Moach
Crazy dude with a rocket
yeah, i've been at it again....
i was recently presented with the opportunity to acquire a little piece of kit called the "Razer Nostromo" at a bargain cost (i.e. someone flying it in for me purchasing it online)
the Nostromo is a massively programmable left-hand keypad for enthusiastic gamers such as myself, and as soon as i first saw it, my reaction was - "oh boy, this is gonna be perfect for that open space i have behind my throttle unit"
so without further ado - the MoachPit at it's most recent state:
(click image for high-res)
yes, well - the key idea here is to create a high-immersion simulation environment that at the same time can be used for comfortable programming and artistic tasks of all sorts.... i do believe i have achieved this goal
but nope - i don't believe i'm "done" with this to any extent (if there even is such a thing as "done")
further plans include taking apart two old joysticks i own and rigging them up into cool switches and buttons i found can be obtained through ebay (yep, even those with the little red caps and all)
this would also include the installing of an "expansion harness" of sorts onto the existing Saitek stick and throttle (the screw holes underneath will serve as pressure-plug sockets) - upon this devices there would be mounted some of the adapted inputs from the disassembled and rewired old joysticks
then, in the future, i feel it could use some more screen space (tho the actual hardware for that is still to be defined)
at some point, an iPad or similarly-capable tablet thing would be incorporated as a visual+touch enabled interaction device - my brother has this rigged up on his pit, really cool and a very handy setup (it works as an additional monitor, but then you can "click" on stuff with your hand)
and i reckon i'll have some coding ahead of me in order to wire up all these units in a way that they may work together, rather than separately (could turn into a whole other project, really) -- but when you "speak computer" all sorts of possibilities seem to open up
FYI - the MoachPit is NOT based on the layout of the G42-200's cockpit... it's really more the other way around ;D
and yes - the space-navigator IS being used to control linear RCS while the stick does rotations.... and that's why there's a "both" tick on the G42's RCS selector knob :thumbup:
and still, one must remember, being stuck in this failure of a country i regrettably reside in, i very often find that i do not have the option of purchasing many of the commonly used solutions for simpits we see on the web (i.e. the Leo Bodnar thingy) - our highly corrupt government has such a hostile tax policy on imports that it makes this kinda thing simply a no-go
but still, that's just a challenge for me to work around - a lot can be done with just a little extra (or sometimes, only more clever) work
i was recently presented with the opportunity to acquire a little piece of kit called the "Razer Nostromo" at a bargain cost (i.e. someone flying it in for me purchasing it online)
the Nostromo is a massively programmable left-hand keypad for enthusiastic gamers such as myself, and as soon as i first saw it, my reaction was - "oh boy, this is gonna be perfect for that open space i have behind my throttle unit"
so without further ado - the MoachPit at it's most recent state:
(click image for high-res)
yes, well - the key idea here is to create a high-immersion simulation environment that at the same time can be used for comfortable programming and artistic tasks of all sorts.... i do believe i have achieved this goal
but nope - i don't believe i'm "done" with this to any extent (if there even is such a thing as "done")
further plans include taking apart two old joysticks i own and rigging them up into cool switches and buttons i found can be obtained through ebay (yep, even those with the little red caps and all)
this would also include the installing of an "expansion harness" of sorts onto the existing Saitek stick and throttle (the screw holes underneath will serve as pressure-plug sockets) - upon this devices there would be mounted some of the adapted inputs from the disassembled and rewired old joysticks
then, in the future, i feel it could use some more screen space (tho the actual hardware for that is still to be defined)
at some point, an iPad or similarly-capable tablet thing would be incorporated as a visual+touch enabled interaction device - my brother has this rigged up on his pit, really cool and a very handy setup (it works as an additional monitor, but then you can "click" on stuff with your hand)
and i reckon i'll have some coding ahead of me in order to wire up all these units in a way that they may work together, rather than separately (could turn into a whole other project, really) -- but when you "speak computer" all sorts of possibilities seem to open up
FYI - the MoachPit is NOT based on the layout of the G42-200's cockpit... it's really more the other way around ;D
and yes - the space-navigator IS being used to control linear RCS while the stick does rotations.... and that's why there's a "both" tick on the G42's RCS selector knob :thumbup:
and still, one must remember, being stuck in this failure of a country i regrettably reside in, i very often find that i do not have the option of purchasing many of the commonly used solutions for simpits we see on the web (i.e. the Leo Bodnar thingy) - our highly corrupt government has such a hostile tax policy on imports that it makes this kinda thing simply a no-go
but still, that's just a challenge for me to work around - a lot can be done with just a little extra (or sometimes, only more clever) work
