How do i make a zoom switch

[Dave317]

I want to make a simple spring loaded switch that i can use for zooming in and out without having to use any of the buttons on my warthog. Any idea how i would go about making something like this cheaply?

[cichlidfan]

The problem is that you need some type of USB interface for your switch and every one that I am aware of has far more connections than you need (you need three connections). There are some fairly inexpensive solutions but I don't know how you, personally, define cheaply.

 

Here is one vendor's options for a USB interface for your switches.

 

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=76_81&zenid=55cgrc07321105dln2eqr4a9v0

 

As you can see, it will make sense to add more switches, which also increases the investment just in switches.

[Thick8]

I think most of us use the dial to the right side of the throttles. It's not spring loaded but it is very easy to set up. I guess you could put a light spring on it so it will return to the zoom out position when you release it but you would have to hold it in place while you are doing what ever you are doing to maintain zoom.

John

[FSFIan]

This should be possible for about $5 plus the cost of the switch (more if you don't want to wait for delivery from China).

 

All you need is an Arduino board (or some other microcontroller). The cheapest option there seems to be the Pro Mini (plus a USB to TTL Serial adapter because the Pro Mini does not have that onboard).

 

Then write some Lua code that talks to your hardware (should be easy to adapt my work-in-progress DCS-BIOS project for that) to execute code in Export.lua.

 

To start zooming in: LoSetCommand(39)

To stop zooming in: LoSetCommand(289)

To start zooming out: LoSetCommand(40)

To stop zooming out: LoSetCommand(290)

 

You can also make the microcontroller on your Arduino into a proper USB keyboard/joystick using the V-USB library and a few passive components. I don't know if there is an Arduino port of V-USB (when I used it to connect a few rotary encoders, I did not use the Arduino platform), so you may need an AVR programmer for that (I think you can use a second Arduino board for this).

[Dave317]

Thanks for all the replies. I remembered I've got an old usb stick in the loft not doing anything. There isn't any problem tearing it apart and rewiring new switches is there?

[Mr_Burns]

Thanks for all the replies. I remembered I've got an old usb stick in the loft not doing anything. There isn't any problem tearing it apart and rewiring new switches is there?

 

Its your joystick mate, you dont have to ask us!

[Mr_Burns]

Oh I see what you mean, you would have to have a slider on the old stick, if it had a throttle, couldny you just reuse that instead and mod the case?

 

I dont think you can just go wiring new switches unless they are the same connectors.

 

If its old, just have a play around.

 

Alternatively, if you can get a small USB keypad which are infinately available on ebay, you can use that to zoom and again, mod it to look different? Remove the other keys?

 

I use a mini USB keyboard set up as the UFC and use a switch on the Joystick as a multiplier, then when I want to use the UFC I just pull the multiplier and use the mini keyboard.

[FSFIan]

Thanks for all the replies. I remembered I've got an old usb stick in the loft not doing anything. There isn't any problem tearing it apart and rewiring new switches is there?

 

No, there is not. You could just wire up your (ON)-OFF-(ON) toggle switch in parallel to two existing joystick buttons, then map those buttons to the "zoom in" and "zoom out" functions in DCS.