ddavid 149 Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Well, after a dysmal attempt to repair an old joystick, I took Jack's advice and went for the OpenCockpits Analogue Axes Card. After a bit of a wait, the pack arrived yesterday, so I thought I'd link it up with the X-Y potentiometers on the joystcick. Had a bit of trouble sorting the little plugs out (The air was blue! - Ed), but finally got the crimping tool to work: Holding my breath, I plugged the USB cable into the card and then the PC. Windows 7 downloaded the software from OpenCockpits and proceeded to install the driver. Started up FSX and, to my amazement, the joystick was 'live'. Checked the calibration and - yep - it worked. For a card like this to work 'straight out of the box' says a lot for the developers - Well Done OpenCockpits, and Thanks, Jack! Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Attaboy, Dai! Nice work. Isn't tweaking fun? I think this kind of stretching of the FS hobby is what makes it so absorbing - something for everyone. What about the buttons on the joystick? Do they still work with the old card, and is this now a dual-card, dual-plug joystick, or does the new card handle the buttons as well? Or perhaps this is going to be cyclic with no need of buttons? John Link to post Share on other sites
Aircraft Aviation 2 Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Hi John/Dai, The OC USB Axes Card will handle up to 24 joystick buttons, but they must be connected in a Matrix (like a keyboard). Jack Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Here's the next instalment - The Cyclective Proto-type... As I can't afford £1500 for RC Simulation's Cadet System, I thought I'd build my own. Using the old joystick - the stick is the Cyclic and the throttle used for the Collective - and connecting via OpenCockpits' Analogue Axes card, this is what the proto-type 'Cyclective' looks like: The OC card sits under the old joystick base: And it passed the Q.A. examination: But, does it work? Well, yes - amazingly enough! Next step, get some buttons working and, possibly, rig up a twist-grip throttle... Cheers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 I can see Saitek shaking in their boots Dai! Seriously, it is coming on well and if you get that twist-grip throttle working then it's really going to make the sim more usable for helis :001_th_smiles89: Link to post Share on other sites
GabethePilot 1 Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 What sort of cost are we talking for something like that. Looks very elegant... And how smooth are the bearings etc. My X52 has seen better days ! Link to post Share on other sites
ddavid 149 Posted June 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 Thanks for the feedback - it's really just a proto-type so rather basic! Here's an idea of the cost: 1. Old joy-stick - in my case the USB cable connection was knackered. 2. OpenCockpits Analogue Axes Card is 25 Euros, but there's the cost of P&P from Spain (about 20 Euro for UPS) ... 3. Some cables and (crimp) terminals - from the local hobby shop - so a couple of Euro... 4. Some wood and plastic pipe (20mm plumbing!) - another 5 Euro... 5. A few hours of trial and error with the construction All up - around 55/60 Euro. Not cheap, but functionally what I wanted - a reasonable Cyclic and Collective. You can't really practice hovering/landing etc with a normal joy-stick even with pedals for the rudder. I tried and got really frustrated - you need to have a really fine control on the Cyclic and the Collective has to have a reasonably big movement range for much the same reason. As I said, the next step is to link up the joy-stick buttons with the OpenCockpits card - it'll take 24 digital inputs but you have to build a diode array (A What? - Ed) as part of the interface. This is a bit beyond me at the moment! Anyway, thanks for the interest. CHeers - Dai. Link to post Share on other sites
mutley 4,498 Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 As I said, the next step is to link up the joy-stick buttons with the OpenCockpits card - it'll take 24 digital inputs but you have to build a diode array (A What? - Ed) as part of the interface. This is a bit beyond me at the moment! Ah! the sweet smell of solder and burnt fingertips! Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted June 30, 2011 Report Share Posted June 30, 2011 I wonder if Welsh profanity is more colorful than English? Some of the plain text he posts looks like it could be profane, but how would you know? John Link to post Share on other sites
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