X-55 on a chopping board

I have my x-55 for few years now and I’ve never really had any problems with it, although some of its ‘features’ are a bit annoying. Guarantee or not, I did a few small mods soon after I got it. But recently, while waiting for Harrier and Hornet I’ve decided to do much more extensive modification.

First, done some time ago, was the thumb switch which was modified as two buttons. Now with nice 3d printed caps:

As I have built myself rudder pedals I removed twist mechanism from the stick and reused the axis for the lever to be used for wheel brakes. Unused lever button has been wired to second thumb switch.

Fixed another pinky switch so it’s easier to reach with the hand support.

Double trigger switch. No more ‘spare’ switches on the stick so this one is wired instead of side button.

Fiddly 4-way switches were fixed with a bit of paint (nail paint to be exact:) Single paint layer was enough to remove any play.

The main reason for all the trouble: extension and smaller base so the stick can be centrally mounted.

The base is a standard ABS project box. I have left all internals and electronics intact. I was thinking about replacing the electronics with MMJoy Arduino board but I thought I won’t be able to replicate single magnetic sensor used by Saitek. Since then I found MLX90333 Triaxis Magnetic sensor, well maybe a future project.

Extension is made from 20mm plastic conduit which fits perfectly and doesn’t require any modifications to the joystick (except cutting wires to extend them). First, I did 10cm extension but the throw of the stick was too big for my liking so I made second 7.5cm.

Next will be the throttle. I plan to replace its board with MMJoy Arduino and add more switches / encoders. So far, I have added dedicated button for VR zoom, encoder for mouse scroll wheel that can also be pressed as left mouse button and another switch on left throttle.

I’m ready for the Harrier now:) I’ll continue with the throttle once I got bored a little with it.:)

Incredible work! I wish I had your skills!

I noticed you modified the hand rest with what looks to be a piece of foam. Can you go into more detail about this modification? This is something that I would like to do because my biggest complaint about the X-55 is the ergonomics of the stick and how I can’t reach the hat switches with my thumb unless I lift my hand off the stick. Also, you mention that you removed the twist mechanism. Did this completely take away the twist in the stick?

Nice job. :thumbup:

The base is a standard ABS project box. I have left all internals and electronics intact. I was thinking about replacing the electronics with MMJoy Arduino board but I thought I won’t be able to replicate single magnetic sensor used by Saitek. Since then I found MLX90333 Triaxis Magnetic sensor, well maybe a future project.

:)

The guy there use MLX90333 with Ardunio MMjoy2:

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4372241/re-mmjoy-mmjoy2-build-your-own-usb-controller#Post4372241

Incredible work! I wish I had your skills!

 

I noticed you modified the hand rest with what looks to be a piece of foam. Can you go into more detail about this modification? This is something that I would like to do because my biggest complaint about the X-55 is the ergonomics of the stick and how I can’t reach the hat switches with my thumb unless I lift my hand off the stick. Also, you mention that you removed the twist mechanism. Did this completely take away the twist in the stick?

The ergonomics is my biggest complain as well, the stick was designed for vikings I think :lol:

The hand rest is just a piece of foam cut to the shape of the stick fixed with double sided tape. The cutting is a bit crude but it's more comfortable then plastic. I can't remember where I got this foam from, IIRC it was packaging of some AV device, but it's very firm and doesn't give up much under the weight of a hand.

Before I fixed the extension I had a twist mechanism in place as it helps keep the joystick together, just disconnected wires from the pot and used them for the lever.

Nice job. :thumbup:

 

 

 

The guy there use MLX90333 with Ardunio MMjoy2:

 

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4372241/re-mmjoy-mmjoy2-build-your-own-usb-controller#Post4372241

Thanks Sokol, in fact it was one of your post where I found about the MLX chip.

A bit too late as the stick was almost done and I was in hurry to finish before Harrier release.

12 days to finish the throttle!

Internals of the left throttle. It has mouse scroll with press button, paddle switch instead of original boat switch, left encoder has been replaced with potentiometer, additional front button and 2-way momentary switch on the left side.

I didn't expect that wiring will take so much time. But I'm slowly getting there!

Completed throttle:

I have added a number of switches to the base and encoder instead of mode switch.

But biggest changes were done to the right throttle:

- added analog thumb slew;

- mouse nipple was replaced with 4-way hat switch;

- top hat and slider were replaced with 2-way switches;

- bottom potentiometer was replaced with encoder;

- two 5-way hat switches on the front instead of single buttons;

- additional single switch on the front of the throttle.

Have been using it for over 2 months now and it's working great. My only gripe is with analog slew, it's not very precise and requires crazy amount of deadzone and curves in DCS settings.

Also I'm not sure about current placement, maybe on the front would be better.

And my current project::pilotfly:

Nice work!

Thanks!

Hey Huzar! Ive just come across your post after trying (Without success) to make an X-55 extension of my own. I have wired everything back up in accordance with the correct wire colors but for some reason none of my buttons work and i'm unsure where i have gone wrong. I am wondering if there is any advice you may be able to give me?

Cheers, and damn fine work!

Hi Slayer,

Not really, extending few wires is as simple as it gets with electronics.

Just usual, check all connections, solders, if there is no short circuits etc.

Another thing, ensure the connector to the base is properly aligned and secured.

For a reason I can't see the images on Igmur. Is there any chance to see them? :\

Not sure, checked on three different PCs and they show up fine.

Impressive work.

I cut my base to pieces to allow it to be center mounted too. I have been thinking about how to make a dual trigger work but I have yet to find a good solution. Any information about how you did it that you can share?

By the way, I also have a Logitech extreme 3d pro that I'm thinking about making much smaller to use as radar stick for the Viggen. Dual trigger mod for that one too obviously.

Hi Ickx, I'm sorry but I missed your post.

This is how I did dual trigger on my X-55:

Very nice

Huzar, I missed the dual trigger trick.

What all did you have to do?

I have X-65 single stage and am thinking of inserting x-52 dual trigger button in place of.

In your mind is it possible? Before I take things apart.

Does anyone have any ideas please

https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=256071