i know glass cockpits would be loads easier, but to make things look more real, is there a way you can rig up real life guages to work with fsuipc?

VChat,

Unless you are "rolling in dough"...... you will likely find that the best route to go is having a lot of the stuff as "glass cockpit".

Or if you are a real soldering iron jockey...... you can likely cobble up the interfaces and electronics yourself for less than those that have to buy pre-built stuff.  But that still will take a pile of IC's and components that cost a bit.

The "already built" interface cards that can "drive" stand alone gauges that are either made out of the "real thing" with added servo motors or are built to LOOK like the real thing...... start at a minimum of about $250 for just the basic interface card.  A single gauge with servo motors will then ruin about $100 and up to add to the card.

The most typical interface in use for cockpits is the EPIC card..... and those are QUITE expensive.  But they will do a LOT and can add a lot of realism.  But you'd be pushing a grand in a heartbeat with those cards.

So..... the first step is setting the sights on what is a reasonable possibility for you.  Some people are spending upwards of $30,000 on these wonderful projects that you see on the web  .

You can do it for a lot, lot less...... but not with "exact realism" down to the details.


best,

.................john