10/18/2023 Map Stopped Working?
Visit this post for the fix
I'm making progress on a large build i'm doing for a livesctional. I haven't liked the look of most of the builds i've seen (no offense) both from livesectional and metar map - namely the holes for the lights. I wanted a cleaner look. I also wanted to add additional functionality for rough "flight planning" purposes on my board so here is what i've come up with.
I'm having the US VFR sectional printed on the back of 3mm acrylic which I will edge illuminate utilizing LEDs. I then have a 2nd board of 3mm white PVC which the map will be printed on the back of (inverted) so that when you put the two together you can look at the back and know exactly where to drill the holes for the fiber runs. The PVC is sturdy enough that I don't need to print the 3d parts that are on the website. I've done some testing with smaller versions (pics attached) and I think hot glue on the sides of the fiber that insert into the PVC will be enough to hold it. I did print the parts that hold the led strip. I found facfox, a chinese 3d printing shop, was excellent. Quality was great, cost was nominal ($40 for all the parts I needed).
We tried various print techniques for the map -- print on front of acrylic, back of acrylic, transparency variations, etc. I've found what seems to work best is transparency printed on back of acrylic with a white backer in the form of PVC.
So what does all this mean? It should mean there are no holes on the map which will give a clean appearance, the edge lighting should no only illuminate the entire map but allow you to use whiteboard markers to draw distances between airports, etc.
I'm also printing a scale "ruler" based off the scale on the bottom of the sectional to utilize for the flight planning purposes.
The print is gonna be large, about 5 feet wide which was required to get approximately 3MM airport circles (the size of the fiber).
I sourced my fiber off alibaba and ended up with 45 M of edge glow 3MM fiber for $43 bucks shipped.
I'm putting in the order for the final prints to be done hopefully this week, then it is drill 144 holes and take it off for framing. Then run the cables, mount the hardware and hope for the best!
I used a Pi zero and for whatever reason had the hardest time getting it to connect to my wifi. Tried berrylan and didn't work. Ended up using a USB WIFI dongle which worked great then utilized an app i found recommended on a different form to do a gui config from the command line.
Clever ideas. I can't wait to see the finished product. Keep us abreast of your progress here. - Mark
So I finally finished the project... a number of lessons learned throughout. Overall it came out great and I *THINK* it is the 1st of its kind.. I haven't seen anyone make one like this.
I ended up using two large sheets one of PVC and one of acrylic. The PVC had a reverse print of the US VFR map on it and lined up perfectly to the acrylic. I drilled the 3MM holes on the PVC side then routed the 3MM side lit fiber to each hole. On the front side of the map it was really clean and crisp looking. I set the no weather color to black, so if a METAR is not reporting you can't tell (without really looking closely) that there is even a hole there for a light. The frame is custom built by a frame shop here and cost $50/USD. The edge is lit by an adjustable LED strip (comes with a RF remote. You can change the color and brightness..
I used facfox for my 3d printing. They did a great job, quick turnaround and were affordable ( https://facfox.com). I got the fiber cutting tool but ended up not using it/seeing the need for it. I also didn't print the piece to route the fiber into the airport hole. I found the PVC was thick enough and used hot glue to keep it in place. The 144 LED strip had a strange join halfway through which didn't line up properly for the printed pieces so I had to use a dremel to cut some of the "hoods" (2 of them) to fit in that join.
I purchased my fiber through alibaba, it was a little less than $1.00/meter. Specifically this place https://kolighting.en.alibaba.com
LED border light with remote : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TTP3YTP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The thing is massive, over 5 feet wide. I had to print that size to get the airport circles to be 3MM in size so the fiber didn't look bigger than the airport. Then there is a white border around the print.
I also printed a NM ruler to scale for rough flight planning.
Most of my flying is east side of the US so the light density is greater there.
Lessons learned
1) Acrylic scratches REALLY easily and when you edge light scratched acrylic it sticks out like a sore thumb. I got some acrylic polish which helped but that could only be used on the clear border not on the printed surface itself. This would have probably worked better with glass, but glass would have been heavy (too heavy for the frame that was made). Not to mention pretty fragile (and probably more expensive).
2) One of the edge light LEDs was precisely in one of the corners (which we didn't catch) so when we put the acrylic in it ended up crushing the LED and taking out a section of the lights. Fortunately I had previously trimmed the LED strip for the frame and had some excess sections which I then soldered in place of the crushed section. We then used some plastic to make a cover to protect the led that ended up in that same corner.
3) I originally ordered 45 meters of 3MM fiber and the entire east coast had no coverage. I ended up ordering another 45 M and used probably 30 meters of that. So there is almost 250 feet of fiber in this build.
4) the printer originally printed the PVC about 2 MM offset from the acrylic. I think it is because of the different material the printer was slightly off. 2MM is enough to jack everything up so it had to be reprinted (twice) to get it right. Fortunately they took ownership of that and fixed it for free.
In THEORY I could pull the PVC out and drill additional holes if I wanted to move fiber around or add another 144 LEDs. I think it would be a huge PITA but is possible and with this approach, since there are no holes drilled on the acrylic it would look good.
Thanks to Bill for pushing the code out and providing the support on getting this thing put together!
Kevin, that turned out awesome! Great execution of your ideas. I was very curious about how accurately the two printed images would line up with each other, and other than the print error on the PVC, it sounds like it lined up very accurately. What would you recommend another builder do to ensure the printer doesn't make the same mistake as yours did?
You mentioned how easily the Acrylic scratches, any suggestions on how to protect it during the build process? Does it come with a protective plastic layer? And in a similar vein, is the printed side pretty easily scratched, or is it pretty robust?
Are the two panels (Acrylic and PVC) somehow glued to each other, or are they free floating? And are both panels solid all the way to the framing material?
Thanks for the write up on this. It's a great map! I added it to the Gallery, I hope you don't mind. - Mark
Kevin, that turned out awesome! Great execution of your ideas. I was very curious about how accurately the two printed images would line up with each other, and other than the print error on the PVC, it sounds like it lined up very accurately. What would you recommend another builder do to ensure the printer doesn't make the same mistake as yours did?
You mentioned how easily the Acrylic scratches, any suggestions on how to protect it during the build process? Does it come with a protective plastic layer? And in a similar vein, is the printed side pretty easily scratched, or is it pretty robust?
Are the two panels (Acrylic and PVC) somehow glued to each other, or are they free floating? And are both panels solid all the way to the framing material?
Thanks for the write up on this. It's a great map! I added it to the Gallery, I hope you don't mind. - Mark
Hey Mark,
First - apologies for the non-shout out in my initial post. That post was done over multiple days and distractions so to give credit where credit is due, thank YOU for all you've done on this project. The livesectional code is pretty amazing.
To answer your questions... the 1st issue was really on the printer so finding someone who is skilled and able to understand how precise this has to be is critical. This printer had never done anything like this before so it was a learning experience for them. I think if they were to print on an oversized material then cut to size it would have been easier, however these folks (initially) had the piece cut to size then printed on it. In the end they had to trim the PVC by hand to get it lined up correctly.
The acrylic does come with a protective plastic layer but that is only on the non-printed side. I did take that protective layer off during the build process not thinking about the ease of scratching. The majority of the major scratches were on the printed side anyway. This project took numerous months and numerous trips back and forth to printer and frame shop. It literally took up the entire back of a toyota prado so i am guessing in addition to any handling issues at the printer, it probably got scratched moving around in the back of the car even though we took steps to try and secure it and keep it protected. As you can see in the photos, if it isn't illuminated you can't tell anything is wrong with it. A lot of the side glow projects on the internet were done with glass for this very reason. I didn't even explore a glass option and i still think it would have been way too heavy for the frame if we did go with glass.
The other thing I forgot to mention is the PVC side that is not printed needs to be as flawless as possible as it is your background and scratches, marks, etc will show up.
the two panels are free floating held together with the framing brads in the back. It is important there is a flush/tight fit because if there is any play the acrylic becomes out of "focus". The white background flush against the acrylic makes the print looks clean and precise.
Thanks for the gallery add!
Kevin
