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T-38 Blog
9/13/10
Using I/O Cards
In an earlier entry I mentioned Input/Output (I/O) cards. Today we will look more closely at them and what they can do to enhance your flight sim experience. We will also look at some different I/O cards and later start building a simple switch panel which will control some of the MSFS basic functions.
Perhaps the most common I/O card available is the one in that old used joystick you have sitting up in the attic or in a closet. Every USB joystick uses an I/O card that can usually handle up to eight buttons and four control axes.
Let’s say you like to fly WWII aircraft. The big bore radials. With an I/O card from a gutted joystick you could build a small panel with switches for gear, flaps, lights, etc. You could attached potentiometers (pots) to the axes points and operate the cowl doors and rudder trim (no more need for that heavy right rudder on takeoff). Wouldn’t this seem more realistic than hitting SHIFT-Key combos on your keyboard?
Here are a couple of pictures of joystick I/O cards. The first is from a joystick and I show the pins that operate the buttons and the axes. The second is the I/O card from my Ch-Products Yoke. It too has separate connectors for buttons and axes.
View attachment 18647 View attachment 18649
The joystick I/O card is limited to pushbuttons. Pushbuttons are normally off, and on when pushed. Another name for push buttons is momentary switches. So your panel would have to be made up of pushbuttons and not toggle switches. While this is better than a SHIFT-Key combo is not really realistic for common functions like lights, flaps, etc.
A more elegant solution is to use a dedicated I/O card. Several companies manufacturer these cards for sim cockpit builders. Most of the owners of these companies are cockpit builders themselves. So the cars are built with simmers in mind are rather simple. They can handle any kind of switch and many can handle more advanced analog axes devices like hall sensors. We will use one of these devices for our upcoming project.
The photo below shows a collection of cockpit I/O cards. They will run from about $50 to $100 or more. The one on the right is a keyboard emulator. I will be using it to build a UFC panel for my T-38. It will replace the keyboard. The one on the left is a programmable card that allowed HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) functions. It unfortunately is no longer available.
View attachment 18648
The two in the middle are made by Leo Bodnar in England. They are rather inexpensive and can handle a lot of different input devices. I use two of his products in my T-38 cockpit. They are 10 and 12 bit devices. This means they will provide you more steps between min and max. This allows finer control of the axes.
Each card gets it power from the USB port to which it is connected. I/O cards need some sort of end device to communicate with the flight simulator; we can connect switches, potentiometers (Pots), encoders, and other devices to the I/O card. In this way we can tell flight simulator programs what we want done. Attaching the switch or pot is rather simple.
In our next blog entry will look at these devices.
Disclaimer: I will sometimes name the companies and people who make the devices I am talking about. I am not advertising anyone nor am I paid or remunerated for mentioning their names. I just know them and use the products.
9/13/10
Using I/O Cards
In an earlier entry I mentioned Input/Output (I/O) cards. Today we will look more closely at them and what they can do to enhance your flight sim experience. We will also look at some different I/O cards and later start building a simple switch panel which will control some of the MSFS basic functions.
Perhaps the most common I/O card available is the one in that old used joystick you have sitting up in the attic or in a closet. Every USB joystick uses an I/O card that can usually handle up to eight buttons and four control axes.
Let’s say you like to fly WWII aircraft. The big bore radials. With an I/O card from a gutted joystick you could build a small panel with switches for gear, flaps, lights, etc. You could attached potentiometers (pots) to the axes points and operate the cowl doors and rudder trim (no more need for that heavy right rudder on takeoff). Wouldn’t this seem more realistic than hitting SHIFT-Key combos on your keyboard?
Here are a couple of pictures of joystick I/O cards. The first is from a joystick and I show the pins that operate the buttons and the axes. The second is the I/O card from my Ch-Products Yoke. It too has separate connectors for buttons and axes.
View attachment 18647 View attachment 18649
The joystick I/O card is limited to pushbuttons. Pushbuttons are normally off, and on when pushed. Another name for push buttons is momentary switches. So your panel would have to be made up of pushbuttons and not toggle switches. While this is better than a SHIFT-Key combo is not really realistic for common functions like lights, flaps, etc.
A more elegant solution is to use a dedicated I/O card. Several companies manufacturer these cards for sim cockpit builders. Most of the owners of these companies are cockpit builders themselves. So the cars are built with simmers in mind are rather simple. They can handle any kind of switch and many can handle more advanced analog axes devices like hall sensors. We will use one of these devices for our upcoming project.
The photo below shows a collection of cockpit I/O cards. They will run from about $50 to $100 or more. The one on the right is a keyboard emulator. I will be using it to build a UFC panel for my T-38. It will replace the keyboard. The one on the left is a programmable card that allowed HOTAS (Hands On Throttle And Stick) functions. It unfortunately is no longer available.
View attachment 18648
The two in the middle are made by Leo Bodnar in England. They are rather inexpensive and can handle a lot of different input devices. I use two of his products in my T-38 cockpit. They are 10 and 12 bit devices. This means they will provide you more steps between min and max. This allows finer control of the axes.
Each card gets it power from the USB port to which it is connected. I/O cards need some sort of end device to communicate with the flight simulator; we can connect switches, potentiometers (Pots), encoders, and other devices to the I/O card. In this way we can tell flight simulator programs what we want done. Attaching the switch or pot is rather simple.
In our next blog entry will look at these devices.
Disclaimer: I will sometimes name the companies and people who make the devices I am talking about. I am not advertising anyone nor am I paid or remunerated for mentioning their names. I just know them and use the products.