My Cougar mods
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I had this open recently, so I figured I’d snap a couple pics of my cheap-but-effective mods.
The Hall effect sensors are pretty obvious. Mounted on Vero (stripboard) that I had around anyway for unrelated purposes. The neodymium magnets are just superglued in place.
A little less obvious are the nylon strips I mounted on the bearing surfaces, either side of the stick bottom (whatever it’s called). It became necessary after a few years of use caused significant “zero play” from pot metal rubbing on pot metal. I cut little pieces of a large zip tie for nylon. You can see I had to dremel/file down the stick-bottom-post thing. All hand fit, and it took me a couple tries, as I don’t have any precision machining equipment. Huge improvement though, I still have no zero play years later.
What can’t be seen is a bit of nylon tubing to act as a bushing around the steel center pivot pin.
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wow good idea those nylon strips as you call them.
I would day they are way thick amd the metal tube u got it too thin risking to brake it, but with the hall sensors it wouldn’t need that much force.
How do they stay in place? You glued them?Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T818A using Tapatalk
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Nah, it won’t break. I’ve been using it like this for about 9 years now, but admittedly I don’t “fly” all that often. The nylon strips are superglued. That holds well as there really aren’t any forces acting to pull them away. This is NOT how I would’ve done things if I was in charge of the original manufacturing, just my cheap DIY solutions. A nylon ring on the stick-bottom thing would make more sense, but I don’t have the machining capability to pull that off.
Also, some keen eyes might notice that I installed my Hall effect sensors backwards, and thus the magnets too I guess. But I already had it all working well before I noticed my error, so I left them as-is. I got the pinouts right, obviously, but they’re supposed to face the other way, per the datasheet.
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Hello guys!
A revitalization and update of my Hotas Cougar!
Once the mechanical part is concluded, at any time I will be starting the electronic part!
Best Regards !!
malpaso -
_Hello buzzkill
Thanks for answering my MP !!
Take Care !!malpaso_
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I did another “hillbilly hack” mod, this time on the TQS. Didn’t take pictures though.
I drilled a hole on the right side of the base, and installed an insulated 1/4" phone jack. Then I ran 5VDC to the jack from the USB supply, soldered two wires to the bottom of the PCB where the throttle pot connects.
Now I plug my homemade TrackIR clip into it (1/4" phone plug), and don’t have to use batteries or run a cable from my head to the PC. Works like a champ.
The IR LEDs are wired in series, for a combined voltage drop of 4.05V, with a 10-ohm current limiting resistor. They run close to the datasheet-specified maximum of 100mA.
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Hello buzzkill, how are you?
Necessity is the mother of all inventions!
Best Regards !
malpaso -
Hey man what’s up
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Thinking of other projects, besides that of Hotas Cougar!
I have a Suncom F-15E Raptor Grip, I’m seeing where to put it !
Idealizing project !
Take care !!