X-55 Mouse Nipple Modification - PART ONE

X-55 MOUSE NIPPLE MODIFICATION - PART ONE

Created by BrassEm 2015.

DISCLAIMER

The following information is my personal interpretations in review of the issues. You are advised to use your own discretion to the correctness and suitability for your own use. Use of the following information and its outcome is solely the responsibility of the user. While the process worked for me, results may differ. This information is intended as complete. Any fragmentation is outside the scope of its intent. Be aware that any modification inside a manufacturers warranty period will void said warranty and possibly void a repair by the manufacturer outside of warranty. (Bottom line is if your not sure, don't do it.)

INTRODUCTION

This mod was developed by my frustration with the mouse nipple operation. Direction control was intermittent and I had no DOWN direction unless I really leaned on the stick - when it would work and if I got the right direction. This is a great HOTAS and not wanting to have down time shipping the throttle back under Warranty Return, I purchased another HOTAS to use while I shipped the other. I connected the new unit and still had the very same issues! Driver Issue??? Very possible... Investigating the mouse nipple mechanism I found that it was a carbon membrane contact type switch. I had cured another well known controller that used the same type of mouse controller by replacing it with a tactile switch, time to cure my X-55. This one was tricky as the contacts had resistance both high and low and were not all commoned like other switches. A digital multimeter sorted the issue out.

This mod is not heavy duty. Tactile feedback is good and very little force is needed to toggle the direction switch. While not a true mouse where pressure increases velocity, the driver can set the direction velocity so you would need to find a velocity that works for you. As a tactile direction switch it works reliably with little force.

The following details were carried out on my secondary HOTAS after proving the original modded throttle worked.

To complete a mod like this you would need to have a reasonable degree of technical and dexterous competence. And have a thorough understanding of the process before proceding. If all components are on hand it would take about five to six hours uninterrupted to complete a mod like this.

PARTS LIST

TPA511GLFS 5 way switch x1.

5.6K Ohm 1/8 Watt Resistor x4.

560 Ohm 1/8 Watt Resistor x2.

Arduino breadboard jumper leads - various. (Flexible multi strand wire.)

1.5mm Heatshrink.

Plastic rod for switch stalk. Long plastic golf tee's are perfect.

TOOL LIST

Soldering setup. Small tip soldering iron, solder, wick, Wet paper towel to clean tip.

Small philips head screwdriver that has at least 30mm small shank to get into the plastic recesses of the screws.

Medium philips head screwdriver about No.2 for the two screws holding the handle in place.

Very small philips head screwdriver to undo the Mouse Nipple assembly.

Hot glue gun (Small nozzle) to tack the switch and wires into place.

Blutac (sticky putty) to hold stuff in place while soldering etc.

Small side cutters to trim wires and heat shrink.

Sharp blade to trim wires.

Tweezers

Torch or very good lighting.

Magnifying Glass and/or damned good eyesight.

Drill or Dremel to drill the 2.0mm diameter hole in you switch stalk

2.0mm Diam drill bit for switch stalk.

Pin and superglue to tack on the stalk to the switch if the 2.0mm diam hole is sloppy. (Or try again.)

Patience.

PURCHASING

5 WAY Switch

Manufacturer: C & K COMPONENTS

Order Code: 2320116

Manufacturer Part No TPA511GLFS

http://au.element14.com/c-k-components/tpa511glfs/switch-5-way-0-05a-gullwing/dp/2320116?CMP=i-55c5-00001621

ARDUINO JUMPER CABLES (65 PACK)

DF-FIT0010

$8.79 AUD

http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/arduino-jumper-cables-mm

MULTICOMP MF12 560R RESISTOR, 0.125W 1% 560R

$0.10 AUD

http://au.element14.com/multicomp/mf12-560r/resistor-0-125w-1-560r/dp/9343350?CMP=i-55c5-00001621

MULTICOMP MF12 5K6 RESISTOR, 0.125W 1% 5K6

$0.21 AUD

http://au.element14.com/multicomp/mf12-5k6/resistor-0-125w-1-5k6/dp/9343369?CMP=i-55c5-00001621

1.5MM BLACK HEATSHRINK TUBING

EL-WH5530

$1.60 AUD

http://littlebirdelectronics.com.au/products/1-5mm-black-heatshrink-tubing

Micro Drill Bit Set 0.7 - 2.2mm

CAT.NO: TD2407

$14.95 AUD

http://www.jaycar.com.au/Tools-%26-Soldering/Hand-Tools/Drill-%26-Socket-Sets/Micro-Drill-Bit-Set-0-7---2-2mm/p/TD2407

MODIFICATION DETAILS

Test the unmodded unit to confirm operation.

For ease of handling slide the throttle handle lock in to lock the two handles together.

Move throttle friction knob to mid position. Where there is least friction on the throttle handle.

Undo 15 screws to remove the bottom part of the case.

Release right throttle cable from its holding clip to allow more movement.

Undo the two larger screws that hold the throttle handle to the slide mechanism.

Release the throttle hand lock to free the right throttle handle.

The throttle handle should now be free to be removed from the slide mechanism.

Manoeuvre the throttle so that you have good access to the screws and assembly. Resting it on a foam block helps to keep strain off the cables.

Remove all the screws if possible. Use the blue tack on the tip of the screwdrive to draw them out if needed. Else the tweezers.

Gently crack the two halves of the handle all around.

After cracking splay the handle open like a clam.

Move the 2x4way switch board over to the left and out the way. Notice that it is located by the notch.

NOTE THE POSITION AND CABLE LAYOUT OF THE INTERFACING BOARD.

Undo the two screws holding the interfacing board and move the board out of the way.

NOTE THE CAVITY UNDER THE INTERFACING BOARD, THAT IS WHERE THE RESISTORS ARE GOING TO BE PLACED.

Manoevre the shells around to get access to the screws holding down the mouse nipple board (mn board).

Care should be taken when removing the mn board. There is a spring on the red E button cap that holds it in position. Also the plunger for the E microswitch is square on. Note this as it will need to go back the same way.

Remove the two screws and remove the mn board. Making sure to not loose the spring on the E botton cap.

IMPORTANT!!!! DO NOT CUT THE BLUE AND WHITE WIRES!!! THEY ARE FOR THE RED E BUTTON!!!!.

Trim and tin the four wires.

Remove the 4 screws and remove the black holding bracket. Turn the board over and remove the two very small screws to remove the mn assembly. Carefully prise the four rubber prongs from the pcb to remove the button membrane.

Prep the switch stalk and test on the switch.

I used a 1.8mm drill bit by hand and it shanked out to a nice fit without glue.

END OF PART ONE.

X-55 Mouse Nipple Modification - PART TWO

X-55 MOUSE NIPPLE MODIFICATION - PART TWO

Created by BrassEm 2015.

START OF PART TWO

Wire up the resistors to join to the existing wires as per the schematic.

IMPORTANT NOTE; because the resistors are so small and it is very hard to distinguish between the values. The 560 ohm resistors were painted/marked to distinguish them.

Wire up the 4 way tactile switch as per the schematic.

Solder together and heatshrink/insulate.

Tack the switch into position with a small amount of hot glue. Make sure of the up orientation. Pointing just to the left of the microswitch should give an average up across the throttle movement range. Try out the switch to make sure it is perpendicular to the board, the stalk is in the middle of the hole quadratures, and the up is where you want. When happy tack the switch down further to secure it. (You may want to change its position late so don't go overboard with the hot glue.)

Reassemble in reverse order of disassembly.

Double check the switches to make sure they are working.

NOTE: When closing the two shells together ensure that the main cable running from the the throttle is not pinched. This can be very difficult to achieve.

After it's all screwed back together, plug in and test. Do not forget to set the mouse feed rates low in the HUD before it is tested. The mouse nipple is now working reliably and consistantly as a 4 way tactile switch.

.

I don't use the mouse switch on my x55 because it's so unreliable, but this is too ambitious for me though! Great work!

Hey can you also look at the "slider", is that replaceable with a 3 position one (so you can actually use it for airbrakes, extend, neutral, retract)?

wow!

hey, do you confirm you have to use HUD in order to use the mouse nipple? or is it possible to use it without using HUD?

thanks

Great work and detailed presentation. Congrats for those, and thank you for sharing!

Thanks for the kind words!

Hey can you also look at the "slider", is that replaceable with a 3 position one (so you can actually use it for airbrakes, extend, neutral, retract)?

From looking at it, it is only driven by the microcontroller as a simple toggle switch, on/off. The HUD driver only sees it as a switch also. So at this stage that's all we've got. The microcontroller that they use on the X-55 is extremely powerfull. If they release a SDK, that would open a whole raft of possibilities. But then you need the driver software to suit as well.

hey, do you confirm you have to use HUD in order to use the mouse nipple? or is it possible to use it without using HUD?

The mouse nipple appears to be treated as a special case by the controller. So the tactile switch did not show up as a raw button in DCS. :( The HUD has to be used in a configuration for the nipple to function.

Excellent modification and detailed guide, BrassEm! Thanks for sharing!

A firm tactile feedback on that switch is a huge enhancement.

The mouse nipple really feel flimsy and has a terrible feedback. Even with the bands I still struggle to find an efficient function to bind on that thing - not reliable enough.

Your guide is very helpful. You should upload it to Instructables, it may help many X-55 users.

Congratulations!

Also your toggle switches caps look neat. Would you recommend a brand or website?

(those are pricey and the exact size is unknown)

Although it maybe too late, I've used this registry tweak with great effect for my X-65

http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?p=1060211#post1060211

Basically you can assign analog axis to the mini-stick. Works great for TDC slew

Also your toggle switches caps look neat. Would you recommend a brand or website? (those are pricey and the exact size is unknown)

Thanks Bourrinopathe. These are probably just as expensive with shipping... Vrinsightshop.com. (There is a 10 pack of white.) I.D is approx 5.3mm. They fits snuggly over the X-55 switches. At full throttle, H4 is close to TGL3 but not a show stopper. I fill these caps and drill to fit over the smaller standard C&K switches. I was going to build an arduino based Overhead/Pedestal but Helios got the better of me.

Pardon the bump, but I noticed that the original ministick hardware is actually analog, not merely a 4-way digital HAT. It seems the 4 contacts are pressure sensitive, providing several steps between on and off. This is apparent if you use the registry tweak described here.

So this leads me to wonder, is it possible to attempt a similar mod that uses an analog stick instead of a 4-way hat? What did you find the voltage outputs high and low for V00 and V02 to be?

G'day Tarvis,

Absolutely. It was simply the fact that I could not find a pot suitable without a major rework of the stick. If there is now one available that fits I would seriously look at installing that myself.

The resistance was a measured open and hard close. I used all resistance measurements as I needed load values for the circuit. (I will check my notes though to see if I did take voltages at some stage.)

E

Also your toggle switches caps look neat. Would you recommend a brand or website?

(those are pricey and the exact size is unknown)

Maybe those fit:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-x-Toggle-Switch-Tip-Caps-for-electric-Guitar-Cream-Black-White-/281311690829?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item417f7bc04d

"caps switch" on eBay.

Great mod. The X-55 is a great HOTAS and deserves this improvement. I wish Saitek released a X-55 Pro with a 4-way and push CMS hat and more HATS on the throttle

Maybe those fit:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/30-x-Toggle-Switch-Tip-Caps-for-electric-Guitar-Cream-Black-White-/281311690829?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item417f7bc04d

 

"caps switch" on eBay.

Nice find. Purchased some to see if they fit. Cheap enough even if I need to drill the hole out a bit.

Thanks Sokol! Maybe those could fit. Hopefully, BrassEm will tell us ;)

I stumbled upon these caps while googling "toggle switches caps" a while ago, and the results were mostly focused on the guitar accessories.

If you can find a decent music store next to you, there's a good chance you can find some of those caps.

I tried a few combinations of custom caps on my X-55, focusing on the tactile feel to quickly differentiate some of them by touch.

I ended up fitting some spare earbud tips and even some bungee tensioners/straps end caps :

(they fit perfectly).

Another alternative could be to mold your own caps with some specific rubber materials like the Sugru paste/glue. (you can even make a decent home-made Sugru with silicone paste (the one used for plumbing) mixed with corn starch and acrylic paint)

It's removable and it won't mess up your switches.

It's the DIY HOTAS accessories ;)

Hmm, so an ALPS joystick like this one "should" fit? https://reichelt.de/RKJXP122002/3/index.html?&ACTION=3&LA=446&ARTICLE=73910&artnr=RKJXP122002&SEARCH=alps+stick+controller

So far I am not using the nipple for Slew. My worst problem though, is the thumb Pots on the right throttle. I have one set up for Zoom View and there seems to be a bit of electrical jiggle in it. So I have a small shake in the view. I'm going to attempt to replace the pots with some high grade 10K pots from Leo Bodnar.

The main problem is simply how much space there is for it. A stick with pots is certainly too tall to fit. You can surely wire it in if you use the appropriate resistors, but it would probably not fit in the original throttle handle shell.

The most viable option would probably be a flat sliding style stick like the ones used in the PSP, Vita, and 3DS. I am sure there are specs out there about its voltage and resistance loads. I believe I have read that the PSP stick runs off +3.3V and resistance ranges from 2K to 5K on each axis, and 3.5-4K when centered. The 3DS stick is closer to the 10K range. What were the resistance ranges of the original hardware? The sticks from the PSP1000, PSP2000, PSP3000, Vita, and 3DS all have different resistance ranges. If we're lucky one of the various sticks could match without needing any resistors.

Another candidate is a laptop trackpoint. While it is not as accurate as a stick using pots would be, it would still be a hard upgrade over the current Saitek one if it was from a ThinkPad for example. This would probably take a lot more effort though as usually they are wired as PS/2 devices.

I actually have a spare ThinkPad keyboard with nipple in it. Making it compatible with the X55 is another matter..

But a Psp joystick would be nice.

Just an update on the switch caps.

Received the shipment two weeks ago no problems. These caps are hard plastic compared to the VRinsight soft rubberised caps. The ID is 3mm / 0.118" and fit on the C&K straight shank switches okay. (Just need a tab of hot clue to fix in position.) But obviously won't fit the X-55 switches.