Kit wiring guide
Mar 23, 2015 18:15:25 GMT
Post by MarkH on Mar 23, 2015 18:15:25 GMT
GPS+ and Autopilot+ wiring guide
Here are some hints to help wire up the GPS+ or Autopilot+ panels methodically. You should also have read the relevant sections of the construction guide (or Almost Aviation eBook) before doing this. You will wire up the switches with independent wires from each terminal, including all the ground wires. You can innovate if you wish, but this is the most flexible way because it will allow disassembly of the panel if you want to change the graphics later. (See the construction guide for a fuller discussion of wiring options.)
The Autopilot+ requires 55 wires and the GPS+ 59. I suggest you use 50cm wires from each switch. The final wire bundle will likely be shorter than this depending on how you route the wires to the controller. The wires are colour-coded so you don’t lose track of which is which during connection.
Cut the wires to 50cm lengths. Use black wire for all ground connections. The coloured wires are for the signals, which are described in more detail below. I suggest you solder the wires onto all your components before mounting them on the panel.
The rotary encoders function as three independent switches. You will find a group of three terminals (for the rotary knob) and a group of two terminals (for the centre-push switch). The centre terminal of the group of three is a common ground for the rotary knob and you should connect a black wire to this. Use yellow wires for the two signals from the rotary encoder. You will find it helpful to use a short length of heat-shrink tubing to keep the yellows from each rotary paired as you will need to connect them to adjacent inputs on the Bodnar board. (P.S. I suggest you don't shrink it tight until you have the final wire bundle laid out. You want the heat-shrink marker to be near the controller end and you don't yet know how long the wires are going to be.)
The centre-push switch is wired independently of the rotary encoder. For this switch (group of two terminals), connect a black wire to one and a green wire to the other (it doesn’t matter which is which). The reason for using a green wire is that you want to be able to distinguish the centre-push signals wires from all the other signal wires on the panel as you will likely want to connect them all together. This is because you will usually want them to be mapped to the same function, which is the rotary SHIFT. (NOTE: if you are building the Autopilot+ panel you may wish to leave the push switch of the ‘seat height’ rotary knob as an independent signal. See the construction guide for a discussion of this.)
For all the other switches, connect one black wire for the ground and one red wire for the signal. It doesn’t matter which is which.
For soldering and connecting to the Bodnar board you will need to strip the ends of the wires. You will find the job a whole lot easier if you have a proper tool for doing it. The one I use costs £7.99 from Maplin. When you have made your solder joints you can optionally seal them with heat-shrink tubing (supplied). You should have enough to use 1.5cm lengths for each solder joint. You will need a heat source such as a hair dryer or paint-stripper gun to shrink the tubing.
Here are some hints to help wire up the GPS+ or Autopilot+ panels methodically. You should also have read the relevant sections of the construction guide (or Almost Aviation eBook) before doing this. You will wire up the switches with independent wires from each terminal, including all the ground wires. You can innovate if you wish, but this is the most flexible way because it will allow disassembly of the panel if you want to change the graphics later. (See the construction guide for a fuller discussion of wiring options.)
The Autopilot+ requires 55 wires and the GPS+ 59. I suggest you use 50cm wires from each switch. The final wire bundle will likely be shorter than this depending on how you route the wires to the controller. The wires are colour-coded so you don’t lose track of which is which during connection.
Cut the wires to 50cm lengths. Use black wire for all ground connections. The coloured wires are for the signals, which are described in more detail below. I suggest you solder the wires onto all your components before mounting them on the panel.
The rotary encoders function as three independent switches. You will find a group of three terminals (for the rotary knob) and a group of two terminals (for the centre-push switch). The centre terminal of the group of three is a common ground for the rotary knob and you should connect a black wire to this. Use yellow wires for the two signals from the rotary encoder. You will find it helpful to use a short length of heat-shrink tubing to keep the yellows from each rotary paired as you will need to connect them to adjacent inputs on the Bodnar board. (P.S. I suggest you don't shrink it tight until you have the final wire bundle laid out. You want the heat-shrink marker to be near the controller end and you don't yet know how long the wires are going to be.)
| O yel | O blk | O yel | ||
| O blk | O grn |
The centre-push switch is wired independently of the rotary encoder. For this switch (group of two terminals), connect a black wire to one and a green wire to the other (it doesn’t matter which is which). The reason for using a green wire is that you want to be able to distinguish the centre-push signals wires from all the other signal wires on the panel as you will likely want to connect them all together. This is because you will usually want them to be mapped to the same function, which is the rotary SHIFT. (NOTE: if you are building the Autopilot+ panel you may wish to leave the push switch of the ‘seat height’ rotary knob as an independent signal. See the construction guide for a discussion of this.)
For all the other switches, connect one black wire for the ground and one red wire for the signal. It doesn’t matter which is which.
For soldering and connecting to the Bodnar board you will need to strip the ends of the wires. You will find the job a whole lot easier if you have a proper tool for doing it. The one I use costs £7.99 from Maplin. When you have made your solder joints you can optionally seal them with heat-shrink tubing (supplied). You should have enough to use 1.5cm lengths for each solder joint. You will need a heat source such as a hair dryer or paint-stripper gun to shrink the tubing.