Two New Saitek Devices

[Hielor]

Just noticed these:
http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfmulti.htm
http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfradio.htm

:OMG:

Doesn't say that there will be an SDK to allow them to work with other sims, but their instrument panel had one so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they had one for these. Price is very reasonable, $150 each -- considering how much a single LCD display would cost to try to make a DIY version, this is a great deal. Add these to the http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfpanel.htm , and a Saitek-powered simpit would be quite fancy...

 

[BHawthorne]

I wonder if anyone has been able to hack these with custom gauge faces or use with other sims?

http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/fip.htm#../images/Product/flight_fip_turnjpg.jpg

 

[willy88]

I wonder if anyone has been able to hack these with custom gauge faces or use with other sims?

http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/fip.htm#../images/Product/flight_fip_turnjpg.jpg

Those would be awesome as MFDs.

 

[Hielor]

I wonder if anyone has been able to hack these with custom gauge faces or use with other sims?

http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/fip.htm#../images/Product/flight_fip_turnjpg.jpg

Those would be awesome as MFDs.

It says on that page:

Ships with Software Development Kit (SDK) allowing programmers to create interactions with other flight simulations and applications

It's also interesting--look at the button labels on there, it has "Map," "Radios," etc, but they don't show any pictures of those modes (if they exist).

They're also really, really expensive...

 

[yagni01]

They're also really, really expensive...

I agree. I saw one of the instrument panels on the shelf of my local big box electronics store. They're small and low-res. Considering how many you would want, I think its more cost-effective to find an old laptop on eBay.

 

[Hielor]

I agree. I saw one of the instrument panels on the shelf of my local big box electronics store. They're small and low-res. Considering how many you would want, I think its more cost-effective to find an old laptop on eBay.

Or even a second monitor and just drag the FSX panel down to that...

Plus, those little buttons on the left only open the panels inside FSX, and they look *bad*, especially if you were to have a full 6-pack of the things. IMO they were kind of confused as to what the purpose of the things was supposed to be, so they made them do too much and thereby made them not really that good at anything.

I certainly am not going to be picking up the instrument displays, but that radio panel...haven't ordered it yet, but I will soon I think.

 

[BHawthorne]

You can find some pretty decent deal on in-car LCDs or mini-LCDs that will probably price point ok. Only real thing I take issue with is figuring by square inch real estate on a main instrument panel it might just make more sense to buy a 22-24" LCD to put behind it for under $200. Big LCD panels are rather cheap anymore. It makes no sense at all to buy a singe LCD per instrument. Buy a big panel and put all your instruments on it and a panel with gauge bezels over it. It'll look and work much better and cost less overall when you complete the project. The problem with instrument panels is unless it's a glass-cockpit layout you've got a bunch of gauges you have to reproduce. The only cost effective way to do that is use 1 or 2 big LCDs, not 10+ small ones like this saitek. These pre-built Saitek kits I would only recommend for those that don't want to custom make things. I'd otherwise recommend you design and manufacture your own to meet exactly what you need and be of better quality materials.

 

[n122vu]

Just noticed these:
http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfmulti.htm
http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfradio.htm

:OMG:

Doesn't say that there will be an SDK to allow them to work with other sims, but their instrument panel had one so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they had one for these. Price is very reasonable, $150 each -- considering how much a single LCD display would cost to try to make a DIY version, this is a great deal. Add these to the http://www.saitekusa.com/prod/pfpanel.htm , and a Saitek-powered simpit would be quite fancy...

Nice. I've been looking at the Saitek yoke system for a while now & was planning to purchase later this summer. This might just be what pushes me over the edge LOL. Thanks for sharing!