Best Wind sim available? (DIY or to buy)

[scottinwales]

Not a lot of people know this but Symprojects also sell a fan controller, it's a fun little easy project. This is mine that I built, I used high powered fans that are used for bit coin mining and built with bits and pieces I found on amazon.

Hey @crooksy - thanks for that great headsup - I've bought one now but am struggling to work out how I should be setting up simhub. Would you mind sharing your fan settings with me so I can see where I'm going wrong?

(obviously I've enabled shakeit wind and then symproject fan control, I'm just a bit lost after that)

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Elaphe]

Hey @crooksy - thanks for that great headsup - I've bought one now but am struggling to work out how I should be setting up simhub. Would you mind sharing your fan settings with me so I can see where I'm going wrong?

(obviously I've enabled shakeit wind and then symproject fan control, I'm just a bit lost after that)

Any help would be appreciated!

It uses its own software, not SimHub.

 

[scottinwales]

It uses its own software, not SimHub.

Yeh that's completely false.
It works straight from simhub once you suss out what you're doing.
But

1) It's single channel only (so no left and right)
2) Even with top of the range Noctua fans it's pretty weak imo.

Gonna go down the bilge blower route I think.

 

[Layton James]

No tube. But I think when I bought it over a year ago, that was not an option. Forgive the mess as I am mid rebuild.View attachment 602193

I’m on the verge of buying this system, are u still using it? Is it worth it??

 

[NetLawMan]

I’m on the verge of buying this system, are u still using it? Is it worth it??

Yes. I wouldn’t race without. I also have the srs system, but there is no comparison, and that one sits unused.

 

[katikomer]

Yes, the controllers by Symprojects are great. I have two of those, driving 4 fans, all working together with no problems. You can also use if as wind simulator or for fixed speed and also with normal or inverted PWM fans.

Hi mate
With regards to your Symproject controllers, I already own one driving 2 fans. I am wanting to add a further 2 fans. Would it be better to run off the same controller or get a seperate controller for the additional 2. Did you find any conflict with the 2 controllers through the PC?

 

[Elaphe]

Hi mate
With regards to your Symproject controllers, I already own one driving 2 fans. I am wanting to add a further 2 fans. Would it be better to run off the same controller or get a seperate controller for the additional 2. Did you find any conflict with the 2 controllers through the PC?

I'm not sure if the same controller can handle 4 fans. I got two controllers and both are working perfeclty together, completelly synchronized in game.

 

[katikomer]

I'm not sure if the same controller can handle 4 fans. I got two controllers and both are working perfeclty together, completelly synchronized in game.

Thanks for the reply. I have the older style fan controller with 4x pwm pins and wondering if adding a further 2 120mm fans is worth it or bite the bullet and buy the motion house blowers. I run in VR and am chasing the extra immersion.

 

[Elaphe]

Thanks for the reply. I have the older style fan controller with 4x pwm pins and wondering if adding a further 2 120mm fans is worth it or bite the bullet and buy the motion house blowers. I run in VR and am chasing the extra immersion.

There's never enough airflow.

 

[Spinelli]

Regarding regular PC fans (max power of 1 amp or less, standard PWM cable) here are probably the 3 highest performing 140 mm fans - in no particular order:

- Noctua AF-14 iPPC 3000
- Iceberg Thermal Icegale Xtra
- Super Flower Megacool

They're all good quality too.

 

[Spinelli]

Why do we need things like Arduino or STM32 Discovery boards for wind kits? PC programs can control fan speeds. Can't we just plug the fans normally into our computers and have the sim racing wind program (SimHub, Next Level Racing Platform Manager, etc.) control the fan that way?

I'm asking because I'm considering building a kit. A very basic one using standard (but relatively powerful) PC fans at first.

 

[metalnwood]

Why do we need things like Arduino or STM32 Discovery boards for wind kits? PC programs can control fan speeds. Can't we just plug the fans normally into our computers and have the sim racing wind program (SimHub, Next Level Racing Platform Manager, etc.) control the fan that way?

I'm asking because I'm considering building a kit. A very basic one using standard (but relatively powerful) PC fans at first.

Even if it was possible for simhub to individually control specific fan outputs on the MB, isn't it just a lot easier to get a $12 arduino and plug it in with USB? I cant imagine it would be great to have long wires coming out of the pc case going off to the rig for fans.
The other thing is that the MB may not be hapy delivering the amps that you want for good fans. Many cases with a lot of fans have some kind of controller that takes more power from the PSU.

 

[Spinelli]

Even if it was possible for simhub to individually control specific fan outputs on the MB, isn't it just a lot easier to get a $12 arduino and plug it in with USB? I cant imagine it would be great to have long wires coming out of the pc case going off to the rig for fans.
The other thing is that the MB may not be hapy delivering the amps that you want for good fans. Many cases with a lot of fans have some kind of controller that takes more power from the PSU.

Please show me this $12 Arduino board where I simply plug my fan into it, and then simply plug the board into my PC, and then simply have my wind kit software recognize/run it.

Everything I've seen requires cutting & splicing cables and wires, figuring out from a diagram which wires have to separated from which cables and where they then have to be connected or spliced to, not to mention buying a board, buying a power supply/adapter, and on top of that entering in a bunch of programming commands into the board's software...how does all that seem easier than simply plugging 2 fans into a PC / PC fan-controller and pressing start?

 

[metalnwood]

Please show me this $12 Arduino board where I simply plug my fan into it, and then simply plug the board into my PC, and then simply have my wind kit software recognize/run it.

Everything I've seen requires cutting & splicing cables and wires, figuring out from a diagram which wires have to separated from which cables and where they then have to be connected or spliced to, not to mention buying a board, buying a power supply/adapter, and on top of that entering in a bunch of programming commands into the board's software...how does all that seem easier than simply plugging 2 fans into a PC and pressing start?

Of course you have to do some work.

Can you show me how you can plug in two fans to a motherboard that will give you the amount of airflow you want and be controllable form simhub or some other software while not affecting the speed of the other computer fans? I have not seen computer fans that have wiring long enough to sit on the rig and reach the motherboard so you are going to have to do something yourself. If you want a solution where you do nothing other than plug it in and it works then you can buy them.
DIY unfortnuately has some DIY in it.

 

[Spinelli]

Of course you have to do some work.

Exactly, so it's not even close to simply just getting "a $12 arduino and plug it in" like you stated.

Can you show me how you can plug in two fans to a motherboard that will give you the amount of airflow you want and be controllable form simhub or some other software while not affecting the speed of the other computer fans?

Really? You plug 1 fan into 1 fan header either on the motherboard or a fan-hub (preferably a powered one), and another fan on another MB header or fan-hub. This is very basic PC hardware knowledge.

Why would you assume controlling fan speeds will affect the fan speeds of other PC fans? PC fans are independently controlled from each individual motherboard header. Also, PC software can individually monitor and control each of those fan-headers. This is very basic PC knowledge & incredibly common for PCs for at least the past 15 years or so.

I have not seen computer fans that have wiring long enough to sit on the rig and reach the motherboard so you are going to have to do something yourself.

Again, very common and basic in the world of PCs. They're often called fan extension cables or fan splitter cables.

 

[metalnwood]

Exactly, so it's not even close to simply just getting "a $12 arduino and plug it in" like you stated.

Simple. You plug 1 fan into 1 fan header either on the motherboard or a fan-hub (preferably a powered one), and another MB header or fan-hub.

Why would you assume controlling fan speeds will affect the fan speeds of other PC fans? PC fans are independently controlled from each individual motherboard header. Also, PC software can individually monitor and control each of those fan-headers. This is all basic and common for PCs for the past 15 or 20 years.

Again, very common and basic in the world of PCs. They're often called fan extension cables or fan splitter cables.

Good luck then!
If you want to do it with an arduino then you can get one, get a 12v wall plug which you may already have some spares around. Basic point to point wiring if that is all you want to do. Make a common ground from the 12v to the arduino, 12v power to the fanns, pwm to the arduino. Upload a simhub sketch.

Alternatively wait for someone to do something that will probably not ever happen.
I was just trying to help, it is not that hard nor a lot of work in reality.

 

[Spinelli]

Good luck then!
If you want to do it with an arduino then you can get one, get a 12v wall plug which you may already have some spares around. Basic point to point wiring if that is all you want to do. Make a common ground from the 12v to the arduino, 12v power to the fanns, pwm to the arduino. Upload a simhub sketch.

Alternatively wait for someone to do something that will probably not ever happen.
I was just trying to help, it is not that hard nor a lot of work in reality.

Yes, I am thinking about doing it. I have an STM32 Discovery Board that I used years ago for my Open Sim Wheel (later modified & upgraded to a Simucube 1) along with some very high performance 140 mm PC fans (Super Flower Megacool 140, 175 CFM, 5.55 mmH2O) and quite powerful 120 mm industrial fans (260 CFM, 21.5 mmH2O).

Instead of the board and fans collecting dust, I figured I'd try using them for a basic wind kit for fun.

While I research and try to learn how to setup the fans, board, power plug, cutting, splicing, and connecting which wires, programming the correct firmware and/or software into the board, etc., I figured I'd just plug the 2 PC fans into my PC and have some fun with them...

...Therefore, that leads me to the question......

...Why do we need things like Arduino or STM32 Discovery boards for wind kits? PC programs can control fan speeds. Why don't sim racing wind programs (SimHub, Next Level Racing Platform Manager, SimTools, Sim Racing Studio, etc.) also have the ability to control the fan that way just like all sorts of other PC programs can?

 

[blekenbleu]

Why do we need things like Arduino or STM32 Discovery boards for wind kits?

We don't; something like FanCtrl can be repurposed.
Alternatively, dedicating an STM32 module strictly to fan control would be wasteful;
speed fan functionality could be easily combined with pedals, shifter and/or harness tensioner.