homemade Rudder Peddals

[huskertko]

I read somewhere about building rudder pedals from an old joystick, without going into details of how to build it, how would I assign it as my rudder pedals?  It is a USB device.

thanks

[alrot]

[quote]I read somewhere about building rudder pedals from an old joystick, without going into details of how to build it, how would I assign it as my rudder pedals?

[olendorf]

I just finished my pedals tonight. I used an old Logitech Wingman USB joystick for the circuitry.  Works GREAT.  It could look a little better, but it is smooth and very robust. You can see I stuck the potentiometer in the end of the copper cap. I'm going to put a box over the circuit board to keep it protected.

You select the new joystick(rudder) from the assigments page in FS2004 and deselect all the assignments except the axis you want for the rudder.  Then you go to your main joystick and unassign the rudder assignment.

A must for flying the Bell helicopter. Remember to set the sensivitity and null zone.





Scott Olendorf

[JBaymore]

olendorf,

Hey... thanks for posting the pix.  Simple and straightforward setup.  Keep us posted with any changes you make to them over time.

Interesting use of the copper pipe fittings, and the stright-line linkage idea to the pot is also interesting.


best,

.....................john

[Skua]

I REALLY like this design! Simple, robust and very utilitarian-looking!

I'm gonna build a set like this for use in CFS2, and I plan on adding some "toe-brakes".

[olendorf]

Yeah I know it's ugly but it works. It also is very similar to the actual rudder pedals in my Kolb Firestar ultralight.  It was sort of a proof of concept. I'll make a nice wooden base next time.  The pulley/bearing was a patio door roller.


I drilled a hole in the end of the copper end cap and filed it into a little half circle shape to match the end of the pot.  Then I just had to tap the pot into the hole and didn't even have to glue it. Epoxy would work fine though.


Scott   http://home.nycap.rr.com/firestar/

[TacitBlue]

Awsome idea. I am building a set of pedals now, using your design with a cheapie wal-mart joystick. hopefully in the end it will come out to less money than the $70-$150 that retail rudder pedals cost.

[TacitBlue]

well, it worked! but I did end up spending like $50. thanks for posting your pics, olendorf.

[olendorf]

I think I spent about $14 but I already had a joystick laying around.  I'm glad you got them and still saved some money.  I'm loving mine. I can land that Bell helicopter 9 out of 10 times now and the Robinson is a peice of cake.

[beaky]

I've got plans for a real nice pair of pedals, and I'm going to hack my old Saitek 2.4 for a rudder pot , but I'm not 100% sure of the best way to extend the lines from the board so I can use 2 of the switch circuits for brakes. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron, but I'm leery of trying to desolder those little guys to get them off the board altogether, so I'm thinking of just wiring parallel off the pins on the back , with leads going to 2 switches I will purchase. Anybody think that'll work?
 Also, what happens if I diisconnect any other switches or pots? Will the thing's "brain" freak out, or will it not notice the dead pins?

[TacitBlue]

Yes, you can solder new switches to the pins of the old ones, it dosnt matter as long your switches close the circuit. On the same note, it wont matter if you remove the old switches/buttons, because the circuit is open untill you activate them, so if they arent there, the circuit s always open. With the pots, it dosnt matter either but Im not sure why, I just know that it didnt make a difference with mine. Hope that helps. I built my pedals using this design so if you have anymore questions feel free to ask.

[JBaymore]

rottydaddy,

Removing the pots makes the circuit see "infinite impedance" which will be above the value that it's "max" was designed for....... so it just "thinks" the control is set at the max.

You could wire a gazillion momentary contact N.O. switches in parallel with the original ones.  Then the ciscuit would "fire" when any one of them was pressed making it a closed circuit.  So you could have a button serving the same function located in maultiple places in your simpit.

best,

................john

[beaky]

That's what I figured... I'm good with a soldering pencil, but undoing a factory sloder is not my idea of a good time. Should be easy w/the switches in place, as they left long pins on the back of the board. Gonna start fabbing parts for my pedals this weekend- pretty excited! I've stolen a few sound ideas and come up with a few of my own; let's hope it works!

[JBaymore]

rottydaddy,

Just got back from a week long business trip.  

For taking apart existing circuits get yourself a vacume solder sucker.  You heat up the solder with the iron and then have the sloder sucker remove most of the liquid.  Makes it much easier to unsolder stuff.

best,

....................john

[beaky]

rottydaddy,

Just got back from a week long business trip.  

For taking apart existing circuits get yourself a vacume solder sucker.  You heat up the solder with the iron and then have the sloder sucker remove most of the liquid.  Makes it much easier to unsolder stuff.

best,

....................john

Thanks. Yup, I use a solder-sucker all the time at work (A/V installs tech)... but I'm very leery of undoing factory-soldered boards, especially the tiny cheap ones in this joystick. Too easy to overheat it and have the board delaminate, etc. I'll most likely just gingerly tack my extension leads on the pins on the backside of the board...
We'll see, though- just getting started fabbing the mechanical parts (out of wood).