TM Cougar & CH magnetoresistive/ hall sensor kits

[aelfewulf]

hey guys!
 

Installed throttle MR sensor + USB mainboard, shift register, ANT sensor and microstick. Then applied Nyogel 767A to throttle axis. 

 

ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT. The feel and precision is incredible! And the new ANT sensor is really good. 
 

With Nyogel, the brake pad is totally unnecessary, so I removed it.
 

Thank you rel4y for your wonderful creations!

[rel4y]

Sorry about the lack of updates recently. I have been pretty busy getting the force sensing base finished, as well as another awesome mystery mod. Very soon I can showcase the first full metal one. Just today I held a sample of the aircraft grade Aluminium (or Aluminum for you crazy Yanks) threaded TM Adapter in my hands and it felt amazing! Its made from very high strength & high toughness Al used routinely in aircraft wings and waaay overkill for home desktop use, but thats why I love it so much! This thing is gonna be awesome!

 

Now I have to design the USB controller which runs uri_bas firmware and emulates all models (old analog, digital, custom) of the FLCS. This is not necessary if you simply want to hook it up to the Cougar base/ Cougar mainboard.

 

On 5/21/2021 at 12:39 AM, 59th_Wittman said:

Hello rel4y!

"Cougar Throttle ANT sensors"

It's a great news!

I'd like to thank your work in name of the Cougar users!

When is possible to order it?

Cheers!

 

Hey Wittman,

How are you doing my friend? I hope your Cougar sensors are still going strong! Your throttle magnet was propably on the longest journey of all parts I have ever sent out. Unfortunately, the ANT sensors I had made are all sold out. I will make a new batch soon, but I had to change the supplier of the ICs as delivery wasnt expected for several months. Hard to say when they will be back, probably early July.

 

On 6/1/2021 at 5:07 PM, aelfewulf said:

hey guys!

Installed throttle MR sensor + USB mainboard, shift register, ANT sensor and microstick. Then applied Nyogel 767A to throttle axis.

ABSOLUTELY LOVING IT. The feel and precision is incredible! And the new ANT sensor is really good.

With Nyogel, the brake pad is totally unnecessary, so I removed it.

Thank you rel4y for your wonderful creations!

 

Awesome, great to hear you are happy with the mods!

Edited June 3, 2021 by rel4y

[sirrah]

On 6/3/2021 at 7:20 PM, rel4y said:

Sorry about the lack of updates recently. I have been pretty busy getting the force sensing base finished, as well as another awesome mystery mod. Very soon I can showcase the first full metal one. Just today I held a sample of the aircraft grade Aluminium (or Aluminum for you crazy Yanks) threaded TM Adapter in my hands and it felt amazing! Its made from very high strength & high toughness Al used routinely in aircraft wings and waaay overkill for home desktop use, but thats why I love it so much! This thing is gonna be awesome!

 

Now I have to design the USB controller which runs uri_bas firmware and emulates all models (old analog, digital, custom) of the FLCS. This is not necessary if you simply want to hook it up to the Cougar base/ Cougar mainboard.

 

 

Hey Wittman,

How are you doing my friend? I hope your Cougar sensors are still going strong! Your throttle magnet was propably on the longest journey of all parts I have ever sent out. Unfortunately, the ANT sensors I had made are all sold out. I will make a new batch soon, but I had to change the supplier of the ICs as delivery wasnt expected for several months. Hard to say when they will be back, probably early July.

 

 

Awesome, great to hear you are happy with the mods!

 

Good to hear about the force sensing progress 

 

Feel free to post some WIP pictures here 

[Jeremy Astro]

On 9/25/2018 at 10:50 PM, rel4y said:

Hey guys,

 

After some time the analog pots of my very nice Thrustmaster Cougar started putting out erratic values and were spiking all over the place. These pots seem really cheap and even if there were still replacement parts from TM available, in my eyes it would not make much sense to replace them with the same low quality parts.

 

I have been tinkering with my idea of contactless sensors for the Cougar now for around a year and I think I am finally satisfied with what I got. These sensors are plug and play, fully sealed, make use of a ball bearing on the axle and use a N52 neodymium magnet for contactless angular measurement. The PCBs are only 14 x 20 mm (0.55 x 0.78 in) and were quite the hassle to make all the necessary ICs and SMD parts fit in. The housing is a two part SLS 3D print from Shapeways, which is a very tough material. I use it for all sorts of mechanical parts.

 

(Here you can find development pictures: http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.ph...er#Post4419858)

 

These sensors in reality are not hall sensors, but instead use next gen magnetoresistive sensors which are heavily used in the automotive industry and have basically replaced hall sensors there. The main advantages are higher sensitivity and actual angular measurement instead of only measuring the magnetic flux (as hall sensors do).

 

The same type of sensor is used eg in Baur BRD devices in form of MagRez or RAMS. These devices are known for their amazing precision and I wanted to make use of the same sensor in the Cougar.

 

Installation is as easy as stick it in, screw it tight, plug it in and done. You can calibrate them as you normally would via the Hotas Cougar Control Panel and the whole thing stays fully TARGET compatible as well.

 

Now enough talk, here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

Because the question comes up a lot, you can invert every axis of the Cougar in the first tab of the Cougar Control Panel (CCP) software.

 

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If you are interested or want to ask questions please contact mtwsims@tutamail.com. No PMs please!

Payment via PayPal or SEPA, but for PayPal I would have to add the fees on top.

 

All sensors are designed, assembled & hand soldered by me. Every single sensor is then checked manually and calibrated by hand. I can proudly say it is 100% Made in Germany.

 

Price: 42€ (set of two sensors) + 7€ tracked international shipping (from experience shipping within Europe is around 1-4 days and to the US 10 days)

 

 

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TM Cougar Throttle standalone USB adapter + digital contacless 14 Bit GMR sensor

 

I also have made a USB standalone adapter for the Cougar with a high res 14 Bit GMR TLE5011 digital sensor on the Throttle axis. This one is similar to the TUSBA, but half the price and with an added extension bay that supports extra shift registers, encoders, buttons, analog and digital axis. You can buy the USB standalone adapter without the new digital sensor and simply keep using the original pot. However you can not use the digital sensor without the USB adapter, as it communicates via a digital 6 pin serial protocol. I have been selling these on the german Craigslist/ ebay since April 2018 and people were really enthusiastic about their performance. Click here for a more extensive description. (link translated with google)

 

Price is 30€ for the adapter and 20€ for the sensor + 7€ tracked international shipping (obviously not necessary if combined with the sensor kit above)

 

 

 

 

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TM Cougar Throttle hall sensor kit

 

I can now also offer a simpler Hall effect sensor kit for the Throttle. It consists of an Allegro 1324 hall sensor + cable and a 3D printed casing + N52 magnet. It is plug and play for the Throttle unit without my USB standalone adapter and similiar to older hall sensor kits for the Cougar. The difference is it requires no fancy mounts and is fixed in the correct position in two out of three axis for more precision. The third axis is dependent on magnet strength and can be hardware and or software calibrated. By hardware calibration I mean depth of insertion into the 3D printed case, nothing to it really.

 

The mod is only compatible with the 5V mainboard version as is! The solution to this problem is a little voltage conversion board that is 3€ extra. The 5V and 3.8V versions differ in a resistor on the VCC line. Here you can check which version of the Throttle mainboard you have: https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/135000-new-hall-sensor-kits/?do=findComment&comment=2916178

 

Price is 22€ + 7€ tracked international shipping

 

 

 

 

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Cougar Ministick/ Slew replacement

 

This mod replaces the original Ministick of the Cougar Throttle. Often times the original Ministick is worn out and as no replacement parts are available from Thrusmaster anymore a solution was in dire need for many HOTAS Cougar fans. The thumbhat is modeled after the earlier block original F-16 slew. The mod is completely plug and play.

 

Price is 22€ + 7€ tracked international shipping

 

 

 

 

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CH Pro Throttle, CH Fighterstick, CH Combatstick, CH Pro Pedals etc. magnetoresistive sensors

 

The cool thing about these MR sensors is that they are a drop in replacement for the standard CH pots, but contrary to these they work contactlessly. That means you can simply connect these sensors to your CH mainboard and done. You will never have to worry about deteriorating or dirty pots again. The CH Control Manager recognizes this sensor normally and you can calibrate it within the software.

 

 

Important installation instruction:

 

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The pins of the sensor are labled with VCC, OUT and GND. You need to make sure to connect the voltage supply only to VCC, otherwise you may grill the very sensitive opamp in the circuit.

 

wire axis code overview:

green = GND

blue = VCC

brown = X out

black = Y out

yellow = Z out

 

Price is 22€ + 7€ tracked international shipping

 

 

 

 

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24 Bit shift registers for Cougar USB standalone, Thrustmaster gear, MMJoy2

 

These are compatible to the Thrustmaster hardware, to MMJoy2 and to my Cougar USB standalone adapter. The dimensions are 20 mm x 50 mm (0.79 in x 1.97 in), so they are very small and fit basically in everywhere. The pins are spaced in standard 2,54 mm (0.1 in) to fit normal header pins (see picture 2). I offer them either with or without header pins.

 

The shift register is 24 Bit, so it has 24 inputs that you can connect buttons to. It can also be daisy chained, so you can put several shift register boards in series. Eg MMJoy2 supports 12 shift registers in series. So if you daisy chain 4 of my 24 Bit shift register boards, you have a total of 96 button inputs with just 2 pins used. If this isnt pretty damn cool I dont know what is.

 

Price is 10€ + 7€ tracked international shipping

 

 

 

 

If you are interested or want to ask questions please contact mtwsims@tutamail.com. No PMs please!

Payment via PayPal or SEPA, but for PayPal I would have to add the fees on top.

 

All sensors are designed, assembled & hand soldered by me. Every single sensor is then checked manually and calibrated by hand. I can proudly say it is 100% Made in Germany.

 

 

Great stuff @rel4y

Just dropped you an email for a major refurbishment project for a worn out TM Cougar HOTAS.

 

[aelfewulf]

 

Sneak preview...

 

Hand drilled, dry transfer decals, clear gloss spray paint. 
 

Patiently waiting for my 2nd shift register to arrive...

 

@rel4y You mentioned in our emails that rotary encoders can’t be connected to shift register. But I’m wondering if 2 rotary encoders can be directly connected to the Pro Micro?

Edited June 5, 2021 by aelfewulf

[MAXsenna]

 
Sneak preview...
 
Hand drilled, dry transfer decals, clear gloss spray paint. 
 
Patiently waiting for my 2nd shift register to arrive...
 
@rel4y You mentioned in our emails that rotary encoders can’t be connected to shift register. But I’m wondering if 2 rotary encoders can be directly connected to the Pro Micro?

Whoa! Awesome! Have you done anything special inside for the idle cutoff?

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[aelfewulf]

Yes, I’ve planned a momentary push button on the throttle stem that can be programmed for this function.

There’s also a guide here:

https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/223786-tm-cougar-idle-cutoff-function/
Through mmjoy2 calibration, 0% is at idle detent. 

[Rudel_chw]

5 hours ago, aelfewulf said:

... Hand drilled, dry transfer decals, clear gloss spray paint. ...

 

Fantastic work, can you please tell me which transfer decals you used .. I want to re-paint my Cougar but had refrained because I didn't found letters of the same size as the originals. 

Thansk a  lot 

[MAXsenna]

Yes, I’ve planned a momentary push button on the throttle stem that can be programmed for this function.
There’s also a guide here:
https://forums.eagle.ru/topic/223786-tm-cougar-idle-cutoff-function/
Through mmjoy2 calibration, 0% is at idle detent. 

Thanks!
I added some tissue, really, under the friction bar, and moved the original detents, so in BMS it actually works pretty well now. Wish ED copy the solution.
Cheers!

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[aelfewulf]

@Rudel_chwSearch eBay for “Woodlands Scenics MG738”

Have fun!

[Rudel_chw]

1 hour ago, aelfewulf said:

@Rudel_chwSearch eBay for “Woodlands Scenics MG738”

Have fun!

 

Found it, thanks a lot 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/193734820508?hash=item2d1b7ec29c:g:nOYAAOSw8Q5dpZdq

 

[Yeti-UK]

Hi Rel4y,

Just a backup to say I have dropped you an e-mail asking for a Cougar USB conversion board when you have time please.

Rgds.

[Tulkas]

Hi.

 

I sent an email for an order, just wondering if these parts are still available. 

 

Regars

[Aries144]

rel4y,

I'm having an issue with my Cougar Throttle using your USB conversion board. All axis work great, but only button 1 (uncage) and 3 of the 4-way radio switch buttons work (down, left, and right. Up does nothing.) The speedbrake switch, dogfight/mrm mode switch, and the mini joystick press button are completely unresponsive.

I've taken a multimeter and checked all legs of all the switches and I have perfect signal from all the switches to the original throttle board. I even had a friend who's a professor of electrical engineering talk me through some tests over discord. We're down to questioning either the diodes or something on your board. I'm stumped.

Do you have any suggestions? Is it possible the board could have an issue?

Edited June 23, 2021 by Aries144

[MAXsenna]

rel4y,

I'm having an issue with my Cougar Throttle using your USB conversion board. All axis work great, but only button 1 (uncage) and 3 of the 4-way radio switch buttons work (down, left, and right. Up does nothing.) The speedbrake switch, dogfight/mrm mode switch, and the mini joystick press button are completely unresponsive.

I've taken a multimeter and checked all legs of all the switches and I have perfect signal from all the switches to the original throttle board. I even had a friend who's a professor of electrical engineering talk me through some tests over discord. We're down to questioning either the diodes or something on your board. I'm stumped.

Do you have any suggestions? Is it possible the board could have an issue?

Did it work before?
Honestly, I installed it incorrectly on the first try...

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[Aries144]

I don't know. The throttle was an ebay purchase from a couple of years ago. I don't have a cougar joystick.

[MAXsenna]

I don't know. The throttle was an ebay purchase from a couple of years ago. I don't have a cougar joystick.

Oh, I meant if the board was working before, but it's a new fresh install?

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[Aries144]

Yes. I bought the Cougar throttle used, and also recently bought rel4y's USB board for it. First time install.

[MAXsenna]

Yes. I bought the Cougar throttle used, and also recently bought rel4y's USB board for it. First time install.

Okay, I see. And you never got to test the throttle before installing the board, as you don't have a Cougar stick. That makes sense.
Like I said, I installed mine on the wrong pins on the first try, and I saw something similar. Can you check again, and post a picture of the underside of the board while you're at it?
Cheers!

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[Aries144]

Underside of the throttle's board or underside of rel4y's board?

[MAXsenna]

Underside of the throttle's board or underside of rel4y's board?

Rel4y's

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[Aries144]

56 minutes ago, MAXsenna said:

Rel4y's

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk
 

I'm unable to upload pictures to my picture host for some reason, unfortunately. What is it you need to see?

[MAXsenna]

I'm unable to upload pictures to my picture host for some reason, unfortunately. What is it you need to see?

Well, one doesn't need a host, as one can just copy and paste in the forum now.
Anyway. Will send you a PM.

Sent from my MAR-LX1A using Tapatalk

[rel4y]

The boards are back in town!

 

Finally, a long awaited shipment of Arduinos arrived my doorstep and I can offer the USB adapters and CH mainboards again. The prices will increase by 2€ each, which is simply handing down the increased material cost of the boards themselves. Also a new and larger batch of Cougar ANT sensors is ready as well as new Cougar stick sensors and Cougar throttle hall sensors.

 

Heres a list of the current stock:

7x Cougar Stick sensors (42€)

10x Cougar USB Throttle adapter + 14 GMR sensor (32€ + 20€)

10x Cougar Throttle hall sensor (22€)

4x Cougar Ministick (22€)

20x Cougar ANT sensors (22€)

10x CH sensor (22€)

5x 12 Bit CH upgrade mainboard (32€)

2x 4021 shift registers (10€)

 

A bunch of emails have piled up once again and I will answer them now. Production updates about the Force Control unit are also inbound, stay tuned.

 

15 hours ago, Aries144 said:

rel4y,

I'm having an issue with my Cougar Throttle using your USB conversion board. All axis work great, but only button 1 (uncage) and 3 of the 4-way radio switch buttons work (down, left, and right. Up does nothing.) The speedbrake switch, dogfight/mrm mode switch, and the mini joystick press button are completely unresponsive.

Do you have any suggestions? Is it possible the board could have an issue?

 

 

Hey Aries,

Have you perhaps removed the 22 pin header connector on the throttle mainboard at some point? Also check if the adapter is seated correctly on the 16 pin header.

Edited June 24, 2021 by rel4y

[Aries144]

1 hour ago, rel4y said:

Hey Aries,

Have you perhaps removed the 22 pin header connector on the throttle mainboard at some point? Also check if the adapter is seated correctly on the 16 pin header.

 

Thank you for sparing some time for me, I know you must be busy.

No I haven't ever removed the 22pin header, yes the adapter is well seated on the 16 pin header.