My X55 PRO - The first and only one of its kind.

[19//Moach]

I finally went on and did it.  I had been thinking of doing it for some time now.

 

Seeing the new VPC and VKB toys the kids are using to shoot me down these days, the hole in my wallet made itself felt more and more grievously.  

 

 

But what to do... Them fancy things cost many moneys. Or... Maybe it doesn't have to be "fancy" 

 

Conveniently for me, I am the type of crazy who does things like this.   And my ever-unreliable x55 stick already had enough duct tape on it to be a stage prop on the Red Green Show*

_{(*Canadian comedy featuring copious lots of sticky tape)}

 

 

So yesterday, when the gimbals yet again started to twiddle and slosh within their "bearings" (A puny plastic nub is not a decent trunnion bearing! Dammit, Saitek!) I figured I might as well go all out and do some of the things I was daydreaming about for some time as well.

 

 

The resulting abomination turned out to be quite successful.   Made of Duct Tape, Super Glue, and Whatnot. (especially Whatnot) I proudly present you the first and only of it's kind:  

 

Moach_Tek..X_55'^PR_O  

 

 

 

PR_O Features:

 

 

Hi-Precision enhanced shitty plastic gimbal mechanism that allows fluid and smooth movement with zero slack or play on both X and Y axes. Trunnion "bearings" upgraded using state-of-the-art DuctTape Blob Technology™

 

Extended stick lever arm.  A full thumb's (metric thumb, not imperial) length added between grip and gimbal, for (quite surprisingly) greater precision and control.   Pointless non-lockable twist action removed for a firm, steady grip.  The only motion you get, is the motion you need.

 

Twist-less extension rod constructed of rugged alloy material. Composed of DuctTape, SuperGlue and RandomNutsAndBoltsAndWashers. (discovered in a mystery bucket inside a junk drawer.) Botched together to form a solid SuperBrick Composite blob of fossilized entropy.

 

Analog "brake handle" axis, built using a twist grip potentiometer discovered as obsolete.  All metal handle cunningly crafted from a nail clipper lever. Pro wiring runs externally from the hole in the bottom to the exposed solder joints, Wires deftly threaded between the original lower trigger and the pot assembly. Nails kept trim using backup chewing method.

 

Elongated Lower trigger paddle. Providing maximum comfort and top operating awesomeness.

 

Overhauled top-side button. Grants extreme clickiness for an unsurpassed button pressing experience.  Advanced new button design also features Actually working when pressed!  Next-generation cabling runs out the open hole where the old button used to be.

 

All Adjustable professional tensioning system, assembled of incidentally combined bungee cords found in a bin in the back of my garage!

 

New metal pinkie switch cap mated to old plastic one with Aerospace* Grade Adhesive. *MoachTek uses superglue for building model airplanes... the "proper" glue takes forever to dry, I mean, c'mon!

 

Fully overhauled throttle quadrant friction assembly.  Former ineptly assembled slider plates covered in nasty gunk design replaced with top-of-the-line side runner bungees and tape bits wedged into the throttle slots. Smooth and stable movement now even better than widely acclaimed "unusable stiffness with alarmingly grinding-like jolts"

 

New Super-fancy shiny knob heads and switch tops on throttle base. Enough "bling" to even forget about the many buttons that remain inoperative due to me feeling kinda lazy about taking the throttle apart again and look for broken solders from some previous repair hack-job.  enough buttons work for IL2... I'll fix the rest when I wanna fly the DCS warthog again

 

High end finish, with x55 ^PRO lettering in cutting edge graphics artistically scrabbled with a sharpie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is none other like it!! (perhaps for good reasons)    The one and only, Truly PRO Flying Experience:

 

 

The Moach_Tek..X_55'^PR_O  

 

For Precision Control and Professional Design,  Don't mean it HAS to look good.

 

 

 

 

Hurrah!

Edited November 11, 2017 by 19//Moach

[ST_Pirato]

As long as it's practical it doesn't matter how it looks. Good Job.

[Jade_Monkey]

You should get Xzibit in there for the "Pimp my HOTAS" show.

 

I feel excatly like you about the X55, good features on paper, pretty bad quity overall.

[Urra]

Looks good.

Edited October 20, 2017 by TunaEatsLion

[19//Moach]

You should get Xzibit in there for the "Pimp my HOTAS" show.

 

I feel excatly like you about the X55, good features on paper, pretty bad quity overall.

 

 

to be fair, I found that the electronics of the '55 are actually surprisingly good.

 

even though the gimbal is MUCH simpler than the x52pro had, with a single 2-axis Hall sensor whereas the '52 had cams and separate sensors for pitch and roll, that little itty-bitty sensor is really very accurate

 

the big problem with saitek, is that even if they have good electronics, (better than HOTAS Warthog, according to what I hear)  their mechanical parts seem like they were put together by a drunken, sleep-deprived toddler, supervised by a marketing executive churl who's never played a flightsim in his life...

 

 

but at least, mechanical problems are still possible to fix at home.

 

Saitek is what I'd call "A handyman's choice" - It is a joystick for a man with a screwdriver, soldering iron and a dungeon stocked to bursting with rolls of duct tape 

[Sokol1]

even though the gimbal is MUCH simpler than the x52pro had, with a single 2-axis Hall sensor whereas the '52 had cams and separate sensors for pitch and roll, that little itty-bitty sensor is really very accurate

 

the big problem with saitek, is that even if they have good electronics, (better than HOTAS Warthog, according to what I hear)

 

X-55/6 use the same Melexis "3D" Hall sensor used in Warthog and T.16000M, so this "better" is exaggeration of fans, and anyway electronics is only part of joy precision, the mechanics part's of gimbal is equally important.

[19//Moach]

And update on recent developments:

 

 

 

 

As you can see, a lot more duct tape has been added.  Primarily, this new "Pro Coating"  was made to overcome the nasty affinity the original plastic had for my sweat and dead skin cells.  A grosse brown putty would rapidly form around any areas of hand contact. This became thoroughly disgusting in a very short time, and made for a very uncomfortable, half-disgusted grip.

 

Duct tape, fortunately, has no such affinity for sweat.  So far it has seemed almost impervious to collecting "finger gunk", and if it ever does, it is far easier to replace the coating than it was to clean up the plastic.

 

 

A slight amount of glue was used also to remove the plastic feel of the stick, which despite being firmly bolted, had a toyish flexibility which buckled softly around the seams with a heavy grip.  This is no more, and the stick feels as tight as though it were metal.

 

I dread having to take it apart again, however... That would require breaking through several points of glue.   Luckily, so far I see no reason for it.

 

 

The thumb button (my cannon trigger) became rather unreliable after the last time I had it disassembled. The plastic button itself was to blame, for it gripped against its housing such that it did not positively impinge the microswitch underneath.  

 

So I had it replaced, now metal:  A smooth-headed screw of unknown origin or purpose was found to have the perfect length to fit the hole and push the button (rather deep) within the stick body.   A small wadding of Duct Tape made for a practical bushing to secure it against the flanges which sat under the original plastic dome.

 

Being far more compact, this makes for a much more comfortable grip as well.  The trigger action is firm and unfailing when pressed.

 

 

I also found it worthwhile to glue the original "B" button (my rockets trigger) into the head of the new switch that replaced it.  The extra height of it made it much easier to reach and fire.

 

The extended side grip under that is a comfort feature, one which I had similarly installed on my old x52Pro as well.  It offers an alternative grip, allowing my wrist a moment's respite from the repetitive strain of a rather restricted standard hand positioning.  It also allows a finger-grip near the stick head, which makes some of the hats more comfortable to use.

 

 

The base of the stick has also been largely reinforced.  Numerous bracing items of assorted drawer junk metal have been added to strengthen the shaft extension.  It hasn't broken again yet, so here's hoping it stays firm now...

Edited November 8, 2017 by 19//Moach

[Holtzauge]

Really nice job Moach! As a fellow engineer I applaud your work: Creatively using rubber bungees and duct tape with aesthetics coming in second place. Function over form. This is what true engineering is about and nothing a student of the humanities could appreciate.