Joystick: selfmade extension shaft?

[Xjazz]

S!

Anybody try to make any custom joystick with longer shaft?

If joystick grip have longer travell, then you should have better/precise Pitch&Roll controll. Right?

I just wonder is it wroth to start the project with my X36 usb.

[Tumor]

.....try extenze

[AKDejaVu]

You may want to ask this over at AGW too.  Or maybe shoot SC-Spook an e-mail and ask him if one of his old squadies might have some info on this.

It does seem something that you could do yourself... just be prepared to throw the joystick away afterwards if things don't work out.

Basically, you'd have to extend the cable coming through the base of the joystick.  That might be the easy part.

Next, you'd have to come up with a sleve either inside or outside of the extension/original junction... making sure that any fasteners used (scews) do not rub on the wires.

Seems it should be that simple as far as construction goes.

Some drawbacks to the "increased precision" belief:

You've now increased your dead zone.  You might have more precise control, but you have to move farther to get there.  Also, you're still at the mercy of joystick slop, but now have the extra slop travel to deal with.  You've also made a pretty good sized lever.  Any sudden motion that hits the "stop" may break the joystick base right off.

Basically... I don't think you'll enhance precision all that much.  Most people I know that have done something similar did it so they'd have a more authentic cockpit look for fly-by-cable planes.

It is definately a plus and minus situation.

AKDejaVu

[milnko]

You've now increased your dead zone. You might have more precise control, but you have to move farther to get there. Also, you're still at the mercy of joystick slop, but now have the extra slop travel to deal with.                         You've also made a pretty good sized lever. Any sudden motion that hits the "stop" may break the joystick base right off.

In the attached photo note the limiter ring around the shaft to prevent hyper extention and "snapping off" the shaft

http://www.rcsimulations.com/mrvclong.htm
 If you just extend the length of a standard short joystick without some sort of transitional joint to give the correct mechanical ratio. you just end up with a stick that has to move a much greater distance in any direction in order to get a response. ( the exact opposite of what you need to control your helicopter sim). The converted Cyborg long shaft achieves fine control by translating small hand movements of the stick into higher ratio inputs by direct mechanical conversion.
 On the long shaft, we have made this facility adjustable. This combined with the user option to switch off the self-centering springs, will give you the ultimate helicopter cyclic control. (Switch the centering spring back on, set the stick to standard and it’s ready to fly conventional fixed wing sims.)

Links:
http://www.rcsimulations.com/copyprice.htm
http://www.rcsimulations.com/mrvclong.htm

[AKDejaVu]

Ah.. now that's a better idea.  They use a seperate gimbal to take up the slop.  You'd have to be able to reverse the axis on the stick though (in whatever program you were running) and install a universal joint of some kind at the top of the stick.

Of course... things also go from relatively simple to quite complex in nothing flat.

AKDejaVu

[Xjazz]

Thanks for your feedback.


Reason for this is that Saitek X36 usb stick gimbal system get some extra play & slack to the center area.
What Im thinking is to change whole exist gimbal & base to the metal parts if possible.

I dont want start make expensive gimbal (Cougar EvenStrain gimbal mod) by tooling a steel billet.
Im looking more like obsolet pivot/gimbal which I could modify without high costs.

"increased precision"
X36 transmit stick movements to X&Y potentiometers (pot) with 1:1 ration. Totall stick movement angel is about 70(?) degree but pot total turning angel is 300 degree (+/- 10) concerning pot specification.

Come to my mind that if stick movment deliver to pot via some gear ration (wheel or beltdrive). Theoratically with gear ration I can use full range of the pot movement angel and gain generally more precise information from pots. Off course mechanical tolerances effect through whole system: pivot/gimbal bearing, pot gears (2pcs/pot) and quality of the pots.

"Buy a Cougar!" Thanks but no thanks. Too expensive concerning the clunky feeling & overall quality out from the box (IMHO).

Maybe I just dreaming about better controll ( & K/D)