Community Event / Creation ED-Panel Inserts for Thrustmaster Cougar Pack MFDs

Brian of Ardagh

B
To anyone that's wondering I've quickly mocked up the MFD panels on both the Eyoyo 11.6" display (16:9) Robert mentioned earlier in the thread as well as a single panel on an Eyoyo 8" (4:3) display. I can't upload an image yet as I'm at work. It's possible to go either way and use Robert's app, two of the 11.6" displays would allow 4 MFDs. The 8" display is physically smaller if space is at a premium.

I think I'll be buying a single 11.6" display and mounting the 2 MFDs on it. As a backing to block out extraneous light, I'm planning on buying a thin sheet of black PVC plastic and using an industrial grade double side tape to affix the plastic and MFDs to the display.
 

Brian of Ardagh

B
Robert Maynard said:
I think there's a later model by Eyoyo that is 1920x1080 resolution.
Click to expand...

I see this model Eyoyo 12 inch Monitor 1920*1080 IPS but I'm hesitant to consider it since I can't find exact measurements. Some measurements make it out to be slightly smaller than the older model, but that might just be going from English to metric measurements. It's difficult to get exact measurements on many of these monitors but any of the 11.6" monitors should be just big enough. The width of the display seems to be the tightest size.

The model linked to above has a nice industrial look, being an aluminum case, with control buttons on the bottom. I think I'll take a chance on it fitting properly, if it's tight I'm sure I can make it fit.

This is a quick & dirty graphic of the size of the MFDs on the 1920x1080 11.6" display, given the display dimensions I've found, which was 256mm x 144mm. The solid black is the display bezel, the blue is the visible active display, the gray with the hash is the video area not covered by the MFDs.

lfUjyBG.png
 
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Brian of Ardagh

B
Robert Maynard said:
You might find this useful:



.... and this:
Click to expand...

Thanks, although it was the display dimensions on the various monitors I've had trouble finding. Not that that is a surprise, I doubt the manufacturer thought we'd be using them this way. Until the monitor arrives I won't know the exact measurements or fit.

I used your MFD graphic to update my image. To be more specific about what I plan, the gray hashed area will be a solid black mask behind the MFDs to block out the visible display with the exception of the MFD central openings. I can get the plastic at Amazon in various colors and thicknesses. Here's a link to the 1mm variety: Celtec PVC sheet, I also plan to adhere the plastic to the display face using industrial tape like this: 3M double-sided tape. The MFDs should then adhere to the plastic sheet, I'll need to make cutouts in the plastic sheet to show the display.
 
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Brian of Ardagh

B
EKim said:
Why use one large display? I think 8" displays are better.
Click to expand...

You've mentioned having 4 MFDs, I would think 2 12" monitors would be more efficient than 4 8" monitors. There's less wasted screen space from what I've mocked up and you'll only need 2 video card outputs. My GTX 1070 Ti is already supporting 3 monitors, one 4k, the other 2 are 1920x1080, my 960 card will support 2 monitors but I'd rather just have the single HD monitor for the 2 MFDs.

BTW, I tried to order the Eyoyo 11.6" monitor from Newegg but they won't ship to my location. I found a similar Eyoyo 11.6" monitor from Amazon and they will ship to my location.
 
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mearmortal

mearmortal
I've read the entire post here and although the option to use seperate displays is a nice idea, I would like to get to grips with the cardboard inserts for now and go from there.

I've tried to download the layout editor from TM website, but to no joy, anyone have a copy of it they would like to share please.

Thanks.
 

Wasp0

Wasp0
Qohen Leth said:
Ordered those Cougar MFDs yesterday and will stick to custom inserts, at least for now. While searching for a backlighting solution (my apartment is very dim and without any white light) that would not involve buying a tablet, I found these: http://www.ledlightsworld.com/white...ceiling-panel-lamp-100240-v-ac-p-1000909.html I'll report back when I have installed everything *fingers crossed*

Now to have fun designing a couple Mamba MFD screens :D
Click to expand...

I messed around with a few backlit solutions, Small Screen, LED lights etc etc, but binned them all for a simple USB light on a clip and flexable neck, like this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-Keyboa...032271&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+flexible+led+light. Much much cheaper and looks really good. Had to also buy a USB extension lead aswell, but hey that was £1.99!!

PS. I also painted the led lights with Green Paint to continue the Green theme
 
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Qohen Leth

Qohen Leth
Wasp0 said:
I messed around with a few backlit solutions, Small Screen, LED lights etc etc, but binned them all for a simple USB light on a clip and flexable neck, like this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-Keyboa...032271&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+flexible+led+light. Much much cheaper and looks really good. Had to also buy a USB extension lead aswell, but hey that was £1.99!!

PS. I also painted the led lights with Green Paint to continue the Green theme
Click to expand...

Interesting; I discarded this option as I feared that it would let too much light leak around the MFD. As my room pretty dark most of the time any light leak would be very annoying.
 

Brian of Ardagh

B
Wasp0 said:
I messed around with a few backlit solutions, Small Screen, LED lights etc etc, but binned them all for a simple USB light on a clip and flexable neck, like this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-Keyboa...032271&sr=8-4&keywords=usb+flexible+led+light. Much much cheaper and looks really good. Had to also buy a USB extension lead aswell, but hey that was £1.99!!

PS. I also painted the led lights with Green Paint to continue the Green theme
Click to expand...

If you are looking for a backlight solution you might want to try an EL panel. Before I went with an LCD screen and the StatusDisplay app I had planned on an aqua/blue electroluminescent panel. AdaFruit has a selection and they are easily cut to size. If I were in the UK I'd just ship you mine, not using them now:

nsHfFsP.jpg

I had no light leakage originally but I had to redo a PVC panel behind the MFDs. The light leakage isn't noticeable in dark room due to the location and the desktop behind it being black.
 

Kaimei Kokoro

Kaimei Kokoro
Got MFDs but not used, here's why...

I use (and spouse does) dual TM16000Ms - main reason is we're both left handed and the throttle (also got one of) is darn near impossible to use in the right hand.

TARGET software is set up so that the right hand triggers to do 'shift up' and 'shift down', this together with voice attack means that I haven't found a use for these [yet].

Together with Voice Attack/HCS means I rarely have to remove my hands from the sticks - although [voice] typing is tedious so I tend to peek out to the keyboard. (30+ years a professional developer and STILL can't touch type - pathetic!)

Shame as I like the idea but normally play in VR too, so it would have to be usable 'blind'. So EL/touch are not that usable (and, yes, I'd love to have a VR keyboard).

(INFO the left hand stick does things like rotations [yaw, pitch, roll], flight, panels, tabbing, maps, zoom and the right hand stick does translations [forward, up, sideways], targeting, arrow keys and house keeping.)

Very impressed by the artworks on show though - nice.
 

Boggratt

Boggratt
These are the MFD’s that I have been using for Elite for a while. The screens are 2mm thick laser cut & engraved clear acrylic with a simple green paper backing sheet. A 3D printed light unit the sits on top of the MFDs. Lighting is 8 hi-brightness green LEDs currently powered by a 24VCD supply. They will be USB powered in the next PCB design. The LEDs are aligned to shine through the top of the acrylic with the light scattering by the engravings.
 

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random_pants

R
....aaaaaaand just discovered this thread. I'm late to the party, but that's because I'm fairly new to ED. However, like everything I do in life, I'm going full overboard building a full SimPit for it. My wife is thrilled (/s).

I just ordered a pair of 8" displays, and am drafting up some custom enclosures/VESA mounting brackets to 3D print after finalizing my dimensions when they get here (my digital calipers are itching!)

Can anyone point me toward any other threads that talk about using the status.jason to automate/animate the center boxes of the MFDs? I do have VR, but am holding off on playing with it until I get myself an eGPU for my gaming laptop—which handles screen displays just fine, but gets jaggy and aliased as hell when in VR (especially things like stations and whatnot when they're nearby). I figure all this non-VR flight time will give me time to learn by muscle-memory and touch where all the buttons on the MFDs are. In the meantime, I'd love to have relevant data displayed on my backing displays.

Edit: Found development threads for StatusDisplay and Bionic Byte's project! Anyone else I should have on my radar?
 
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BigBANGtheory [VR]

BigBANGtheory [VR]
great to still see this thread still going, you've given me a new idea to match an RGB keyboard colour with the green MFD I'll be looking into that after fleet carriers or the Q4 release of the next chapter
 
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