737 Next Gen Simulator

When I ordered the FDS MIP I knew it came with IBL backlighting and to be honest and I didn’t give it much thought.  I had seen panels lit in various ways in the past, be it LED, LED strips, Cold Cathode and even a lightbulb (I imagine the heat that gave off would help warm the cockpit).   In real life general aviation flying I have seen aircraft lit with post lights, backlighting and a mix of the two.  I have cancelled night flights because the quality of the backlighting was so poor I could barely read the instruments, while the radio was so bright in nearly blinded me.  Though I have worked for Boeing in the past, I had limited exposure to finished commercial flight decks, but was impressed with the consistent quality of the lighting of those that I did see (Military derivatives of the 737 and 767 models).

So today was the first chance I have had to wire up the backlighting on the FDS MIP panels.  WOW, these are impressive!  Clear, readable text, warm, glowing backlighting that is consistent across not only the different panels, but all the lettering on eeeach panel.  No dim spots or blurry text like some I have seen.  FDS achieves this through the use of 5v Aircraft Bulbs and their patented process.  Whatever it is, I’m sold.  No doubt in my miond now which overhead panels I will be ordering!

Keep in mind, that because these are 5v and there are a lot bulbs, they can pull some amperage, so don’t try powering them from a low amperage source.

Off to finish wiring up the rest of the panel but here’s a few photos to give you a taste…

I’ve done a lot of research into what I want to do with my visuals.  Though my setup area has changed with my move (I now get the 3rd bay of the garage in the new house), I am committed to using a 3 projector system to get the widest field of view possible.

I have had the chance to watch what Nat, Scott and Ivar have done with their systems and I’m amazed at how far this hobby has come over the years.  What was once really only availalbe to high end sims such as CAE, now is priced within range of the enthusiast.

Ivar Hestnes has put together an amazing visual system with 225 degrees of wrap around goodness.  If you check out his page here you can see some of his great work.  In addition, he has put together a great tutorial for anyone considering going the three projector route.

Recently Ivar has brought to our attention the amazing bit of software he has been using in his simulator, its Warpalizer, and with it we now bring true edge blending to the masses at quite an affordable price. 

If you’re considering a wrap around visual system, do yourself a favor and check out Ivar’s guide and then contact him via the email address in the guide to get a very special price on this amazing software.

I ordered SYS4X board from FDS to wire up my MIP.  It has 64 inputs (switches) and 128 outputs (LED’s), so plenty of options to wwire up my MIP.  One of the nice this about this board is that  no resitors are required when wiring up the LEDs.

Another great thing is the simplicity in which this thing is programmed.  First, all the inputs and outputs are bundled in connectors of 8 plus the common ground. When used with some planning and forethought, this saves on a bit of wiring as you can loop the ground wires needed for those inputs and outputs.  In fact, the annunciator wiring connectors they provide include that extra ground wire.

Programming is equally a breeze as the intuitive software includes an LED Sweep feature to help identify the output number as well as a feture that shows the input number of any switch touched.  Simply connect the switch, move it, name it then asssign it the correct function in either FSUIPC, Sim Avionics or Project Magenta.  The software also has the ability to download XML files that have been uploaded to the system. 

Having had such a great experience with the SYS board for my MIP, I will definately be buying the higher capacity one for my FDS Overhead.

Finally got around to ordering my CDU from FDS. 

Looks like I will have a few weeks wait for its arrival, but what a great bit of gear.  All metal construction, laser cut and machined.  Backlit with the same high quality look as all the other FDS Pieces, as well as a true VGA screen.

Looks like this one will be worth the wait…..

I’m now buried in wiring hell.  Its really not that bad, but I was an aircraft sheetmetal mechanic in the US Navy, not an avionics guy, so a lot of this is new to me.  Soldering LED’s to small circuit boards is something I have never done before.  I must say, FDS makes it fairly easy.  The boards are well marked as to where each leg of the LED goes and depending on whether you are soldering up standard brightness LED’s or the Dim / Bright variety of the overhead, there’s a location on either end of the board to solder up the connector.

I’d like to plug the great customer support I received from FDS once again. I hadn’t had a chance to inventory my package when it arrived, but while getting ready to assemble the annunciators I noticed the legends were not correct for the MIP.  I sent a picture off to Steve who quickly responded that they were meant for the aft overhead and they would correct it.  Shortly after that I received a note from Taylor at FDS.  She has packed up the correct annunciator kit with the LCD holders I had ordered and was express mailing them out.  What I needed was the legends, what I got was a whole new kit….Awesome service!

So far I have the Captain side wired up along with the gear annunciators and Capatain’s glare panels.  I’m taking it slow and trying to run the wires so I can tidy them up later when I’m finished.  Since I can’t do much more than build until we get in the new house, there’s no hurry, except in my wanting to fly………

Just wanted to get a few more pictures of the MIP assembly up here:

And my future copilot ready for departure: