Thadiun Okona

Thanks, definitely going to make my own topic just wasn't ready just yet but with all the relevant grumbling about the Warty lately I had to at least say something :p Also, less drastic solutions are pretty effective for at least the scourge of sticktion, main topic of op, however the ergonomics/kinematics of the stock gimbals are-what-they-are and a different subject. Sticktion itself however is pretty easy to make go away if you use the right grease, and so long as you use the wrong grease you are just kicking the can down the road, but you also really have to stop letting dust/cat hair/lint enter the top of the gimbals, either make a boot or a plastic shield like I make, but don't leave that thing open or the hourglass runs out of sand in a hurry. http://imgur.com/a/9u123 Best: Nyogel 767a Acceptable: Molykote EL30 (thicker Molykote formulas likely better) Both synthetics good for plastic with excellent lubricating properties, however the Nyogel is a high tech damping grease that has no equal, it's not merely thick, this stuff is super stiff without offering the slightest additional resistance to break it from a standstill (I've experimented with a great many greases in friction mechanisms I make). Most thick greases actually induce ratcheting and have very poor 'breakout' properties, especially after a little evaporation and dust ingestion... Damping grease demonstration: Molykote is not in that test, but when I compare manufacturer specs on relevant viscosity values, the Nyogel is ~600% thicker, and that viscosity really smooths out the impact when crossing the detente in addition to really smoothing the feel of the gimbals. Nyogel 767a Viscosity Index 194 27840 cP (absolute viscosity) 40c Viscosity 32000 cSt (kinematic viscosity) SG = .87 Molykote EM-30L Vistocity Index 56 5096 cP (absolute viscosity) 40c Viscosity 5600 cSt (kinematic viscosity) SG = .91

'Easiest' way is using the brain from a known good FF stick such as MSFFII to generate the drive signals to run your own hardware. Other FF sticks don't do a good job at generating quality signals so are not worth hacking. Beyond that, making your own digital interface to extract necessary parameters and then be able to convert them to analog and then into drive signals to run through the amplifiers is exponentially more complicated, and well into the zone of diminishing returns since you will need to craft dedicated interfacing solutions for every single title you want to use it with. I've dabbled in this realm, and some of my stuff is on Roland van Roy's site linked by Sokol1, namely a circuit used to convert airspeed data>DAC into speed dependent centering forces. Your best bet is getting an old SMFFII and following Roland's formula above for beefing up its drive output to run bigger motors hooked up to your own hardware. Then you have near plug-n-play FF compatible with tons of titles, with all sorts of effects already there (landing bumps, stall shakes, trim loading, etc) without having to reinvent rather complicated wheels.

Sorry for the long post... at some point I'm going to make my own topic of it, but I'm in the process of designing alternate gimbals for the Warthog to replace the 'trailer hitch', which will retain the MX sensor and TARGET functionality, but on precision machined mechanisms. My goal is to design gimbals that are compact enough to fit in an enclosure the same form factor as the stock one, so those with proper installations can use it as a drop-in replacement without modification to mounts. Am making 2 different types, starting with opposing rocker arm construction (like CH Products or older VKB), as well as cam centering. My gimbals have provisions for spring centering on both sides of the assembly, allowing double the permissible max loads on the tiny mechanisms. Here's some shots of my prototype rocker arm version, however the newer iteration is just slightly smaller to meet my req. As the Rocker arm examples above have dual mechanisms, so will the cam versions. Anyone that's ever mounted a Warthog grip on VKB gimbals or used an extension on one will understand how soft it is, even with the stiffest spring and there is a limit on how strong that spring can be, hence double mechanisms. Obviously Warthog's stock gimbals annoy me as well, however so long as the sticktion isn't present they are passable for most situations. Keep in mind, not all greases are created equal, and many people swear by are not very good. I have settled on Nyogel 767a for this, an extremely thick damping grease that goes a long way towards taming the nastiness of that center detent as well as killing the ratcheting. However, no matter what grease you use, it's important not to let dust/cheeto crumbs/cat hair/etc find there way into the base, and the open topped enclosure has quite the apatite if ignored. I make/sell a super simple mod for stock Warthogs to keep dust out of the base enclosure. I'll be making my own topic for those shortly, but here's an album with pics/explanation http://imgur.com/a/9u123 Dimensions for the disc are there if anyone wants to cut out their own to try or use, or I sell my black mylar ones for $4 inc shipping in US and $5 international

It's pretty common that the tailstock/tailpiece that the locking collar rides on gets a little loose. The remedy is to open the grip halves (carefully so the trigger spring doesn't launch out) and tighten up the screws holding the tailpiece inside the grip. Wouldn't hurt to use a little Loctite on the threads, as it's annoying when it periodically does this.

That thing has great damping.

VKB's adapter would only work if this F-18 stick uses the same tailstock as the Warthog. It's not a threaded adapter that makes the Warthog's M-36x2 threads mate to the VKB base. To use it you have to you have to open up the grip and replace the tailstock/locking collar/minDIN connector with the VKB part that will then mate to the base, but the only way that part would work it would have to mount/fit the same way as the TM part.

Debolestis has a Shapeways page with the part you need. Not exactly cheap for a printed stainless tailstock from them, but then again neither would a replacement from TM these days, plus it's flat out nicer and much cheaper than the cast bronze ones the Ribbstick folks offer. He also has them with the fwd pitch to correct the ergonomics where they should be, TM made the stick too vertical to reduce its already nose-heavy condition, but on a FSSB gimbals that's a non-issue. http://www.shapeways.com/shops/debolestis edit: of course Sokol already posted this :p

Mine are all 2.5mm hex, not Torx.

Taking apart the grip is straight forward, and all the switches have wire harnesses with plugs on them to connect them to the board. If you get a new switch from TM, it's really easy to replace but that might not be so cheap. Try not to let the springs from the trigger go flying, you should be able to leave it in place for this operation.