Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
Anyone getting the Saitek Backlit Information Panel? |
Poll Results (1 vote) |
I plan on getting one when it comes out (1 vote)
Nice but its a little too expensive for what it does (5 votes)
Useless - I would never get one (8 votes)
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DVA7636
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP
Joined on August 11 2009
50 State Club
Events Double Century Club
Burbank 250 Club
Quincentenary Club
Online Quintuple Century Club
Globetrotter
Black Pearl Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
"Uses "Sparkly Eyes" Technique on ATC" Channelview, TX USA
588 legs, 1,196.5 hours
572 legs,
1,164.8 hours online 586 legs,
1,192.9 hours ACARS 287 legs,
572.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 08:30 ET by Tracy Norris
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Just cruised over to the Saitek site and saw the following page:
http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/bip.html
It's a backlit information panel that apparently can be configured for any number of annunciations (low fuel, gear unsafe, etc). It has 24 LEDs and each can be configured for Red, Orange or Green (or maybe a combo if there's a problem? Dunno!).
Saitek says it will be released in October with an MSRP of about $149 U.S. With 24 LEDs that works out to about $6.25 per LED indication which sounds a bit steep. I would suggest $99.95 as a better price point so maybe they'll consider that.
I'm on the fence about it but will probably get one to play with. Ideally it would be configurable through FSUIPC but I suspect Saitek will probably throw in some FPS-grabbing drivers to go along with it
Tracy NorrisSenior Captain, L-1011-100
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DVA3931
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP, COMM
Joined on January 19 2007
50 State Club
Tri-Jet Triumph
Million Mile Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
Flying Colonel
Globetrotter
Burbank 500 Club
Eurocap Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"De oppresso liber" Surry, ME
1,882 legs, 3,806.7 hours
478 legs,
767.8 hours online 1,107 legs,
1,674.5 hours ACARS 55 legs,
114.8 hours event 195 legs dispatched, 134.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 10:05 ET by Andrew Kaufmann
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I have a bunch of Saitek stuff - and I pretty much trash their drivers and SST program...and use FSUIPC for everything
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DVA8622
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on April 14 2010
Century Club
"We're off, like a heard of turtles." Commack, NY USA
189 legs, 783.0 hours
182 legs,
751.4 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 15:36 ET by Ethan Olshever
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First, no, I will probably not get one.
Second, and more importantly, since when do we have polls here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Ethan OlsheverFirst Officer, B777-200
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DVA3196
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP, COMM
Joined on June 03 2006
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
Six Century Club
"pitchpowertrim.com" Anderson, MO
619 legs, 1,093.4 hours
292 legs,
503.1 hours online 580 legs,
1,026.5 hours ACARS 89 legs,
191.0 hours event 236 legs dispatched, 110.1
hours
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 17:48 ET by Michael Brown
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Nice find...but I likely won't be getting it.
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DVA3931
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP, COMM
Joined on January 19 2007
50 State Club
Tri-Jet Triumph
Million Mile Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
Flying Colonel
Globetrotter
Burbank 500 Club
Eurocap Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"De oppresso liber" Surry, ME
1,882 legs, 3,806.7 hours
478 legs,
767.8 hours online 1,107 legs,
1,674.5 hours ACARS 55 legs,
114.8 hours event 195 legs dispatched, 134.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 19:36 ET by Andrew Kaufmann
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Ethan Oshever wrote:
First, no, I will probably not get one.
Second, and more importantly, since when do we have polls here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Poles have always been available.
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DVA3196
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP, COMM
Joined on June 03 2006
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
Six Century Club
"pitchpowertrim.com" Anderson, MO
619 legs, 1,093.4 hours
292 legs,
503.1 hours online 580 legs,
1,026.5 hours ACARS 89 legs,
191.0 hours event 236 legs dispatched, 110.1
hours
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 19:54 ET by Michael Brown
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Hmmm...how do i vote??
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DVA8622
First Officer, B777-200
Joined on April 14 2010
Century Club
"We're off, like a heard of turtles." Commack, NY USA
189 legs, 783.0 hours
182 legs,
751.4 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 20:12 ET by Ethan Olshever
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Andrew Kaufmann wrote:
Ethan Oshever wrote:
First, no, I will probably not get one.
Second, and more importantly, since when do we have polls here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Poles have always been available.
Oh... I guess only for staff?
Ethan OlsheverFirst Officer, B777-200
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DVA4176
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP
Joined on March 11 2007
B757 100 Club
50 State Club
Black Pearl Club
White Knuckles Club
Events Triple Century Club
Online Forty Century Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
Burbank Bi-Millennium Club
Six Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club
"In the cold Kentucky rain" Horn Lake, MS USA
6,858 legs, 11,160.7 hours
4,673 legs,
6,709.8 hours online 5,630 legs,
8,974.5 hours ACARS 371 legs,
587.0 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
October 04 2010 20:45 ET by Scott D Williams
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You mean 149 dollars to tell you what our basic fleet airplanes already do? Not in my budget...but thanks for keeping us posted on the new stuff Tracy.
Scott D WilliamsSenior Captain, L-1011-100
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DVA7636
Senior Captain, L-1011-100
OLP
Joined on August 11 2009
50 State Club
Events Double Century Club
Burbank 250 Club
Quincentenary Club
Online Quintuple Century Club
Globetrotter
Black Pearl Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
"Uses "Sparkly Eyes" Technique on ATC" Channelview, TX USA
588 legs, 1,196.5 hours
572 legs,
1,164.8 hours online 586 legs,
1,192.9 hours ACARS 287 legs,
572.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
October 05 2010 07:54 ET by Tracy Norris
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I agree it sounds a little pricey but it certainly looks nice enough. I *do* like the fact that Saitek makes all of their panels in a standard size (albeit a bit oversized compared to real life).
It would be relatively easy for a home-cockpit builder tearing this thing apart, unsoldering the LEDs and running wires (and LEDs) from the circuit board to a home-made overhead panel to make things easier. I use an Arduino Mega microcontroller to control my overhead and I would probably need 3 of these to get the same functionality HOWEVER, if Saitek is wise and makes this appear as a standard HID programmable device, then one would not have to write special interface software (like I did).
I have strongly urged Saitek to stop making their devices 'proprietary' in nature and simple make them standard HID devices. Doing this would alleviate a lot of the headaches when trying to make (for example) the Radio Panel work with something other than FS9 and FSX (X-plane for example). We'll have to see where that goes.
In their defense, I also like the fact that they will include 70 'command tiles' to replace whatever is installed so it can be customized. With the addition of a few dollars, they could easily have included a small sound processor that would chime for the seat belt annunciation, gong for the overspeed warning, etc but maybe they have a dedicated 'sound processor' in the works
Regardless, overpriced or not, it's nice to see a company step up to the plate and offer products for us sim enthusiasts IMHO
Tracy NorrisSenior Captain, L-1011-100
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DVA7693
First Officer, CRJ-200
OLP
Joined on August 26 2009
50 State Club
Everett 250 Club
US Capital Club
Million Mile Club
Online Quadruple Century Club
Eight Century Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
""O! for a horse with wings!" ~W.S." Mason, OH
802 legs, 2,525.8 hours
407 legs,
1,040.3 hours online 793 legs,
2,507.0 hours ACARS 3 legs,
11.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
October 11 2010 16:35 ET by Brian Berendts
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totally overpriced - this is a 20 dollar add-on - at best.
Brian BerendtsFirst Officer, CRJ-200
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