Showroom DX - Compact Simulator

I plan to see how it actually goes with the box itself being an active part of the thermal mass and cooling. I have a touch screen digital monitor that includes alarms, so there is no real risk of damage. I will report on the testing once it gets a bit of a decent run.

The heatsink on the chip is attached to the alloy case with both pins and thermal paste.

My internet is still not fixed but I will add more photos when it is. Basically the end of the heatsink attaches to the alluminium box. The heatsinks with pins are shown on the second last photo here: http://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/dx-racer-compact-simulator.5866/page-4#post-65290

Here are the new key located arms with dual grub screws. They are a very neat fit so while you can't see it I have drilled and tapped a hole in the tube end lining up with the solid gearbox shaft in case I ever want to remove them using a bolt pushing on the shaft. The arms are drilled to allow for 40, 60 and 80mm CTC leaver attachment options for the rods.





A 3.2mm punch was about the perfect size for knocking out the rivets in one of the new 60:1 gearboxes to rotate the shaft. I could have reused the rivets but decided on bolting it back together instead.





I also beefed up the motor mounts. Internally there is now an additional steel plate with welded nuts over the top of the existing internal angle bracing. Externally there is a new solid aluminium brace bar between the motors, as I had noticed some flexing inwards in earlier testing. The gearboxes were drilled out to take the 8M attaching bolts and I still need to get around to shortening those bolts to their proper length.

I had to redo my pot mounts for the solid shafts @bsft, so put them at the bottom so they were well out of the way. You may want to consider doing the same or as I had them originally with the hollow shaft 25:1 gearboxes, which used the 2 spare flange holes at the gearbox end. The 60:1 gearboxes don't have that extra flange, which is why I had to remake the pot brackets

No probs @bsft. Here are the old pot brackets utilising the existing flange holes, which were solid and simple.

Thanks @prodigy, it seemed to me an elegant and simple way to add bracing.

The shape and pads of the gearbox already formed a neat interference fit on the other side against the frame, so it just needed lateral bracing.

I polished the alloy bracing bar so it also looks the part.

Thanks @dradis.

Santa just dropped in with my replacement JRKs, after the dramas I had with a couple of them.



I have to say Pololu were good to deal with over the faulty board. There were a few emails back and fourth over a few days while they reviewed the troubleshooting I had already done and then they clarified a couple of matters. Pololu also concluded it was an issue with the board and provided a 50% discount for up to 3 replacement JRKs. That was cool with me as I was likely a contributing factor with one JRK that had the usb cage come off the board, as it was handled a lot during the building of the alloy housings. Shipping was efficient.

I had already bolted up the rest of the sim with its new 60:1 gearboxes while I was waiting on the replacement JRKs. Sadly testing will have to wait, as I have family over for Christmas. At least I can get back to play after the festive season. I should have it moving again soon and can start to pester everyone for PID and profile refinement advice.

I also have to go back and work out why I had problems with Prepar3d not working, as @SilentChill kindly tested the latest version on his rig for me and it runs fine. The only difference is his is a network setup. My issue does seem to be file path related. I have spent a lot of time tweaking Prepar3D and it is my best Rift experience at the moment, so I really want to get motion working with it.

My old static sim has been donated to my father, which has cleared the sim room for play, so I have started moving things around to work out where they will live. If you are wondering why the joystick in the pictures is perched up like it is then it is temporary while I test the height, as I am adding a joystick extension. I have the extension made up and the bits I need to make a 5Din extension connector for the Warthog wiring, I just need to get around to making the wiring harness up. I have been playing with the BenQ ultra short throw 3D capable projector that you can see in front of the sim. It will eventually be mounted overhead, along with the Rift tracking camera (currently on the foot plate), and the sim will move into the center of the room under it.

I still need to make the right hand HOTAS/switch plate. I also have an articulated keyboard mount for the right side as the room and sim will double as my office. The sim has no problem being used as an un-powered static chair with the 60:1 gearboxes and it easily supports my weight. You may recall that the DX Racer seat for my sim has been my office chair for many years and it will continue to serve that purpose.

Thanks @Pit, it still has a long way to go, including adding attachable and detachable traction loss down the track.

At this stage I just want to get it going for a while and then finish off some of the touches, like the chrome speaker mount/harness bar that will go on the back of the seat, plus a bunch of wiring. I have temporarily added a buttkicker yesterday under the seat, but still need to make a custom mount for it...so much to do, so little time.