Whiplash

Dang Boris, that looks great. I'll have to look at the circuit later but what sydost said looks correct.

That is interesting, I might have to play with that. Instead of wiring it to my warthog though I would likely use a teensy board. Awesome, glad I could help.

I am a bit confused by your explanation with using the extra axis channel from your pedal board. Are you talking about splitting the same optical sensor and wiring it to the the axis channel of your other board? If so how will that effect the centering force on the SWFFB2 unless you wiring it back from the your other board to complete the loop. I am under the impression that if you want the FFB to work properly the axis has to be part of the same board but perhaps I am mistaken. Does that make sense? I am probably missing something here. In either case I agree with you, if the DZ can be reduced then there would likely be a much more precise center position. Also have you notice the force almost feels like it is stepping up as it increases. This would likely be improved with a higher resolution sensor as well because I am assuming the current to the motors is a linear relation to the degree of motion from the optical sensor.

Its pretty interesting that you guys brought this up... I have been testing the hall sensor setup I made. Part of it might just be my lack of experience of making such a sensor but I noticed zero improvement and given the bulky mounts it was requiring, I decided to scrap the idea all together. I was unaware that the sensors used in the SWFFB were optical sensors and not pots but that makes sense given their size. There is a bit of a dead zone that I noticed gets amplified when you extend the stick on SWFFB. However, now that I have experience with an extended warthog stick, I don't think a slight dead zone is all that bad for the SWFFB. The reason being, the SWFFB doesn't have a definite precise center like the warthog so having a slight dead zone is almost necessary. The one thing I thought hall sensors would fix is the slight throbbing sensation I felt from the force feedback (after doing the resistor mod). I thought this was due to the pots flickering but now that I know its not a pot but an optical sensor I think the throbbing is due to the increase current to the motors. All electric motors have a pit of a vibration to them when under load and I think the resistor mod amplifies this. In the end, the throbbing/vibration is only noticeable when you are trying to fly level, once you actually ably load to the stick and the FFB tension takes over you don't notice it anymore. As for durability, my stick has been holding up pretty well since I did the resistor mod. It would be interesting to see what Peter P's doubled up version feels like in comparison but I suspect his method is a much more robust way of getting more force from the stick than the hack I did. I am working on a counter weight version of my stick which I think will have a whole feel of its own. The only problem is that I am also trying to use my warthog with it and I am finding that it is going to take some crazy amount of weight or a little more creativity on my part to balance everything so the stick will remain centered when the power is cut to the force feedback. If you did the resistor mod with the doubled up mod I bet that would work really well with your cougar grip. Since I have two SWFFB this might be the approach I take if I decide I still want more force with my counterweight.

+1 Nice work and thanks for sharing!

Before you start soldering the stick to your teensy I highly recommend you get a multimeter. There is more then one way to do this, but if I were going to do it I would map out each switch on the stick first with the multimetere. The breadboard is nice because you can easily make changes while you write your script and test the stick but then I noticed it doesn't look like you got the teensy board with the pins so a breadboard wouldn't do much for you any ways. With the multimeter just test the switch first than solder it to the teensy board so you know you did it right. I wouldn't plan on using the board in the stick. I would rewire each button directly to the teensy. Looks like you are on the right track though, thanks for sharing!

I had two X52's one standard and one pro. I got the pro after my standard broke because I was too cheap to buy a warthog (this was before the x55 was released and there weren't a lot of other options I liked). Iam mostly interested in WWII flighters and so I never had a need to mess with the key programming software that came with the X52. Then I started messing around with Falcon and some of the other modules on DCS (Blackshark, Huey, etc). I quickly found the programming software that came with the X52 to be extremely buggy. So much so that I figured it was time to upgrade to either a warthog or X55. I read some reviews and no surprise they pointed me to the warthog. The hard part is deciding if its worth over twice the price. The only thing I can say to that is if I would have decided to just buy the warthog out right before purchasing both X52's I would be still using it to this day and I wouldn't have wasted the ~$325 on useless crap! I have never played with the x55 but it does have mixed reviews. Even if its is a major improvement over the X52 I still think that you are better off with a warthog if you plan on playing flight sims for a long time. I'm sure the x55 is a decent stick but if you are serious about flight sims I don't think you would regret spending the extra money on the warthog. FYI I just sold my used X52 pro for $80+shipping on ebay and it was slightly damaged. Not sure if that helps or not.

Sorry, my email account decided to start blocking my forum notification and since I haven't been frequently visiting this section I missed your response. As long as the switches work on the CH you should have no problem wiring it to a teensy board. I actually just picked up a warthog myself so we might be working on the exact same project here soon enough. I also purchased a seat from a 350z off craigslist. So I made these mounts for the warthog. The square tube fits in a channel piece that is secured with a knob screw. I just losen the knob and pull the throttle or stick out and I am just left with a less than normal office chair. I used that for a day or two before I decided to make an extension for the warthog. It was just too hard to go back to such a short throw after I have been using my modified sidewinder for so long. Next I plane to make a base for the warthog on my Sidewinder FFB and forgo the teensy board and just make a mount under my chair for the warthog base then run an extension cable up through the Sidewinder FFB. I will definitely be using a counterweight though. Given how lite the stock stick is and how much a PITA it was to fly without the ability to let go of the stick its definitely mandatory in my book. I'm also working on a mod to convert the pots in the Sidewinder to hall sensors. I'll be sure to post more as I progress. If you got em I'd like to see some pictures of your project as well.

Sorry about that SnowTiger, you should have access now. I thought I activated your account from my phone a few days ago but it must not have gone through. Let me know if you still can't log in.

Note the Team Speak IP has changed. Please see first post for the new address.

Just got done listening to your pilot episode. I am a big fan of podcast as well. Thanks for putting in the time and effort to produce this. Definitely looking forward to other episodes. :thumbup:

Doing a barrel roll right after takeoff was one of Bob Hoovers signature moves. Given the number of aircraft he's flown I wouldn't be surprised if he's even done it in a HE 111. Edit: I just realized he's not taking off in the first part of the video but I do know that was his trademark.

Those resistors should do it. Stick one of those on top of each of the four I highlighted in the picture and you will have doubled you force feedback. Pretty much everything you just described there will work but just be aware there is some programming involved with getting the teensy board set up. I can help you with it but it will require a bit of intuition on your part. Also I don't think the x45 grip will be a lot heavier than the sidewinder but you may want to think about counter weighing the stick in which case there won't be room in the case for the counter weight. My current version doesn't have a counter weight but it is pretty annoying when I'm spooled up on the deck in the Huey and I take my hands off the stick and falls over and causes my rotor to go flying off. Maybe if you don't counter weigh it you might want to just make the light sensing diode a switch so that it doesn't go limp when you take you hand off it. Just remember to turn it off when your done or things might get a little hot if you leave it on over night.

I've noticed this too. It's gotten to the point where I don't even bother uncaging it until after I am airborne which is less than ideal.

I used the pre-programmed arduino to write the script for my teensy switch panel. It is a little intimidating at first but I can share that script with anyone interested. Once you have the basic functions its easy to customize. on another note: My only heli experience is with the huey and I'm curious to know why you need to map your force trim to the sidewinder, can you map that key to any joystick plugged in? The one thing I have thought about though is IR sensor. You could simply replace it with a switch but then you have to remember to turn it off every time you finish playing.

you could use any stick and wire it up to a teensy board as well. The benifit of the Teensy board is that it will fit inside the SWFFB case (only 2" by .7"). A link to the teensy board I use to make a switch pannel is here: https://www.pjrc.com/store/teensypp.html

I could be mistaken because I can't really tell from my pictures but I think there is only a contact pad and no through hole in which case you're probably best off going with SMD resistors. Another clean option would be to remove the stock 1 ohm resistors and replace it with a 1/2 Ohm resistor but that more or less adds another step depending on how you look at it.

+1, thanks for sorting it out. In case anyone else comes across an issue similar to mine, Maverick checked my IP and it appears I have the unfortunate circumstance of being in close proximity to someone who is permanently band from the server. I'm not sure how he sorted it out and he probably doesn't want to say for obvious reasons but everything appears to be working as it should.

I think those will do it. I used the 1/16w rated resistors and they were too small then I got 1W resistors and they were too big. I'm not sure what the correct watt rating is but you might want to consider a 1/4W or 1/2W rated 1 ohm resistor. it's better to have an over power rated resistor than an under one, although going to big will make stacking them more difficult. the 1/15W resistors im using work fine but they were really too small which made them hard to stck.

Not sure what they did but I can see the 104th server now. D0o0m said they are running a different IP now so maybe there was just a bad switch between me and them.

One other thing, if you are worried about the fumes from the flux just put a desk fan behind you.

No need for electronic theory, just solder the resistors like I did. Here is a decent tutorial with a lot of good info. ${1} I presoldered each resistor first then applied some flux to them because like the video tutorial mentions the flux in the wire boils off. Presoldering the resistors made a it a lot easier to stack them. As long as you re-apply flux to the presoldered ends all you need to do is stack the resistors and reheat the solder, physics takes care of the rest. Also another tip, in the video he uses a fancy tinsel wire mesh thing to clean his tips ($20+ At Radio Shack). While not ideal I have used steel wool or even a wet paper towel as an easy substitute.

If you go into the project with the expectation that you are going to destroy a perfectly good SWFFB then you have nothing to lose :D. Seriously though, I am always taking on projects that I am not sure I will have the skills or tools to do so I might be a little bias when I say you can do this. If you are concerned about your ability to solder I highly recommend spending some time watching youtube tutorials. There is more to it then just applying heat. The solder connection at the resistors is tricky so you might want to try practicing on some spare ones.

Nice, feels like you're really there. Now if only the technology exist to import that to a 3D model maybe sim cockpit development wouldn't take so long...

I am having difficulty seeing all the severs from the master list. In particular the 104th. I am not sure the problem is only with the 104th or with others but that is the one I notice the most. I have no problem seeing other servers (such as DoW's) and other don't have a problem seeing mine when I host. So far I have tried releasing and renewing my IP, run DCS W Repair, and restarting :P. If anyone else has any ideas as to what might be causing this issue I am all ears. I should also mention that I don't think the issue is with my ping, I have a fiberoptic connection and ping doesn't seem to stop me from connecting to servers that are much further away.