Swetrekki

haha, i will but Oakes gets prio, i don't have anything build yet ;)

Any chance that your friend would have another one lying around... :)

that thing is just plain ridiculous !!!

I was under the destinct impression that Saitek X52 PRO used hall sensors... better than optical in my book, as they are cheap and easy to replace in the unlikely event that they should go belly up. been runnign my X52pro since they released it, and i have had no problems like the ones you are describing (could be i'm just lucky though) the earlier saitek sticks (i started off with the X39 after my second set of thrustmaster pfcs and throttle gave up) had a bunsh if issues, must have replaces 8 pots or so and the x45 was no better. but knock on wood the PRO is solid in my book. btw, DYI stick is not that hard, or expencive if you can live without FF and fancy macros. good luck

any luck using losioc?, i dont have the opencockpit cards (yet) but there is a version for lockon, i would have guessed that it would be similar or easy enough to adapt for BS (he said without not really knowing much about a. losioc b. programing c. opencocpit card usage )

LOL trigger you really need to get that webpage up and going mate, your not going to have time to build that lovely rig of yours otherwise ;)

:( Well I'm not a happy camper!!! it now seems like the seller on Ebay wasn't too happy or something that i was the only one interested in buying the joystick, and does not want to sell it with the excuse that "Im not shipping to sweden" With the risk of sounding like a Nigeria letter :( Urze, I dont know you but i trust all you fellas here in the forum, is there any chance that I can have him send the stick to you (since you live in germany) and then you could put it in the mail to me, I'll pay all the expences ofcourse. Please please please..... edit: I must really want that stick since i overreacted like this... he just responded that he would check the freightcost to sweden tomorrow. boy am i embarrassed or what :o

Haha, well we want a happy trekki, i guess. And I plan on useing hall sensor (självklart) edit: Well i sure hope your right because i just ordered the card and sensors :):):):):):)

sorry for hogging your build thread trigger but i'm tickled pink, i just won the bidding on an x fighter stick for the neat sum of 1€!!!! Now thats a good price!, now i'm off to order a usb card from leo bodnar and on that subject: Is it worth the extra cost to go for the 12Bit version? as i understand it the 2 cards are the same, besides the higher resolution (4095) ???

I knew there where plenty of info out there to tap into, that X Fighter stick looks just like what the doctor ordered. thanx Sokol1_br! I found one in germany and placed a bid on it, shipping cost will be lower thanks once more, and once i made a mold out of it I can make grips for you fellas out there as well :) If all goes well, i might end up casting it in aluminum, but im starting with polyethylene plastic :P edit, and yes trigger i will do it the same way, but i would recommend using extruded polystyrene board instead, easier to sand and set a good finish with, and it melts away just as good, you can find them under different brandnames but its generally called bluecore or pinkfoam (originaly used for floor insulation when building heated flooring)

The most annoying thing about that is that i had 2 PFCS (i think they are modeled on the Phantom F4 stick) but they are of course lost somewhere in the great beyond (parents attic) but the thing is that it was really plastic and actually wasn't full size!?! Funny thing is that it's probably the same grip that they use in the Cobra heli. it looks quite similar at least. so i full size one would be awsome ;) but i wouldn't mind a cougar (despite the balance issue) that said I'll take all the leads i can get so, yes please pm me the adress and i'll send him an email. tnx mate @CyBerkut tnx for the link, if triggers lead turns out to be a dead end i'll be sure to send them an email. buggs me that i KNOW I have/had 2 grips, but cant find them another funny thing is that a company called AMT/ERTL made a plastic model of the F16 and F18 cockpit, in 1:12, and a 1:1 model of the F16 stick!!! and yes i could have bought one 15 years ago but who knew. Edit, i think that it might have been ESCI that actually made the molds originally Edit 2: CyBerkut, aswered before i pressed save ;), you are dead on, I plan on building the base from scratch but weight might still be an issue. The Talon sure looks bigger, and i do have large hands, but to be honest i dont like the look of it. What i'd really would want is actually to get my hands on one of these http://www.migman.com/hw/control/tm/topgun_platinum.htm I could then use that as a base and make molds from it, and basicly build what ever type of stick i fancy. planning on using a connection system similar to the cougar (screw in contact) to be able to swap different grips and use the same gimbal and base. then i can really go crasy and build any style of grip i fancy :P My main concern is not the exact look of the stick, just that it needs to feel right and that you dont have to twist your wrist just to be able to press some of the buttons (as is the case sometimes on the X52) // trekki

I'm quite happy with my saitek x52pro, but i seriously started thinking about building a collective and cyclic just for the hell of it, the collective box i can mill out of a block of aluminum i figured, and the rest trigger has allready paved the way for ;) But where the hell can i get hold of a good cyclic grip??? i't doesn't have to be a black shark or a genuine F16 stick, but it HAVE got to be a "real" one. ie same size as the real deal... anyone got any ideas besides Ebay? BTW, trigger, this is all your fault ;)

well if anyone is going for the same setup, and have a single action piston lying around, an easy solution, if you are using fluids that is is just to connect the piston to a solenoid valve and connect a reservoir to the other side of the solenoid valve. No need for bleed valves and/or "one way" valves.

thats really great news trigger, you inspired and helped loads of us so its only fair that we help you ;) Oh, there is one more thing you can do... PICTURES PICTURES PICTURES :)

CyBerkut, i agree. And i had a bit of a rethink, that reservoir solution is what i used on a water cooling rig, but you probably dont need it come to think of it. The easy way to start out with this would be to build it something like what Cyberkut suggested. it ought to work well enough And if you are gooing to use it you still need a bleed valve otherwise you would still have trapped air in the system = bad thing, just like on a car

well the purpose is that its a whole lot easier to fill it, and clear off any air bubbles in the system, and make sure that it stays filled, even if there is a minute leak. just think of it as the breaking system in a car, its the same principle. Edit: come to think of it you might verry well skip the tank and the one way valve and just put a cut off valve there instead. it's cheaper and easier i guess.

I just think that the momentum that the collective arm is giving him would compress the air to much, and seeing as he didn't like the feel of the luggage strap that he was using in an earlier version i figured he is getting to be a bit of a perfectionist (and i love him for it) he'd be disappointed when it wouldn't be a more solid feel to it.... anyway, its not as fancy as your cad renderings but here is what i mean, and it is easy enough to build without leakage if you dont use modified air cylinders :P edit: an easy enough way to test it would be to connect the appropriate length of air tubing to the cylinder and connect both ends fo the tube to the cylinder, that would give you and indication of the compression.

The only issue i can see is that air is not that dense, and its easely compressable (think shock absorber), ie, you will have some give/flex and you will be able to move the the collective up and down without releaseing the lever. use a fluid instead (brake fluid or car coolant) that is much more dense and will not give a millimeter... abit more messy though, you will need a one way valve and a reservoir and a t-coupling as well.

well, if you don't want to fork out on pedals (just yet) then i would go for the X52 PRO I have it and the saitek pedals, and the HOTAS is great, the pedals im not 100% pleased with. the upside is that if you want to you can use the built in twist function for starter and get the pedals of your choice later on (perhaps building a set yourself, there are lots of threads here on building pedals and sticks alike). Probably the best thing you can do is go out and try to get a feel for how they fit your hands, that is very important, and in the end Im not gooing to use your stick, you are... //trekki

h-street, can you please confirm that the images are still up?, i can't see them on that papermaster site... // Claes

That side panel looks so sweet sitting there next to the collective, cant wait to see what you do with the main front panel Trigger! btw i cant access that link to your webpage... Address Not Found :(

Hehe, well there are lots of places where you can get 1gb data storage for a cheap cost. And if you make us some panels in that CNC mill of yours and sell them on that web page to the likes of me and the rest of the forum, you will probably not loose any money ;) one solution would be to put up the files as torrents... that solves the storage issue, then you could easily get by with a free webhotel solution or a 12:- a month solution. The sky is the limit!

trigger, you seriously should consider putting drawings and other stuff on a separate web page so people can download them directly, its really good stuff you got there, and im guessing that there are more than Stelios that would like to take a look/drool at the drawings ;)

nevermind...

+1 (well future OC user)