Just a mock-up of the AFCS running with MobiFlight. I am still waiting for the correct encoders to arrive, so the one sitting in place is just to test that it will work.
The new plan is to use an Arduino for the AFCS panel alone, making it mostly plug and play, then use one or more for the right side console. This will make wiring for the AFCS which sits on it’s own on the Left side much simpler, and at $18 for the board, it’s not going to blow the budget! In the first plan the switches on the panel were still going to be run to another controller, as they currently are in the sim, but now that there will be a board dedicated to the panel I will wire all the switches to the Arduino, releasing some IO lines for other uses.
Since the MobiFlight/Arduino setup works really well with encoders, I am now planning on running a CAT5 cable around to the MIP and interfacing the Heading and Course knobs on the HSI to the AFCS board (not like I am using anything like the amount of IO lines an Arduino has available!)
The digits are running on one of the 8 digit units I got off ebay for about $2 each. I back machined a recess to take the whole unit, and at the price I don’t care that I am only using 3 digits!
Next step is to machine the clear acrylic back plate, paint the visible bits black, mount the switches and encoder, then mount some LED Strip lights behind it all to try out some backlighting ideas. I imagine that this will be v1, and v2 will be following along shortly once I start to figure out the best solution for backlighting… which is purely to keep Richard and Emanuele happy for their A-10C projects!