some help with ideas ect...please

[Daveroo]

in the not so far future im intending to buy myself the "heli-kit" helicopter controller.it has a nice cyclic and collective,the latter has a twist throttle without spring,so it will stay where you want it ( power level)but there are no buttons or hat switches of anykind.i want to buy two CH Products joysticks,"flightstick Pro" for the collective,and the "fighterstick" for the cyclic.this is just because i prefer CH Products.

i intend to remove just the grip part of both sticks,and graft them on to the said parts of the heli-kit.
where i would need help is how to connect lengths of wire (or whatever is needed) to the computer,i thought it would be better to do each one separately for simplicity,the guy named Martin from heli-kit told me to tie it into their products system,and still use one USB cord.i wouldnt know how to do that either.

does anyone here have any experience with re-wiring this sort of thing?...or know how to do it..ect?

ive never seen the inside of a joystick..i dont even have a clue of what to think about doing..:dizzy:

buy the way..ive emailed with Martin from heli-kit and he suggests i do it,no problem modifying it on his end..even said to me he would like to know what the outcome is.and i spoke to John from CH Products,he said they will not support it in anyway,but he did confirm i would not be breaking any copyright laws or any laws in period.

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4129&d=1392056984&thumb=1 (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4129&d=1392056984) http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4130&d=1392057010&thumb=1 (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4130&d=1392057010) http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4131&d=1392057035&thumb=1 (http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4131&d=1392057035)

[Daveroo]

wow...no one has any ideas?......how about some help (i know this looks stupid) with the wording i should use to search google...i know people have mod'ed this things somewhere.

[Bradburger]

Daveroo,

You might like to try and contact the guy who runs this site: -

http://snomhf.exofire.net/

He seems pretty good at doing mods to controllers.

(Check out the 'Projects' link).

Cheers

Paul

[Daveroo]

Daveroo,

You might like to try and contact the guy who runs this site: -

http://snomhf.exofire.net/

He seems pretty good at doing mods to controllers.

(Check out the 'Projects' link).

Cheers

Paul


thanks alot Paul..ill check it out..Dave

[rvn817j]

I have an old CH Flight Stick with a Gameport adapter and was wondering how I could use it again (it was a very smooth joy stick). I came across this very good explanation - http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/index.php/topic/7249-gameport-controllers-in-a-usb-port-fly-that-vintage-flightstick-again/?hl=gameport . Hope that helps.

[Daveroo]

I have an old CH Flight Stick with a Gameport adapter and was wondering how I cold use it again (it was a very smooth joy stick). I came across this very good explanation - http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/index.php/topic/7249-gameport-controllers-in-a-usb-port-fly-that-vintage-flightstick-again/?hl=gameport . Hope that helps.


thankyou much..dave

[JimmyRFR]

I'm currently using a modified / hacked apart Saitek joystick for a helicopter cyclic - I can't recall exactly which model it was, but it's similar in design to the x52 line, but cheaper in construction, and it doesn't have a standalone throttle unit.

Don't know how relevant it will be to your plans to use a CH stick, but I'll share anyway, since it outlines my experiences and plans.

What I did was to first disassemble the handle to see how it attached to the base. It turned out that the handle of the joystick was attached to the base simply with some pins, which were in turn held in place with the two halves of the handle attached to each other with screws. Luckily (and I was kind of expecting this, having taken apart various Saitek products before), the wires from the buttons on the grip as well as the hat switch came down and attached with a plug-in connector to the wires in the base. So I was then able to simply unplug the grip buttons, and cleanly remove the grip from the base without cutting any wires.

The spring that provides centering action also simply lifted off once the grip / handle was removed.

This left me with a base that had a small (1-1/2") extension coming up where the grip once was. I now currently have in place a re-purposed extendable hiking stick (cost about $9 at one of the surplus stores) which I cut the bottom end off of - it fits perfectly over the existing joystick extension, I can adjust it for height, and it has a very comfy foam grip. I then attached the base of the joystick with some long screws to a chunk of 1" x 6" x 24" wood. The base then sits on the floor, and I adjust the height for whatever chair I'm using. The only drawback is that the cyclic is currently straight, which interferes a bit with some chairs, and the throw is a bit too long with the base sitting on the floor. To overcome that, I set up a calibration profile in FSUIPC to shorten the throw on the stick, as well as to apply a calibration curve to it so that it makes it easier to use.

My next plan, which I have yet to do - I plan on taking the buttons from the grip, along with the hat switch, and lengthening the cable in between those buttons and the plug-in connector by about 24" - 36". This part won't be very difficult, but it will be time consuming, since there's about 20 some wires to cut and add an extension to. Then I plan on mounting those buttons to the top of my hiking stick grip, wrapping and taping the cable to the stick. Then I can plug it back in to the base.

At this point, the cyclic works very well, and I'm looking forward to adding to the utility of it by adding those buttons and hat switch back to the top of the grip.

I guess the main thing to point out is that almost anything is possible, but only if your willing to take the risk of rendering things un-useable! As long as you're not concerned about taking something apart, it's worthwhile to do so just to see how you can make it work the way you want.

[BrittMac]

Dave, I have learned a lot since picking up the R/C flying bug. One of the most important is soldering. If you can do this, you can extend that joystick to the next room if you want to.

A long time ago, a smarter man than I, took apart a Saitek X45 and extended it for heli controls. Since I know more about soldering and such now I can see it was simple. It seemed impossible before....duh.

If you want to make heli controls, it is a "relatively" simple operation of extending wires really.
Basically, Jimmy nailed it. I just want to expand upon the original thread by saying it IS possible, and it is not out of reach.

If you do it yourself, just label the wires and extend them. The extension should hide the excess wiring easily.

[Bradburger]

Looks like you've got some good input and advice Daveroo from those who have already done conversions for Helicopter controls.

You might want to also take a look at the hardware section over on the hover control forums as well: -

http://www.hovercontrol.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?;act=SF;f=43

It would seem someone has done a helicopter control conversion and posted some pics there : -

http://www.hovercontrol.com/cgi-bin/ib3/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST&f=43&t=18711

Cheers

Paul

[Daveroo]

thanks to everyone for your feedback,they all sound like avenues to explore.

but i found this guys page http://www.leobodnar.com/shop/ my biggest problem was how to get the wires from my buttons/switches/rotaries ect and he has boards with USB connector,and then banks of solder less connections to connect the wires from the buttons to the USB,im not thinking im still going to go with the heli-kit and i have a friend who will make me "boxes" (lack of a better term) with a 3D printer ( if i dont buy my own in the mean time) and it will house all my buttons and hat switches from both the collective and cyclic,ill run wires down to the board and then to the PC USB port...but the guy at Heli-kit had told me to tie into his USB core..so im thnking he has a "board" of his own in the main controller i can connect to with out buying my own board...