Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Displays and Gauges pcb's with Panels

Hi to all!

Here are some pictures of the new boards already mounted with panels thanks to Hispapanels:





Lettering of above panel to be corrected!







If somebody would like to have the panels shipped with the pcbs shipment, please contact me.

I have corrected some minor issues of the software and everything seems to be ok. Shipments will begin this week. Thanks all for your patient.

Regards,
Shep

Monday, November 30, 2020

10th Run Pcbs (2)

Engine Motors and Indexer pcbs have arrived :



Waiting for some components and the final tests of the software to begin shipments next week.
Please be patient for your turn.

Thanks all for your support!

Regards,
Shep

Monday, November 16, 2020

10th Run Pcbs (1)

Hi to all!

Displays&Gauges, X27, HYD and Eyebrow pcbs have arrived!!



Still waiting for the indexers and motor gauges pcbs to arrive.

Hopefully I will begin shipping in a couple of weeks.

Regards,
Shep

Sunday, October 11, 2020

 Time for taking orders are near to finish.

Contact me via PM if you still want to place an order.

Regards,

Shep

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

X27 and HYD PCBs

The X27 and HYD pcbs are designed to hold either X27 Stepper Motors or Aircore motors and they come with SMD leds and resistors for backlight.

The X27 pcb can be used for EPU Fuel, Cabin Press and Liquid Oxygen indicators of the F16 while the HYD pcbs can be used for HYD indicators of the F16.

Both pcbs has accessible pins for the motors so it can be used with PSCockpit System or with any other system.



You will find in the backside three connectors:
- (1) Connector for the X27 Stepper Motor/Aircore Motor
- (1) Connector for the backlight leds

To complete the gauges with the X27 and HYD pcbs you must add by yourself the scale plate, needle and gauge cover.

You can check the dimensions of the the X27 and HYD pcbs at:
https://psfalcon.blogspot.com/2020/01/pscockpit-9th-run.html

Regards,
Shep

Monday, September 28, 2020

Engine Gauges pcb


The Engine Gauges pcb has been designed to hold and drive (4) Aircore motors to simulate the F16 engine gauges -OIL, NOZ POS, RPM and FTIT- and backlight the gauge dials.

Alternatively, the board can be used to hold (4) X27 stepper motors. In this case, the board will be supplied without electronics. Be aware that the X27 stepper motors response driven with the PSCockpit System is quite less sensitive than the Aircore motors. The X27 stepper motors are recommended for low speed gauges as EPU Fuel and others.



The board comes with the following elements:
- (1) I2CtoSPI chip to be connected to the Main Channel of the PSCockpit Main Board or to one of the connectors of the PSCockpit Displays&Gauges Board and its elements (resistors, connectors, …) to work with 5V
- (2) driver chips for Aircore motors
- (25) SMD leds for gagues backlight.

You will find the following elements in the backside:
- (1) Connector for backlight illumination.
- (2) Connectors for I2C channel.
- (1) Mini-switch to select I2C channel address

To complete Engine Gauges pcb you must add by yourself the front panel, gauge dials, pointers and Aircore motors.

The Engine Gauges pcb can be used with the HISPAPANEL “F-16 Engine gauges
Model MC11” panel.

You can check the dimensions of the Engine Gauges pcb at:
http://www.mediafire.com/file/wz5cbmbtq1cja16/EngineGaugesPCB-A3.pdf/file


Regards,
Shep

Friday, September 25, 2020

PSCockpit System 10th Run: Displays & Gauges PCB!

A new board is coming for the PSCockpit System: Displays & Gauges Board.
This new board drives the gauges and displays of the F16 pit reducing the load of the PSCockpit Main Board by reducing its processing time.

The Displays & Gauges Board is already configured giving a plug&play solution for people with less electronic knowledge.

PSCockpit users can use the same PSCockpit boards they already have in their pit and/or redistribute the boards between both systems PSCockpit Main Board and PSCockpit Displays & Gauges Board.

The modular concept of the Displays & Gauges Board allows users to select the displays and gauges they want to drive in their pit, adding other elements at any time.

For desktop pits or mini-pits users the Displays & Gauges Board can drive eyebrow lights, indexer lights and some other lights of the F16 Center console.



The Displays & Gauges Board is able to drive the following elements of the F16 pit:
- (2) x PSCockpit OLED displays for DED and PFL displays.
- (2) x Adafruit Monochrome OLED displays for Fuel Flow and Total Fuel indicators
- (14) x Stepper motors X40 or X27 for LIQ OXY, EPU Fuel, HYDA, HYDB, Total Fuel, Watch, Cabin Pressure, Roll Trim, Pitch Trim, Oxy Press, Speed Brake and Compass (with Unipolar Stepper Motor) gauges
- (4) x Aircore motors for Oil Pressure, Nozzle Pos, RPM and FTIT engine gauges.
- (2) x PSCockpit 16I/O boards for Eyebrow Lights, NWS and AOA lights, LG lights
- (1) x PSCockpit Caution Panel board.

The Displays & Gauges Board distribution for the F16 is the following:



You can download the F16 Displays & Gauges Distribution here: http://www.mediafire.com/file/j5p0gxo393t04q5/file

The Displays & Gauges Board has its own standalone software for Falcon BMS and DCS sims:



For new users, the Displays & Gauges Board, depending on your needs, can be completed with the following PSCockpit items:
- DED display: (1) PSCockpit OLED display
- PFL display: (1) PSCockpit OLED display
- Total Fuel Indicator: (1) PSCockpit X40 pcb + Adafruit display + X40 stepper motor
- Watch: (1) PSCockpit X40 pcb + Adafruit display + X40 stepper motor
- LIQ OXY, EPU Fuel, HYDA and HYDB gauges: (1) PSCockpit 16 I/O pcb + (4) PSCockpit X27 pcb + (4) X27 stepper motor
- Roll Trim, Pitch Trim, Oxy Press, Speed Brake gauges: (1) PSCockpit 16 I/O pcb + (4) PSCockpit X27 pcb + (4) X27 stepper motor
- Right Eyebrow and NWS lights: (1) PSCockpit 16 I/O pcb
- Left Eyebrow, AOA and LG lights: (1) PSCockpit 16 I/O pcb
- Caution Panel: (1) PSCockpit Caution Panel pcb
- Engine gauges: (1) PSCockpit Engine Motors pcb + (4) Aircore motors

New boards for this run are:
- X27 pcb
- Eyebrow lights pcb
- Indexer pcb
- Engine Gauges pcb
- Hyd pcb

All the new boards come with accessible pins of all the elements and can be used outside the PSCockpit system.

The minimum quantity to manufacture the new pcbs in this run is 15 units/each.

More info about these boards will follow.

You can find more info about PSCockpit system here:
http://psfalcon.blogspot.com.es/2015/05/pscockpit-system-up-to-date-software.html

Prices
The prices of the PCB’s already mounted and tested are the following:
- Displays & Gauges pcb: 55€
- X27 pcb: 15€
- Eyebrow lights pcb: 15€
- Indexer pcb: 15€
- Engine Gauges for Aircores with electronics for PSCcokpit System pcb: 90€
- Engine Gauges for X27 or Aircores without electronics: 65€
- Hyd pcb: 15€

Other components by demand:
- Wire and connectors
- Engine Gauges, Eyebrow and Indexer panels
- Gauges panels
- Stepper motors X27
- Aircore Motors

- Shipments: 10€/ 18€ / 28€ depending on the total weight order and country

Time Line:
- Orders will be accepted until Oct. 12th. 2020
- Payments: Until Oct. 18th. 2020. Only direct bank transfers. Sorry for the inconvenience.
- Delivery: Dec 2020

Regards,
Shep

Saturday, January 25, 2020

PS Cockpit Software V.1.0.3 Update

The new version V.1.0.3 auto installable version of the PS Cockpit Software is available for download!!

Do not forget to install this version with admin rights!

You can download it at: Download

To update the firmware of the Main Board, visit: PS Cockpit Firmware Update v 1.6.4

PS Cockpit Software V.1.0.3 Changelog:
- Update Share Memory management for Falcon BMS 4.34.1
- Added data extraction for A10C and F16C-50 planes for DCS World 2.5.5
- Added vJoy management
- Added new displays for OLED display: A10 CMSP, A10 CMSC and A10 CDU (LCDs Page)
- Corrected TWP leds: U, Missile and Launch light now when pressing Sys Test
- Corrected "Use SERVOS 0-3 for pots" bug in PSJoystick
- Analogue expanders are now seeing always (IOLayout)
- Corrected 7 segment display bug.
- Corrected FuelFlow operation in Adafruit displays
- New boards TWA, TWP, ELEC, X40, AUDIO1&2 configuration included in expanders dropdown list (IOLayout)
- Corrected Vibs Motors operation
- DCS default directory added (Settings)
- Reset Output for the Adafruit display added to S40 boards
- Corrected a bug in the configuration of the ICP Rev1 Drift-Co switch causing PSCockpit Software not responding in RUN mode.
- "Sync Sim/Cockpit on Start" now waits for the player to get in to 3D in BMS
- Independent cycle timer for aircores and servos (USB Timers)

PS Cockpit Software V.1.0.2 Changelog:
- Text Light Extended option implmented to inlude ECM lights in the MAL & IND LTS pushbutton (Airplane Model/Special IOs)
- Implemented Clone Ouputs to replicate up to 10 ouputs of the boards to another ouput (Airplane Model /Special IOs)
- Corrected a bug while setting the Adafruit OLED parameters (Adafruit OLED)
- Changed Run mode to allow exit this mode while waiting Falcon BMS to load
- Corrected a bug with the T_L_CFG right eyebrow light (Airplane Model/Lights)
- Updated ExportDCS.lua file
- Added suport for PSGaguesV3 client (RDYF16)
- Revised Test Lights in DCS
- Added landing gear lights with MAL & IND LTS pushbutton
- Added information in the Airplane Model while running the sim, which allows the user to enter the Airplane Model and see what lights are on and what are the actual values of the 7seg displays and servos (Airplane Model)

PS Cockpit Software V.1.0.1 Changelog:
- Corrected bug that made some lights not lighting with MAL & IND LTS pushbutton

PS Cockpit Software V.1.0.0 Changelog:
- New UI skin can be customized by the user
- Added support for Adafruit Oled 128x32 (ID931) (Adafruit displays)
- New ExportDCS.lua for full A10C data extraction
- TN Game vest effects improved (TN Game Vest)
- Waltham A13A-2 Clock implemented (Airplane model)
- Oled DED display subroutine changed to show correct reverse video characters (for V1.6.1 firmware version)
- Now sttepers are set to 0 at PSCockpit exit. This avoid recalibration when changing the sim.
- Revised Server Mode to connect two computers where one is the sim computer and the second is the cockpit (TCP/IP)
- Revised Server Mode for DCS World data (TCP/IP)
- Revised Server Mode for PSGauges for Android (TCP/IP)
- Added commands received from PSGauges for Android (Commands)
- Added Start options (Settings)
- Added option for TWP and TWA when these panels have only one light per pushbutton (Airplane Model/Special I/Os)
- Corrected bug on time and minutes calculation giving an overflow error

Thanks all for your patient!!!

Regards,
Shep

PS Cockpit Firmware Update V.1.6.4

The new firmware V 1.6.4 for the PS Cockpit Main Boards is available for download!!

PS Cockpit System Firmware V.1.6.4 Changelog:
- New display fonts for DCS CDU
- Analogue inputs management for vJoy

You can download the firmware at: Download

Tools for upgrading the firmware:

- Users of the PS Cockpit Main Boards of the 4th Run and over can update the firmware in 64bits Windows operating system (These users do not need to update the firmware by now) with PSFirmUpdtV2-4thRunMainBoards

- Users of the PS Cockpit Main Boards of previous runs can only update the firmware in 32 bits Windows operating systems PSFirmUpdtV1-PreviousMainBoards tool.

Do not try to update the firmware with the incorrect tool version!!! It will ruin the firmware. If you have any doubt about your Main Board tool please send me an email.

Regards,
Shep

Tuesday, January 7, 2020

HOW TO Use PSCockpit with DCS


PSCockpit software allows you to use different sims with different Plane Model configurations by changing the file .ini when you select a different sim from the Sim dropdown list.



This means that you need to configure your .ini every time for each sim you will be using. If you have configured one .ini with your hardware, to save some time, you can copy the configuration from one .ini to another by making a copy of the already configured file to a new .ini file.

In example, if you have already configured your .ini file for Falcon BMS and you want to save that configuration for DCS World follow this procedure:

1. Exit PSCockpit Software

2. Locate the file PSCkptFalconBMS.ini in your PSCcokpit directory, by default “C:\Program Files (x86)\PSCockpit”

3. Make a copy of it in the same directory.

4. Rename the copy of the file to PSCkptDCSWorld.ini

5. Enter PSCockpit Software

6. Select DCS World from the Sim dropdown list.

Even tough, this is the faster way to keep your configuration for the new sim, you will need to make, at least, some changes in your new configuration, such as:

LAUNCHER, Change Sim, Path and Window Name fields for the new sim:


COMMANDS, change keystrokes as per your new sim:


Once you have the configuration for DCS, in order to extract the data from DCS and let PSCockpit read the data extracted, some .lua files need to be copied to DCS\Scripts directory. This operation can be do it automatically from PSCockpit\Settings page by clicking the "Copy PSCockpit Export Files" button.

If you need to do it manually, follow this procedure:

1. Find the following the files in your PSCockpit directory under the "PSCockpit" folder:  
- Export.lua
- PSCockpitExport.lua
- ExportPSCockpit-A10C.lua
- ExportPSCockpit-F16C-50.lua

2. Locate your DCS scripts working directory, by default, “\Users\USER\Saved Games\DCS\Scripts” where “USER” is your PC user account name. If there is no script folder, create it.

3. Locate file Export.lua in the DCS script directory and rename to ExportOLD.lua

4. Copy PSCockpit\Export.lua file to DCS\Scripts\Export.lua

5. Create a new folder DCS\Scripts\PSCockpit\

6. Copy the above four .lua files from your PSCockpit directory to the DCS\Scripts\PSCockpit\ folder.

7. Locate DCS logs directory, by default, “\Users\USER\Saved Games\DCS\Logs” where “USER” is your PC user account name. If there is no script folder, create it.

8. Run PSCockpit Software and check the DCS logs directory address is correct under Settings page:


If you are using Helios, you will need to modify manually the Export.lua file. See this post: link

You are now ready to use DCS World with PSCockpit. Click on Run. enter DCS World and enjoy!!

Regards,
Shep

Saturday, January 4, 2020

HOW TO Configure the AUDIO1&2 Panel


For AUDIO1&2 pcb description, options and how to configure the expander address, see PSCockpit Quick Guide V.5 – AUDIO1&2 PCB. You can access the Quick Guide from Help/Quick Guide menu in the PSCockpit software.


The AUDIO1&2 pcb must be configured either the digital expander and analogue expanders.

AUDIO1&2 Digital Expander

To configure the PSCockpit AUDIO1&2 panel select the correct option from the Expander pull down list in the IOLayout page of the PS Cockpit Software at the correct I2C channel:



In case of there is some data already in the selected expander, the software will prompt you for continue:


The software will also prompt you to add the standard BMS commands for the AUDIO1&2:


If you accept, the software will prompt you to search for your BMS .key file, typically in ..\Falcon BMS vX.X\User\Config folder, and will automatically search for the keystrokes you have set in your .key file for the AUDIO1&2:


If any of the commands hasn't been set you will see a warning indicating how many commands haven't been set and the Commands page of the PSCockpit software will appear:


Once the AUDIO1&2 panel is already configured you can modify the list of inputs/outputs as desire as well as the free I/O of the expander:


Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “AUDIO1&2” label on the expander anymore but the “16 I/O” label.

AUDIO1&2 Analogue Expander

In the same way as the digital expander, to configure the PSCockpit AUDIO1&2 panel for analogue inputs, select the correct option from the Expander pull down list in the IOLayout page of the PS Cockpit Software at the correct I2C channel in the Main Channel:


You need to repeat the process for AUDIO1 analogue inputs and AUDIO2 analogue inputs in different analogue expander addresses.

In case of there is some data already in the selected expander, the software will prompt you for continue:



The software will prompt you to assign the analogue inputs to VJoy:



If you accept, the software will prompt you to select one of the free available vJoy devices:


The VJoy page will appear. You can select the devices you have previously selected to see the configuration:


For more information about configuring vJoy devices, see:

Once the analogue inputs of the AUDIO1 panel is already configured you can modify the list of analogue inputs as desire:


Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “AUDIO1 Analogue” label on the expander anymore but the “Analogue” label.

For AUDIO2 analogue inputs you need to repeat the process of the analogue input configuration and the vJoy page and IOLayout should appear like these:


For more information about configuring vJoy devices, see:
https://psfalcon.blogspot.com/2020/01/how-to-use-and-configure-vjoy-in.html



Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “AUDIO2 Analogue” label on the expander anymore but the “Analogue” label.

Regards,
Shep

HOW TO use and Configure vJoy in PSCockpit


To use vJoy application for PSCockpit you must install the vJoy drivers in your computer. Please refer to http://vjoystick.sourceforge.net/site/ on how to download and install the vJoy device driver.

To use vJoy with PSCockpit you need PSCockpit Software v.1.0.3 or higher and firmware version v.1.0.3 or higher.

To check these versions, click on Help/About menu of the PSCockpit Software.

Refer to this page for latest updates:

https://psfalcon.blogspot.com/2015/05/pscockpit-system-up-to-date-software.html

Once you have installed the vJoy driver you must configure your VJoy devices. Typically, you will need to configure 3 devices for PSCockpit analogue expanders:

-      ICP Rev.1 Analogue
-      AUDIO1 Analogue
-      AUDIO2 Analogue

To do this, open the “Configure vJoy” application and configure one device following the next procedure:

1. Select the device number
2. Select the desired number of axes. In PSCockpit you will need as much as five axes per digital expander.
3. Select the number of buttons. You can select maximum 32 pushbuttons to use them in PSCockpit.
4. Select “Enable vJoy”
5. Click on “Apply”. Be aware that vJoy will ask you to restart your computer, so you might want to configure also device 2 and 3.


Once you have configured your vJoy devices, you can click on vJoy icon of the PSCockpit main screen to configure the analogue and digital inputs to be used with it:


You will be warned about the faults encountered (i.e. wrong vJoy version), otherwise, if everything is correct, the vJoy configuration page will appear, 


You can configure your PSCockpit analogue and digital inputs by following this procedure:

1. Select the vJoy device by clicking on the device number tab. They can appear in different states:

- Shaded icon: vJoy device is not available. You need to configure in “Configure vJoy” application. Please refer at the top of this document.
- Blue arrow icon: vJoy device is configured and free to be acquired for any application.
- Red cross icon: vJoy is configured and has been acquired for other application than PSCockpit.
- Green check icon: vJoy is configured and acquired for PSCockpit.

2. Select the I2C channel and expander you will use to assign inputs on vJoy.
3. Click on one axis label to display the dropdown list where to select the desire input. Available axis will be shown in bold, unavailable axis will be shown in grey.
4. Click on one button label to display the dropdown list where to select the desire input. Available buttons will be shown in bold, unavailable buttons will be shown in grey.
5. Click on one POV label to display the dropdown list where to select the desire input. Available POVs will be shown in bold, unavailable POVs will be shown in grey.
6. Check “Acquired for PSCockpit” and “Enable”. The device number icon should change to Green check icon indicating that this vJoy device has been acquired for PSCockpit.

Use “Reload vJoy Info” button to refresh any change you do on vJoy Config application.

Once configured you will see the vJoy page, i.e. for the ICP panel:



You can now enter in Test mode by clicking on TEST button. The vJoy page will appear as this:


You will be able to test the interaction with vJoy by moving the Axis sliders (1) and clicking on the button number (2). Numbers in green shows the available buttons and numbers in red shows the button pressed.

The interaction with vJoy can be seen by opening the “vJoy Monitor” application of vJoy:


To finish the configuration of the vJoy device in your favourite sim, select the desire axis or DX button for a selected function. In case of BMS, go to Setup/Controllers/Advanced/Avionics Control:



Regards,

Shep

HOW TO Configure the ELEC Panel


For ELEC pcb description, options and how to configure the expander address, see PSCockpit Quick Guide V.5 – ELEC PCB. You can access the Quick Guide from Help/Quick Guide menu in the PSCockpit software.

To configure the PSCockpit ELEC panel select the correct option from the Expander pull down list in the IOLayout page of the PS Cockpit Software at the correct I2C channel:


In case of there is some data already in the selected expander, the software will prompt you for continue:


The software will prompt you to setup the ELEC leds in our Airplane model:




If you accept, the Airplane page will show up with the leds already assigned:



The software will also prompt you to add the standard BMS commands for the ELEC:


If you accept, the software will prompt you to search for your BMS .key file, typically in ..\Falcon BMS vX.X\User\Config folder, and will automatically search for the keystrokes you have set in your .key file for the ELEC panel:

If any of the commands hasn't been set you will see a warning indicating how many commands haven't been set and the Commands page of the PSCockpit software will appear:


Once the ELEC panel is already configured you can modify the list of inputs/outputs as desire as well as the free I/O of the expander:


Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “ELEC” label on the expander anymore but the “16 I/O” label.


Regards,
Shep

Friday, January 3, 2020

HOW TO Configure the X40 pcb


For X40 pcb description, options and how to configure the expander address, see PSCockpit Quick Guide V.5 – X40 PCB. You can access the Quick Guide from Help/Quick Guide menu in the PSCockpit software.

To configure the PSCockpit X40 pcb, select the correct option from the Expander pull down list in the IOLayout page of the PS Cockpit Software at the correct I2C channel, depending if you want to configure the board as Fuel Indicator or as Clock:


In case of there is some data already in the selected expander, the software will prompt you for continue:




The software will prompt you to setup the X40 steppers in your Airplane model:





If you accept, the Airplane page will show up with the steppers already assigned and you will be warned to set the zero, minimum and maximum values of the steppers:

  
 

X40 PCB AS FUEL INDICATOR:


In case of Fuel Indicator, the software will prompt you to configure the Adafruit display:


If you accept you will be prompted to select the type of Adafruit display:


The Adafruit Display Page will show up with the configuration. Click on “Total Fuel” tab to review it:


The configuration of the X40 pcb for Total Fuel Indicator is now completed and the IOLayout should appear like this:


You can now modify the list of inputs/outputs as desire as well as the free I/O of the expander.
Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “X40 as Fuel Ind” label on the expander anymore but the “16 I/O” label.

X40 PCB AS FUEL INDICATOR:
The configuration of the X40 pcb for Clock is now completed and the IOLayout should appear like this:


You can now modify the list of inputs/outputs as desire as well as the free I/O of the expander.
Be aware that once the configuration is saved, whenever you enter the IOLayout Page you won’t see “X40 as Clock” label on the expander anymore but the “16 I/O” label.

To configure the stepper motors, see:

Regards,
Shep