Horribly basic questions from total newb to cockpit building

Please be gentle!

I am flying with MSFS 2020 and loving it.

I have the Saitek/Logitech radio panel, multi panel and one FIP, all of which are now working well, along with the Honeycomb Alpha Yoke (which I think is an amazing bit of kit). Have the Bravo Throttle Quadrant on order.

I have done some research online but cannot find definitive answers/advice to the following 2 really basic questions:

  1. How do I make connection between the Sim on the PC, and any home-made panel/switches - presumably I will need some sort of ā€œinterfaceā€ so that MSFS 2020 recognises the switch/panel I want to use. Can this ā€œinterfaceā€ be bought commercially and is it easy to install etc? And will MSFS 2020 recognise it in such a way that I can assign the function(s) I want to it/them [for example fuel cut off/shut off valve]?

  2. How are additional touch screen monitors connected? Via HDMI on PC to HDMI or USB on the monitors? Or can they be USB on PC to HDMI or USB on the monitor?

I have seen several videos on YT extolling the virtues of adding a couple of touch screen monitors, particularly for Garmin G1000. I would like to pursue this further.

I already use my iPad (via Duet Display) for showing LittleNavMap + the NavLog away from the main screen - this was easy to set up (thankfully).

Will also look at Air Manager v4 when it is full release (rather than Beta), when the iPad version comes out.

Finally (whew!) - can anyone please recommend a link to a sensible website/forum with 101 guides where I can do further research?

Thanks in advance to all.

Regards, Alasdair

Hi,

I use spad-next for the yoke and panels, it works perfect.
I also use tablets with random software from playstore.
example https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tambucho.fsradiopanel
here you can see how it works.

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Hi HAL9000SZ - I appreciate the reply.
I have now looked at SpadNext and may well end up using it for my Saitek stuff (at the moment it is working fine), but I do like the idea of being able to tweak the FPI - so thanks.
My main problem is really understanding how do I connect any switches on panels that I might make myself, so that they can be programmed/assigned to the functions that I want in MSFS 2020?
Regards, A

Hi,

I use it on many wayĀ“s. Some of my switches I attached to the keyboard settings in the sim.
Example: on the yoke there are 3 Buttons down and I attached the first one with up strg+e to start engine und down with strg-shift-e to shut down them.
Or in Spad by settings from other users that complaint to my wishes.
And I use the apps if the got the buttoms I need- some works :slight_smile: some not :frowning:

Hope it helps

Letā€™s see if I can help you. If you want to make your own panels you can use something like an arduino board. It is a micro controller board with inputs and outputs and youā€™ll have to connect your own buttons, displays, etc.

If you are comfortable doing so there is a myriad of videos on how to connect/control almost anything you want. You may need to write your own routines in the ā€˜arduino languageā€™ or I believe there are also some programs already that will help you simply connect the controls to arduino and a program in the PC to assign almost any function you want to the hardware. I believe SpadNext would be one of those.

It all depends on what you want to control, what hardware to use to control these functions and how you want to do it. For example, I did my own radios with double concentric pushbuttons and some LCD displays. I connect these to an arduino mega, wrote the routines in the arduino IDE and then the counterpart in Visual Studio (Visual Basic) with the SimConnect API to use the functions provided for FS.

Hope it helps a little.

Happy flying!!!

Hi Jose - thanks for this info - very helpful.
I will look at Arduino board - not sure I will be able to do this though, as I have no experience of such things (including writing routines for arduino and Visual Basic) - I was hoping there might be something like this already available for ignoramuses such as myself. I will keep researching however, as I appreciate it could be fun to have a go and do it all myself.
Thanks, Alasdair

Another solution, although more expensive than arduino, are Leo Bodnar boards. These plug in via usb and are recognised by msfs readily. They donā€™t require any programming, just wire in your switch then assign it in msfs. They can handle up to 64 switches, depending on which board you use.

I use two touchscreen monitors for my G1000, made by a company called Toguard, they connect to the PC by HDMI and usb for the touchscreen part.

A somewhat cheaper alternative to some mentioned above is to remove the gubbins from any old Xbox controllers or joysticks you may have lying around, put them into any appropriate box and wire it up to as many switches and dials as you need.
Xbox controllers are recognised directly in MSFS 2020 [as are some old joysticks]. For those that are not SPAD is an option.

By way of an example, see the picture of a simple control box with 3x rotaries and 1x up/down switch I made using the gubbins from an Xbox controller.

Ps. This is also a great way to recycle what may otherwise have been obsolete kit.

Hi Keith - brilliant idea - I use an Xbox controller to control the drone in MSFS, but never thought about cannibalising one to make switches/knobs etc.
Iā€™m sure I can find another controller, or buy one onlline (not expensive).
Like your simple control box by the way - exactly the sort of thing I am wanting to do.
Regards, Alasdair

Errr not sure who Keith is! I be captainLIF . But no matter, haha.

Be aware also that old [possibly] unused joysticks are, with a bit of ingenuity, a great source of ā€˜freeā€™ switches, rotaries and knobs and dials as well as control logic.

Have fun.

Sorry for mistaken identity Captain!
Regards, A

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Hi Flybasher16420!

You might want to have a look at Air Manager by Sim Innovations. It connects to Arduinoā€™s and Raspberry Piā€™s, offers a host of freeware instruments and panels, easily lets you connect to switches, buttons, sliders, rotary encoders, leds, etc. Above all, it is FS2020-ready, as ready as FS2020 is for FSUIPC.

Some years ago, I have done similar things with MobiFlight, until I switched over to X-Plane. High quality interfaces as well! I just havenā€™t followed ā– ā– ā– ā–  Mobius during the last few years.

If you want more information, just let me know!

Han Schouten

Hi Han - Thanks for the suggestion.

Iā€™m keeping an eye on Air Manager, as Iā€™m keen to try their iPad version once itā€™s released.
Regards, Alasdair

Hi, another possibility I have chosen is a Behringer X Touch Mini, you will find a lot if help in this forum. This midi device gives you 16 rotary knobs and and 60 Buttons. Some solutions give you different setups per plane.
ā€”-- some Details I have written in another post.
using Behringer since month and I like it.
I started with vjoy and freebie. This solution simply emulates keystrokes, even the rotary knobs, all keyboard events in simulator can be assigned to 80 knobs.
This solution is not very flexible if you want to have some logic, e. g. Fast press on the rotary does something else as a slow press. Different mappings per plane are not possible.
Next solution was AAO, the Autor is very helpful and busy here in this forum. This solution is more flexible. You may program logic. The so to say disadvantage is you must hunt for simconnect events. Some are easy to find some not, some are not really working. These problems have nothing to do with the AAO solution.
The third solution I tried was a python script found on github. https://github.com/maartentamboer/X-touch-Mini-Fs2020 . Also very flexible, different plane settings. In the meantime this is my favourite. You need a little bit, but not much, python and coding to setup your favourite settings. Here also you have the problem to hunt for simconnect events. Try and error. Some people offer there configs here in the forum. For all three solutions a lot of G1000, g3000 buttons are missing. We all wait for the group and page buttons. In the meanThis visual cues are not useful or better meaningful. Most rotary buttons you will use for NAV, Com Radios or Altitude or Vertical Speed.
Spadnext should also be possible, I didnā€™t try.
In the meantime AAO has implemented a lot of G1000/G3000 Buttons, but not all are available caused by missing functionality in the sim.

Hi - thanks for the suggestions. I will look into all of them. Regards, Alasdair

Creating your own buttons, switches, and encoders plugged into an Arduino board all run by a great and easy to use freeware called Mobiflight is one of the easiest cheep options (aside from the mutilated joystick options mentioned above) out there. The only thing that Mobiflight does not work with are potentiometers, but other than that, it is a great option and had recently provided support for the G1000 which you could either physically build our use the G1000 overlay which is also a recent offering by Air Manager.

Hi, HAL9000SZ
I am using the latest MSFS with a VR head set (HTC VIVE), and cannot get a clearly focused view of anything with the head set. I am contemplating switching to a multi-monitor set up (not VR) . How did you get the external to the aircraft view spread out over three monitors?

Thanks.

Hi, thats easy, i set the eyeview in front.
There are also some Mods in Flightsim.to.

But all together will set you more in front of the aircraft.

Thats the only way at the moment to do this :wink:

Thank you for the quick response. We have a two monitor setup here and I forgot that you can spread a window across multiple monitors. I tried it and I think I like this better than a VR headset because I can see the instrument details clearly. What were the mods you were referring to?

I recently found Mobiflight. Iā€™ve tested itā€™s functionality for all the buttons and switches in a 172 with steam gauges and Garmins. Everything seems to works. It was way simple to set up. In the process of putting together a ā€œboxā€ for it now.
I read that some people have 20+ Arduino mega2560ā€™s hooked up running their sim with it. Thatā€™s over 1300 inputs. And itā€™s free software.