debolestis

Very nice work! Did you used shift registers from eagle grip or you made your own?

My PCBs arrived today. Unfortunately I am still waiting for shift register chips and resistor networks. Quality seems very good, it is also very small, when you look at it as a drawing in Eagle CAD it seems to be huge. I'll post results when I have all of the components.

post photos please

Or you can use film capacitors, it doesn't matter which type.

You can use electrolytic capacitor but you must be careful with orientation since it is polarized. It doesn't matter that value is 100uF, I see problem with voltage rating of 6,3 volts. USB voltage is 5V and it will probably OK, but always put double voltage rating if you can. Smaller film capacitors have voltage rating like 50 or 63V. Put something on your diy resistor net only if you think that it will touch something conductive somewhere.

BTW - Nice work Debolesis, the PCB looks nice. :thumbup: Thank you Sokol. It is minimum that I can do for community, I learned everything on game controllers from community and people like you who are always willing to help.

It looks nice, I am still waiting form my PCBs to arrive. These boards are through hole plated so you can solder from both sides, but I recommend to solder like in your photo. You need to be careful with resistor network orientation and 4021 chip orientation. I'd add capacitor anyway, maybe not necessary on all of boards if multiple are connected into single daisy chain. It is simple filter to protect circuit from interference that can happen if you use unshielded wires. Just solder it anyway, it cannot hurt, it will not change functionality. It doesn't have to be 100nf, anything close to that value is OK, 220nF, 470nF... 4021 is oriented properly. Look at this: This is proper orientation of resistor network, there should be dot where common pin is. If you don't have resistor network you can do it with 10K resistors, I will not look nice bit it can be done, this is schematics of resistor network: This one is with 10 pins but basically the same thing. As I said before I hope it works. Please post results. Soon I will make Pro Micro shield as well, everything will be plug n' play. Will you share your gimbal design? I bought warthog grip few days ago...

Since there is no R26 in TM register, I left it out, If necessary it can easily be soldered on cable. We'll have to test this, I ordered boards for myself, they'll be here in 4 weeks and we'll see. Adding 3 capacitors in parallel is not necessary, more simple solution is to add capacitor 3 times larger in value. To be supper safe electro capacitor can be added, 10uF and that is it, also not very big. Let's hope this will work.:joystick:

8 bit shift register uploaded. ORDER LINK

16 bit shift register uploaded. ORDER LINK

24 bit shift register uploaded. ORDER LINK

So I checked this and there is R25 but not R26 in TM shift register. I updated PCB on OSH park web site. ORDER LINK I think now it is OK.

Thank you Mega_Mozg. In one post I found this schematics: I made everything the same on my schematics, except R25 and R26, I need to check this out. Maybe this is the reason why Thrustmaster boards have 10 pin resistor networks. Please don't order PCB that I uploaded until I figure this out.

First shift register uploaded, I hope it works. I don't get anything from sales, as I said I shall share all PCB designs. Manufacturer is OSH Park, this costs 17.50$ for 3 PCBs. There are cheaper manufacturers like Seed Studio in China, but for that I need to figure out how to make Gerber files. OSH has better reviews anyway. Purple PCBs, gold plated pads. Size is 90x26mm. Shipping is free!!! Soon I am uploading versions with 3, 2 and 1 4021 chip. As I said I hope this works. Save

OK, great, I was wrong. It makes things easier. Thank you Mega_Mozg!

I finished 1 chip shift register PCB. These PCBs can be daisy chained, up to 4 chips, MMjoy2 supports 4 chips max and 2 shift registers. I'll make versions with 2 and 3 chips tomorrow. This way it is possible to have shift registers in different locations inside controller, for example in grips, and then a few more chips in enclosure for additional switches.

So I spoke with a friend of mine who is an expert on this things, and he said that switches can be connected to GND or VCC, it doesn't matter because controller interpret signals. Since on TM boards (that work with MMjoy2) switches are connected to GND, I'll do the same. Pin 11 on first chip. It is usually grounded since open pins in CMOS lead to unpredictable results, floating CMOS pins increase current consumption and sometimes floating inputs leads to oscillations and for some more advanced CMOS technologies to long term self destruct. But he also said that in 4000 series this will not be a problem. TM PCB doesn't have pin11 grounded because it can be used for daisy chaining with other shift register boards, pins for that are on TM shift register, but are not used. I'll finish PCB today, now I need to find a company that will manufacture prototypes. I could do single chip shift register, and make it in a way that supports daisy chaining. BTW great work recoilfx, what is the shape of your cam profile?

Probably they had a few milions in stock. 9pin networks are avilable on ebay. I'll use 9 pin.

I need to test that, thing is that network on TM shift register has 10 pins, and there should be only 9 for switches, maybe there is something with that.

Do you have schematics from il2 forums? You posted board layouts. I see that there are some differences, I'll look into it. I added a capacitor. On TM board there are only resistor networks, no additional resistors. It works with MMjoy2 so I think they are not necessary.

I found this schematics, Is this OK for shift registers? I didn't test it yet. On the bottom chip, few switches are missing but they can be added like in upper chip, I think. Does anybody has experience with exporting Eagle CAD files to gerber files?

My plan i to make versions with 1, 2, 3 and 4 chips. 8, 16, 24 and 32 switches. Version with 3 chips is for grips like Cougar or FLCS, F22. 1 chip is enough for TM B8 grips, for Suncom 2 chips are enough. 4 chips with 32 switches can be used for button boxes, or whatever you need. Mmjoy2 supports 2 shift registers, 64 switches. 2 wires per switch can be used bu not necessarily. Red pins are connected to same point, you don't have to use them all but you can if you want to. Without diodes there will be much less mess in the end, I think. It can be used like Leo Bodnar's BU0836X. Difference is that one BU0836X costs 50 pounds, for that it is possible to buy a few leonardo pro micro boards and 10 sift register boards. My idea is to use dupont connectors and jumper cables. Less soldering, less mess. That is my line of thinking. If you have suggestions please tell me and it can be added on the board.

I think I finished schematics and board layout, I think I connected everything right. This is how it should look like. Maybe I could add two mounting holes. Dimension are 85x25mm.

This my idea for shift register board. In this case it has only 2 4021 chips, for 16 switches total. Now I'll make PCB with 4 chips for 32 switches. I used a little different pin out for switches. On picture you can see 2x8 pin heads, 2 pins for each switch, I think it is more practical. I used resistor networks instead of individual resistors (red). Yellow is capacitor, it is on Thrustmaster's PCB so I added it as well. Nice thing is that Eagle CAD can export its files to sketchup. :) I just need to learn how to create gerber files needed for PCB manufacture in China. There are many offers on eBay like THIS. 10 PCBs for 25$. 4021 chip costs 0,2$, in the end it is really not expensive. I'll post files soon..

I am just designing shift register for 32 switches, I shall share it, also I shall design shield for pro micro with plenty connecting options. I was looking on ebay for pcb manufacture and it is not expensive, we'll see but all together should be cheaper than 50 $ for multiple pcbs. I am still learning eagle cad but i am getting better. If you have ideas please let me know.