rabidscoobie

So I played with trying to learn to wire up the Micro Pro. I only did it in PS so not to screw anything up.If I get it right on paper then I'll know Im doing it right on the real parts. So in my diagram I acted as if I was wiring it up, do I get it right or is there anything wrong with my way of thinking here?

After thinking about your above quote here I got to thinking. Since I am using an Arduino Micro in the stick and another in the throttle there is no need to connect the 2 together so as to use them separately if needed. But you said that MMJOY would allow you to use a "Shift Modifier" button, since Im using 2 boards does that mean that each stick will need its own "Shift" button? OR can I for example use the pinkie button on the stick as a "shift modifier" to also control the buttons on the throttle? Or will I need to link the 2 controllers with a cable to achieve this?

No. All I did was solder 2 wires to each button I wanted to use to extend them up into the grip. The original buttons are still intact and functional, I just have the option to use them without using my other hand or taking my hand off the grip. So its still 6 buttons of which is more than I needed for my purpose on he x52 stick. With the Saitek software I can use the pinkie switch as a shift button that will also allow thos 6 buttons to become 6 more buttons for the ability to have 12 total.....like I said way more than I needed. Since all I did was basically copy those 6 buttons it still functions exactly as it originally did,just a different button placement. I even did something similar on the throttle. The middle mouse click button and the other thumb mouse button are just aweful either in use or placement on it. So I added 2 buttons under where my fingers rest on throttle and linked the buttons the same a I did on the stick. Made it more ergonomic and ease of use of which is all I was going for with it. I have done similar to other sticks through the years. I have no use for buttons at the base of the joystick, so I just copy those buttons to added buttons on the grip. My only issue with the x52 is I HATE the software and drivers plus the crappy centering spring it has. Makes precise movements and aiming a chore. I tried different mods for it but none really did much for that issue. Its one of my main reasons for modding the CH HOTAS I got coming...well that and I got the setup cheap(gameport connections). So I'll either get it setup and modded to my preference or totally screw it up...:music_whistling: Either way Im not gonna loose much since I already most of the basic parts for the mod/conversion. Anytime and old joystick,mouse, gamepad etc dies I rip them apart for anything that can be reused on other projects.

I did the same thing to my x52 stick awhile back. It has 6 buttons at the base and I just ran some extra wires from them to add a thumb button and a couple of those long style tact switches to the right upper side of the stick so I could just bump my index finger up into 1 of them. Actually worked better than I thought it would.

True. I have them working fine so far. Just got to have that Xbox cable for firmware upload...weird. And you answered another question I was wondering about: "BTW - MMjoySetup allow set one button to be modifier for another buttons, a "shift". " So I can use 1 button as shift for the others it I wanted....:thumbup:

From what I have gathered with info from Sokol is this: Windows limitation 32+POV HAT (4) =36 buttons and MMJOY allows up to 6 axis. This page and the previous page he is explaining basically what your asking. Im just learning the Arduino board and have not gotten into wiring it up just yet. The info I just gave are just copy paste from what Sokol has told me over the last couple pages of this thread. Im waiting on my Joysticks that Im converting to USB and modding to come in.

Yes I know that part. But what I am meaning is that unless I use the Xbox cable before a firmware update I do not even get power to the board,no power,no lights....nothing at all. To do the firmware update the board will only accept the xbox cable to do that and the others I tried gave nothing. So for some reason it requires a specific cable to power up the board before firmware upload. I hope I didnt sound rude,we are just getting our communications mixed up a bit. Guess it could be just specific to the micro pro's i bought.

Well update on the different USB cables issue. If I use any cable before a firmware update, it will not detect the board plugged into PC, but once the firmware is loaded any of the USB cables I have work. Only the XBOX One Charging USB cable will allow for updating the firmware....at least the cables I have.

Yes my board uses the micro b cable. But I tried 2 cables and the PC would not see the board plugged in, no USB sound saying I plugged it in and nothing shown in devices. The PC would not see the Micro board until I used the cable that charges my Xbox One Controller. Physically the cables all looked exactly alike. So I wasnt sure if the micro boards required some specific USB micro B cable. And yes I'm gonna get a couple those short cables but didnt want buy any until I knew about this issue here. Cable from my Cell....didnt allow the board to connect Cable from my Tablet...didnt allow the board to connect XB1 cable...worked perfect. Thanks again.

Gotcha. Yeah I thought about trying to swap out the 2 way with the red thumb button if it would fit,right now Im just guessing since I havent got it in the mail yet. With the info you've given so far Im able to plan more on what I want to do and read up on the way to wire it up nicely.

I forgot to add, Is there a certain type of USB cable that needs to be used with these boards? When I first plugged in the Micro board my PC didnt detect anything plugged in. I had used a phone USB cord,tried another phone cable and nothing. I used my Xbox One charging cable and it worked just fine. I didnt know there was really a difference between USB cables.

Thank you again. Now it makes more sense to me. Im sure I'll have another question or 2. My boards are the generic Sharkfun Pro micro style. Now here you said: "The 4 or 5 way switch (e.g. Alps) is connected like any other button, generally they have a pin common to all buttons, wire this for a matrix column (the ones without diodes). You need understand well how the matrix work before start, matrix allow use few wires, but create a "spider web" inside joystick. For the top part of grip the ideal is "decode" the matrix already used there. Decoding the matrix used on grip and adding here 1/2 buttons make the work simple." I believe the 5 ways I ordered were the Alps. All the posts Ive seen for wiring up matrix show use of diodes,I have not seen any diagrams for wiring a matrix without diodes. Im reading alot on wiring while I wait for the sticks to come in. The stick I feel will be simple so I'll start with it first but the throttle will be a bit more trouble I feel with what I want to do. The throttle is a non pro version. I didnt find out much about it really. Does the non Pro have just 1 hat and buttons or does it also have an analog thumbstick? From a pic I saw it looked like it had 6 buttons, 2 hats, or 1 hat and 1 thumbstick. But info wise I couldnt find much on it. For the price of them both around $30 shipped Im not gonna complain.

Ok Ive been reading a lot of your posts on the web Sokol and I seem to have a good understanding of how to wire the buttons in a matrix. So I am planning that out. But when it comes to adding the Rotaries and axis I not so sure I understand what I have read. Do the axis also wire up in a matrix similar to the buttons or does each axis being used connect to its own pin on the board? I guess same question goes for the rotaries. Also will the hat switches connect to a certain pinout or are they just part of the button matrix? Also need to note: The Ch throttle i got appears to be the non pro version. looks like it has 2 hats and the rest are buttons. I plan to add another 4 way hat and I have these 5 way tact switches, How would these connect to the pins. I have the Pro Micro boards. I already loaded the firmware,was simple.Got both boards on my first try. The Stick will use all its original buttons with a couple added. But the throttle I play to do a bit of work on. Got lucky, my local electronics store was closing the doors so I got most of what I needed for 80-90% off. Thanks again for the help.

Oh ok got it. Not bad engineering on that pinkie lever. Gives me something to think about. Thanks again.

Somehow the first time I read your reply I completely missed this tid bit. "What I suggest - depend on your DIY sill is add a "pinky paddle" in joystick, this will use one more button, and although I don't find this useful, a second stage in trigger. I did this, just "o do". https://s8.postimg.org/tgdfuynk5/Fighter_Stick_MOD.jpg " I was already planning that but couldnt figure out what to use for the lever. Im really interested to know what you used there. As for the 2 stage trigger, I cant remember ever using it on the x52 Im using now. Seems kinda pointless for me. to be more clear on my last post about the gamepad style axis, I really dont need it to be 4 way directional, what I really would prefer is the lever/paddle style that the cheap TM FCS throttle uses, just side to side kinda like a rudder twist on some joysticks.

Thanks for the reply. Ok advice taken on the board. So basically this is what I would and will work for my needs: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCXMBOU...4A1UG0UN&psc=1 Ok so the 8 way POV Hat on the stick will actually only be a 4 way plus the 2nd 4 way hat will be the other 4 to make up for the 8 way hat on the board. Makes sense to me now. As for the throttle, I have not received it yet and I honestly dont know how to tell the difference between the pro and some others they may have made in the past. To me looks like the Pro thats listed on the web site, its not the quadrant throttle. Yeah about connecting the 2 together, I thought about that and will use 2 boards to keep them independent of the 2. My plans so far are to remove the 1 hat by itself on the throttle and either move it over to more the middle of the handle and add the rotary in the original hat position or possibly remove the hat altogether and replace it with a thumb style stick similar to a game pad to use with my index finger if its possible. Or instead of moving the hat from throttle or deleting it just move it over to the big grey button on the Combat stick and not have that button,similar to the Fighterstick setup. I play space sims also so that would be huge help for that with the 6dof movement plus combined with my TM rudder pedals would make a versatile setup. Now I need to read up on this matrix wiring to get a better understanding of how it works. Any thoughts or suggestions about what rotaries to use? 1 rotary will be in the front hat position and the 2nd Im thinking on the outer end of the throttle handle to use with pinkie. And also any suggestions on a gamepad style thumbstick to add,would prefer it that way and not just a 4 way hat style, need to be like a joystick to control how much strafe side to side, forward/back etc. Im disabled with leg issues and cant always use the rudder pedals so this setup would work for me in those times. Thank you so much for replying so fast and helping. :thumbup: Im really new to this type of electronics but really wanting to learn this stuff.:book: Just dont know all the lingo talk and names of stuff all that well.

Hey everyone I started a thread asking about a project I am planning and the guy helping me directed me to this thread and told me I'd get help here. My original thread is here: https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=3116323#post3116323 Now for another question on parts needed as talked about in link above. For what I'm wanting to do, would anyone know of a parts list and what am I overlooking or missing here. Recap: Ch Products Combatstick and Throttle gameport to USB conversion+ adding 2 rotaries and possible a couple or so more buttons, plus not needing the throttle axis on stick but instead another axis added to the throttle on top of whats needed for the stock HOTAS setup plus the 2 rotaries. If using only one board to wire both the stick and throttle,how would I connect both to pc with one usb cable? I dont see any wiring diagrams or even what type of cable or connectors to link the 2 controls together for one board. A double check for my needs here. -I need say this board for both controllers...1 card or will I need 2, 1 for each controller? https://www.amazon.com/Qunqi-Leonardo-R3-development-Microcontroller/dp/B014H52DT4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492770086&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=Arduino+%22Leonardo%22+atmega32u4&psc=1 or these if I need 2 cards or 2 would just be easier,simple and a smarter way of going about it. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HCXMBOU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=246EDI8PJ0XIH&coliid=I2ZU664A1UG0UN&psc=1 -Whatever is needed to connect the 2 controllers togther.I havent found anything on that yet on how to do unless its just 2 cards I need.?? -My 2 rotaries -obviously the wires and such. Making sure and getting a list before I make the order to get it all in one go. Again this is for 8 axis Minimum of 10 buttons plus a couple or so extras I want to add 4x's 4 way hats 2x's 8 way hats Im also open to opinions on parts. And again Im new to using these boards so Im learning as I go but I dont think I'll have to much trouble doing it once I got a good handle on what I need. Thanks everyone.

Another question that I cant seem to find. If using only one board to wire both the stick and throttle,how would I connect both to pc with one usb cable? I dont see any wiring diagrams or even what type of cable or connectors to link the 2 controls together for one board

Thanks for the info and links. That wiki is gonna be a lot of help,didnt find it on my own before. Will do about posting in the MMjoy thread now that I know how Im going about it now, I'm sure I'll need help along the way. Thanks.been a big help to me.

Thank you for the help. Couple questions here. So if I understand right, the board I linked in OP is the correct type I need? If so then good Im understanding some here...:music_whistling: Also you mentioned the encoders,those would be for rotaries,correct? As for shift registers I kind of forgot about those if that means one button acts as a shift key to make all the buttons now do other functions.??? I know these are pretty basic stuff but Im just not familiar with all the terms used for this type of thing. I see in the post you linked he talks about diodes but I dont see any mention what diodes are needed,I most likely have them. Also kind of looking at rotaries, would this be the type I need.They dont mention the specs as far as 10k,50k or 100k type. From what I understand I need some around 10-50k https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0177VGSQY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=246EDI8PJ0XIH&coliid=I2KXN9VUT4K43Z combined with these caps or similar style,just not sure what size would work best. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KHSQF22/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=246EDI8PJ0XIH&coliid=I2215UMKUCGBNB

Also I forgot to add, If I am able to use only 1 board, how would I go about connect the throttle and stick together. I did read up on Sokol1 page here about the MMjoy stuff. I think I can do it with some effort. Im not new to modding controllers, just new to using aftermarket boards. I have built a set of rudder pedals in the past but I just robbed the electronics out of an old Logitech racing wheel, same goes for my button box and adding buttons to my x52. Just thought Id give some background on what I do know I can do and what Im not familiar with. Just remembered I will need the axis throttle on the stick,just wont need it on the stick. I plan to fab up a paddle type axis to put in front of the throttle handle similar to something like the Thrustmaster throttle has, the cheap one that is. I prefer to have that since I play ED and SC alot but also slowly trying to get back into flight sims again.Been years out of it.

I recently got my hands on a CH Products Combat Stick and Pro throttle for almost nothing. Problem is they are gameport version of which Im aware of. But I know they can be converted to USB and from what Ive seen doesnt look to difficult to do. I have soldering skills,understand some very basics. So what I want to be able to do is have all buttons and axis working. But I also want to be able to add 2 rotaries to the throttle. I have a good idea of how I want it. My issues is I dont really understand the function or the needed type of board to make it work. I need to know what PCB to use for the conversion. Do I only need 1 PCB for the 2 or do I need one for each,stick and throttle? What type of rotaries do I need,specs and such? How hard is it to setup or program these boards to make it work? I have no skill with programing,at all. What I think I need= Stick 3 axis and total 18 buttons 6 actual buttons,1 4 way hat and 1 8 way hat. I assume the hats act as buttons also. Not so important to have the throttle wheel working but prefer it. Throttle 3 axis for thumb and throttle. 4 buttons 3x 4 way hats and 1 8 way hat for a total of 20 buttons so 24 buttons in all. Plus the 2 rotaries I want to add,pretty sure that would count as 2 more axis. So in total I would need 8 axis or 7 if I omit the throttle on the stick if needed. 42 buttons. I would also like a bit of room for some extra buttons,maybe 2-4 more. Id like to keep the electronics parts somewhat economical on cost.Doesnt have to be name brand,just work well. If it helps I have some older controllers around that can be used for parts. I thought I could make use of some parts for the rotaries and such. Logitech 3d Extreme Pro Logitech Attack 3 Logitech Dual Action Game Pad. I have my Saitek x52 HOTAS but its my current setup now and dont want to mess with it in case I really screw up. For my research I have done I think I saw this suggested but I dont know about these boards for this project at all. https://www.amazon.com/Gowoops-Leonardo-development-Microcontroller-ATmega32u4/dp/B06XG18DH1/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1492747392&sr=8-14&keywords=Leonardo+PRO+Micro And https://www.amazon.com/KOOKYE-ATmega32U4-arduino-Leonardo-ATmega328/dp/B01HCXMBOU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492747392&sr=8-2&keywords=Leonardo+PRO+Micro Rotaries I have no clue. Any info and help is very appreciated, Thanks

Well i am from the US and I dont care who makes the real thing as long as the sim is good Ill play it. My only 2 complaints with this game is the control settings are really annoying to setup if you make a mistake there isnt just a single default setting to change back to,and the other is the type of software protection....activate/deactivate crap I hate.

So true,I still remember my first flight and it was also my first game to have ever played....The very 1st Falcon from Spectrum Holobyte(anyone remember them..lol) back in the mid 80's originally called F-16 Fighting Falcon.I remember me and my dad would connect 2 pc's by serial port and play head to head....lol.I was hooked after that and then LHX Attack Chopper came out from EA...man did I play the hell outa that...lol. Then after that it was Flight Of the Intruder,BOB Their Finest Hour,Chuck yeagers,Loved those. If your old enough to remember these games check out this: http://www.fighterops.com/forum/showthread.php?p=88547 I pretty much have played most of those games and actully still own all the 1's I just listed with all the original boxes and manuals.....just like new....lol.

To be honest,Ive been on so many forums and web sites the last couple days looking and reading I cant remember what all I have done....:noexpression:.Could have been,but if it was me I would be using the same nick as I have always used the same nickname for all the forums Im on.That sitedoesnt sound familiar.... And wow those are alot of mods,Ill give them a look.Thx