Moving website

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:00:00 GMT

This website is moving to a new location. Same project but just a new website and URL.

First Simulator Part CNC Cut

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The first cut on a part for the simulator was made. The rectangular shaped hole on the Main panel was made for the PFD. The CNC code was written manually by using the dimensions measured by jogging the tool to the various corners.

Hole for the PFD display

First CNC Cut

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The 135W spindle was mounted and the first cut was made. Below is a photo. Clearly there is an alignment problem in the X-axis. The 'M' is cut deeper than the 'P'.

CNC Photos

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I thought it was time to show a few photos of the CNC:

Side view of CNC

View of CNC showing the wiring protection

CNC Progress 2

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The rods are connected to the motors and all three axises are now moving under the control of Mach3. The X-axis needs a bit of alignment. The black permanent marker pen I am using to test the alignment of the CNC is straining when moving the X axis towards the right. After checking with a ruler, I noticed the Left side is about 1mm lower than the right side. I will be fixing this next. Once I am 100% happy with the alignment, I will move on mount the Spindle motor and cut some real stuff.

CNC Progress

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:00:00 GMT

The CNC has progressed even more. The wiring has been done and the motors are turning. Iv'e installed the limit switches. Now for connecting the rods to the motors and the moving axises on the CNC.

Stepping Up

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

Today I did what I wanted to do for a few months now. I connected the CNC controller board to the power supply and connected the 3 stepper motors as well. After blowing 2 fuses on the 230V side of the power supply, I realised they might be the fast blowing type.

After a few tweaks in Mach 3, I finally got the answer I needed. It works!!! So why all this excitement? The controller card was bought in a kit format and I had to solder every part onto the card myself. The kit is a 3 axis card from HobbyCNC in the USA.

Well now I just have to complete the last step in building the CNC. Mount the motors, get the wiring done neatly and mount the home and limit switches. Then I should be able to see it in real action. Can't wait.

CNC Router

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

To date I have tried my best to create quality work on my sim. But with DIY tools and amateur skills one can only reach a certain level of craftmanship. Unless you get a CNC.

Since buying a CNC Router or Mill or even a CO2 laser CNC is out of my reach, I've decided to build one myself. I got 2 plans from the Internet and combined the 2 into my own 'design'. The CNC Router is a combination between the commercial Rockcliff A Model and the free jgro cnc plan. And a few ideas of my own. Below is just some of the pictures I took.

GPS Screen

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:00:00 GMT

I started work on the PC9M GPS screen. Below is a screenshot of the progress so far. It currently displays the route information read from the active FSX *.pln file.

A lot of GPS related information is available from SimConnect and lot is not. For those unavailable features I will probably have to write my own code. Looks like the GPS will be a beast to program.

Main Panel Layout Design

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:00:00 GMT

The Primary Flight Display (PFD) and Engine Instruments and Crew Alerting System (EICAS) has shown good progress so far. Although not completed yet, I've made some major progress over the last few month's lunch hours. I though it was a good time to start designing the panel layout to see which components need to be developed or purchased.

Below is an image of what I am planning to do with the main panel...

Pilatus PC9M Simulator Project Blog