The DIY-ers corner
- Thread starter Jet Badger
- 342 comments
- 35,970 views
- 3,475
- Vilnius
On the soundcard I just soldered the power wires to the USB plug after looking up the standard USB pinout
The blue and orange wires on the soundcard are soldered to the microphone jack, it's also a standard TRS pinout so it's pretty straight forward On the amplifier circuit I just found the datasheet for the chip that's in there and checked what traces lead where. The output was pretty obvious as that's where the 3.5mm jack was, the location of the input is was given away by the small volume control pot and that left just the power pins to be located
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Just thought I'd share a couple of things I've discovered lately:
1. Polymorph! How I went so long without experiencing this I'll never know. It's a thermoplastic that starts to melt at 60-65C, at which point you can shape it any way you want, that means you can just stick it in a pan of fairly hot water, wait a minute or so and get to work. I've had a lot of ideas for things to do with it, but I need to learn how to make moulds first; things like captive nuts for linear actuators using threaded rods, runners for the aluminium profile I've used for my sim rig (for a keyboard tray), replica Apple headphones to replace mine that broke, Raspberry Pi camera lens mount...
2. The Arduino Leonardo, Micro and I think also the Due can be easily programmed so that computers see them as HID joysticks as well as a keyboard and mouse, instructions here: http://www.imaginaryindustries.com/blog/?p=80
I had the basic demo program from this post working in, well, as long as it took me to copy and paste three files. Actually making something useful with it will take a while longer; I need an enclosure to hold 32 buttons, I need to make two hat switches somehow (probably with Polymorph) and then I need some axis inputs - probably a DB9 connector to interface it with my G27's pedals and some panel-mounted pots for flight sim trimmers and such. As for interfacing 32 buttons and two 4-way hats with an Arduino with only about 15 pins, I've been using 75HC165D parallel in, serial out shift registers. They take eight inputs and push the data to the Arduino using only four pins (three if you use a NOT gate on the parallel load and connect it to clock enable), and they can be daisy chained. Four in a chain gives you 32 inputs that can be polled in just under 1ms (820us), and 32 bits is as much as you can fit in an unsigned long.
3. I'm sure people know about these already, but you can buy both iPad LCD panels and microcontrollers to interface them with HDMI or VGA on Ebay. I don't know what the quality of the latter is like but I think I'll pick up a set and find out, if they're any good I may well buy a few more. It may only be 1024x768 but it's a tiny, probably fully functional monitor for £60. I've wanted an accessory monitor for my triple monitor set up for a while now. That said, the HDMIPi should be out soon, that's 1280x800 and £75.
1. Polymorph! How I went so long without experiencing this I'll never know. It's a thermoplastic that starts to melt at 60-65C, at which point you can shape it any way you want, that means you can just stick it in a pan of fairly hot water, wait a minute or so and get to work. I've had a lot of ideas for things to do with it, but I need to learn how to make moulds first; things like captive nuts for linear actuators using threaded rods, runners for the aluminium profile I've used for my sim rig (for a keyboard tray), replica Apple headphones to replace mine that broke, Raspberry Pi camera lens mount...
2. The Arduino Leonardo, Micro and I think also the Due can be easily programmed so that computers see them as HID joysticks as well as a keyboard and mouse, instructions here: http://www.imaginaryindustries.com/blog/?p=80
I had the basic demo program from this post working in, well, as long as it took me to copy and paste three files. Actually making something useful with it will take a while longer; I need an enclosure to hold 32 buttons, I need to make two hat switches somehow (probably with Polymorph) and then I need some axis inputs - probably a DB9 connector to interface it with my G27's pedals and some panel-mounted pots for flight sim trimmers and such. As for interfacing 32 buttons and two 4-way hats with an Arduino with only about 15 pins, I've been using 75HC165D parallel in, serial out shift registers. They take eight inputs and push the data to the Arduino using only four pins (three if you use a NOT gate on the parallel load and connect it to clock enable), and they can be daisy chained. Four in a chain gives you 32 inputs that can be polled in just under 1ms (820us), and 32 bits is as much as you can fit in an unsigned long.
3. I'm sure people know about these already, but you can buy both iPad LCD panels and microcontrollers to interface them with HDMI or VGA on Ebay. I don't know what the quality of the latter is like but I think I'll pick up a set and find out, if they're any good I may well buy a few more. It may only be 1024x768 but it's a tiny, probably fully functional monitor for £60. I've wanted an accessory monitor for my triple monitor set up for a while now. That said, the HDMIPi should be out soon, that's 1280x800 and £75.
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AOS-
Premium
- 28,803
- 'Sauga, ON
I've got another joystick controller built. I put the emphasize on the shiny finish. Done with graffiti yellow spray paint, black acrylic and fluorescent green. I did the black/green graphics by hand, and god did that take a long time.
More photos can be found on the blog:
http://athobbies.blogspot.ca/2014/06/tech-back-on-stick-yuki-terumi-theme.html
More photos can be found on the blog:
http://athobbies.blogspot.ca/2014/06/tech-back-on-stick-yuki-terumi-theme.html
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- 3,694
- South Australia
How have I not seen this thread before? Great job everybody!
First up is this floating arm trebuchet I built in my final year of high school. I somehow managed to convince my science teacher that building one would help me understand how they work for my personal research project. She said ok but had no idea the scale I had in mind
. It's about 170cms tall, built with a solid pine construction and a metal throwing arm (because it snapped its timber one.) It took months to make and when all was said and done it threw a field hockey ball nearly 200 meters 
. Crazy to think I was allowed to build and test something so dangerous at school 
Also in high school I built this massive TV cabinet. Nobody could figure out why I made it so damn big, but I had ambitions
Once I was out of high school and had some money, I decided to upgrade from my very shotty first attempt at a driving rig...
...To something a bit nicer. Some steel, welding, checker plate, grinding, gun metal grey, a racing seat and a few bolts later I was happy...
I also got a hold of a couple TVs and secondhand PS3s to do what I was preparing for at school
Finally there's my latest project, which is the biggest and most expensive I've ever tackled. Some personal issues have meant It's currently on hold, but once things start going again my 300zx's fibreglass hardtop will be back on track
Edit: Can't get the trebuchet pic up the right way
First up is this floating arm trebuchet I built in my final year of high school. I somehow managed to convince my science teacher that building one would help me understand how they work for my personal research project. She said ok but had no idea the scale I had in mind
. It's about 170cms tall, built with a solid pine construction and a metal throwing arm (because it snapped its timber one.) It took months to make and when all was said and done it threw a field hockey ball nearly 200 meters . Crazy to think I was allowed to build and test something so dangerous at school Also in high school I built this massive TV cabinet. Nobody could figure out why I made it so damn big, but I had ambitions
Once I was out of high school and had some money, I decided to upgrade from my very shotty first attempt at a driving rig...
...To something a bit nicer. Some steel, welding, checker plate, grinding, gun metal grey, a racing seat and a few bolts later I was happy...
I also got a hold of a couple TVs and secondhand PS3s to do what I was preparing for at school
Finally there's my latest project, which is the biggest and most expensive I've ever tackled. Some personal issues have meant It's currently on hold, but once things start going again my 300zx's fibreglass hardtop will be back on track
Edit: Can't get the trebuchet pic up the right way
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- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
So I really want to do this: http://hackaday.com/2014/06/07/cust...-clips-onto-macbook-as-a-slick-second-screen/ (well, up to the bit where I cut up an old G5 to make a garish case for it and mount it on my laptop!)
Then I want to get two more and convert them and a Tomy Turnin' Turbo into the world's smallest triple monitor racing rig. It's a shame it's not Thunderbolt as a screen of this size and price would be perfect for daisy chaining, but that would be very much non-trivial as a hack project.
Then I want to get two more and convert them and a Tomy Turnin' Turbo into the world's smallest triple monitor racing rig. It's a shame it's not Thunderbolt as a screen of this size and price would be perfect for daisy chaining, but that would be very much non-trivial as a hack project.
- 3,475
- Vilnius
I thought I'll make this POS hi-fi we've had for years a bit useful. Spent 4 hours yesterday trying to convert the tape deck into a line-in. All that time trying to bypass the pre-amp/recorder board that later I solved by touching some live wires in 2 minutes
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
I'm sleepy, which means two things: My wallet is looser than usual, and I want to make things. So I just bought a backlight driver/displayport connector board for an iPad 3 LCD. The hope is that it'll automatically detect and upscale a 1080p signal fed to it by an HDMI to DP adaptor (which I don't have yet) so I can use it with a Raspberry Pi, but I'm quite certain that won't work, and when it doesn't I'm going to probably plug it into my PC to use as an accessory monitor for when I'm playing fullscreen triple monitor games. It was only £25, not too bad...
If, as I suspect, it doesn't work with my Pi, I'm probably going to preorder an HDMIPi as well. Then I think I really actually will make a laptop.
If, as I suspect, it doesn't work with my Pi, I'm probably going to preorder an HDMIPi as well. Then I think I really actually will make a laptop.
AOS-
Premium
- 28,803
- 'Sauga, ON
I've got another one.March 31 2014Smallest stick I've ever built! 8 x 10 inches.
6 x 12 inches. It's just gettin' smaller and smaller.
Made it super small to have around my computer for small games so I won't need that orange one anymore. Small games meaning light gaming, meaning I don't need it to be super comfortable or ergonomic, thus I can push the dimensions to a tighter squeeze.
See that button colour arrangement? Playstation face buttons. Simple as that.
Does it work on a Playstation though?
Why yes it does. In that last stick I made (scroll up a few posts), I gutted my friend's old stick for parts, but I put in a new PCB so the old one was no longer in use. So I took it since it was small and it gave me an excuse to use that Neutrik USB A/B female adaptor plug you see in the second photo.
The least prettiest side of it all, unpainted styrene. Two reasons for what I did:
1) I didn't paint it black, because I learned from the black controller (last page) having paint rest on the tender warmth of your thighs is not cool, and everything just scratches eventually.
2) It doesn't match the perimeter of the case because it creates a flush handle:
A handle without having something stick out. It works like a charm on the Kemonojo, so I'm doing it again. Plus, I have it hanging on a hook that's attached to the inside leg of my computer table. Tidy and close by.
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
@AOS- Very nice work, could you post a link to a datasheet or just a store page for the buttons and joystick you've used, please? I can never find good stuff, I tried making an arcade stick for a Mega Drive II but it sucked because the buttons were so flimsy and gave no indication if the press had been registered, if you know what I mean. On further inspection the buttons I got were just normal membrane buttons like you'd have in a remote control or cheap keyboard in an arcade button package... I want something clicky rather than clacky, you know?
AOS-
Premium
- 28,803
- 'Sauga, ON
All these buttons use microswitches instead of membrane contact pads.
There are several sites that stock up on parts you're looking for.
Focusattack, paradisearcadeshop, canadianjoysticks, just to name a few.
If you want the tactile buttons, the ones produced by Happ ($~1.89) will have you covered. Arcade cabinets in the US used to use these all the time. They're cheap and last a long time. Sometimes they lack response if you need precision inputs. There is also the HBFS Gamerfinger (~$9), a recent one that came out not long ago. That uses the same mechanical buttons like those fancy keyboards some of the people here splooge about. They can be upgraded to have the blue "tactile click" microswitches.
There's also Sanwa Denshi and Seimitsu buttons (both ~$3 for a 30mm button). They are hella responsive, and highly popular amongst the fighting game community, but they don't click. If you want something that doesn't feel flimsy, I'd avoid Sanwa. They feel flimsy, but they're not. They've got highly-sensitive buttons.
As for joysticks, I'd just go with Sanwa or Seimitsu. I've only ever used Sanwa's JLF-TP-8YT (~$25). Works. Haven't had issues with it on any of the 5 sticks I've ever built.
An alternative to those sites is eBay. Sometimes, a few HK/China-based sellers will sell you parts for a good price + low/free shipping.
There are several sites that stock up on parts you're looking for.
Focusattack, paradisearcadeshop, canadianjoysticks, just to name a few.
If you want the tactile buttons, the ones produced by Happ ($~1.89) will have you covered. Arcade cabinets in the US used to use these all the time. They're cheap and last a long time. Sometimes they lack response if you need precision inputs. There is also the HBFS Gamerfinger (~$9), a recent one that came out not long ago. That uses the same mechanical buttons like those fancy keyboards some of the people here splooge about. They can be upgraded to have the blue "tactile click" microswitches.
There's also Sanwa Denshi and Seimitsu buttons (both ~$3 for a 30mm button). They are hella responsive, and highly popular amongst the fighting game community, but they don't click. If you want something that doesn't feel flimsy, I'd avoid Sanwa. They feel flimsy, but they're not. They've got highly-sensitive buttons.
As for joysticks, I'd just go with Sanwa or Seimitsu. I've only ever used Sanwa's JLF-TP-8YT (~$25). Works. Haven't had issues with it on any of the 5 sticks I've ever built.
An alternative to those sites is eBay. Sometimes, a few HK/China-based sellers will sell you parts for a good price + low/free shipping.
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- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
So I got my iPad 3 LCD (specifically a reconditioned Samsung LTL097QL01-W01 from eBay, £30) to go with my £25 AbuseMark LCD to DisplayPort adaptor, I made a quick power supply with a 12V 2.2A supply, LM7805 and two huge 1000µF caps because I couldn't be bothered to work out what I should be using, but sadly the 7805s I have can't do the 1.5A the datasheet I found said the could so the display, which was drawing around 1.5A, kept tripping the regulator's overcurrent protection and just strobed, but the display was at least working when it was flickering on and off.
I also bought an Adafruit PiTFT but I haven't soldered it together yet. Looking forward to making a camera out of that.
I also bought an Adafruit PiTFT but I haven't soldered it together yet. Looking forward to making a camera out of that.
vasiliflame
(Banned)
- 1,321
- Cardiff
- no thanks
I've got another one.
6 x 12 inches. It's just gettin' smaller and smaller.
Made it super small to have around my computer for small games so I won't need that orange one anymore. Small games meaning light gaming, meaning I don't need it to be super comfortable or ergonomic, thus I can push the dimensions to a tighter squeeze.
See that button colour arrangement? Playstation face buttons. Simple as that.
Does it work on a Playstation though?
Why yes it does. In that last stick I made (scroll up a few posts), I gutted my friend's old stick for parts, but I put in a new PCB so the old one was no longer in use. So I took it since it was small and it gave me an excuse to use that Neutrik USB A/B female adaptor plug you see in the second photo.
The least prettiest side of it all, unpainted styrene. Two reasons for what I did:
1) I didn't paint it black, because I learned from the black controller (last page) having paint rest on the tender warmth of your thighs is not cool, and everything just scratches eventually.
2) It doesn't match the perimeter of the case because it creates a flush handle:
A handle without having something stick out. It works like a charm on the Kemonojo, so I'm doing it again. Plus, I have it hanging on a hook that's attached to the inside leg of my computer table. Tidy and close by.
Is that a genuine ds3 aos? I like to do the same thing have a pad that's on its way to the boy keeps dropping it do you have a pin out by anychance?
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
@vasiliflame: You can also read the flexible PCB, follow the traces and work out what's what. I'm pretty sure the different models are the same in arrangement but they differ in connection method between the FPCB and the main board of the controller, old types had a physical connector while new revisions use a piece of foam and wishful thinking to push the FPCB against the board. Off the top of my head, I think the pins from left to right are:
L2
L1
Left
Down
Right
Up (these might be in the wrong order)
Left side common
Select
Start
Select/start common
Home button
Home button
Right side common
Square
Triangle
Circle
X (these might also be in the wrong order)
R1
R2.
Also there are two resistors in there but I can't remember where they go. Basically as long as you get the commons right and connect the right wires to them it'll work fine and you can experiment until you find the right connections, but if you connect a left side button to the right common (for example) the controller switches off. I don't think it does any serious damage to it, though.
The hard part is the soldering, really. In the past I've used the actual pads where the FPCB connects to the controller but that is pretty tricky as they are tiny and covered in conductive... Stuff. You have to scrape that off - I used a knife and a lot of care to not nick the copper - then solder very tiny wires to the pads. 30AWG Kynar wrapping wire (you can find that on Ebay) is quite good, it's pretty much the thinnest wire you can get, but if your soldering iron or skills aren't up to it it's very difficult to do. After soldering the wires up you really should hot glue the wires afterwards to prevent any accidental force on the solder pads, they're extremely fragile. You can also use test points, they look like small solder blobs marked TPx but they're harder to map out and I'm not sure every single pad has a corresponding test point, I'm pretty sure when i tried a 'break out' recently there was an issue with that.
Also, if you want, you can hook up a variable resistor (or the middle and either left or right pin of a potentiometer) between a button and its corresponding common connection and retain the analogue input feature of the DS3. I haven't found a use for that yet but it's a thing you can do.
Edit: This is more or less how I've done it in the past (not my picture):
L2
L1
Left
Down
Right
Up (these might be in the wrong order)
Left side common
Select
Start
Select/start common
Home button
Home button
Right side common
Square
Triangle
Circle
X (these might also be in the wrong order)
R1
R2.
Also there are two resistors in there but I can't remember where they go. Basically as long as you get the commons right and connect the right wires to them it'll work fine and you can experiment until you find the right connections, but if you connect a left side button to the right common (for example) the controller switches off. I don't think it does any serious damage to it, though.
The hard part is the soldering, really. In the past I've used the actual pads where the FPCB connects to the controller but that is pretty tricky as they are tiny and covered in conductive... Stuff. You have to scrape that off - I used a knife and a lot of care to not nick the copper - then solder very tiny wires to the pads. 30AWG Kynar wrapping wire (you can find that on Ebay) is quite good, it's pretty much the thinnest wire you can get, but if your soldering iron or skills aren't up to it it's very difficult to do. After soldering the wires up you really should hot glue the wires afterwards to prevent any accidental force on the solder pads, they're extremely fragile. You can also use test points, they look like small solder blobs marked TPx but they're harder to map out and I'm not sure every single pad has a corresponding test point, I'm pretty sure when i tried a 'break out' recently there was an issue with that.
Also, if you want, you can hook up a variable resistor (or the middle and either left or right pin of a potentiometer) between a button and its corresponding common connection and retain the analogue input feature of the DS3. I haven't found a use for that yet but it's a thing you can do.
Edit: This is more or less how I've done it in the past (not my picture):
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
I've been quite busy today. The first thing I did was augment my Raspberry Pi's PiTFT module with the slim tactile buttons I got in the post this morning, so now I have a button to turn the Pi off and on. Next I want to work out how to make another button activate the camera, another toggle the LCD backlight (it doesn't go off when the Pi goes off, as the Pi doesn't go off completely (as it needs to be able to start up again!)) and one more for... I don't know yet, maybe to toggle between the TFT and HDMI output.
After that I spent a while desoldering bits off of old projects and in the process freed up a dual-gang (aka stereo) logarithmic potentiometer, coincidentally I've decided I need to 'pretty up' my USB and headphones switches for my PC as I was sick of having cables and switches hanging off of things so I guess my headphones will have a volume dial which will be useful for PS3/360 gaming as the headphones come straight off the AV-out of each. As for the USB switch, instead of the huge 4PDT 4A switch I was using I picked up a 4P3T rotary switch which will complement the 3P4T switch I've been using for my headphones... Anyway, yeah. So that's a thing.
Finally, I decided I'd just cut up some scruffy old acrylic to make an enclosure for my iPad LCD so I can start using it. Here it is (small image because of the forum uploader's low compression):
And here is my PC 'desk' as it stands now:
I still have a few things I want to add to it but I've either been lacking the money or time to work on it, since having a job means having no time and not having a job means having no money!
After that I spent a while desoldering bits off of old projects and in the process freed up a dual-gang (aka stereo) logarithmic potentiometer, coincidentally I've decided I need to 'pretty up' my USB and headphones switches for my PC as I was sick of having cables and switches hanging off of things so I guess my headphones will have a volume dial which will be useful for PS3/360 gaming as the headphones come straight off the AV-out of each. As for the USB switch, instead of the huge 4PDT 4A switch I was using I picked up a 4P3T rotary switch which will complement the 3P4T switch I've been using for my headphones... Anyway, yeah. So that's a thing.
Finally, I decided I'd just cut up some scruffy old acrylic to make an enclosure for my iPad LCD so I can start using it. Here it is (small image because of the forum uploader's low compression):
And here is my PC 'desk' as it stands now:
I still have a few things I want to add to it but I've either been lacking the money or time to work on it, since having a job means having no time and not having a job means having no money!
- 3,475
- Vilnius
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
So I had to remove the iPad LCD because it was causing some sort of trouble with my middle monitor, it didn't seem to like being used on the HDMI channel while something else was occupying the DisplayPort on my graphics card and a message would appear saying the refresh rate wasn't supported. I expect it's an issue with my graphics card more than anything so when I get my GTX 880 (which will hopefully feature more than one DP) I'll give it another go.
I haven't been doing a whole lot of DIY lately but I've spent most of today making a handbrake. I've recently installed Richard Burns Rally (and RSRBR 2014) and as fun as it is, I kind of feel like it requires a physical handbrake lever - same goes for WRC 4 - so I spent a while working out what would make a good lever. In the end, I used an arm from an old dual-monitor mount. It was a cheap piece of crap and wobbled a whole lot so I was never going to use it again, it was one of these:
So I unbolted one arm at the point where it joins the stem, I'm using the VESA mount to attach it to the underside of my 'desk' (between the G27's shifter and the aluminium upright to the right of it) so it kind of floats, I've drilled holes through the two arm sections and have long M5 screws holding some extension springs between them, with a small amount of electrical tape on the springs to stop them from ringing. I just need to work out how to mount the microswitch then open the G27's shifter to add an external handbrake (I might get fancy and add a port (maybe a 3.5mm jack socket) on the back for it, if I have one lying around) and that should be that. I'll post a photo when it's done, of course.
I haven't been doing a whole lot of DIY lately but I've spent most of today making a handbrake. I've recently installed Richard Burns Rally (and RSRBR 2014) and as fun as it is, I kind of feel like it requires a physical handbrake lever - same goes for WRC 4 - so I spent a while working out what would make a good lever. In the end, I used an arm from an old dual-monitor mount. It was a cheap piece of crap and wobbled a whole lot so I was never going to use it again, it was one of these:
So I unbolted one arm at the point where it joins the stem, I'm using the VESA mount to attach it to the underside of my 'desk' (between the G27's shifter and the aluminium upright to the right of it) so it kind of floats, I've drilled holes through the two arm sections and have long M5 screws holding some extension springs between them, with a small amount of electrical tape on the springs to stop them from ringing. I just need to work out how to mount the microswitch then open the G27's shifter to add an external handbrake (I might get fancy and add a port (maybe a 3.5mm jack socket) on the back for it, if I have one lying around) and that should be that. I'll post a photo when it's done, of course.
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Changed the battery in my SLEH-00075 from a dead 190mAh to a new 250mAh... Had to make a slight adjustment to get it to 'fit'.
Then I discovered PS3 headsets don't work with the PS4. Bah. Apologies for the awful photo, too.
Then I discovered PS3 headsets don't work with the PS4. Bah. Apologies for the awful photo, too.
- 31,744
- Buckwheat City
- Dennisch
So, I got a display case for my Lego for free, and while I was assembling it I noticed that I missed a important part:
One of the plastic pivot points for the doors.
A search resulted in nothing.
Decided to make one myself out of aluminium.
All it took was a oscillating multitool, a saw and a file.
One of the plastic pivot points for the doors.
A search resulted in nothing.
Decided to make one myself out of aluminium.
All it took was a oscillating multitool, a saw and a file.
- 30,094
- Thailand
Latest bodge job is a sheath for my new bush knife. It came with a tatty leather sheath which wasn't really suitable. I've reinforced the original sheath with duct tape and will be strengthening it with some coroplast and more duct tape. Simple job with my tool of choice, duct tape. Pics to follow once I've finished.
- 31,744
- Buckwheat City
- Dennisch
Had to dismantle my amplifier again because I lost my rear channels again.
Solution is simple as poo. Reflow the solder points of the relays. And Sony is friendly enough to show you which points to do by placing marking on the printplate. If you look closely you'll see LS and RS, I just reflowed the 10 points again and it works. Now it should work a bit longer since I've added some new tin.
- 9,188
- United Kingdom
- neema_t
Since I've been playing Elite: Dangerous a lot with my half-'installed' X-52 Pro, I decided I'd finally fix the throttle to the little mount I added next to my G27's shifter for it and figure out how I could mount the stick in such a way that it's not permanent and leaves no marks, since when I play I temporarily put it where I usually have my mouse.
The throttle was easy, I just got off my arse to find some long self-tapping screws, drilled pilot holes in the MDF with my Dremel then screwed it in, that took maybe 10 minutes.
The stick was a little more involved, long story short: I added magnets to the stick's base (don't worry, the hall effect sensors aren't affected after power-on calibration) and drilled blind holes from the bottom stopping just short of going through the surface I use it on, added more magnets there, filled the holes back up with white-tack (it's all I had) and that's basically it. So now I can yaw without the stick sliding around everywhere and when I want to go back to using the mouse it's as if the stick was never there!
The throttle was easy, I just got off my arse to find some long self-tapping screws, drilled pilot holes in the MDF with my Dremel then screwed it in, that took maybe 10 minutes.
The stick was a little more involved, long story short: I added magnets to the stick's base (don't worry, the hall effect sensors aren't affected after power-on calibration) and drilled blind holes from the bottom stopping just short of going through the surface I use it on, added more magnets there, filled the holes back up with white-tack (it's all I had) and that's basically it. So now I can yaw without the stick sliding around everywhere and when I want to go back to using the mouse it's as if the stick was never there!
