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Airshow Panel Operation and Discussion

(Original thread started on 08-03-14 by Ron Rollo)

In my spare time I have been working to fill a few of the missing panels on the center pedestal over the past month or two. Today I would like to introduce the Project45 Airshow panel!

Ron 906

 

This is another "Eye Candy" panel and will not be expected to do much of anything unless you are planning on building a cabin section to your sim and want to add a monitor on the bulkhead for your passengers to keep an eye on while in flight. Otherwise, it is just another panel to fill in a hole on the center pedestal:

Ron 907

 

What I found interesting while I was doing a little research on this panel is that the back lighting for the SCROLL and SELECT legends are green:

Ron 908

 

As of right now I do not have the window lighting up to do anything but I am planning on duplicating a window that says "FLTDECK *" to add just a tad more realism to the panel. It will be able to select from off (nothing in the window) to selected (FLTDECK in the window) utilizing the SELECT push button like in this real photo below:

Ron 909

 

The price of these panels without the lit up window will be $95, with the working window $145. I will be making a lot of 10 of these panels. If you would like to get on the list, let me know via this thread or by way of email.

 

This will more than likely be the last panel release for me until after the new year. Between what Eric and I are both working on, we are super busy. To recap, we are working together on the EFIS panels and the Pitch Trim Panels along with all the previous products released between the two of us.

 

(Posted by Mark Speechley on 08-03-14)

Ron, as an 'almost' cabin owner will need to keep the investment going. Put me down for the working window version please. Thank you for your wonderful artisan skills. Very excited at the goodies coming. I have my sim pulled to bits so timely at installing new 'toys'. Thanks a bunch!

 

(Posted by Randy Buchanan on 08-23-14)

It makes one wonder if anyone we know has a cabin. Anyway please put me on the list I want to keep up with my Australian friend. Hey Mark. So how are the other panels coming along? This offering looks just great.

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 09-09-14)

Okay, this thing turned out really, REALLY nice for eye candy! I got the prototype completed,connected to a FDS interface card and programmed into InterfaceIT.

 

I designed it to work by dividing the main window into two separate sections. The larger area will either display nothing or FLTDECK. The smaller area will either display nothing or an Astrix. There are four green LEDs behind the FLTDECK and one behind the Astrix. The SCROLL knob is programmed to turn ON or OFF the FLTDECK lettering. The SELECT button is designed to turn ON or OFF the Astrix. All this is done through InterfaceIT using internal variables.

 

Here are some updated photos of the Airshow panel!

Ron 910

 

Ron 911

 

Ron 912

 

Ron 913

 

Nothing illuminated:

Ron 914

 

FLTDECK illuminated:

Ron 915

 

FLTDECK and the Astrix illuminated:

Ron 916

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 09-0914)

In the dark photos never look as good as they do in person.  I also need to make a minor adjustment in what I am offering. No one has taken me up on the Airshow Panel with no working window. And after this post, I don't see that happening!

 

I will be offering this panel as seen in this photo for $145. This Airshow Panel WILL have a working window:

Ron 913

 

If your would like the Airshow Panel Plug and Play version, it will run $185. Basically it is adding the wiring harness to the package:

Ron 918

 

I will be starting the production run of this panel tomorrow and should have them completed or near completion in less than three weeks. Let me know if anyone is interested in upgrading to the plug and play version.

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 09-10-14)

I think I asked to be put down for a complete panel -- please include the mating connectors as I had to cut off the backlighting connector on the SELCAL as my connectors are different to yours. I have a question, what is the sticker on the SELCAL for?

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 09-10-14)

Thanks guys! Shane, I am already working on it!

 

Hey Terry, I got you down for the Airshow panel working window version ($145)

 

Funny thing is I was going through my outstanding invoices and I saw that you were not on the list for an airshow panel. That just suddenly changed!

 

Two other points that I wanted to make about this panel is that I am using an encoder under the knob. Instead of hooking up all three terminals, I am using the center common terminal and one signal terminal. It does not matter which one you use. The reason why this is note worthy is because encoders can not be used with the FDS cards. However, in this case we are using the encoder as a momentary switch. It works great!

 

The other quick point is that the lighting under the FLTDECK has four LEDs. I had to wire it in such a way that each LED would have it's own dedicated output on the FDS card. This way each LED receives proper voltage. Early on I tried to put two LEDs on the same output (Master Caution Warnings) and it ended up being intermittent, meaning that they would work some of the time but not all the time. So knowing that two LEDs was an issue there was no way that one output was going to be able to handle all four LEDs. And now you know as much as I do about this panel!

 

UPDATE:

All the Airshow panels are complete and I will be working on contacting everyone who has one ordered. I also have the SELCAL panels and the back side of the Pitch Trim panels complete so if you were waiting on them, they will also be shipping in the next few days:

Ron 919

 

I have a few extra Airshow panels ready so if you would like one, just post here or email me.

 

PLEASE READ!!!!

Be careful NOT to apply 12 volt power to these green lines that run to the green LEDs in the light box! There are five LEDs in the light box that are designed to be wired directly up to outputs on your FDS card. If you do not have an FDS card, they are highly recommended! If you have other ideas in mind to light up these LEDs in the light box, please keep in mind that they all share a common ground and there are no resistors in the design to bring the voltage down to a safe 3 volts.

 

If you have ordered the plug and play version, a wiring harness is included and already set up to be plugged into your FDS card so no worries there:

Ron 920

 

With that said, the back lighting plug is 12 volts as usual and already has the resistors built in.