Fursphere's driving cabinet build

[Fursphere]

I can get some pics up later when I get home.

[Howard_Casto]

I would be interested to know why the flight sim stuff failed and ect....

[Fursphere]

I would be interested to know why the flight sim stuff failed and ect....

Climbing over / around the 'pods' to get in and out of the thing was just not pleasant.  My young boys climbing all over them didn't help either. 

I'm planning on building a simple Ricomotech style cabinet for my G27 and PS3.  Kids can have at it then.    (ref: http://www.ricmotech.com/category_s/1630.htm)

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I looked at those when I was designing mine.  I really think they are efficient, but I dunno, I just didn't like the look of them.  I probably would be racing now if I had just went with something like that though. 

I can't really say anything either because in it's current state at least, mine is pretty rough aesthetically. 

I'm going to make my wheel detach from the base and I'm going to add a star wars yoke and a flight stick.  I was thinking of having the flight stick latch onto the underside of the control panel.  I don't know how sturdy it'll be, but then again I don't have kids to worry about, so it should be fine. 

[Fursphere]

Added a smartphone to the 'dash' of my cabinet.  I've been slowly framing up a new dash since the T300 RS made me remove the Daytona plastic dash.  I have a nice sheet of aluminum to cover the whole dash once I finally figure out what I'm doing with it. 

I've been debating on adding a button box from Derek Speare Designs, but not sure if I really need one or not.

Link to button boxes... http://www.derekspearedesigns.com/p1p2.html

The HTC One smartphone is running DashMeterPro ( http://www.sensadigit.com/ ) - and if nothing else makes a great shift light.  But the data is semi-useful.  The phone cost me nothing, since it was bound for the recycle bin.  You can see in the photo the charge cable comes out the side of the phone, so I drilled a hole at an angel to run the charge cable out, so its also powered. 

And lastly, I've been working on a hydraulic hand brake.  I bought the assembly off eBay (see pic), and i'm slowly building it into basically what Derek Spears came up with (for a much lower price). 

http://www.derekspearedesigns.com/handbrake.html

[Howard_Casto]

I looked on the site but I couldn't really find an answer.  Is there a dll or api or some sort of interface to DashMeterPro?  I just figured I would go ahead and add it to mamehooker. 

How much did the handbrake set you back?

[Fursphere]

I looked on the site but I couldn't really find an answer.  Is there a dll or api or some sort of interface to DashMeterPro?  I just figured I would go ahead and add it to mamehooker. 

When configured to, the the sim games put out telemetry data (local host, UDP) about what the game is going.   There is a small application you download and run on the PC side that listens for this data, then forwards it to the IP of the phone. 

For Dirt Rally - this is buried in the config files, you have to enable it.  All CodeMasters games are similar in this config.

<udp enabled="true" extradata="3" ip="127.0.0.1" port="20777" />

In my specific setup, I changed the port to 30500 (I think?) which is the port that Sim Commander listens on (SimVibe), and then SimVibe forwards the data back to 20777 (I think?) which is what the DashMeterPro program is listening on.  I had to update the config of the DashMeterPro to the IP of the phone I'm using.  It looks like it supports up to three IP addresses, so it could do three devices at once?

Project Cars does something similar, but I think its on a different port.

How much did the handbrake set you back?

I think it was about $60 US.   $40 for the hand brake, and $20 for the fluid tank.    There are still a lot of pieces I need to buy to make it functional - I picked up this part first to see if I could even mount it on my cabinet.  So far I haven't figured out anything I've been happy with. 

[Howard_Casto]

Hmmmm.... UDP isn't terribly hard to implement, but I probably need some sort of documentation. 

The handbrake thing is tricky.  In real sports cars it is typically mounted beside the shifter but something with that much pressure would have to be mounted pretty securely. 

[Fursphere]

Time for an update (with pics!).  This seems to be the build that never ends, mostly due to my limited time to actually work on it.   

Last weekend I was able to get the Saitek X55 joystick / throttle mounted in a way that didn't make me crazy, and can easily be removed and stored in the back of the cabinet (I don't have picks of the storage system, as its not done yet..  hopefully later today).  The mounts are rough and unfinished, but the basic concept is there.  You can see the black hand knob / screws that clamp it together. 

The audio amplifier that runs the transducers was also getting really hot during extended gameplay, so I built a active cool box for the amp and power supply.  I went a little crazy...  lol   The handbrake is also mounted now, and almost complete.  I just need to order the pressure sensor and some fittings / hoses.  And you can see the TH8A shifter mount too - its 1.5" steel tubing mounted to the side of the base.  Very sturdy. 

Around the T300RS wheel you can see the frame of a dashboard.  I keep thinking I want some sort of button box / switches mounted there (the controller I bought for the handbrake supports 32 buttons in a matrix), so that's why its still just an open frame.  And down below the T3PA pedals can be seen.  They BARELY fit.  In all honesty, the Logitech G27 pedals are on par with the Thurstmaster T3PAs.  I could have bought a $25 adapter and used them with the T300RS wheel - but I have other plans for the G27 setup...     

For those who don't know - The T3PA pedals plug into the T300RS wheel base, but the TH8A shifter does not.  It is a separate USB device.  So the game has to support multiple USB devices (not a problem with almost all newer games), but has made me put Spintires back in automatic tranny mode (the DEV says he's working on fix this soon).    Just something to consider.   You can plug the shifter into the wheel, but it only works in sequential mode - not the H pattern.

Anyway, on with the pics....   (sorry about the rotations - I blame Apple and Microsoft for not figuring this crap out.  They're right on the phone and right on my desktop, but when I upload them they rotate.  )