CSI Cockpit Simulations
Frequently Asked Questions

The Cockpit Panels
  1. What hardware do I need to operate these panels?
  2. Do I have to do my own wiring?
  3. What are they made of?
  4. What do you mean when you say some panels come "without hardware"?
  5. Do you offer pieces that are already wired?
  6. Do your cockpit panels come assembled or as kits?
  7. Do the panels come with any form of case or housing?
  8. Do the glareshield panels match in terms of vertical height so that they can be joined nicely together?
  9. What flight simulation programs do your panels work with?

Hardware Specifics

  1. Can you list the EPIC components I would need to buy?
  2. Do your EFIS panels have the prototypical inner/outer dual-knob switches on them?
  3. Does the Boeing-style MCP's HDG switch have the extra 5 positions on it for bank limit?
  4. Do I need a rotary encoder/decoder card?
  5. Why do you not include the V/S dial, the disengage bar and the digital readouts on the Boeing-style MCP?

EPIC Programming

  1. What is the difference between EPIC and EMDA?
  2. Do I really need one of your EMDA cards?
  3. Can you do the programming of EPIC for me?
  4. How truly difficult is it to set up the wiring for the systems you offer? (Is it possible for an individual with little electrical experience to accomplish this?)

Ordering

  1. How can I place my order?
  2. How do I pay for my order?
  3. Can I pay by Credit Card?
  4. Do you sell to Europe (and elsewhere overseas)?
  5. What shipping options are there?
  6. Do you have a catalogue?

Also see our Products Page for further information about specific products, panels and wiring boards.

The Cockpit Panels

1. What hardware do I need to operate these panels?

The EPIC system by R&R Electronics is recommended. We can provide these EPIC components as part of your order if you desire.

Here is the basic configuration you will want to have in order to start your cockpit. (Additional modules may be required to operate some of CSI's cockpit panels, and they are listed here to make your ordering easy). TOP OF PAGE

      The Basics:
      • EPIC card
      • EXPANSION module to control switches
      • OUTPUT module to control lamps and LEDs

    Plus...

      Boeing-style MCPs also require that you have:

        • ROTARY ENCODER module
        • SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITAL DISPLAY module

       

      Boeing-style EFIS also require that you have:

        • ROTARY ENCODER module
        • SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITAL DISPLAY module



      Airbus-style FCUs require that you have:

        • ROTARY ENCODER module
        • SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITAL DISPLAY module


      Airbus-style EFIS panels require that you have:

        • ROTARY ENCODER module
        • SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITAL DISPLAY module


      Airbus-style Rudder Trim panels require that you have:

        • SEVEN-SEGMENT DIGITAL DISPLAY module

TOP OF PAGE

2. Do I have to do my own wiring?

Yes, you will have to wire the panels yourself. We provide cockpit panels and the switches, rotary encoders and buttons that go with them. It is up to you to wire these buttons and switches to your flight simulator, using an EPIC card or similar device. TOP OF PAGE

3. What are these cockpit panels made of?

The panels are made of 1/16" (.0625" or 1.58mm) plastic. They are very tough, but also flexible. This means you will need a frame of some sort to mount them in. Many of our customers are using a wooden frame in their cockpit enclosure, and the panels work very well. One or two vertical braces are desirable for a Boeing-size MCP, as an example.

Because of the design using plastic, the panels can easily be back-lit. Just add a few 12 volt bulbs and some white diffuser, and you're all set.

The letters are engraved from the back, and glow white when illuminated. TOP OF PAGE

4. What do you mean when you say some panels come "without hardware"?

We sell most of our panels fully equipped with switches, knobs, rotary encoders and so forth. But some people prefer to build-it-themselves. In those cases, we offer just the plastic panel, with pre-drilled holes, windows, and lettering. It is up to the user to find switches and buttons to fit into the blank panels in that case. TOP OF PAGE

6. Do you offer pieces that are already wired and ready to go?

It would be quite difficult to offer a fully wired and integrated panel, because each person has a different setup for their EPIC card and different flight simulation software on their computers. A user may already have other switches assigned to certain module rows, and our choices for programming switch numbers could conflict.

We should point out, though, that wiring it up yourself isn't a really big hassle. Once you have your EPIC card up and running and you've wired one or two switches, you will be able to do your own wiring with no difficulty.

It seems like a daunting task at first, but the learning curve does go quite smoothly, even though it is a bit steep for the first day or two. TOP OF PAGE

5. Do your cockpit panels come assembled or as kits?

For the most part, assembled. If you specifically want all of the parts shipped loose with the panel, we can arrange that too. But we usually ship them with all of the parts in the panel. TOP OF PAGE

6. Do the panels come with any form of case/housing?

We can provide metal cases at an extra cost. Contact us for details and pricing. TOP OF PAGE

7. Do the glareshield panels match in terms of vertical height so that they can be joined nicely together?

Yes. They will line up as in the real aircraft. We use actual dimensions in creating these panels. And we take pride in our accuracy. It's what makes our cockpit panels stand out in a crowd. TOP OF PAGE

7. What flight simulation programs do your panels work with?

Because these panels are provided with switches only -- no hard-wired parts -- you could use them with practically any software you have at hand. You'd require an EPIC card, of course, to convert the on/off action of these switches into keypresses that your computer would recognize via its keyboard buffer. TOP OF PAGE

 

Hardware Specifics

1. Do your EFIS panels have the prototypical inner/outer dual-knob switches on them?

The dual concentric rotaries are very hard to come by, and very expensive to duplicate. We do not use them in our EFIS panels (their function would be limited anyway in most flight simulation software, and it's just not worth the HUGE increase in price we'd need to charge if we included them).

Grayhill makes dual concentric encoders, for anyone who is interested in trying them. TOP OF PAGE

2. Does the Boeing-style MCP's HDG switch rotate as well as having the extra 5 positions for bank limit?

It just rotates, and there is a pushbutton feature (the whole knob pushes in). Adding the five-position bank limit function would have made the whole panel about $200 US more expensive! We figured it wasn't worth it, considering that most flight sim software doesn't even offer bank protection.

If you really do need that function, you could perhaps purchase a dual concentric rotary, and wire it in place of the rotary encoder we provide. TOP OF PAGE

3. Do I need a rotary encoder/decoder card?

Yes, if you want to use the rotary encoders that come on our EFIS and MCP panels. They are encoders, as opposed to rotary "switches". TOP OF PAGE

4. Why do you not include the V/S dial, the disengage bar and the digital readouts on the Boeing-style MCP?

Because the V/S dial and the disengage bar have an unusual mounting system (one is a rotary encoder that has to be mounted on a right angle, and the other requires two toggle switches mounted at just the right angle behind the panel so the diengage bar works properly), we opted to leave them out for the time being. It would have added significantly to the total cost of each panel. And we know your primary goal is to get realism at a reasonable price.

We are still working on getting the mounting systems worked out, but until we do, we're leaving it up to the end user to decide how they want to accomplish the same results. I've seen folks use a self-centering toggle switch for the v/s application and it works fine as an interim measure.

The reason we don't provide the digital displays as part of the panel itself is that it would add a fair bit to the cost of the panel, and everyone seems to want something different in terms of the colour (red, amber, green) and size of the digits they use. So standardizing was difficult.

We do sell a tiny 7-segment display mounting card to make adding your own .30" digital displays a whole lot easier. And if you are having difficulty finding the LED displays themselves, we can provide them too. TOP OF PAGE

 

EPIC Programming

1. What is the difference between EPIC and EMDA?

EPIC will convert toggle switches and button presses into keystrokes that your software can interpret. For example, flick a toggle switch to the "ON" position, and EPIC can be programmed to output the letter "G" to your computer just as if you had pressed "G" on your keyboard.

EMDA is a breakout card that makes wiring easy. It does nothing on its own. But if you are wiring up the EPIC, it will make your life very, very simple by comparison to hand-wiring. TOP OF PAGE

2. Do I really need one of your EMDA cards?

Only if you've bought yourself an EPIC card and are wondering how to make the wiring more simple. TOP OF PAGE

3. Can you do the programming of EPIC for me?

It would be far too difficult for us to try to create a one-size-fits-all set of EPIC code that would work for every one of our customers. We can point you in the right direction in terms of doing your own programming, though, and we're always happy to help as much as we can. Our Resources page is a good place to start. Once you have started the programming yourself, you will find that it is not nearly as hard as you imagined. TOP OF PAGE

4. How truly difficult is it to set up the wiring for the systems you offer? (Is it possible for an individual with little electrical experience to accomplish this?)

You will have no problem. The basic switches and lights are very easy to do, once you get the hang of EPIC's system. Give yourself a day or two to figure things out, and I guarantee you'll be wiring switches and lights to everything in the house. It's really addictive once you see it working and get into writing the bits of software code to make the switches do what you want them to do! TOP OF PAGE

Ordering

1. How can I place my order?

You can either email us your order directly (), or use the special forms we have provided on our web site. If you prefer to keep a hard copy for your own records, you can print off the order form once you have filled in the details on your screen, and then fax the copy to us at +1 (306) 352-0488.

If you e-mail us your order, be sure to clearly list the items you are ordering, each on a separate line, along with their prices.

In any case, we will confirm your order by reply e-mail, so your return address must be valid. If you do not hear from us for several days after placing your order, please send us a follow-up e-mail message to confirm that we have received your order. TOP OF PAGE

2. How do I pay for my order?

We will e-mail you an invoice total so that you can arrange payment. We gladly accept VISA and MasterCard credit cards, and also offer several options for our Corporate clients:

  1. VISA
  2. MasterCard
  3. US dollar cheque drawn on a US bank
  4. US dollar international money order (available at Post Offices and banks in many countries)
  5. Bank-to-bank wire transfer

If you are making a wire transfer, we will provide our bank details in a format you can print and take with you to complete the transfer.

Need to convert US Dollars into your local currency? The Universal Currency Converter is useful. TOP OF PAGE

3. Can I pay by credit card?

Yes. We gladly accept VISA and .
For the convenience of our customers, we bill in US dollars ($USD) and charge your credit card when your order is ready to ship, so there's no advance billing, weeks ahead of delivery.

We also offer several options for our international customers:

  1. Bank-to-bank wire transfer
  2. MoneyGram (same-day or next-day service, and available at American Express and other travel agencies around the world)
  3. US dollar cheque drawn on a US bank
  4. US dollar international money order (available at Post Offices and banks in many countries)

If you are making a wire transfer, we will provide our bank details in a format you can print and take with you to complete the transfer.

Need to convert US Dollars into your local currency? The Universal Currency Converter is useful. TOP OF PAGE

4. Do you sell to Europe (and elsewhere overseas)?

Yes. We have many customers in Europe and Asia, as well as all over North and South America. Our products are shipped directly to your door from Canada or from our affiliates around the world, usually by courier or insured postal courier.

Canada has a free trade agreement with the United States, and our products pass through Customs for US customers as Duty-Free. TOP OF PAGE

5. What shipping options are there?

We use UPS for our shipping, but if you have your own account with FedEx, UPS, DHL, Purolator, TNT or some other carrier, we can arrange to ship via that service, and bill the carriage to your account number.

We provide a complimentary Online Tracking service for all UPS packages we send out. TOP OF PAGE

6. Do you have a catalogue?

Many people have asked this question. We don't publish a catalogue. But what we do is update our web pages frequently with new images as products become available, and updated pricing as soon as it is available.

As a service for those who don't get to surf our web site as frequently as they might like, we offer a ListBot which will e-mail you a note when we have new products to announce, or major changes and updates to our web site. You can subscribe to this ListBot service from our What's New page.

This web site is a lot quicker and easier to update than a catalogue would be. We are always adding new items, so this is important. TOP OF PAGE

If our FAQ has not answered your questions, please feel free to email us your question at .

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