How I'm doin' it...

[murphyslaww]

I built one out of plywood and scrap 2X4, but since I decided I'll be playing in the living room, I needed something  a little more mobile, and acceptable to the wifey.

Speaker set up allowed me to finally find a use for the Cambridge soundworks 4.1 system I've had lying around for years.

The Sub/Amp actually adds some ForceFeedback to the seat underneath.

I picked up the playseat from a guy with a PS3, and ended up selling the PS3, (one of the 60gb ones that everyone wants)for the same price, so the seat was effectively free.

I replaced the thin wall bar that attaches the pedal module to the seat portion with thick wall tubing I had laying around, and used the orginal bar to mount the speakers onto the seat.

When I get a G25, I'll have to figure out a way to attach the shifter. I may add a 24, 28, or 32 inch monitor that will just stand on the table in front of me.

[SJ_Stein]

Simple yet effective!

hmm.. but for the shifter... you might try and make a shifter console like Ericleroy did like this:



here's his thread: http://www.thewayiplay.com/mainforum/index.php?topic=202.msg1546#msg1546

Might be an idea since you've got the seat mounted on ply.. he's got a sliding shifterunit and it looks good as well.



Woof ~ Woof


EDIT.. just noticed in teh "drawingboard" section that you've already found EricLeroy's shifterunit.. doh!    there ya go.. lol

[nailz]

greetings murph, nice lookin' rig there mate, one question though, your screen seems a bit high up, not at eye-level, how do you get on with that? not meaning to pick holes matey ('cos godamn your rigs better than mine)...

[murphyslaww]

Yeah, I don't like the monitor being up that high (it's our living room TV, a 42" Plasma running @ 1368/720).

I'll Probably be getting a 24" - 32" LCD to mount directly in front of me, somehow. I need to find somewhere else to play though, I have two rugrats, so I need to find somewhere else to play once I start racing online.

I'll probably be trying to add a Micro-ATX comp under the seat. I really wish I could fit the Subwoofer under the seat, firing up, but I would have to lift the seat another 2" or so.

[Den]

Welcome Murphy!!

 I have 3 wee rugrats and get your point. LOL. I play the "arcadey" stuff when they're about and my rally, TOCA etc when they're busy elsewhere. LOL.

 Not sure what's going to happen when I finally get a gaming computer built but we'll see.......

 "Kids, GET OUT!!!!!!!!" HAHAHAHA!

 Then again, my girls love cars and love the games as much as I do.

 I was thinking that screen was rather high but now get your point about the monitor mentioned in the beginning.

[murphyslaww]

My iRacing setup as it is now, and models of how it should be shortly. It's up on casters, and there is a cambridge soundworks 4.1 sound system attached with the sub under the seat. It actually provides passible engine rumble with the bass most of the way up.

the model shows a monitor riser that will bring my 25.5" monitor closer to my face, and with a G15 keyboard LCD that will be set into it. Eventually, I'll be going to two more monitors and SoftTh for the triple monitor goodness.

With the telemetry info now availible in iRacing, Mauricio Mauro has written a script for the G15 LCD that holds RPM, Speed, Fuel, laptimes, and more into the G15 keyboard.

I had long ago torn my G15 apart to use the screen as a status monitor for a MythUbuntu server I never finished.

Good to have a place for it again.

The rest of the front of the panel will be a button box, and I'll add buttons as I go, leaving that whole 2 1/2 X 10" panel removable.

The last pic is the G25 mod I hacked, removing the button module from the G25 shifter(It was crap anyway, I never used it, I'll get an SST eventually) and adding it to the front of the wheel. It was a minor pain in the butt, as you have to route the usb cable through a very tight hole through the middle of the wheels column.

Ohh, and thanks to the people who created some of the models I borrowed from in Sketchup.

[GPI Steve]

Very well thought out.
I too use softTH and its an awsome app... Just be sure you have a decent computer to run it nice and smooth. I run a 24 inch centre screen and 2 17 inchers in portrait.. so its really like running 2 24 inchers... i would love to see your results if you are going for three big screens... will be awesome im sure 

[murphyslaww]

Finished the monitor riser, but I'm not sure I like it up that high.

The LCD is going to take some work, as I lost the clip that secures the ribbon cable from the LCD to the controller board. I'm going to have to find  a way wedge it in there so that it makes solid contact.

[Jarkko Rantajoki]

mmmmmore iRacers. Nice racing rig.

[Tysmyster]

Cool setup mate, nice big screen too. Thanks very much for showing it to us. 
I'm an iracer too. Great game sim!

EDIT: I only saw now that this is your second cockpit so I merged the topic with your existing one in this section. I hope that's ok. It's part of the strategy to keep this section limited to one topic per member so we can see how your setup evolved. I can update your picture in the overview topic to one of the new ones if you want, so it will show your rig in its most current state. 

[murphyslaww]

Cool setup mate, nice big screen too. Thanks very much for showing it to us. 
I'm an iracer too. Great game sim!

EDIT: I only saw now that this is your second cockpit so I merged the topic with your existing one in this section. I hope that's ok. It's part of the strategy to keep this section limited to one topic per member so we can see how your setup evolved. I can update your picture in the overview topic to one of the new ones if you want, so it will show your rig in its most current state. 

Yeah, I thought I had posted before, but couldn't find it.

Pics with the riser. The height seems ok for racing.  Looking at the TrackIr as probably my next upgrade, but recovering from X-mas is going to take at least a month.

[Tysmyster]

It looks great man! I resized your pictures btw.

[murphyslaww]

I'm trying to figure out what the best way will be to move to a triple monitor setup. The monitor stand/wheel platform is already a little bit rickety. I think I can truss it at the rear to fix that with some red oak.

[murphyslaww]

The Triple monitor is now in effect.

Since the last time I posted, I've upgraded pretty much everything in the computer due to issues with iRacing as of the beginning of Season 1 2009 (system requirements have gone up a good bit.)

Now running:

E7400 2.8ghz (need to upgrade this too)
BFG nvidia GTX280 - Awesome card for the $$$, probably the best deal in cards now, power/$$$
BFG nvidia 7950GT secondary card (For SoftTH)
Gigabyte M/B - not sure what model, but worked out of the box, always a plus when buying from Fry's
4GB Crucial 6400 Ram
Sound blaster Xfi extreme gamer sound card (on board sound was part of the problem with iRacing)

Retiring the upper monitor stand, and replacing it with a desk that supports the triple monitor setup. Monitor upright mounts are ridiculously expensive, and most of them won't hold monitors the size of my middle one, and the two smaller ones together. Just going to use the office desk from our bedroom. It only needs to be modified slightly.

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy SoftTH was to setup and get working. I'm sure there are some tweaks to get it to run better, and transition smoother from the big monitor to the smaller ones, but for now It's pretty acceptable. It drops my FPS down to 50 FPS, but It seems worth it.

Little bit ticked off, I thought I had a passable deal on 20" HP LCD's for $148.00 from Walmart, then I get an anniversary sale email from fry's saying they have 23" 1920x1080 ACER's for $179.00. I would have popped for those instead. ARRRGH 

I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

[SJ_Stein]

 



Tomorrow has come and gone Murph, what about those piccies?

 



Woof ~ Woof