Oakes Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 (edited) Hi all I finally broke down and decided to fix the Warthog Slew thingy. I understand that they tried to save a bit on the BOM cost but...:doh: Final result: Complete imgur album: Warthog Slew Replacement If you’re interested in the CNC I used for this mod, here are some really old videos of it in use: Youtube Below is a short guide, intended more as inspiration rather than an complete step by step guide on how to do this, be warned if you intend to do this you need to be able to read a wiring diagram, solder, manufacture a few parts out of plastic, calibrate the joystick in windows etc. On the plus side, if you are careful while doing the mod everything is reversible. Parts used: I used an ALPS type mini analogue joystick that I had bought several years earlier for another project (collective build for DCS:BS - ). Part no is RKJXP1224002, it seems that this part is end-of-life but I could find it in stock on eBay and Conrad + other various places. This part might also work: RKJXK1210002. When buying the joystick make sure that the diagonal dimensions of the square joystick metal housing are somewhat bigger than the diameter of the mounting hole. This is what’s keeping the joystick from going through the mounting hole from behind. A matching thumb-stick. I made my own on my CNC machine, but these should be available on ebay etc. A BU0836A USB Joystick controller from Leo Bodnar: BU0836A Some 5 wire thin cable, I used an old PS/2 extension cable I had laying around, a ribbon cable should work although I was a little bit worried about electrical noise from the rest of the joystick interfering with the analog signal so I wanted a shielded cable. You will also need a USB cable suitable for the connection between the USB controller and the computer. Some plastic sheet from 1.5 to 2.5 mm thick Glue etc The Mod: Ok, first thing is to get the original slew control out of the frame with an appropriate tool for the job ;) On second thought, don't use that tool, google a nice guide on how to disassembly the warthog throttle. In order to do this mod the same way I did it you need to drill out 4 pop rivets on the front of the throttle, however other than everything else is screwed together and it comes apart rather nicely. Since there is limited space in the throttle handle the idea was to fix the mini joystick in place without building an outer housing for the mini joystick matching the dimensions of the original slew control. In order to do this I made a face plate in 1.5 mm thick plastic that matches the dimensions of the mounting hole for the slew controller, make sure you include the little guide tab on the face plate. The face-plate will center the joystick in the hole and the metal housing will rest directly on the throttle handle plastic on the back of the mounting hole and thus preventing the joystick from going through the hole. I made the face plate on my CNC machine but it should be fairly easy to do this with scissors, a drill and a file etc. The hole in the middle of the face plate needs to be big enough so that it doesn’t interfere with the movement of the joystick shaft (including the thumb-stick that mounts on the joystick shaft). I also made a little center plate on the CNC, this plate was used to center the face plate on the mini-joystick while gluing the face plate to the mini-joystick. It is not needed but makes it easier to center the face-plate on the joystick. Face-plate to the upper left, centering plate lower middle, sliding fixture plate on the upper right: I scuffed the surfaces of the face plate and joystick housing with sandpaper, cleaned with a little alcohol and then used gap-filling super glue to attached the face-plate to the joystick. Make sure you mount the face-plate with the guide tab in line with the y axle on the mini joystick (as seen on the pictures) => this will make the joystick axles line up with the vertical and horizontal. The button switch on the side of the joystick should be to the left of the joystick when the guide tab is facing up (otherwise you will run into clearance problems later). Face-plate + centering plate: Face-plate orientation: Test Fit: My original plan to hold the joystick in place was to glue it to the throttle handle but I decided that it would be beneficial to be able to easily remove/replace the joystick at a later stage. Hot-glue might have worked now that I think about it…. With the faceplate in place the joystick cannot go forwards through the mounting hole in the throttle (the metal housing is bigger than the hole), but it can be pushed back into the throttle => we need something on the back to stop this from happening. The angle between the back of the joystick and the inner side-plate is not 90 degrees => we can use a sliding plate on a 5mm (M3) hex spacer mounted to the side-plate to push on the back of the mini joystick. Two fixture plates + washers etc pushing on the back of the joystick As you can see in the above picture, the further I push the slide-plates down on the hex spacer by tightening the M3 hex bolt the more force the plate exerts on the back of the joystick. The washers and the M6 nut also slides on the hex spacer (internal dimension is bigger that the spacer). Note that one of the slide-plates is slightly shorter than the other to account for the angle. Side-plate + fixture plates + washers etc When drilling the hole for the hex-spacer make sure you leave enough room for the sliding plate, aim for about 4-5mm distance between the hex-spacer and the centre of the joystick back plate. Add washers to both sides of the side-plate to stabilize the hex spacer. The side plate is made from reinforced plastic => I had some trouble with the drill wandering => use a drill press and a sharp drill if you have one (I do but I was lazy). Cables Next step is to make the cable that goes between the mini-joystick and the USB Controller card in the base of the throttle, if you haven’t done so by know you now need to remove the left throttle assembly from the base. I wasn’t able to fit the new joystick cable + the original cable in the channel => I had to remove the heatshrink from the original cable + remove the plastic insulation from the new cable, carefully taping both together in a flat configuration as seen on the picture below. To keep the shielding intact I also had to manually rewrap the strands of the new cable with shielding taken from the PS/2 cable. Make sure you leave plenty of cable in both ends to reach the joystick and USB controller card. The combined cables The combined cables in the channel Now solder the cables to the mini joystick, use heat shrink etc to protect the connection (or hot glue). Refer to the diagrams on Leo’s site for the correct connections. Make sure you leave room for the hex+ slide plates etc. In general you need: Ground +5VDC X Y Button connected to the joystick, ground and +5VDC goes to the outside of the pots and X and Y in the middle. If this is new to you I suggest you connect the USB Controller to your PC and experiment with this before you solder the wires to the joystick. Remember to leave some slack in the cable, you will need to route it around the other hardware in the throttle handle + also remember to connect the cable shield only to ground in one end of the cable (I used the ground on the USB Controller card). Solder done: Now it is time to reassemble the throttle handle, you will need to mount the mini-joystick, attach the various connectors etc to the PCB in the handle and then finally re-attach the side-plates. I left the original slew controller connected and hidden inside the handle (maybe not necessary but doesn’t hurt). I had some interference between the new thumbs stick and the 4-way switch on the handle front => I removed the shaft of the 4-way and turned it down about 4 mm (diameter) in the spindle of the CNC. Turned down 4 way switch: To get the new USB cable out of the throttle base I drilled the pop rivets and removed the front metal plate, made an appropriately sized indentation in the plastic. Remember to use a cable tie as strain relief. New USB cable: Put the throttle handle back on the throttle base and connect the new cable to the USB controller card. I placed the USB card in a ESD bag to protect it from short circuits and simply wedged it into a suitable spot (I removed the 3 pcs of steel plate attached to the bottom of the throttle to create some extra space). Note the cable tie holding the joystick cable to the back left mounting post. Routing: Put the bottom plate back on the throttle, connect the USB to the PC, calibrate and you’re done. The mechanical dead-zone on the joystick I used is rather large => I need about 10% deadzone. I might replace the joystick at a later date if I find this to be a problem. /brds Oakes Edited April 10, 2017 by Oakes Spelling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBamse Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 Wow, I wish I had the tools and the skills to do this mod. It looks really really good. The original slew sucks so much ass it's unbelievable :/ Do you do commisions? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sokol1_br Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 "... wish I had the tools" The used tool looks that cost more than the throttle. :) Can use the spare axis in BU00836A to put a rotarie - F-15 style - in left throttle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thermal Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 Cool mod! Do you need a USB hub to join USB together? Or can you solder your USB 4 wire onto the warthog onboard USB in parallel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakes Posted April 10, 2017 Author Share Posted April 10, 2017 Do you do commisions? I wish I had the time....full-time job + two kids:helpsmilie: Special tools are really not needed though, you can do this mod with a drill and a file. Do you need a USB hub to join USB together? You need an USB hub, no room internally in the throttle though => my throttle now has two USB cables. Or can you solder your USB 4 wire onto the warthog onboard USB in parallel? USB is a host-controlled bus interface, there can only be one host per bus...so this won't work. /Oakes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sokol1_br Posted April 10, 2017 Share Posted April 10, 2017 ...throttle now has two USB cables. And is two independently joysticks for Windows/Games. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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