An early Danish Army Leopard 1A5 Gunner trainer/simulator. It has been set up with a PC running Steel Beasts Pro PE, with a screen at the Gunner’s station, and using the real existing Leopard 1A5 Gunner Grip as the controller.
Pretty much everything except the gunner grip and seat has been stripped out. The screen sits where the sights where. It is very bare and it is only the palmswitches, Lase, Dynamic Lead and Fire buttons on the grip that are used. The keyboard controlling the PC is behind where the TC seat would be. The palmswitches are safety devices and one of them must be pressed in, for the system to accept any action with the grip.
It does nicely accommodate kids from 4 to 125. For the younger kids I disable the palmswitches, as it is impossible or very uncomfortable, for them to reach the other switches.
It is now used for letting kids of all ages, including me, trying out aspects of the Leopard 1A5, at open houses and other events. It has become my enjoyable job to handle this.
It does give some Ahhh Cool factor, that real Tanker’s have sat and used the very grip I can now play around with.
I am currently working on some controller layout and instruction pictures and intend to create a history plaque for it also.
I am considering making a switch/button box, that makes it possible to use the thermal sight and magnification, but since I limit a stint when there is a line to 4 to 5 kills, it may not be necessary. On the other hand when there are no guests, I can sit down and play around to. I do have access to 4 other Leopard 1A5’s, so I will be doing something for my home setup.
You would be very welcome.
Nearly every Tuesday is a workday from roughly 14:00 to 20:00. From mid April to mid October, there is a guide/guides present and ready to offer tours on Tuesdays.
With a few exceptions the last Sunday of the month is also a workday. from 09:00 to roughly 18:00.
Check the calendar on the homepage. Skruedag is workday and Turistdag are the ones with guides. Åben hus in May (Maj) offers a Battle demonstration and rides with APC’s. It is also possible to try the simulator there. (Not all of the day, as I also have some recording projects to take care of. https://ghrvpk.dk/
Other than at Åben hus I think that it would be a good idea to plan ahead, so I know to be there and can set it up.
After a long Covid-19 hiatus, things are happening again.
For a long time I have been fighting to get the PC running with 3 screens and I was not getting any responce from the big screen hanging on the back.
As luck would have it we got a 32" TV in donation for the sim, so now that has replaced the troublesome one on the back and is ready to hook up.
Finally i have found out why I have not been able to get 3 screens to work. There are 2 reasons. The GPU sporting 4 outputs only supports 2 screens at the time. The mainboard support onboard Graphics but the CPU does not have it.
I have now bought a PCIEx1 GEFORCE GT710 that also support 2 screens. PCIEx1 as that is the only available socket left on the board.
To use multiple views with Steel Beasts you need to run multiple instances. A host and 1 or more clients.
Now that I have the option of 4 screens, I intend to have 2 running with the Gunners view. The one at the Gunners station and one on the back of the turret. This will be the Host. The other 2 will be running with the external view. One inside and the other on the back of the turret. The one inside will be for hooking up the client to run the external view.
I will handle the screens with Actual Windows Manager.
I have been quiet for a while, but things have been happening.
We have gotten a new PC with Windows 10 for the sim and eSim Games have kindly donated an upgrade to SB Pro PE, so now we are running with version 4.265.
We hit a couple of snags on the way, but now we are fully up and running with all 4 screens.
I intended to use Windows 8.1 but that is not supported by the new CPU, so I had to upgrade to Windows 10.
Bummer! Win 10 is not seeing the grip! It still works in Win 8.1. Hmmm. I contacted AFVSim, that did the USB conversion of the grip about drivers for Win 10.
Since the old interface PCB used is not supported by Win 10, AFVSim chose to send a new interface PCB that was swapped with help from one of our EMEC guys.
I had some trouble with cloning one of the screens but a swap from VGA to DVI cable solved that. (SB multiple screens tut. in the works)
I am working on some guides for our guests, so I wont have to repeat all of the jazz each time.
We have also had our first guests trying it. At first the kids where hesitant and only the dad was itching for a go. In the end both kids and both parents got a ride and they all enjoyed it.
I have to give my heartfelt thanks and deep gratitude to eSim Games and AFVSim for helping us with giving joy and pleasure to our guests.
There are more chances to try it as almost every Tuesday is a workday and exept in december a Sunday each month. There are just extra activities on the 25.
The Tuesday work start at 14:00 and end around 18 or 19 and sometimes it get to 2o. The work on Sundays start at 09.00 and usually ends at around 14-17.
Let me know when you are planning to get here, so I can be there as well.
Awesome? Yeah, there is something about using the genuine grip and only making it better, the rumble when one of our armed beasts pass by only 6 to 10 meters behind the Sim turret.
I love it!
Now for every one hour of gunnery, spend 2-4 hours underneath the tank in 3’ of mud working with your biggest tanker bar to re-track and/or remove the 1000’ of concertia wire your 1st Lt platoon commander ordered the driver to run over. Once you’re sufficiently muddy, spend the remainder of the field exercise in that outfit because your spare is also muddy. Track mud into the turret, which you will then spend 6+ hours cleaning out in the wash rack when you return and the crunchies all get to go home.
Oh and the igloo that you had lashed to the back of the turret fell off somewhere along the way and was run over by #2. So eat only omelette MRE’s (you’d traded all the good ones for logs of chew because you had steaks in the cooler) the entire week.
We have had our Open House and it was a great succes.
I was to busy with the Sim, so I don’t have any pictures, but I saw a lot of happy faces on our guests and members.
Sunday was just as busy with the same static displays and a closed event for the Danish Interforce community. This time without a battle demo, but this time with rides for Interforce members and their families in most of our ready to ride vehicles, including tanks.
InterForce is the Employer Support organisation of the Danish Armed Forces. InterForce endeavours to create the best possible conditions for employees that have obligations both in civilian work life as well in the Reserve or the Home Guard. They bassically guarantee that their employees have a job when they return from exercises and/or missions with the armed forces.
One of the active guys on the SteelBeasts forums and also a Steel Beasts tester visited us and he posted a couple of pictures and a video here:
On Saturday 25/9-2021 if Covid is willing, there is Open House at GHRVPK at Næstved. GHRVPK = The Guard Hussar Regiment Veteran Armor and Vehicles Union It is possible to see all and crawl around on and in most of our vehicles. There will be some…
One thing to learn. If anyone who is planning to visit, intend to come with public transportation, it would be a very good idea to take contact, so transport can be arranged from Næstved Station, as there are nothing going in that direction, especially in the morning hours. A TAXI on Saturday or Sunday is close to 200 Danish kroner.
I was lucky to meet him at the Station, when he asked me for directions on how to get out there. That meant that he could join me in the ride I had arranged for myself.
A final note. Usually our Open House is in the end of May but was this year moved to September due to the Covid-19 situation.
The current plan for next year’s Open House is Saturday 21 of May 2022.
Most dedicated?
A son of one of the homeguard exhibitors that returned several times on Saturday and was the first one in line before opening on Sunday. He got half the scenario before a que started to form and returned a couple of times. He was there when it was time for my late lunch break and got the full scenario.
There are 72 targets in the scenario and it takes about 20 to 30 minuttes to run through for somebody who haven’t tried it before.
I did a speed run at the end of sunday and it took me 15.59 minuttes.
And then there where the other kids returning 3 or 4 times.
