cards give me 4 outputs. The first video card output connects to a triple head to go which pushes my 3 forward looking displays which are 23" montiors. The second output from the first video card goes to the GPS which is a 10" monitor. So thats 4 monitors on the first video card.

The second video cards first output is connected to a dual head to go, which pushes the left and right side monitors which are also 23's. The second output of the second card goes to my gauge monitors, these monitors are 19's and they are Y connected, as they display the same thing, one for each seat, left and right. Thats another 4 monitors for a total of 8. The 9th monitor which can only be seen in my 3rd youtube video is running from a separate PC and runs the PLAN-G moving map software.

If you need more info I'de be glad to answer any more questions,

SimAviator13