My Little Project.

[Shadrach]

Ok - as you've shown me yours, I'll show you mine, even though it stalled over a year ago but hope to get it going again and, for that matter, get back online with you guys soon. The withdrawal symptoms are hell.

Basically I used a Logitech wingman including the FFB motors and extended the shaft. I used decent pots to a Bodnar board and I think you can see I geared up the pot rotation to get a full turn. It worked pretty well except for the FFB hence the odd springs to give me some centering. A bit of subsequent digging has made me suspect the pots need to connect to the logitech board for FFB to work as they need to be part of a loop.

I also made some pedals which were operated using drawer runners but the runners were very noisy and notchy so I intent to use pedals hung from above like a P47 etc. As you see from the mechanism I geared up the pot on that as well.

Have also included a piccie of my Bodnar Board switch matrix using the probably unnecessary diodes. What a mess - hope it works after all the fiddly soldering. Would just buy the new version now that dosn't need diodes.

[Cold_Gambler]

Ok - as you've shown me yours, I'll show you mine, even though it stalled over a year ago but hope to get it going again and, for that matter, get back online with you guys soon. The withdrawal symptoms are hell.

Basically I used a Logitech wingman including the FFB motors and extended the shaft. I used decent pots to a Bodnar board and I think you can see I geared up the pot rotation to get a full turn. It worked pretty well except for the FFB hence the odd springs to give me some centering. A bit of subsequent digging has made me suspect the pots need to connect to the logitech board for FFB to work as they need to be part of a loop.

I also made some pedals which were operated using drawer runners but the runners were very noisy and notchy so I intent to use pedals hung from above like a P47 etc. As you see from the mechanism I geared up the pot on that as well.

Have also included a piccie of my Bodnar Board switch matrix using the probably unnecessary diodes. What a mess - hope it works after all the fiddly soldering. Would just buy the new version now that dosn't need diodes.

From what I understand, the 10 and 12 bit Bodnar's don't need diodes if you are only going to use momentary switches.

Only for toggle switches, rotary switches, or encoders the diodes (or the BU0386X) are necessary.

(look at me, neophyte talking like I know it all... LOL)

I've always wanted to extend my shaft. Er..... let me rephrase that....

I've always wanted a more realistic flight control stick. There, that's better

Best of luck getting back to it Shadrach. Was there anything in particular that stalled the project? Maybe Brando, or FT, or MT or someone else might have an idea to get you back on track

C_G

[Shadrach]

Thanks for that C_G. Much appreciated.

I had the joystick mounted on a box with the drawer runner pedals each side and a metal framed, plastic chair from the dump to sit on. As I said, it worked quite well apart from lack of FFB and the notchy action on the pedals. In fact I was using it when I first joined the Dogz and even made a rare successful carrier landing that first session. I also lost the connection to one of the pots so thought I would sort it all out and got a Sidewinder FFB2 to use whilst I was working on it. Because it took up a bit too much room it ended up going out in my workshop / outhouse and of course events and procrastination overtook it and it gradually disappeared under other bits that joined it and ended up gathering dust and cobwebs.

The advent of CloD and it's need for more buttons and sliders fired up my enthusiasm again and the first thing I want to do is build a button box / control panel with trim wheels and a throttle control etc. I have all the bits I need and the idea is to mount it on my Saitek quadrant so I will have those control levers incorporated as well.

Sadly, as life would have it, I find myself a bit swamped with other stuff at the moment. I am doing a big reorganization on the house plus I have an old shed in the corner of the garden which was collapsing under brambles and a Russian Vine and the neighbour was getting a bit shitty because it was threatening his fence and green house, which was fair enough, so I've cleared all that away and any bits I salvaged from it are now in the outhouse to be sorted so thats all cluttered again.

Plus the wife isn't too well at the moment. She tends to suffer from depression alot, issues from her past and marriage to me I expect but shes going through a spell so all in all I am just getting to look in the forums and occasionally fire up CloD and fly a mission on auto pilot. All very sad.

[Crash]

Sorry to hear about the real life issues, but sometimes its good to get a break from it and indulge yourself in "blowing shit up" I love this do it yourself hardwear stuff. Hope that you can start flying again soon.

[DD_Brando]

You're absolutely right about the pots needing to be connected to the Logitech circuit board for FF to work. Not only that, but also the FF motors and their DC input. I'm not sure whether you can substitute better pots in the circuit. It may be possible if the ratings are similar and could correct some of the faults that Logitech pots are known for.

I think the notchy, rattly stuff you report with the pedals is just down to materials. I find that angle metal works well if it is bonded onto rubber which is then bonded onto the baseboard. The insulation that method gives makes a super difference.

I've gotta go. Real life and I've got to fetch ma-in-law to Sunday dinner. Sharing the load with your missus, that's a good thing to do

cyl

B

[Shadrach]

The pots are definately the weak point of the Wingman, pathetic little things held by plastic clips. I found more wear developed in the clips than movement in the pots which made the stick useless. The original pots are still attatched to the board so it should be a simple matter to disconnect them and attach them to the Vishay pots I have fitted to the mod. The only worry would be if the resistance of the Vishay pots were much lower than the Logitech ones and caused the board to burn out. I have tried using a multimeter on them but the Logitech pots are so worn and spikey I can't get a reliable reading. All the motors and switches are still connected correctly.

The Logitech motors are suprisingly powerfull considering their size and toylike appearance. Up there with the Sidewinder I would say and the Sidewinders motors are massive in comparison. Maybe size really isn't everything.

The main thing the Logitech stick has over the Sidewinder is the software. Fully adjustable with sliders compared with the Microsoft 'take what you're given' offering.

The runners I used were metal rails with small nylon wheels. A lot of the problem was with the springs I was using for centering. I quite like the idea of having swinging pedals. I thought ball bearing fire door hinges would be a good way to hang them. I can also get stiff slotted plastic tubes from work that contained foil printing plates. They have the makings of a good torsion bar for centering.

[DD_Brando]

The best replacement would probably be Hall sensors though I'm uncertain what effect FF would have on their functionality.

Here's what I found regarding ratings:

Force 3D/Strike Force 3D

DigiKey: 963223-KIT-ND FORCE 3D

DigiKey: 963191-KIT-ND STRIKE FORCE 3D

RES,VAR,100K,50DEG,+/-10%,PLAS 3 X, Y, Twist

RES,VAR,100K,70DEG,+/-10%,PLAS 1 Throttle

Extreme Digital 3D

DigiKey: 963193-KIT-ND EXTREME DIGITAL 3D

RES,VAR,100K,50DEG,+/-10%,PLAS 1 Twist

RES,VAR,100K,70DEG,+/-10%,PLAS 1 Throttle

RES,VAR,100K,50DEG,+/-10%,PLAS 2 X, Y

and straight from the horse's orifice - DigiKey

[Shadrach]

Thanks for that, Brando, is there nothing you can't find on the internet? Those pots look identical to those in the Wingman. I'll check the Vishay pots again and compare. I have some hall sensors too but as the Vishay pots are already in place I'll hope they'll work.