By Fritz Weinrebe on 15 November 2007

Every pilot know that clicking a keyboard to change the heading bug or change the frequency on COM1 is just unrealistic.  A knob is what you need.  Enter the rotary encoder.  A rotary encoder is a device that can detect the direction as well as the speed of rotation.

I got hold of 5 broken Proline CRT monitors which has these rotary encoders still intact. They are referred to as OSD shuttle knobs in the monitor's user manual. This is what it looks like:

After a brief search I managed to locate the manufacturer of these devices.  The manufacturer is Switch C ... Read More »

By Fritz Weinrebe on 15 November 2007

I recently found 2 very good ideas for manufacturing my own Printed Circuit Boards (PCB).  The first one involves building a UV development unit and the second an etching unit.  Both are cheap to build and should be efficient enough for the type of PCB's needed for the simulator.

UV Exposure Unit

The UV exposure unit is based on using 2 Mercury-vapour light bulbs.  Since these bulbs gives off UVA in the 405 nanometer (nm) and 436 nm spectrum.  Perfect for PCB exposure.

Mercury-vapour bulbs cannot be connected directly to the mains.  You need a ballast and a capacitor to make it work safely. Luckily there is a warning on the packaging that states this.

The plan for building this UV Exposure unit is here.  Before you get the idea I know too much about these lamps, visit Read More »