Question about Cougar MFDs
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How ‘firm’ are the button presses? Do they need to be mounted to the desk, or are the included stands sufficient to resist movement when OSBs are pressed?
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The stands are fine for casual use, particularly if you pop a bit of whitetak behind them to stop them moving, but you’ll spend a lot of time looking back and forth between the MFD buttons and the screen (to make sure you’re pressing the correct button), reducing their effectiveness.
If you’ve got another screen you can attach them to (without the stands using whitetak, bluetak, double-sided tape, velcro…) however and you then display the MFDs with MFDE, or even better Dunc’s RTTRemote tool (in your \Falcon BMS 4.33 U1\Tools folder), they really become an indispensible piece of hardware.
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The stands are fine for casual use, particularly if you pop a bit of whitetak behind them to stop them moving, but you’ll spend a lot of time looking back and forth between the MFD buttons and the screen (to make sure you’re pressing the correct button), reducing their effectiveness.
If you’ve got another screen you can attach them to (without the stands using whitetak, bluetak, double-sided tape, velcro…) however and you then display the MFDs with MFDE, or even better Dunc’s RTTRemote tool (in your \Falcon BMS 4.33 U1\Tools folder), they really become an indispensible piece of hardware.
Yeah that’s the plan eventually. I have a netbook with an SSD in, but the processor and GPU are so poor it struggles even with youtube. I need to look at getting a tablet of sorts.
Thinking that this could become an ICP also:
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I was disappointed by the tactile response from the OSB depression. As above, they are less than stellar until screen mounted, at which point you wonder how you even flew before.
When I get around to building a full pit, Im not sure whether the TM MFDs are going to make the grade, in honesty. Wont fly without them, but for a full replica pit, its probably worth the hassle of sourcing custom made gear or surplus real ones. For a desktop mockup pit, HOTAS+ sort of setup, they are basically essential - along with an ICP, and ideally a MISC panel.
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Familiarity with the on screen mfd’s will soon have your finger going to the right spot. Customised card Insertions will help but not needed.
The switches don’t feel as good as they used to be. I have old and newer.
Never touched originals but in photographs they look soft like a pencil eraser. Hard plastic surface asking for finger skid. -
Thanks all. Was really asking because I was concerned that having them stuck to an LCD would damage the screen from the OSB presses. I’m guessing they’re quite light button presses then?
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quite light to press, yes.
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I bought the MFD surrounds as it was a relatively cheap way of expanding my “pit” (more a chair and a laptop actually). Huge difference with everything as longer clicking in the 3D view while trying to stop getting fireballed and/or crash into the drink. I have the mounted on their stands and it is fine for pressing (but probably a relatively casual player).
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TM Mfds: 40€
Real MFDs: +400€
main difference: button feeling (TM soft & Real hard)
cost difference +10xif you expect milspec quality for 40 box yes you will be disapointed
if you want to have MFD replica that are pretty accurate in shape and avoid using the mouse, there’s no question that they are a real must and you will never fly without them after having tried themThanks all. Was really asking because I was concerned that having them stuck to an LCD would damage the screen from the OSB presses. I’m guessing they’re quite light button presses then?
just put them on a wood frame to protect the screen and you’ll be fine
I use real ones in my pit. But honestly i am thinking about switching to Tms.
The reason is ease of programming and backlight. the real one are getting hot due to backlight bulbs and i prefer to use low voltage (leds) the button feeling really doesn’t matter to me -
Thanks all. I should have replied here. I bought them not long after posting this thread. They’re bigger than I expected and buttons don’t feel like I expected either, but they’re an invaluable device, even for my casual desktop set up.
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could modify the real ones to use LEDs. The tactile response of the TM ones really does bother me - but I dont have much choice in the matter for the moment.
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but I dont have much choice in the matter for the moment.
so you answer for the pleasure or reading your own post?
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Im constantly reminded that English is not your first language.
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Interesting…. I bought the MFDs, then transitioned to velcro-attaching them to the bezels of my second screen, but eventually got worried that I may damage my screen… plus I loved the idea of having a device to control cockpit switches so I transitioned into a 24" touchscreen and eventually sold off my MFDs…
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I have had mine bluetacked to a cheap 19" Asus Led screen now for over 3yrs, I don’t use a lot of bluetack as to keep the MFD close to the screen, however as a consequence they “droop” with the heat over time.
The short story is I’m regularly pulling them of off for cleaning and re-positioning, the LED SCREEN is surprisingly tough, I no longer fear damaging it.
I.m not saying they cant be damaged,
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Well, with the touchscreen, I can still use the “real estate” that the MFDs occupy, hence my ability to fit all side consoles on a single screen using hidden panels. I could do this with the physical MFDs but layout would be more of a challenge.
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I’m getting ready to modify a set of TM bezels to fit onto mounting rings meant to use with real bezels. As far as the dimensions go, the mounting holes in the TM bezels are spot on, and 6-32 nylon machine screws fit them (and the mounting rings) far better than the M3 (or M3.5?) screws I started with - if you are using metric screws you’ll need to sand the heads down a tad to fit the counter bores in the TM bezels; 6-32s are just drop in…which I hadn’t expected.
Personally, I don’t mind the button feel on the TM bezels as I’m far more concerned about function, price, and ease of interface. These are just plug and play…until you do what I’m doing - I’ll be cutting the USB cables an replacing the connectors to fit my specialty situation…and, should I lose my mind and buy a set of real bezels somewhere down the road I’ll be set to use them…minus a Pokeys or X-Keys or Arduino or such…
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I’m getting ready to modify a set of TM bezels to fit onto mounting rings meant to use with real bezels. As far as the dimensions go, the mounting holes in the TM bezels are spot on, and 6-32 nylon machine screws fit them (and the mounting rings) far better than the M3 (or M3.5?) screws I started with - if you are using metric screws you’ll need to sand the heads down a tad to fit the counter bores in the TM bezels; 6-32s are just drop in…which I hadn’t expected.
Personally, I don’t mind the button feel on the TM bezels as I’m far more concerned about function, price, and ease of interface. These are just plug and play…until you do what I’m doing - I’ll be cutting the USB cables an replacing the connectors to fit my specialty situation…and, should I lose my mind and buy a set of real bezels somewhere down the road I’ll be set to use them…minus a Pokeys or X-Keys or Arduino or such…
If you are going to go to the effort of cutting the USB connectors and crafting your own interface, why not just do it the once and use the real bezels instead?
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If you are going to go to the effort of cutting the USB connectors and crafting your own interface, why not just do it the once and use the real bezels instead?
I’m going to cut the TM USB cables and solder on header connector/pins. I bought these…which fortunately just arrived in my mailbox today, so I’ll be at it this weekend -
I’ll cut the TM cables and solder them up to these, which fit well through the slots in the machined mounting rings -
Then it’s just a matter of cable routing. The back plate in the mount set has two DB connector slots - one for the VGA cable, and one for a DB25 cable to interface the ribbon from a set of real bezels. I’ll use nylon washers/spacers to mount the USB connector in the DB25 hole, and that will make two complete stand alone units than I can plug and play without buying more Pokeys boards. Very simple conversion (not really a new interface - converting a set of real bezels to use with Pokeys would be a new interface), and probably has saved me about $600 (last set of real Elbit bezels I saw on E-bay were going for something like $800, and I think the guy started out wanting $1400; I’d rather spend $60 on a set of TMs and be good to go minus a simple connector).
But that doesn’t mean I might not spend the $600 sometime in the future…real MFD bezels don’t just grow on trees. They have to fall into your lap…
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I’ve just modified my TMs to fit better on my instrument monitor. I’ve taken the cables out sideways through the stand mounting holes rather than through the bottom entry port. Once you open up the back of the MFD housing, you can pull out & trim the the strain relief, then strip a little of the PVC covering back (leave enough for an interference fit between the mounting studs. Remember to make a LHS and RHS version. Now my connection cables fit neatly to the side, over the screen bezel and not onto any part of the visible screen.
Onto the next stage: MDF cutting & trial assembly. I am proposing to use double-sided tape for the MFD fixing.