LCD1000 Units - some improvements ...

Whenever possible we like to make improvements to our products. Sometimes these stem from better manufacturing processes, and sometimes they're the direct result of customer feedback and suggestions - which we're always keen to hear!

Several of these enhancements are shown below on our LCD1000 units (which are based on the Aspen EFD1000) ...

Adjustable backlighting

The button back-lighting in these units can now be set by the user at any time, and the selected brightness will be saved in memory. The saved brightness setting will even be used after the unit has been turned off.

It's a simple process to perform:

Press the BRG1 and BRG2 buttons at the same time to enter the brightness setting routine.

Press the BRG2 button to increase the brightness.

Press the BRG1 button to decrease the brightness.

When satisfied with the brightness, press the CDI button and the setting will be saved.

More accurately profiled knobs

As shown below, the knobs are now subtly tapered to better reflect the real ones.

The LCD1000 all fired up

Alright then, so we've finally managed to put some time aside in order to re-establish access to the appropriate drivers, video outputs, and software needed to hook up the LCD1000.

Below are some initial photos (excuse the dust!), and a video with some commentary will be made shortly. In fact, if you haven't already seen it, we put up a video a while back which demonstrated how it operated using the 'bezel only' version of this panel, which can be found here.

There are a couple of minor issues for us to tidy up here and there, as this unit was essentially our first prototype, but to give you an idea of costings, these units will be sold for US$570-00. If you're interested (or have any questions), please feel free to contact us directly, as our products are typically available for purchase well before we get the time to actually advertise them properly on our website.

Evolution of the Ruscool LCD1000 Unit

For the past few months we've been selling a bezel complete with buttons and encoders (see the first two photographs), which is based around the Aspen EFD1000. It was designed to fit in front of an LCD monitor upon which the appropriate graphics were shown, with our PCB interfaced to its software, thus making the unit operational.

Below is a short video on our Youtube account demonstrating its functionality using the Flight1 Aspen software. It it also able to use the Aspen EFD1000 software from Friendly Panels.

This product has recently undergone something of a facelift, however, and has since been significantly upgraded and taken to a much more realistic level, having now evolved into the Ruscool LCD1000; a stand-alone unit complete with its own LCD screen.

As seen from the shot above, with the ability to now fit the unit actually into a panel as would properly occur in an aircraft, the thickness of the panel is much reduced. Similarly, with the LCD display unit now embedded deep into the panel itself, there is a substantially more realistic and aesthetically pleasing result with regards to the distance from the panel's surface to the graphics.

 

Jumping out at everybody - I'm sure - is the fact that the display isn't actually displaying anything! Rest assured that this is simply a logistical issue at present, due to some temporary relocations of computers and monitors about our workshop, and shall be remedied as soon as possible so that we can update matters with a proper video and some more details. It still uses the Flight 1 Aspen software, or the Friendly Panels Aspen software.

In the meantime, and going right back to the earliest origins of this product, below are some shots from a few months back that some might consider interesting: our first operational prototype of the 'bezel only' version ...