Interfacing the CRJ MCDU #1 with Axis And Ohs under MSFS

[SimWare 730]

 

Interfacing the CRJ MCDU #1 with Axis And Ohs under MSFS

 

This tutorial shows how to interface the MCDU buttons with any controller sending standard button signals.
As long as your controller is recognized in the Windows joystick utility, you should be able
to interface the MCDU with the Axis And Ohs scripts here attached.

 

This NOT a compatibility warranty or an official feature of the CRJ or MSFS.
This is only sharing information, experience and ideas to build your own development.
 

We will not cover the use of Axis And Ohs here.
There is a introduction tutorial available :

 

The Axis And Ohs lights RPN scripts are attached below

 

All the keys of the MCDU #1 (Captain side) are scripted.
 

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For each key, there is a specific function in the CRJ_MCDU1 script group.
Each function : 

1 - Sets the functionality L-Var to “1” (activate the functionality)
2 - Sets the L-Var that visually presses the key to “1”

3 - Wait for 100 msec delay to give the visual clue of a pressed key

4 -  Sets the L-Var that visually presses the key to “0” to release the key.

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Each script, and therefore MCDU key, is assignable to a controller button via the “Assigned Buttons” panel.

 

Application example

This is an example to give some ideas to the ones
who want to experiment with basic electronics and cockpit building.

Building your own MCDU keypad is quite easy.
All you need is a buttons USB interface with enough buttons.
(or multiple interfaces as few of them have the required buttons number)

We use in this example a LeoBodnar BBI-32 Button Box Interface
 

It is a simple USB board with 32 connectors on wich you can hook pushbuttons, switches or even encoders.

We will use pushbuttons here of course.

There is also a 64 connectors version here.

 

NOTE : This is for example only !
              We don’t sell, promote or support those products in any way.
              We cannot guarantee it will work with your computer setup.
    

For the demo, we will only connect 3 pushbuttons :
- INDEX

- MSG

- RADIO

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The setup looks like that :

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You can expand this to all the buttons.
You can mount the buttons on a plate similar to the MCDU frontplate.
If you have a spare display, you can undock the MCDU and drag it onto it.
Then put the plate with the buttons in front of the screen and make an opening to see the MCDU display.

And it works ! 
 

 

CRJ_MCDU1-SCRIPTS.xml