"Two Years Later ..."

 The world made me put away my toys for a while.

It had been more than a year since I played anything more complex than I could run on a gamepad. There was not a time that greater priorities didn't take precedence, and it was hard to find time to relax, let alone build anything new. 

But as the world began to open, I found myself with a bit more time and creative energy. The major renovations were complete, the business was securely operational and I spent months (ongoing) organizing and cleaning out storage bins. All of my tools, tech and gizmos were starting to find more permanent homes. I now had dedicated work areas stocked and ready. More than that, I started getting a real itch to "fly" again. 

Once the SimPit bug bites, it's really hard to fly without all the controls set up and at a comfortable height. I have no real room to work, tools are unavailable and wood structures are both heavy and difficult to make changes when you find out something doesn't work. I decided on PVC for a basic, quick and relatively tool-less assembly. I had tools and fittings left over. With no plan, I just started building. 

The only room left for the Geekpit was a corner of my room, so I made the best of the space. A 50" flatscreen mounted to the wall was the start. I got the rough dimensions from the tv and the chair height. I sketched out rough ideas and sorted through how to connect everything together. I built the control and center console from smaller 3/4" as I wanted to be able to add to it for mounting panels and screens. Some 80 feet of 3/4" and 1" PVC pipe, dozens of connectors and fittings, several pots of coffee, and in a weekend I had a fairly simple structure up. 

Let's not pretend that this is square.

 None of the fittings are glued - friction fit at best. But I now have an outer shell which is holding the overhead panel, and platforms to hold the sticks and controllers. I even built out the center console for the Airbus Engine Control unit. Some insulation board fills the gaps.

I started mapping out locations on the panel for sub-panels, and which holes would be for lights and which would be switches. Very few switches on this panel will directly affect a game - they will be used to control the environment and power needs of the Sim. 

But before I can even start to think about what goes where, I'm going to need to get all the controls set up. And that, dear reader, is where the story continues. For the first time in this meandering Blog, I'm hoping to start sharing knowledge that you can ACTUALLY use to build your own environment enhancing goodies and effective controls, no matter your space or budget.