The Avionics Completed!

Well the avionics stack is finished apart from coding in SIOC but initial trials have already proved very successful. I must say though that the amount of work in constructing this lot was enormous! Lots of it consumed with tinkering around different methods of construction and in particular backlighting, but the wiring and never-ending soldering almost drove me insane.

I guess this is why it's called cockpit BUILDING. Had I known about the pre-built OC versions before I ordered these I might have gone down a different road, however I figure I've saved about $1000AUD by DIYing.

Now I'm off for a well earned Christmas break :mrgreen:

BTW. I'll probably cop a roasting from the Boeing purists, but you'll notice the extra encoders on the Comm, Nav & ADF. I wanted the separate control over high and low digits and I happen to have plenty of single encoders on hand. I thought about ordering dual concentrics and waiting months for delivery but then figured I'm not building a Boeing and the separate encoders fit into the panel very nicely. It did increase the cabling however! I didn't order enough grey knobs though which is why the ADF and XPDR have black knobs temporarily.

Ken.

Awesome job Ken.

Looks great. Nice work. Your pit is really coming together. I should have my OC boards in the next week. The sioc files you sent me worked great in helping me get my Outputs board up and running for my mcp. Now I cant wait to start playing with inputs and encoders (I ordered the USB Expansion, a master card, 2 inputs breakout boards with encoders, 1 outputs breatkout board.

Again, nice work and inspiring

Regards,
Scott

They look great Ken. I too would rather be able to control the digits separately like on the older radios with a dual concentric switch or encoder.

I haven't seen an aftermarket head yet that includes that feature, or even separate switches.

The newer style of Gables radios installed in Boeings seem rather spartan on the faceplate. There's no DME on/stby, no test Nav/DME, not even a receive or 'on' indicator.

Awesome job Ken!

Fantastic work there. I would just recommend getting the dzus bolts on those panels instead of the screws.

Keep up the precise work.

Glad those files are working for you Scott. Of course they're all thanks to other more experienced programmers. It's also a good move to order the OC input and output breakout boards. I made my own and I constantly have connection issues, so when I order my extra grey knobs I'm ordering some of these also. I think I'm going to need a second Master card once I start on the overhead.

And yes those mounting screws are only temporary. I won't be replacing them with Dzus screws as such but certainly somthing more appropriate. The aluminium rails will also be painted.

Right now I'm really keen to start work on the coding. Nico Kaan's SIOC files offer some great functions like reading the radio frequencies from the sim panel and writing them to the hardware at startup, using the Test switch to write 8's to all displays, and incorporating a dimming function to adjust display brightness, and all this is done within the SIOC code, no hardware addons.

I've also documented the whole build process for each radio head which I'll compile into a pdf document for all to gain from. OC products may be very cost effective, but they come with little or no build instructions (particularly in English) which is a real shame as some builders might be put off by this lack of info. I learnt a lot from another site offering instructions but even this was lacking, so I hope to address this with my own style of instructions along with my take on backlighting.

Thanks again,

Ken.

Fantastic Ken really nice work

Tim

Great work Ken,
I too am using OC and SIOC and agree that a bit more instructions would be helpful.
I'm looking forward to seeing your instructions when you have them available.
Merry Christmas to everyone.

Paul

They are beautiful Ken. You did a good job. If you like tham and they make your flying more enjoyable, that's what counts.

Thanks John, my sentiment exactly. If they look decent and work well, they're good to go.

BTW. I've just completed a full tutorial on the assembly of the comm radio at my website http://www.kennair.com.au/avionics.html. I've also uploaded a pdf version to the download section here but it is still in the process of moderator authorisation.

Ken.