Plastic sprockets for pots

Hi.

I'm about to start interfacing control yokes and a TQ. I've seen others use sprockets to increase the throw of the pots. Anyone know where these can be bought? And is there a rule of thumb with regards to how far the pots should rotate? I have P260P-D1BS3CB pots.


Regards

Here is a link to the datasheet for that pot: link

Looks like it has 295 deg +-10 degrees of rotation. If you need more than that, you could go with a gear setup. Not sure why a TQ or yokes would need that much, but tell us what you are trying to do, and we may be able to help.

Reid

Ok, let me try to rephrase. The yokes I'm enterfacing are real Boeing yokes. For the elevator that means 25 deg travel from max down to max up. Connecting the pot directly to the pivot point would only result in turning the pot 25 deg (less than 10% of the pots total range). I've seen pictures where these type of contraptions have gears so that a 25 deg "yoke" deflection results in a XXX deg pot deflection. I know the pots have a rotation of 295 deg +-10 in total range, but my question is what range should I aim for to get a good reliable input for the various axes?

Any help is appreciated!
Tor

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AVIATor-Olav

Ok, let me try to rephrase. The yokes I'm enterfacing are real Boeing yokes. For the elevator that means 25 deg travel from max down to max up. Connecting the pot directly to the pivot point would only result in turning the pot 25 deg (less than 10% of the pots total range). I've seen pictures where these type of contraptions have gears so that a 25 deg "yoke" deflection results in a XXX deg pot deflection. I know the pots have a rotation of 295 deg +-10 in total range, but my question is what range should I aim for to get a good reliable input for the various axes?

Any help is appreciated!
Tor

---

Hi Tor


The best method to have a good signal is 250/270 degrees movement of the pot.
To realise that, you can use sprockets
In your case a set of 80/8 sprockets will do the trick.

But are you sure that the movement of the levers is only 25 degrees?
It seems to me that it is more.

Best regards

Jan Geurtsen

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AVIATor-Olav

Hi.

I'm about to start interfacing control yokes and a TQ. I've seen others use sprockets to increase the throw of the pots. Anyone know where these can be bought? And is there a rule of thumb with regards to how far the pots should rotate? I have P260P-D1BS3CB pots.


Regards

---

As far as sources go, I purchased some small spur gears and sprockets from a site called Small Parts. Their site search tool is a bit of a pain and their shipping is slow, but they do have a good variety/inventory. Ian at Built for Fun has posted a great list of suppliers for all sorts of parts and among them are some good sources as well.

Thanks guys.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jan737

But are you sure that the movement of the levers is only 25 degrees?

---

This only applies to the elevator up down which according to several sources I've found is 12,5 deg back and forth from neutral. aileron axis is 60 deg (30 deg either side from neutral)
The throttle, flaps ans spoilers I don't know yet, as Im still waiting for my TQ to arrive. :)

Hi Tor,

Dont know if this will help you, but I used P260's for my two throttles, flap detents and speed brake. I used 18 tooth gears with a diameter of 20mm and 58 tooth gears with a diameter of 60mm. I have no issues so far, all axes calibrated fine in FSUIPC4 in FSX. I ordered my gears from a model train shop in the UK. The service was good, had them in 10 days or less and the price was quite good. Their addy is www.dns-hosts.co.uk/~hmodels/shop/ . Do a search of thier site for gears.

Good luck in your build,

Ed

I got my "gears" from "Rapid Electronics" in UK. They are cheap and fast shipping. Search for "gears" on their site.