rel4y
-
Posts
969 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Everything posted by rel4y
-
Is the F-18 stick also made out of the crappy zamac zinc alloy as the Cougar and Warthog?
-
Hello, Did you get the PDF with calibration instructions? 99% of all problems stem from missing the step where you set the calibration mode correctly. I will PM you a picture. Kind regards
-
Sorry, currently we are sold out. I have everything ready except for the printed parts. Here comes the story... Two weeks ago I ordered new SLS printed cases for all mods over trinckle and just yesterday I get an email notification from some supposed engineer that my prints are apparently not printable and I should better rework them. Considering that I have printed them several times this year alone, this was quite surprising to me. Thank you for letting me know Mr. engineer! :doh: I am getting sick of these 3D printing services and their "engineers"... but a selective laser sintering printer from EOS costs like $200.000 which I cant really justify to the wife. The mail service is also gonna increase their prices next year (again) and the ECB is trying to tell me we are way below inflation targets.. yeah right! Geeez, this is so frustrating... On a more positive note, today I received a Thrustmaster F-22 and TQS which I sniped on ebay. Both are in good condition and havent been tinkered with. Once I am done with the CH mods I will return to the Thrustmaster stuff. So expect some cool mods for the F-22 and TQS in the future. :smilewink:
-
I think the manufacturer documentation is pretty clear that this is how it works. With every directional push you also activate the center button. For the ALPS RKJ hats to work as intended you will need another diode matrix. Here is an example for the 8 way version, the 4 way is a bit simpler. https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=3211912&postcount=483 Here is the corresponding thead discussion: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=138821&highlight=suncom+sfs&page=49
-
Contactless sensors with ball bearings do not make much sense in these positions as they provide nearly zero friction. The old pots have enough internal friction so they stay put in the position you set them at. The contactless sensors don't have this friction as they are, well contactless, so the slightest bump on your throttle may alter their current setting.
-
Hey guys, I have made new replacement hatswitches for the CH Fighterstick and uploaded them to Shapeways. These replace the standard CH Fighterstick DMS and CMS hats with ones modeled after original F-16 Block 50 DMS and CMS hatswitches. It is very straightforward and only takes roughly 10 mins to replace both hats. In terms of tools all you need is a Phillips screwdriver. I have made an easy to follow PDF tutorial on how to replace the hats. The PDF tutorial can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/9k0dq8iblk26tx6/CH%20Fighterstick%20hats%20tutorial.pdf?dl=0 Here you can find the hats on Shapeways. Sadly Shapeways has gotten rather expensive. I recommend printing them in "smooth fine detail plastic", which is a very detailed resin based 3D print. You an also paint them in any color. There are many tutorials on youtube for that. DMS: https://www.shapeways.com/product/B6CP2NNCX/ch-fighterstick-combatstick-f-16-castle-dms-hat?optionId=132228282 CMS: https://www.shapeways.com/product/47XP79YYD/ch-fighterstick-combatstick-f-16-boat-cms-hat?optionId=13223066 This is what the hats look like in 3D and installed. These are the prototype 3D printed hats and the final versions have some slight improvements from the photographed ones.
-
Oh, sorry about that. I will have a look at the mails.
-
I picked up the last mainboard parts (male micro USB plugs) from customs and now I have completed the boards. Besides being hard to find, these male micro USB plugs allow me to have USB data lines pinned out to the KF2510 connector. This way you can use the original USB cable of the CH devices and for gameport versions where no USB cable is existent, plug into the micro USB directly. This is what the finished CH upgrade mainboards look like now. I tested around and found the SMD decoupling cap wasn't doing it's job properly, so I added one directly to the ADC pins which now does what it's supposed to! :) Since I had to manually correct a few mistakes and therefore the board doesn't look as clean as it's supposed to, I decided to lable it a beta unit. This also reflects in price, it will only be 20€ a piece. The rev 1.1 version will be the production unit and cost 30€. It will also make my life during production much easier! Now don't get me wrong, rev 1.0 works fine but it's not perfect! I redesigned parts of the board, especially around the ADC and also fixed the two mentioned mistakes. I know getting a 12 Bit ADC with 1.2 mV steps absolutely noiseless is nigh impossible, but trying doesn't hurt! Currently it needs a 2x software filter to be noise free (which is better than the original CH board), let's see if we can get that down to 0x. :D Here are the finished new CH sensors. There's only a total of 15 and 3 of them are staying in my CH devices. So, get em while their hot! ;)
-
I've located the problem and fixed it! It was one of the SPI pins that was draining to ground. However these need to be pulled up in idle state.and not down! I had obviously at some point during design relocated that pin to a former ground pin and forgot to cut the connection to the ground plane. I found it while I was already redesigning the mainboard it of frustration. Well, that was a hard one... :doh: Now the ADC is working like a charm and I will finish my testing tonight. If all goes to plan I am ready to ship by the end of the week. :)
-
No news on the mainboards sadly.. I wasted almost 4 hours searching for the problem, but couldnt locate it yet! :noexpression: Also the last mainboard parts got stuck in customs and the notification came today after 2 weeks, even though the parts are not even close to relevant customs value.. Public servants at their best! :music_whistling: Buuut, very good news on the CH sensors! I am even suprised myself by how smooth they make the Fighterstick! Here is my dirty little test setup I soldered together and the VKB Joytester view. This is the completely unfiltered 10 Bit signal. When the stick is centered in the tik tok gimbal mechanism even a little wiggle within the centered position is picked up, thats crazy good and speaks for perfect fit in all the right places! Super smooth action overall, you guys will love it! :thumbup:
-
Sorry, had an important doctor appointment yesterday in a different city and not much time. I ran into some unexpected issues sadly. The button matrix, shift registers and the addon axis are working as expected, but the external ADC is causing me trouble. So far I've made good experiences with MCP3201/2 which were always working like a charm. These had Vdd and Vref on the same pin. The MCP3208s have an extra Vref pin and this time I left Vref floating to check if it uses internal Vref. In case it didn't work the fix is simple, as Vdd and Vref are neighbouring pins, so I can just tie them together with a solder bridge. But I simply get no output from any of the 8 ADC channels other than a stable 4095.. I'm confused! Voltage supply is a constant 4.9V. I'm at a loss currently... Maybe I mixed up some pins like MISO and MOSI? I doubt it but will check tonight! sorry guys, it's not always smooth sailing sadly! :(
-
After 3 nights of non stop picking, placing, soldering, cutting, wiring, gluing and flitting it is starting to look good for the new CH stuff. Haven't tested it fully yet, but tomorrow will be the day. :)
-
Most likely your email displays your real name and in this forum you are using your online handle, so I cant say for sure. :( Infact, there are about 40 unanswered emails in the mail account curently. At the moment we are sold out of USB adapters, as mtwsims (Thomas) has posted on the last page. We will definitely inform you and everybody else once we are stocked again. The following is just general information regarding emails and how you guys could make our ife easier. Usually Thomas takes care of answering these mails, but he is currently heavily occupied with personal stuff. It takes a lot of time to answer every email individually, time that then cant be invested in designing & producing new sensors. However, if people run into trouble and mail or PM us, I usually respond within a few hours. Most of the order mails contain one or probably all of the following questions: How much costs sensor xyz? Do you ship to country xyz? Can I pay via PayPal? Is sensor xyz in stock? Now dont get me wrong I love to answer all questions, but the first three are distinctly answered in the very first post of this thread. Thomas also makes regular posts about the current stock in this thread: https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=4075519&postcount=196 Now consider how much time it takes answering 30-50 of these emails with these questions about different sensors. I love designing mods and making stuff better. I am not in it for the money, infact from a monetary standpoint this sensor business is a complete waste of time compared to my regular job. I reinvest the earned money into buying new (used) gear and designing mods for it, or stuff like the Creality 3D printer. Thomas gets a large share to help finance his university studies, so you guys are also doing a good deed. :) PS: Just yesterday I started a new batch of USB adapters, so they should be back in stock in about two weeks.
-
Sure, PMed you. A few problems sounds like a few too many! :)
-
We are both back from vacation. I think Thomas is somewhat busy building his shed. He told me (a bit flamboyant) it would only take him 2 days, but so far its been 5 days and I wouldnt call that pile of planks a proper shed. :D I think I better have a look at the email and start answering a few, because that shed might just keep him busy for some time. :P More and more parts are arriving and so far everything fits perfectly. I made a little test batch of the new rev 1.2 CH sensor PCBs and everything is working great. Sadly I am still waiting for the 12 bit ADCs, but I am dying to test the new CH upgrade mainboard. The proper connectors have arrived already. More Cougar USB adapters are in the making, but they are not ready for sale yet. I have upgraded the PCBs for these as well.
-
Maybe it's for the Throttle quadrant, because the Pro Throttle definitely uses the same shaft type as the sticks but with a higher rotation angle. The pedals should also use the long shaft type pot on all three axis. However, I don't want to get into speculation here as I have first hand experience only with the sticks and pro throttle and don't want to mislead anyone. :(
-
Absolutely! I'll keep you updated. We are still waiting for the new sensor housings and a bunch of electronic parts. As said earlier everything should be tested and ready by mid November. :) I did, but I am a bit confused. Personally I don't own the CH pedals, but from what I was gathering online it should make use of the same type of potentiometer as the sticks and throttle. So I was expecting that my sensors will fit sticks, pro throttle and pedals.
-
Hey Gary, Has Thomas responded to you? He should be back by now, but I haven't talked to him yet. Otherwise I will have a look at your email. Thanks for staying patient my friend. :) If you already own a Fighterstick you won't need the Fighterstick conversion board, it is just there to convert Combatsticks into Fightersticks and add the extra 4 way hats the Combatstick is lacking. Plus that unnecessary but cool option of adding a superb quality knitter button. These are used in Formula 1 racing cars eg and I get wet panties everytime I feel the precise click of one. :music_whistling: You will be interested in the CH upgrade mainboard and the sensors I believe. These are completely plug and play, no soldering required at all. And I would argue two contactless sensors are enough as you are most likely not using the Throttle axis in the Fighterstick base. If you own a Pro Throttle you can theoretically buy another upgrade mainboard and improve the Throttle axis/ Microstick resolution of the Throttle, but I would definitely recommend the contactless sensor for the Throttle. It gets rid of all current or future potentiometer spiking. :thumbup: The CH upgrade mainboard will fit all CH devices, is completely plug and play, improves axis resolution from 8 to 12 Bit and adds countless expansion capabilities. I will make a new thread with detailed explanation once everything is ready to go.
-
The PCBs have arrived and everything is looking good. :) I honestly had my doubts about the Fighterstick conversion board, but everything fits perfectly. It should be able to fit a high quality Knitter button in the weapon release position, but I haven't tried that yet. Now we only have to wait for a few parts to arrive (ADCs) and we can start testing these little beauties. :) Upgrade mainboard price will be 25€ for the first batch of 10.
-
We are both on vacation. The CH throttle sensors are in stock and will not change any time soon. I am sure Thomas will message you once he is back in inhabited terrain. We are just hobbyists and try our very best to develop mods and communicate with you guys. But there are still our everyday jobs and family that take priority.
-
The Fighterstick or pro throttle eg only use 3 axis, so you can add 5x analog 12 Bit axis and 2x 14 bit digital axis and somewhere over 100 buttons extra. :)
-
No worries, I'm good for the moment. But a random ban wouldn't surprise me too much. :D
-
You only need the 0.1 uF bypass cap and two 10k weak pull up Rs on the CS and MISO lines for good measure. For short leads you wouldn't need these two necessarily. These pull the pins high in idle state to supply voltage level, in this case 5V. The other 4 low Rs (I think it was 50 ohms) are for line protection and the bigger tantal cap covers lower frequency transients. These are absolute overkill imho and the above three are enough. I have uploaded a free design to osh park which you can find here: https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/Omol0oNq (Just use 10k pull ups instead of 1k. 1k are strong pull ups only needed for higher frequency stuff like USB lines.)
-
Here is the production PCBs of the CH sensors if that helps with the waiting. I reworked them again and now they should "really" fit all CH devices. Panelizing was a pain in the ass. :doh:
-
I think you would be pleased with this board! :) I just ordered 10 boards and the corresponding amount of ADCs & MCUs. But I have to dial down expectations a bit, it will probably not be ready before next month. I usually use isopropyl alcohol, it worked very well on all sorts of pots so far. :) I am not sure that makes sense economically. A sort of Evenstrain mod might be rather simple to do. I may take a look at it sometime, but the next big project is force sensing and getting my Crosswind F-16 footrests cast in Aluminium. :)
