My Lefty HOTAS WIP and other controller mods.

Hello.

I am Dan TDBV Nielsen (The Droid Building Viking) from Denmark.

With this I want to show some of the inspiration for and steps, I am going through in the making of this. Plus what I have done previously.

I am very much a left hander.

My motor skills are such that my right hand, is capable of about 50% of the controller precision, that I have with my left hand.

I have tried using an ordinary HOTAS and that is not for me. There is no fun and joy in it at all. I spent more time hitting the ground, than flying the plane.

This is for DCS world, FS2004, FSX, Falcon BMS and whatever I can use it for, that catches my fancy.

The Lefty project:

Basis

Thrustmaster T.16000m fcs hotas, Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant and Logitech G27.

T.16000m joystick set up for left hand.

Planned modifications:

2 stage trigger Done

Pointy button Done

Pinky button Done

Add 1 5 way tact switch to thumb rest Wirering prepared

Add 1 5 way tact switch where the middle button is Wirering prepared

Replace remaining buttons with capped 6x6mm tactile switches

I am currently waiting for 10 5 way tactile switches and 20 capped 6x6mm tactile switches from China.

Current state of my T16000

2 stage trigger

Dual engine throttle ala Warthog for right hand.

PCB's for the buttons, hats and minijoystick from the TM TWCS wired to 5 way tactile switches and capped 6x6mm tactile switches.

I have yet to decide how to handle the minijoystick and togglepot, but I will probably pull them out of the PCB and use wires to connect them.

For handles I am currently experimenting with plastic pipes. 3D printing is out of my economical range at the moment.

Throttles will be 2 of the levers, on the Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant. The 3. lever I will either shorten or bend or both. I am still undecided about that.

The speeder and clutch pedals on the G27 will be for rudder and the brake pedal for brakes.

If I can get it to work, I would like to use the G27 H shifter as a button layout shifter, each gear for a different set of functions. It also has a hat and 8 buttons.

I am considering a right hand collective lever, but I am still trying to settle on a direction.

I will probably use the throttle pot from the TWCS for this.

As I intend to put the TWCS PCB's in a seperate box, it may be feassible to use multiple wire plugs, so I can swap button handles. I got that idea while writing this.

Happy Simming

My controller repair/mod/dissasembly history:

Replacing the centering springs on my first Gameport CH Flightstick Pro.

Swapping the wires, so that the 2 button is on the Yoke, instead of the base of the Gameport CH Fligthsim Yoke.

Cannibalised a USB/Gameport Guillimot Ferrari Wheel and pedals set.

http://www.simracingworld.com/content/32-guillemot-ferrari-wheel-review/

(Trigger second stage and pinky switch came from this.)

Cannibalised two Gameport CH Flightstick Pro's. My first one some 10 years ago and the last one about a month ago. The wirering broke on the first one and I didn't have the knowledge and skills to repair it.

The second one was a used item, where the centering springs where to lose.

Torn apart because I have decided, to get rid of my DOS 6.22/Win 3.1/Win 98 rig. I wanted to keep the pots and switches.

I have a USB CH Flightstick Pro, so the choise was easy.

Adding an external handbrake (switch) to my G27 H shifter.

The current Lefty project.

Happy Simming

Modding the T.16000m

I got inspiration, ideas and how to's from these places:

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/294901/the-great-t16000m-button-mod

The switch PCB is shown in picture 6.

Everything on the T.16000m has the same ground and that is the solderspot connected with the big areas on the Switch PCB. So no need to scratch off the covering on the PCB.

To avoid conflict with the twist action, I ran the pinky wires at the back of the handle, as shown in the Thrustmaster T16000 Switch Mod Part 2 video.

Thrustmaster T16000 Switch Mod Part 1

Thrustmaster T16000 Switch Mod Part 2

This shows the switchpoints on the controller PCB and also the Pinky switch wirering.

http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/135323-fousts-mechpit-rev-3/

Spring mod for the t.16000m. (I have not done this, but include it here for reference.)

Comparison:

How to:

If you are going to follow this, then please read through all of it, because I made mistakes and I do mention them on the way.

First I took everything apart.

I created 2 bundles of thin wires (From the Guillimot Ferrari Wheel) holding them together with pieces heatshrink tubing. I made this into 1 bundle, with more pieces of heatshrink tubing.

If you wish to use all of the buttons on the base, for switches on the handle, you will need 13 wires including the common ground.

I threaded the bundle into the pipe with the rest of the wires. Leaving a fair length of wires, dangling out of each end, I reattached the twist sensor top of the pipe, with a little contact glue.

I was not carefull enough, when I reattached the magnet, at the bottom of the pipe. I managed to snap the blue wire to the handle PCB. After replacing it I managed to snap it together.

My biggest challenge was soldering wires, to the switchpoints on the controller PCB. I managed to shortcircuit all 6 of them while presoldering. I was lucky to have desoldering braid and a knife to fix it.

Having fought with that I decided to solder the rest of the wires, to the soldering points on the switch PCB. Everything on the T.16000m has the same ground and that is the solderspot connected with the big areas on the Switch PCB. So no need to scratch off the covering on the PCB.

After confirming that I didn't have any shortcircuits I reassembled the base.

After some experimentation I decided upon what switches to use and how.

2 stage trigger:

In the Ferrari Wheel I found a tac switch, that needs more force to activate, than the trigger switch on the handle PCB. (The 2 switches used for the gear up/down shifters.)

I removed excess material on the trigger swivel, to make room for the switch. Cut off 2 of the legs on the switch, soldered on the wires, glued the switch to the swivel with contactglue and hotglued it for strenght.

Then I shortened 1 part of trigger spring and remounted the trigger swivel.

The Pointy finger switch:

I drilled a hole for the switch and then used a bigger drill, to make room for the switch in the handle, then hotglued the switch in place and soldered on the wires.

I had used to much hotglue and had to cut out, some of it to get room for the PCB. I also had to cut off part of one of the solderterminals and bend it, to make room for the hat assembly on the PCB.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/34000026175/in/album-72157682523156245/

The Pinky switch:

Another 6x6mm tac switch from the Ferrari Wheel. This time a longer one.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/33614562900/in/album-72157682523156245/

Found out where I wanted it, drilled a hole, Cut off 2 of the switch legs, secured it in place with a little hotglue. Then I poured on more hotglue to keep it in place and attached the wires.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/33614539400/in/album-72157682523156245/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/33187155973/in/album-72157682523156245/

Be carefull with hotglue and wires in the the twist action area.

It was only on my third attempt, having cut groves for the wires, at the back of the handle, that I succeeded.

Assembly time:

I left off the 3 buttons on top, as they can be pushed in, after the handle is assembled. I did however secure the little rubberthingies, to the buttons with some contact glue.

Needed to cut off even more hotglue, to be able to reattach the button, on the Pointy finger switch side.

I was fighting with the wires, until I pushed most of them into the same compartment and jammed them in real good. Then they stayed put.

If you can push the handleparts together without forcing them, you are on the right track.

Then I reattached the screws without overtightening them.

I finnished by putting in the buttons on top.

I am very happy that everything worked, the first time I plugged the stick into the USB port.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/33870267641/in/album-72157682523156245/

Next step:

Add 1 5 way tact switch to thumb rest Wirering prepared

Add 1 5 way tact switch where the middle button is Wirering prepared

Replace 2 handle buttons with capped 6x6mm tactile switches

The last handle button will be transferred to one of the 5 way tact switches.

I am waiting for these swiches from China.

I hope that this is usefull for somebody.

Happy simming

I make left hand/mirrored versions of the Warthog grip, but not the throttle.

http://www.dualsticks.com/left-hand-grips/

Since you have an rsi account, here's the thread that shows how they are made, which gets more interesting from p18 onward but threre's stuff throughout: https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/167306/dual-warthog-mount-design-build-thread/p18

...

and continued here on Spectrum: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/50174/thread/left-hand-warthog-grips

Hi Thadiun Okona.

I have been looking at your project, for inspiration for my own and it looks great.

Unfortunately the Warthog is way out my economical capabilities and what I really want, is a righthand throttle.

I joined rsi to thank the guy who made the post I am linking to and show what I have done, but you have to buy a game module to be able to post there. Buying one is not in possible for me at the moment.

I have written him a PM thanking him for the inspiration.

I get an error message from your first link and the same error, when trying to click the Original thread link on the spectrum page. Looks like a deleted thread, or as I understood that they wanted to delete the old forum.

Good luck with your project. I hope that you will have a steady managable stream of happy satisfied customers.

Happy simming

Before I get to the HOTAS I would like to share my recommendations about the use of MDF.

MDF is good for many things, but I will never again use it where it comes in contact with skin. I currently have an MDF plate as my PC desktop and it is slowly dissolving because of sweat and friction from my hands and arms. I have arrested the development with some covering but eventually I will have to replace it with something better.

It should not be used in high humidity areas either.

The Lefty project is still boiling around. I am juggling with different stuff.

This has been a large part of the inspiration for the throttle and collective.

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=73042

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=86015

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=2454197

I am going to do something in the direction of PeterP’s dual throttle using a Saitek Pro Throttle quadrant and the PCB’s and pots from a TH TWCS. The PCB’s will go in a seperate box.

Here is some of the stuff I am messing with:

Overview

Switches, Thumbpot from TWCS and mounting thingie

Mounting thingies and switches. (The cable is for a male D-sub DB25 connector)

5 way tactile switches, minijoysticks and hats. The minijoys will not be used as of now because the TWCS appears not be using 10k pots.

Angle thingies I consider to use for reinforcement of the Chair HOTAS mounts I am still inventing on. I am using the armrest mountingholes for this, but I want to be sure that they can handle the load. More about that later.

At the moment I intend to use plastic cups for the handles. I am looking for some glue that work with the materials.

As far as I am able to determine one type of cup is ABS with a high rubber content. This makes it flexible and therefore more difficult to get a lasting bond.

The other type seem to be made of PET one of the more difficult to glue plastics. This is also flexible.

For a while I will see if I can get glue to work. Otherwise I am considering to use nuts and bolts with mounting holes drilled through the levers of the Saitek.

I have an idea of gluing these inside the cups for mounting the endplates.

My homebuild racing handbrake is about to go on a diet. It is a heavy piece of kit.

That is it from me this time.

Happy simming.

Just a quick update.

I have finished the electronics mods on the T.16000m and the handle is assembled.

I have just tested em and they work.

Now I just need to fit the 5 way thumb switch into the thumb rest and mount the thumb rest and its counterpart.

The final touch will be to ad knobs to the 2 5 way switches.

Pictures will come at a later time.

I have bought a Speedlink Phantom Hawk Flight Stick as a basis for my Collective project.

It was what I could get with the highest number of buttons for the lowest price.

An internals thread for this is in the works and also for the Saitek Pro Flight Throttle Quadrant.

Happy simming

My T.16000m mod is now finished.

I can now play around with this on the stick:

Dual stage trigger

8 way hat

2x 5 way hats Up, Down, Left, Right and Top

4 buttons

Twist axis

The 12 buttons on the base are still working.

Pictures to come when I have had some rest.

Happy sim modding

T.16000m pictures and descriptions uploaded to Flickr

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dantdbv/albums/72157681770380842/with/33187171453/

Enjoy.

Any questions are welcome here and I will do my best to answer them.

Happy Sim Modding