DIY Collective for a Throttle

[veit]

Another thing, the x45 throttle, can it withstand the torque generated from the collective moving up and down? What I mean is that the throttle was designed to be held more or less very close to its pivot point. With the force applied at that distance, it seems considerably more force at the pivot point is applied, which might overstress the throttle slide (especially at the slide's detentes and limits). Also, how much pressure is needed for the throttle to be prevented from moving from its position when using the collective. Will the default suction cups keep it in place? I'm not sure, you're probably a much better engineer than I am so you can tell me :P You might have already "battle" tested enough to tell.

 

One another thing: it seems pulling the collective up will cause the throttle to be pushed back (reduce engine power), meaning you'd have to reverse the throttle axes in game I'm assuming?

[urze]

Another thing, the x45 throttle, can it withstand the torque generated from the collective moving up and down? What I mean is that the throttle was designed to be held more or less very close to its pivot point. With the force applied at that distance, it seems considerably more force at the pivot point is applied, which might overstress the throttle slide (especially at the slide's detentes and limits). Also, how much pressure is needed for the throttle to be prevented from moving from its position when using the collective. Will the default suction cups keep it in place? I'm not sure, you're probably a much better engineer than I am so you can tell me :P You might have already "battle" tested enough to tell.

 

One another thing: it seems pulling the collective up will cause the throttle to be pushed back (reduce engine power), meaning you'd have to reverse the throttle axes in game I'm assuming?

 

When mounting it you have to invert the throttle axis and also increase the friction of the X45 a little.

After I removed the unneeded parts and the inner metal plate of the "Saitek pro gamer command unit", it weight is about 300 gram including the aluminium rod.

It is very solid,a video can tell better than words:) :

http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-8598457868554044921

[Necroscope]

Urze ask me to post my pic here.

This is one of ideas how to mount this pipe to any tqs.

 

http://necroscope.nightmail.ru/tqs.jpg

[Guest Thyphoon]

Please answer

 

May be this is a stupid question. But i want to know if it work also good with Flight Simulator X or it only works with Lomac. Becaue i want to make it self (or buy) but i want to be very certain that it works.:)

[urze]

May be this is a stupid question. But i want to know if it work also good with Flight Simulator X or it only works with Lomac. Becaue i want to make it self (or buy) but i want to be very certain that it works.:)

For certain !

I use it mainly for FS2004 and had no problem (of course you have to program it to your demands first with the saitek-pofil-editor)

If you occur major problems while doing it yourself, use the personal-massage option at this forum to contact me for help.

 

By the way:

I'm in contact with a sofware/hardware seller ( Tecpoint24.de ) there you can pre-order it (70-80 €) when BlackShark is available. Than it will have changes that you can easy mount it on every throttle (X45/X52/Cougar) without screws.

[warthogmadman987]

Hey urze, you let us know when it comes out so i can buy it, i plan on it anyway...

 

PS-(I hope it will ship to the USA, i am willing to pay for all costs!)

[urze]

Don't worry, I will give you the information in time. :)

[galgaze]

How can you attach this to the X52? Really great work!

[Highwayman-Ed]

Any news on this Urze? I need one shipped to Australia!

[urze]

How can you attach this to the X52? Really great work!

First of all I want to apologize for the delay in answering your question.

 

You can attach it with screws on the red marked area or you can choose a more advanced solution, similar to the following, that you are able to remove it easily within seconds.

 

I started with a bicycle back light.

 

What I'm after is the mounting between this two parts.

 

I cut it that it would fit to my needs.

 

I mounted the 'male' part with screws on the Throttle....

 

... did the same with the 'female' part on the collective lever .

 

Ready to use!

[urze]

Any news on this Urze? I need one shipped to Australia!

Actually I'm thinking to start a ebay auction with a 'instant buy' option.

I will start with 5 pieces.

Estimate cost about 85€.

 

After the auction is over and the money is transfered I will talk to my customer via video chat about things like what kind of throttle he using and the dimensions/mounting of the aluminum rod and with which finger he wants to push the 'shift button' that would be integrated to th foam grip. Than i will built it and ship it within 14 days.

 

When everything is working fine on the first auction i will start a new auction every month.

 

What do you think about that ?

[Highwayman-Ed]

As long as the estimated shipping costs were not too much, that would work for me ;) I'd probably want to know them first.

 

Edit: So when considering "should I really do this & does it really add that much" I took a 2ft plastic pole that one of my kids toys had (I'll give it back soon ;) ) and taped it to the end of my X52.

 

I then flew a free flight around San Fransisco International in FSX and followed a fire truck around trying to stay within 20 ft of it at all times first with the extension attached, and then without it just using the throttle itself. The results...

 

WOW :shocking: I really didn't think that the control would be that much better, but it really makes a difference...!

 

Hook me up Urze :pilotfly:

[Highwayman-Ed]

I'm also interested in the extension for the stick itself that is in your sig URZE, is that available for an X52 as well?

[urze]

 

WOW :shocking: I really didn't think that the control would be that much better, but it really makes a difference...!

 

Hook me up Urze :pilotfly:

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

At the weekend i will post all details about price and shipping and also where you can find it on ebay.

 

The flight stick extension is another story(it's advantage is to control a helicopter more precisely , especially while in hover).

[Highwayman-Ed]

More precise control of everything :) I'm a hog driver in lock on pretty much exclusively and fly with my stick in the middle. Unfortunately it's difficult to place it exactly and right now it sits on a custom made platform just above my knees, but this can lead to fatigue in my shoulder. I've been searching around to find something to let me mount the stick lower for a while now for a reasonable price.

[urze]

Ebay Aktion

 

Here you can buy this mod.

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170156083983

This mod of a Saitek Pro Gamer Unit is supposed to be attached to a throttle of a X45/X52, HotasCougar or similar HOTAS systems.

 

It gives you the ability to control a Helicopter in a simulation like Microsoft flight simulator series, or LockOn:BlackShark in a realistic way.

 

It uses the Saitek Profil Editor for programming up to 120 single commands. Visit http://www.saitek.com/row/prod/progamer.htm for detail info.

 

Here you will find detailed info about the collective and its history in form of a tutorial: http://forum.lockon.ru/showthread.php?t=20175

Goggle Video stream of Attaching the Collective: http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-8598457868554044921

Goggle Video stream of the Collective in Action: http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-947785275444262385

(just copy an paste the url in your navigation bar of your browser)

 

After you have bought this item we will contact each other with Skype and/or E-mail to give me additional info like your wished dimensions of the lever and with which finger you want to operate the shift button in the foam grip and most important : which throttle you are using ,so that i can prepare a compatible attachment for it.

The collective lever will also include a counterweight (not shown in the pictures) in the aluminum rod behind the turn axis so you don't have to raise the friction of your throttle.

 

After I have received your payment I will built it within 10 Days and ship it with your chosen conditions.

If you have problems making a direct bank transfer in Euro (ˆ) from your bank, because it would add another 10% on top of the total price I would give you my PayPal information via mail.

I haven't add PayPal here because there where several security leaks between the servers of Ebay and PayPal . Some bad guys where able to get personal data of the transfer via phishing.

 

Disclaimer:This is a private auction and I can't exchange the goods. Therefore I marked the auction for handicraft enthusiast.

However, I will give you online support if you encounter any kind of problems.

As a side note: Shipping without insurance to Australia for instance, would cost the half, but this is my hobby and if this is to expensive for you: I released already a Tutorial about it.(So please don't start a flame war that this is too expensive and you cloud do it cheaper, - than just do it.)

I haven't got a clue what nightmares i will get if someone ask me to ship it without insurance to far out, and it never get there. And than I will get bad rep in Ebay, someone will say I don't send it and he want his money back ...and so on..

You see... shipping with insurance is the only option for me to enjoy my Hobby.:smilewink:

[rockwelder]

What great idea...

[warthogmadman987]

Can I ask, I dont really have the money right now, but will you still be making them around the time when Black Shark is released?

[urze]

A littel bit rude propaganda- don't take it too seriously

 

Can I ask, I don't really have the money right now, but will you still be making them around the time when Black Shark is released?

...we will see:music_whistling:

 

...but there is a way to lower the shipping costs to the US: My Sister's boyfriend is a US citizen. He shuttles every month between Berlin and the US.

So he could take a collective across the sea and ship it directly from New York to you. I don't know the costs for shipping a box of 55x15x10cm and less than 2kg with insurance in the States, but it will be cheaper than 32€ from Berlin.

 

If you really want to buy one I can inform you about the next time slots the next month via pm.;)

 

To all others:

Buy This fantastic technical proof of the outstanding superiority of mankind over matter(!) or this cat will die.

Do you really want that?

-So hurry up(I have a very nervous finger;)):

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170156083983:)

[urze]

A littel bit rude propaganda- don't take it too seriously

 

Highwayman-Ed saved the Cat!!::thumbup:

 

...but..(oh no!):(

...I have still four cats at home!

..You know..

my nervous finger.

 

Hurry up! Save the Cats!:

 

http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170156083983

:D

[Highwayman-Ed]

Hey Urze, how did it go with the other Collectives... Did any other cats make it? ;)

[urze]

Sorry! No tutorial any more!

 

Sorry! No tutorial any more!

Things have changed a little bit:

 

 

 

 

 

:clap:Thanks to the community an Eagle Dynamics/TFC that made it possible!:clap:

[FA_Crazy-Canuck]

Man, thats some MOD! Going back to your original post, you can take THREE WEEKS OFF?! The North Ameirican average is 10 days/year!:doh:

[emenance]

10 4 I will be watching this over there then. Thank you very much :)

[Highwayman-Ed]

Just an update to this, I recieved my controller from Urze a good while ago, but I've been overseas, busy, etc...

 

I eventually got around to setting it up propperly a couple of weeks ago, but had a few issues using it with my chair and being short, my reach isn't very long.

 

To combat this, I switched the throttle around so it was facing backwards, and inclined it, and now it works great!