CH yoke gameport-to-USB conversion

On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:01:10 GMT, "Andrej G."
wrote:

On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 00:54:55 -0600, cpq_ltop wrote:

Has anyone taken the mechanicals from the CH Products Virtual Pilot yoke
(gameport version) and rewired it with the electrics from the current
USB yoke?

I haven't opened either of my yokes (one USB, two gameport) - yet - but
the new USB unit is useless for precision flying, especially approaches
and IFR procedures in turboprops (with OnTop or Elite). The yoke will
not center reliably in either axis - it's really horrible in the
vertical axis. Pitch oscillations are unavoidable when not on AP or FD.
The pilot is left to fly by trim (not encouraged on your checkride - the
breaker
for the trim is on his side of the plane...).

By the way, the CH recommended lube procedure didn't work well enough
with either the dropper-bottle Tri-Flow or the spray can Tri-Flow. It's
OK, but I found the best stuff is a white grease (synthetic) for bikes.
Only problem
with that is that it attracts dust/grit more than the other lubricants.
I was tempted
to try graphite but it's a new yoke. [Anyone try tenacious oil?]

The old yokes have an strong mechanical centering mechanism - it doesn't
need
a dead zone of 40+ lsb's to yield predictable aircraft control. However,
the new
unit has power/prop/fuel levers and handy pitch/yaw trim buttons. So, a
hybrid version seems to be ideal solution. Has someone done it?

reply to this group

I'd say that the rewiring is indeed possible and, if both yokes have the
same number of buttons, hats and potentiometers, it probably won't be too
troublesome.

You can also just go out and purchase a serial to USB converter box.
They are relatively cheap and *usually* work, but YMMV



You can find wiring diagrams for the USB Yoke (and other CH hardware) on
their FTP site (ftp://ftp.chproducts.com/pub/Postings/Wiring/).

As far as I know (from my experience with gameport CH Pro Pedals) CH
doesn't actually solder wires on potentiometers (and hopefully buttons and
hats ) or, at least, they didn't use to. So all you need to do is
disconnect the wiring from the buttons/pots/hats on the USB Yoke and
connect them to their equivalents on the gameport Yoke. Be sure to note
which wire goes where, especially on the potentiometers. It'll make the
potential reversal of the conversion a lot easier.

I've done something similar. I gutted the electronics out of an old TM
FLCS/TQS/gameport CH Pro Pedals and connected them to a Plasma V2
(www.betainnovations.com). It works beautifully .
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com