Ep: 4 - The difference between Normally Closed and Normally Open switches... and does it matter??

Don't let multiple terminals on a push button or limit switch confuse you any more!!! Follow along as I fix up a C-130 Hercules panel for DCS and I'll explain the difference between Normally Closed and Normal Open switches... and let you know if it matters when it comes to cockpit building!
Download the latest design files for our previous tutorials here!
cults3d.com/en...
✏️ Fusion 360: www.autodesk.c...
- Download Free Trial / Personal Use
🕹 Digital Combat Simulator: www.digitalcom...
- Free Trails on most aircraft!
🎶 Music: www.epidemicso...
Instagram: / ahornetsnest
Facebook: / ahornetsnest

[@karlos4792]

Hi Scott. I'm definitely interested in anything C-130 as that's the flight simulator I'm planning to build. Great tutorials for sim building newbies.

[@aHornetsNest]

Awesome!!! That will be a cool sim to build indeed! Great to have you here :D

[@pwilliamssa]

Closely watching your hornet build as I'm building my own sim pit as well. Currently have the Win Win MIP and Thrustmaster A-10 Warthog throttle and stick. Next project is my side panels and panels around the MIP. I currently use vJoy (Virtual Joystick). What's nice is I can map buttons from multiple sources (joysticks, Leo Bodnar boards etc) to a single "virtual" joystick. vJoy also allows for on selection or on release so you can use single position on/off switches. Also, it makes mapping/assigning in DCS much easier as I don't have to keep moving from board to board. I'm thinking I'll probably have to eventually look into DCS Bios. Great tutorial.

[@aHornetsNest]

Thanks mate!! Yeah I’ve heard vJoy is quite good! It’s always good to hear when people are building sim pits! Any questions just let me know 😃

[@Steph-uo9pn]

Once again a very interesting tutorial!! I can watch your videos for hours and it never gets boring!! It would be great if you could also download the data from the C-130 instrument panel. That would be a good start for some basic knowledge!! Please also make this data available for download!!

[@aHornetsNest]

Thanks mate! I’ll do a C-130 video soon with an updated button box that you can download 😃

[@wardker]

Super!!! Tuesday of tutorial is becoming somthing to look forward to. Nice panel you made. Did you make the PCB yourself? Looking forward to that tuesday when you cover making pcb's. Arduino, ESP32, STM32...?Keep it up. Fantastic job. There is a lot to cover.

[@aHornetsNest]

Thank you very much!!! I’m definitely looking forward to making a couple of Arduino based tutorials - and the ramping up in PCB design Thanks for all the support!

[@CarltonWhitfield]

I would love to see this a tutorial.

[@aHornetsNest]

Let’s add it to the queue!!! Thanks for the comment 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@BekoPharm]

That's my favorite type of lit switches :D Have them all over my cockpit 👍 They are all rated for 12V but do fine with 5V as well. Just didn't find a source for replacement LED but none died so far so so I guess they are good enough for the use case :)

[@aHornetsNest]

100% excellent switch! Yeah I have a heap of them at 12V because they suited the 12V backlight circuit for the cockpit :) And then I went to our good friend AliExpress and got a heap of 5V for stand alone projects

[@BekoPharm]

@@aHornetsNest I also have a 12V circuit available and the whole lightning circuit is separated from the Arduino so I _could_ move it over but the 5V are really enough for now. There was just one nasty surprise that the Arduino would happily supply over VIN too when the external PSU was off. A diode made short work of that. That pin is not even rated for any mA so I have no idea when it would go down.

[@aHornetsNest]

Haha yeah classic 😂😂

[@thomascarman1276]

That button is huge! I can only imagine how long of a print that would be, lol

[@aHornetsNest]

😂😂😂 you gotta do it for the content 😅 Yeah lol it was 4 prints, totalling 34hrs of print time …. Lucky I had the Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro… because I compared it to what it would print on my Ender 3 😳😳😳 we don’t need to speak about how long that was going to take 😂

[@thomascarman1276]

@@aHornetsNest a heroic effort, for sure. Loving the content. In the middle of rebuilding a simpit frame; but once everything is "Finished™" I will definitely be referring to your videos to add in bottom boxes

[@aHornetsNest]

Oh that’s awesome!!! Make sure you keep me up to date on it! I’m in the process of finishing up my frame for the Hornet as well :D

[@pedroravasco7240]

Very Nice.

[@aHornetsNest]

Thankyou!!!

[@baustiff]

Love to see the C-130 button box. I have an anycubic vyper fdm, elegoo 8k resin, and M1 xtool laser cutter. I just starting with my planning phase on the cockpit build and your videos are amazingly helpful. With the quest 3 now having pass through full color camera simpit and VR is now a real possibility. My biggest hurtle is the overall frame. Without a CNC machine can it be done with just hand power tools. Should I consider sending out the plans to get cut by a professional CNC machine? Also will you be doing a Helios tutorial to help with MFDs and gauges on front console. Seems like the easiest way to just have a lcd tv and do a lot a work with very little to no wiring.

[@aHornetsNest]

Awesome! That’s a real nice collection of tools to use - i can’t wait to hear how your sim comes along With regard to CNC cutting - I am personally getting mine cut out by a good friend who works with CNC equipment, and I’d also recommend it if the budget allowed … mainly for the convenience as well as the accuracy :) you could laser cut out components from 2-3mm acrylic or ply, and then use a trim router to cut along the “guides” or even use a jigsaw - but it’s all up to how much time and effort you want spend for the pit - I’ve prioritised time so I can get straight into building :) I’ll pop a C-130 box video in the queue 🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@ViperAV8R]

Amazing content. You inspired me to buy myself a Bambu Labs P1P printer and build things for my Hornet cockpit. 🙂 A video on how you work with Arduino boards would be nice!

[@aHornetsNest]

Treat yourself!!! That’s awesome! Let me k now how you find it :) 100% anything specific with Arduino you want to know?

[@ViperAV8R]

@@aHornetsNest I have only worked with Leo Bodnar boards so far. I see that Arduino boards have a limited amount of pins and inputs, but still one is able to add and control a lot of switches and controls with it. Since I am a newbie in this area it would be nice to understand how that works.

[@aHornetsNest]

@@ViperAV8R oh nice! Yeah they do have limited pins, but with a bit of clever coding and circuit design, you can get 256 inputs out of one Arduino 🫢 😀

[@ViperAV8R]

@@aHornetsNest …and that is awesome and it would be amazing if you could explain how that is done. 🙂🤟

[@aHornetsNest]

Hey mate! First Arduino tutorial is up :) just the basics and it’ll ramp up each episode

[@mikerichardsonuk]

I was wondering what the Arduino breakout your using in the box is ?

[@aHornetsNest]

Hey there! Is that the black circuit board you see the arduino push into? That is a custom circuit board made to break out all the inputs and arduino pins

[@bryanscott6249]

How are creating the cases, are you doing it all in fusion?

[@aHornetsNest]

Hey mate! Are you referring the grey button box case? If so - yeah I am :) I do all my 3D modelling in fusion, and then all circuit board work in Eagle