Sound is an important item in a simulated environment.  As is having the function of the pit work as you desire meshed with your particular flight practices.

In the pit I have the voice comms for online flight (Teamspeak) running off of a different computer than the one that runs fs2004.  It is running on the same PC that runs the Ellie ND and Standbys on the right MFDs.  

On that same machine as that I also run Clieosim's Live ATC Chatter (payware which feeds live ATC voice into the audio stream controlled by your comm 1 or 2 radio) and also WeeTunesBeastie (freeware which feeds Sky Blue Radio into the audio stream controlled by your comm 2 radio).  Both of those program are slick as heck.  

One issue I have found is that sometimes I want to have the comms radio audio routed OFF of the headset so I can still hear it when I don't actually have the headset on.  And to easily control the volume without going into the computer iteslf.  I also occasionally want to route WeeTunesBeastie to play some music in the background when I am on long hauls......... even though I have the headset on for my actual flight comms needs.

SO...... I just had to solve this little annoying problem.

I had an old set of Creatlive Labs 2.0 speakers.... so that looked like the perfect "in the raw" solution.  The first step was to canabilize the original unit.  A phillips screwdriver, a pair of diagonal cutters, and a knife was all that took to remove the speakers and circuit board from the plastic housings and get rid of that un-needed enclosure part.







The next step was to mount the speakers into the roof of the pit over the pilot's head.  This was an idea and location that I had always intended to do, so the MDF panel that covered the overhead pit ceiling had always been "segmented" into two pieces to allow easy removal of this back part for speaker mounting and maintennece.  (It also gives me some access to the lcd projector mounted above it.)

The speaker's locations were selected so as to clear other components that reside in the cockpit enclosure but above the ceiling of the actual cockpit, and cut the holes out with a sabre saw afrer drilling starter holes in the MDF board.




Even though these speakers would be covered by grilles, craftsmanship is important in many ways, so the rough cut holes were sanded to smooth the cut edges.




And then the MDF edges were colored black with a permanent Sharpie marker so that the light MDF wood color would not tend to show through the grilles and spoil the aesthetics.




Here you can see a speaker mounted with short screws into the finished hole.  These little speakers are of pretty good quality, have high cone travel, and have heavy magnets.  They put out a nice sound.




The grilles I used came from the original plastic enclosures.  Since they were to be a "minor part" of the pit, and would be mounted way up over the top of the pilot's seat, I did not "fuss" too much about a mounting flange.  I simply used a large dab of clear silicone rubber caulking/glue..............




......................and placed the grill into the wet glue and then smoothed off and cleaned up the excess glue.  Let cure and ....... done.




Then it was on to the design of the audio control panel itself.  I stayed with the basic "Goflight" panel configuration size (2" x 7 1/4"), and laid out the controls to fit the original unit and the available space.  I measured the existing controls on the circuit board, and transferred them to the panel cut out and into my computer design program.




Then I composed the panel front graphic on the computer drawing program.  Like the rest of the panels this paper sheet will be attached to the MDF panel front with the glue used for decopage' work and then covered with some of it to provide a hard working surface.





Then it was time to paint the cut out panel to receive the panel graphic.




I now had to create the mounting location on the cockpit roof for the audio panel itself.  The hole I made is sized to allow the components to project through it and is smaller than the panel facing itself.  Here I am again cutting a hole with a sabre saw.  The panel facing will go over this new hole.




Before I finished the wiring of the audio panel or put the cockpit roof covering back in place, I checked to make sure that the circuit board and switches would fit through the hole in the roof that I had cut.  It did.




Then the final wiring gets soldered in place and open placescovered with electrical tape.




And here you can see the finished speaker installation in the roof of the pit at the very top back end..........




............and here is the finished audio panel with the headset plugged into it.




best,

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

man, that's looks like a real cockpit

Wow that looks great and a lot of fun to be in.. any cup holders?

Looks awesome!!

There's something very cool about having buttons and switches on the ceiling   

Cheers

scalper_old wrote on Apr 20^th, 2009 at 4:12pm:


Yup! 

looks good John

any new candy over the holidays ??

how big is the room where you have all this. you might have mentioned it before but cant seem to find it.

That's the first time I've seen your cockpit in forever.

Looks nice John. Just about the same size as mine. Mine's a tad wider and longer only because of the way it's built, and it's about 6'-3" at the aft end of the filler panel behind the overhead.

Club508 wrote on Jul 21^st, 2011 at 9:50pm:



Thanks for the kind words.

Give it time.... you won't be 12 forever.

I can't image what home flight simming will be like when you are my age.  Probably completely holographic like the "holo-deck" thingies on "StartTrek Next Generation".

best,

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