Hi all,
Recent noob to MSFS and loving it, I bought a whole setup with X-box-x, curved monitor and TurtleBeach yoke/levers just to use on it 
I also have a past interest in messing with microcontrollers like the Raspberry Pi Pico etc, just found out that it is a doddle to use a Pico to make an add-on button panel for FS202 on the x-box which gives me a whole pile of ideas.
I also have a 3-d printer which seems idea for making panel enclosures etc
What I cant seem to find is a source of suitable buttons to use - I think it needs something with a clear cap so legends can be added?
The hardest part for DIY seems to be adding legends and panel markings i.e what all the buttons do
Any suggestions here??
Many thanks
Dave
The printer is also great for making custom buttons and knobs. You can use tactile switches attached to a prototype board then mount the board to the bottom of your panel faceplate. My printer is a 3in1 so I can do CNC and laser operations too. but you could print button tops with recessed lettering that you fill with white paint via a syringe. I’ve done this in the past and it looks awesome. DCS forum has some great ideas and examples of panel building that you can use for a MSFS aircraft.
There are not many how-to threads here yet, but her is a link to a thread I started some time ago. There are some pretty nifty DIY panels there. My button box there uses the method for buttons that I described above.
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Thanks for that, some great info following links from that thread
Hiya, I just came to the same conclusion , also an Xbox user and trying to build some add on buttons/switches etc for my setup. Busy writing some python code to emulate keyboard presses on a RPi Zero. I do have a Pico , but not tried to make that work as you describe , do you have a long to how to configure that as a HID device? I managed to track down a key to char map which I am going to use to initial testing
While it did work, it wasn’t very reliable - the x-box missed a lot of key presses. Maybe it needed a longer signal duration or some filtering but in the end I bought a MIAP X-BOX controller and not looked back
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On YouTube are many panel builders. I wonder why no one who has already build a real cockpit in his basement found his way into this forum 
…
A few months ago I read about a guy who bought the original front section (nose with cockpit) of a Boeing 737 that was parked for later dismantlement. It can´t get any more immersive than that.
We’re all in the home cockpit builder’s section.