TACAN Panel for DCS F-14B Tomcat. Built with Arduino compatible microcontroller board Pro Micro, use with Flightpanel DCS-BIOS fork.
- 5V/16MHz Pro Micro Board w/ ATmega32U4
- 2 5mm LED for BIT result (GO/NO GO lights)
- 2 toggle switches for operation mode and channel (X/Y)
- 1 push button for BIT
- 2 potentiometer for channel selector tens and VOL
- 1 rotary switch(12 pos) for channel selector ones
The TACAN panel size will be:
- width: 5.75 (146.1mm)
- height: 2.625 (66.68mm)
I design the panel using FreeCAD. It consists of three layers. The bottom and middle layers are composed and 3D printed as a single object.
The top layer is either 3D printed then covered with a labels(legends) layer, or cut and engraved with a laser engraver.
Note the hole diameters are determined by looking at switches, buttons and encoders I have. They are likely to not fit for others.
Pro Micro has 18 digital PINs, 9 of which can also be used as analog inputs. This TACAN control panel will have about 20 Joystick buttons and 2 axes as inputs.
- TACAN Mode Selector and Channel Rotary Switches: use a single analog PIN for each switch.
| PIN | TACAN Function | Button/Switch | Joystick Button/Axis | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0/RX1 | BIT | Push Button 0 | BTN0 | |
| 1/TX0 | Mode Switch | On-Off Toggle Switch 0 | BTN1, BTN2 | |
| 2 | X/Y Freq Selector | On-Off Toggle Switch 1 | BTN3, BTN4 | |
| A0 | Function Selector | Rotary Switch 0 | BTN5-BTN9 | 5 Pos, voltage divider |
| A1 | Freq Selector Tens | Potentiometer 0 | BTN10, BTN11 | BTNs for Rotate CW/CCW |
| A2 | Freq Selector Ones | Rotary Switch 1 | BTN12, BTN13 | BTNs for Rotate CW/CCW |
| A3 | Vol | Potentiometer 1 | Axis0/X, BTN14, BTN15 | BTNs for Rotate CW/CCW |
| A9 | CRS | Potentiometer 2 | Axis1/Y, BTN16, BTN17 | Extended, not on panel |
| 10 | TACAN CMD | Push Button 1 | BTN18 | Extended, not on panel |
| 15 | BIT GO LED | LED Green | ❌ | DCS BIOS Output |
| 16 | BIT NO GO LED | LED Yellow | ❌ | DCS BIOS Output |
| 7 | CMD Light PLT LED | LED Green | ❌ | DCS BIOS Output, extended, not on panel |
| 8 | CMD Light NFO LED | LED Green | ❌ | DCS BIOS Output, extended, not on panel |
Available under MIT license.