Need Help with my yokes

[QF6228]

Hi All

I'm trying to get my yokes working on FS9 but with great difficulty and alot of frustration!
I have tried some 100K potentionmeters with some cogs and they just didn't register to well on the pivot point, didn't work!
I then tried connecting the potensionmeters directly to the X/Y Axis pivot point and found that there was not enough movement on the elevator and too sensitive on the ailerons, even with all the playing around inside FS9s control settings. I'm getting close to running out of ideas, i have 1 or 2 more to try but that's it!.......

Could someone please throw some ideas or share what you have done to get the feeling in your yokes right in regards to making them register correctly on FS9/FSX...................

Thanks Guys/Girls
Damien :lol:

[Trevor Hale]

First off, If I were you I would delete the Joystick assignments from Flightsim FS9 Assignment screen.

Open FSUIPC. Under the Joystick Axis tab press the reset button. Move an axis and you will see it appear. Select the Radio Button for (Send data to FSUIPC Calibration), use the pulldown menu to select the function then click the Joystick Calibration Tab in FSUIPC and assign the Min, center, Max limits.

Let us know if you still have problems after that.

Trev

[QF6228]

I have to register my FSUIPC first :(

[Michael Carter]

I had the same problem at first with the ailerons being way overly sensitive. I had my gears reversed between the yoke shaft and the pot.

You need about a three to one gear ratio or so to smooth the aileron input.

I have a very small gear screwed to the end of the yoke shaft and a larger gear on the pot. I just got lucky with this combination, but it works very well.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/yokegears.jpg

[JBaymore]

If I might hijack the thread a just tiny bit..... where are you getting your gears?


best,

....john

[AndyT]

How do you have them connected to the yoke? Can you post some pix for us?

[Gsey]

Thats a nice clean setup you have in there.

FSUIPC is the best for adjusting pots.

To go right from the beginning though....what interface card are you using and did you calibrate your joystick controller in windows?

Gary

[QF6228]

;)
Thansk guys for your help so far.
What interface card do you guys recomend?
what are you guys using?
I did configure and calibrate the joystick on my PC

Thanks Damien

[Gsey]

For the interface I just used a hacked joystick.... I think it was like a $20 thrustmaster topgun. That was over 2 years ago and still going strong. You can buy proper interfaces which allow more than just the xyz of a joystick. All of the flightsim interface guys have a control interface of some type, which would allow all throttles,brakes,yokes and switches from the one interface.

For under $30 though I got both yokes/pedals,brakes,autopilot disconnects,trim up-trim downs and mic switches working as they should and I stll have one axis left over for steering.

What are you currently using?
Did you have full range of motion on each axis when calibrating in windows?

Also have you visited the How to section of flightsim.com? They have some great articles and plenty of pictures of building yokes,throttles pedals which also might go well with trying to solve your problem. Without seeing pictures of your setup its hard to try and pinpoint what the problem could be.

Gary

[Bob Reed]

For the interface I just used a hacked joystick.... I think it was like a $20 thrustmaster topgun. That was over 2 years ago and still going strong. You can buy proper interfaces which allow more than just the xyz of a joystick. All of the flightsim interface guys have a control interface of some type, which would allow all throttles,brakes,yokes and switches from the one interface.

For under $30 though I got both yokes/pedals,brakes,autopilot disconnects,trim up-trim downs and mic switches working as they should and I stll have one axis left over for steering.

What are you currently using?

Also have you visited the How to section of flightsim.com? They have some great articles and plenty of pictures of building yokes,throttles pedals which also might go well with trying to solve your problem

Gary

Yup hacking a joystick is a great way to get your axis working!

[QF6228]

For the interface I just used a hacked joystick.... I think it was like a $20 thrustmaster topgun. That was over 2 years ago and still going strong. You can buy proper interfaces which allow more than just the xyz of a joystick. All of the flightsim interface guys have a control interface of some type, which would allow all throttles,brakes,yokes and switches from the one interface.

For under $30 though I got both yokes/pedals,brakes,autopilot disconnects,trim up-trim downs and mic switches working as they should and I stll have one axis left over for steering.

What are you currently using?

Also have you visited the How to section of flightsim.com? They have some great articles and plenty of pictures of building yokes,throttles pedals which also might go well with trying to solve your problem. Without seeing pictures of your setup its hard to try and pinpoint what the problem could be.

Gary

Hacking a joystick is what i have done, but i replaced the pots on the joystick with 100k potensionmeters.

1 option i have and keen to try is a force feed back logitech wheel.

[Michael Carter]

I hacked my CH Flight yoke. I had to make an aluminum mount for the pot and bend it so that it would make contact where it was supposed to with the gears.

It was pretty much trial and error since it's difficult to get anything inside of the PVC pipe to measure anything.

The gears came out of a scrapped power antenna housing.

Mine is calibrated in Windows. I didn't have much as much luck with FSUIPC for the yoke as I did for my throttle. Probably operator error, but it works just fine.

I'm still trying to work out a return-to-center sytem. I had a spring set up working really well, but the ends of the springs fatigued and broke off at the shaft collar where they were attached.

I'm going to try again this time using some small aluminum tabs that use the shaft collar screws to hold in position and drill a hole through each one to hold the end of the spring. The other end of the springs are attached to a 5/16' rod that passes across the diameter of the yoke shaft about 5" down.

[Michael Carter]

How do you have them connected to the yoke? Can you post some pix for us?

The white shaft you see with the small gear on the end is 1-1/8" Delrin rod from McMaster-Carr. It just so happens that this is nearly the same diameter as the splined Boeing yoke center, and some gentle tapping with a ball-pien hammer set the Delrin rod in about three inches and cut splines in the Delrin to hold it in position. I got really lucky there.

I could see the little slivers of Delrin being peeled back as it was tapped into the yoke center. Pretty 'smoooth' man. :D (Capt. Caneman)

The gear on the end of the Delrin rod is screwed and glued.

[QF6228]

That look realy good skunk....
I used gears first attempt and so far have found them to be most effective.
However, the elevator was not so successful.

Anywayz im still battling it out and have the good old trusty Logitech momo wheel to hack!!!!! :p

[Gsey]

Before hacking that wheel i would try a different pot. If you had success with one but not the other it could be as simple as a bad pot. Also check your soldering as you could have a cold joint. The fact that you had one working ok tells us that you just need to concentrate on that one bad pot. You may also need to change the way you have it mounted. How is your setup? Are you doing it cessna style (like ch yokes) or Boeing sytle with a full column?

Gary

[QF6228]

You can take a look at my yokes here.....
You will see that i have shafts fitted on each pivot point to place
the pots/gears.
Im going to try 10k pots rather than 100k pots with gears again.
Thanks for all your help so far guys its been a great help
Damien

http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=561

[Gsey]

Thats a nice setup you have there. I see where you might be having probs with the elevator. Have another try with the pots that come from the joystick and if that doesnt work, PM me. After a few small changes we will have you flying in no time.

Gary

[QF6228]

Gsey thanks mate i'll give it another go tonight ;-)

[Michael Carter]

I was back in the shop this morning trying out my idea for the return-to-center function of the yoke.

I cut two small aluminum angles and drilled holes for the shaft collar screws to pass through. The two angles are inserted between the halves of the shaft collar and then tightened down.

The angles beld out slightly from 90 degrees and have another small hole drilled in the other half to hold the springs.

So far it's working very well. At least my springs won't fatigue crack like the last pair did. I had to trim a little of the unused portion of the large gear so the springs would clear while the yoke is turned to the extreme left or right (about 70 degrees).

Sorry about the photo quality.

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h146/boeing722/yoke1.jpg

[Gsey]

Thats some nice work you have done there especially with the limited space you have to work with. So is that a real column you have had to cut into or did you make your own?

Gary

[Michael Carter]

Nah, it's a 3" PVC elbow and pipe.

I've been flying patterns since I posted that photo. It is working very well, but could use a tad more tension on the springs. I might take off another half-inch or so of the straight part of the rod.

At least I think I've solved the problem. Many more to come during this build I'm sure.

[QF6228]

Problems problems probpablamams........

Im sure that part is a standard feature of the 737NG home sim :D

I am now not happy with the chain linkage i have on our dual yoke.....
i'm now looking at a pulley system like westozys (i think):roll:

mmmm CH yokes sound good plug and play

Damien

[Westozy]

Hi Guys,

I see all of the discussion in this thread is ground I have already covered and moved on from. My first interface was a hacked Microsoft Sidewinder which gave me 3 axis, 1 throttle and 12 buttons. I had this operating sweet for 6 months after many hours of work getting the pot movement right. I later made the decision to use FDT Sim-Boards when I realized that I needed twin throttles and a heap more inputs, I and then removed the Microsoft gear. It was tough to undo what was a working interface but I took the plunge and I fitted the recommended 10K pots to my controls and wired them to the new Sim-Boards. It took about 10 minutes to calibrate and assign the 3 axis pots and 2 throttle pots.

How Sim-Boards calibrate pots - It doesn't matter what travel you end up with your pots or sliders, (as long as it's not too little). The Sim-Boards see this travel as "Raw" input signal, turn the yoke full left - mouse click - turn the yoke full right - mouse click, the signal is now calibrated as 0-100%. Assign the pot to FS Roll axis and it's done. It's that simple! There are also the options of setting a "null" zone, reversing the signal (If roll motion is opposite to what is required) and also a sensitivity adjustment. Hacking a joystick is a really cheap option but before you wreck that perfectly good joystick, think about how long is it going to be sufficient for your purposes. I really wish I had used Sim-Boards from day one, it would have save a lot of headaches. These cards are purpose built for cockpit simulators and not equipment adapted for the same use so I will always promote what has been a fantastic solution for this tech novice!

Gwyn

My controls -
http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=576

http://www.mycockpit.org/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=825

[QF6228]

Hey Gwyn
Thanx for the PM. I'll get back to u with some more questions re: flight yokes and pulley system. For the moment, I'm going to be concentrating on taking apart the existing chains and cogs (AGAIN:roll:!!!) and replacing them with the pulley system. Also, I purchansed 10k pots today and was loooking into the sim boards and will be making that purchase this week or next.
I work for Virgin Blue in the operations side of things and bumped into a pilot by the name of John Turnbull which I have heard u speak of before. I asked him about ur sim and he was most impressed. You must be doin' something right if a 737 Captain is impressed!
Thanks for ur help so far - hope u don't get too sick of all the questions I'll be throwing at u in the next couple of weeks!
Cheers
Damien

[Gsey]

Welcome to the world of sim building, two steps fwd one step back... J/K :-)


Gary

[Radar]

Micheal! Can you tell me how your yoke is held on to your column?

Thanks I like the id of that little gear.

Mike

[Michael Carter]

The yoke is held into the pipe elbow with a shaft collar, 1-1/8" ID in diameter to fit the Delrin rod. The shaft collar is the only thing holding the whole thing together.

I cut a circular bulkhead from 1/2" MFD with an 1-1/8" hole that is located in the front of the elbow directly behind the yoke.

The second bulkhead is 1/4" plywood and is roll pinned and glued into the elbow, also with an 1-1/8" hole.

The shaft collar is butted up tightly against the second bulkhead as the yoke is pushed flush with the pipe elbow opening. Tighten down the shaft collar and it's in for good.

The rest is just the gears and the pot and the yoke wiring.

I don't know the ID of the small gear. A #6 3/4" screw is holding it to the back of the Delrin rod along with some Loc-Tite 401.

[Westozy]

Hey Gwyn
Thanx for the PM. I'll get back to u with some more questions re: flight yokes and pulley system. For the moment, I'm going to be concentrating on taking apart the existing chains and cogs (AGAIN:roll:!!!) and replacing them with the pulley system. Also, I purchansed 10k pots today and was loooking into the sim boards and will be making that purchase this week or next.
I work for Virgin Blue in the operations side of things and bumped into a pilot by the name of John Turnbull which I have heard u speak of before. I asked him about ur sim and he was most impressed. You must be doin' something right if a 737 Captain is impressed!
Thanks for ur help so far - hope u don't get too sick of all the questions I'll be throwing at u in the next couple of weeks!
Cheers
Damien

Captain JT is a top bloke who has been teaching me loads of NG stuff, I'm looking forward to showing him the current progress, he hasn't seen the glareshield, CPFlight gear or the roof fitted yet.

Q. Why do you want to change your chain drive if it is already working? It looks great.

Don't worry about the questions, it's what the "Team Members" do!

All the best, Gwyn

[Paul Thomas]

If I might hijack the thread a just tiny bit..... where are you getting your gears?


best,

....john

You may have a try with Routech, they also provide the gear.


http://www.routech.ro/

[Michael Carter]

Looks like nice stuff.

Lightweight though, as they describe them is not something I'd want in a Boeing yoke.