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Front Panel Express

bpattonsoa

Well Known Member
I downloaded the panel designer package yesterday and got the RV-10 panel file from VAns site. It shows the panel as 44.56 mm wide, not inches as it should. I wrote to their customer service last night and got a reply this AM. (Great service!). They said the problem was in the file.

Anyone else have this issue?
 
I downloaded the panel designer package yesterday and got the RV-10 panel file from VAns site. It shows the panel as 44.56 mm wide, not inches as it should. I wrote to their customer service last night and got a reply this AM. (Great service!). They said the problem was in the file.

Anyone else have this issue?

Go into the program, open your panel file and then go to the menu item EDIT and select SETTINGS from the list.

Then change your units to INCHES instead of MILLIMETERS. Two different places it must be changed.

That will get FPE designer in the correct format. You must also have the correct units on the DXF file that you import. If that is incorrect, your panel won't come out correctly.

I will download the 10's panel from Van's and check it out....

I looked at Van's file and it is fine. Make sure you select INCHES when importing the DXF.
 
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I downloaded the panel designer package yesterday and got the RV-10 panel file from VAns site. It shows the panel as 44.56 mm wide, not inches as it should. I wrote to their customer service last night and got a reply this AM. (Great service!). They said the problem was in the file.

Anyone else have this issue?

I'm having the same problem. I downloaded both RV-7 .dxf files from Van's to tinker with the panel design software. I have the settings as Brantel suggests:

Panel%252003.png


But, when I select the units as inches, the size is not correct:

Panel%252001.png


Also, when I try to import the RV-7 tip-up file, I get an import error:

Panel%252002.png


I'll have to spend some more time on it later, I suppose.
 
FPD

I also tried every combination of setup and downloading the file and got nowhere.

I then downloaded the file into the Draftsight program that Vans links on the support page. It comes out right.

I then saved the file on Draftsight as a DXF type and opened it with Front Panel Designer. It opened as a correctly sized panel, but ....

Putting in a thickness, it comes up with a error that the panel dimension is too large or the material too thin. Please contact them. It will not let you proceed. :( I will contact them.
 
Brian, "Brantel" has requested that I start this thread dedicated to the subject of Front Panel Express, and move some posts here from his thread on the rebuild of the panel in his plane.

So, here goes....................
 
No big deal, I just figured it would be easier to have a separate thread for FPE...I am sure those future users of FPE might find this easier...
 
RV12 Panel?

Does anyone have a file of the RV-12 panel? Van's site doesn't have it available to download.
 
Sorry for reviving such an old thread, but I ran into the same thing with FPE last night.

the Van's RV-7 Slider panel is set up in mm (41mm by 11.7mm) instead of 41in by 11.7 inches.

FPE has a limitation that you can't scale the original panel import. (You can scale an imported shape driving cutouts after that initial panel definition).

Anyway, I had to download a freeware CAD editor, open the dxf. Scale the original Van's dxf by 2540% (25.4 mm per inch), then save and re-import.

Worked like a charm, and now I have an importable van's dxf that works with FPE.

Hope this helps someone else.
 
Be careful with this. The .dxf file from Van's for my -7 was unbent; there is a ~1 inch 90 degree bend on the bottom of the panel as shipped from Van's, but their provided .dxf is unbent, implying an extra inch at the bottom. There is no notation of this on their drawings (others have unfortunately found this, too)

Double check this dimension; it caused me to have a custom panel cut with an extra inch because my preferred layout couldn't fit on the actual panel with the bent bottom.

YMMV on the -10, but be sure to check!
 
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