EFIS Technical
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EFIS Technical
Supplier - www.OpenCockpits.com Parts Required (for 1 EFIS Panel)
Here we have the EFIS Panel and a pile of switches and encoders. How does it all fit together? Well don't be disheartened as I was, because what seems an impossible task is really quite straight forward. Some builders make their own PCB, but that is totally unecessary and this is much simpler using the USBKeys card. A point to note here - make sure you fully understand the documentation for the USBKeys card before you start. USBKeys Manual Documentation: EFIS User Manual (not available yet)
Assembly When your panels arrive from Opencockpits, here is what you have:
In this build we do not use the centre panel with the Symulatory Glareshield as it is not needed. The Back plate is a plastic board to hold the tactile switches. However, I found that needed to drill 4 more holes (I actually used a Dremel type tool and a grinding adaptor for the larger holes). 2 holes for the VOR switches and 2 holes for the 2 centre rotary encoders. At this stage it is probably as well to drill your backlighting holes here too. The LEDs I have specified here are very bright so you will only need about 4 to 6 LEDs to back light this panel (I will do a tutorial on LEDs in the Electronics Technical Page). However, before you start drilling fit everything in place temporarily so that you know where the holes are going. I used an electric variable speed hand drill with a 5mm steel bit running at slow speed to drill the LED holes. OK, In the Opencockpits kit you have 3 panels, 7 square buttons, 2 round buttons and 9 square switch backing plates with holes in the centre. Tip - some of these backing plates still have the centres in, it is better to check that they are out now rather than when you are trying to fit it all together. Superglue one of these backing paltes to each of the 9 switches and leave somewhere safe to dry. Next, by using a multimeter to find the correct terminals on the tactile switches identify the switching termnals. Once I did this I soldered the wires on to two of the terminals (the other two are spares). So having soldered all 9 (or 18 if you are building both EFIS together) tactile switches, I also soldered the wires onto the On-off-On switches and encoders. However, I burnt one of these switches out because the Soldering Iron was too hot. Lesson learned here is make sure you have the correct wattage soldering iron. I have an 18w one now and it can still be a bit hot and you have to be quick. Keep your wiring colour coded - I use:
I then fitted the tactile switches in place on the back panel and secured them with a spot of Silicone Mastic (a bit messy the first time, but it gets easier). The next step was fitting it together. Lay the front panel down on its face (the back facing up) and lay out the buttons in order as per the EFIS picture at the top of this page. If you lay the front panel out with the button holes away from you you can ensure that the buttons will be in order once you invert them into the holes. Next is the back panel board. This is the board with the tactile switches, VOR Switches and Encoders in place. At this stage t should be completely wired for all the switches and encoders. Now you will need one of the Glare wings as this effectively is the centre panel sandwiched between the front and rear EFIS panels. .
To fasten the 3 parts together you will need
USBKeys Matrix Board Here is a quick decription of how to make a matrix expansion board for the USBKeys card: Items needed
Set these out on the breadboards (1 for numbers 1-8 and the other for letters A-K) as per the diagram I have done here to form the key matrix. Connect it to the USBKeys card and configure the "encoderkeys.ini" to map your keystrokes. Use the "EncoderKeys.exe" to see what key number is pressed. Software available here IOCKeys_03
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