Wooden bits and potentiometers... oldschool.

Hello.

Plank here from the RoF forum ( AKA Knalp )

Have been making sticks for a few years now.
Stuck on the pendulum design. It's low tech and super sturdy.

Decided to have a go with MMjoy ( I have been using Logtech MCU , the DZ is not good ... )
and found out my Hall sensors were not going full scale ( GND to Vcc ) so I was losing my
bottom and top end of my input to the ADC.... sooo.... I tested a 10k B type off the shelf VR and liked it.
A what? A potentiometer? Yes. Back to the scratchy capacitance horrible pots. but cheap! and plentiful.
( I have 5mV/G halls on the way... to replace the 1.7mV/G ones... but will they work???)

So in the passing of time I deemed it worthwhile to see how to make a 270deg ( ?) VR work with a
medium stick angle. ( I usually go for about 500mm stick shaft...)

Made it. Feels good. Testing on the bench, next up going all the way.

Some pictures.

Trying to do some basic things with marginal tools has been an interesting challenge.
The drill press is wobbly etc but it's amazing what you can come up with when you
push yourself. and spend quite a bit of time braining things out.

Oh yes, the grip travel will be quite large but I fly the Sopwith Camel in RoF and
having a lot of travel is quite good really. Helps avoid the sudden stall spin death.

S!

Plank. AKA Knalp.

PS. Compared to the high tech sim pits in this sub forum my attempt at a stick looks "agricultural"... I am very ok with that!

Hi Plank or Knalp,

Parts are good considering the material. Don't be too hard on "agricultural" looking equipment. Most Russian equipment during WW2 was very agricultural, but it ground the German "Hi-tech" stuff to a halt.

Looking forward to seeing the final assembly.

Cheers,

Andy

Hello! I am looking at your set up. Very modern! Not my cup of tea but it's very nice! Taking notes!!!

Here is a picture or two of my old stick. It is being upgraded.

Back to bashing about in the garage!

S!

Planky.

Attacking the project:

S! Plank.

More pics...

Off to get 5mm NBW's ( Nut, Bolt, Washer. ) then I work out way to capture ends of the string.... some kind of clamp?

Accidentally made the roll cam a bit larger. This might be good. Can fab up new ones no problem.

The base stand part was a good challenge. I drilled the hole in the plate, shoved the rod through then
peened it over, then belted it back into the hole. This was enough to hold it in place when welding it up.
My stick welding skills are lacking... but it's small fiddly work that a TIG welder or Braze would be better suited.
Possibly maybe a gas torch and tin would do the trick... cheap and might look nicer than splatter...

Balancing the pitch axis is the next interesting issue. The cam mechanism is offset so it is out of balance.
Some kind of counter balance is needed... but not terrible looking.... mmm... this is a vexing thing.

S!

Plank.

Pitch is up and running.
Action is very smooth, pendulum is very good.
Grip travel is a little bit long, can rectify this no problem.
The pedestal is a tad wobbly, will add webs to it.
Ran out of belt so I have to deconstruct another printer
to get some more.

Next version will have a few modifications that I can thought
up while doing this one.

The action is simply the best, no springy feeling, no clicky centering.
and it returns to 100% centre every time.

Total cost: about $30 NZD. Cheaper with recycled bearings and VR's.

S!

Plank.