Calling all Cougars

[TX-Chukar]

Pretty cool stuff Deck, I hadn’t seen that spring mod before.  And boy that Hal Sensor sure is shinny.TX-ChukarBlue 1

[TX-Deck]

Trying to avoid this in this thread, but I have to mention just this one tidbit.Last time I priced the CH equipment, only place in town to carry it was Fry's.   USB pedals, USB throttle, and USB flightstick would run a character $375 total.   Each component was $125.    The cougar really isn't THAT bad of a deal if you think about it.  We just have to get past these certain el cheapo components included in the initial product.  I suspect once I get these pots replaced, future problems will be few and far between.TX-Deck out.

[TX-Deck]

I have located the manf. specs on the pots that are shipped in the stock Cougar.   Here's a link, and I'll post pricing info when I find it.   I'm using this information as a baseline for comparison.By the way, after some quick testing this morning, it appears the pots in the joystick are 50K.   Still not sure about the throttle, I will have to tear it apart again and take another measurement.  I'm pretty sure they are the same.http://www.ctscorp.com/electro/251pot.htmS~TX-Deck out.10/28/2003 Edit:  The stock pots are definitely 100K

[leafer]

Hi, I am willing to help out with machining parts and all if you guys are interested. I am also looking for a way to fix my cougar bad pots, center freeplay, and stiff spring. And no, I can't quit my other habbit! :)I'm not a machinist but my friend owns a machineshop here in Bangkok, Thailand. If any of you are an engineer or can come up with a design I will be more than happy to submit it to my friend and see if he would do a prototype for us. I will pay for it out of my own pocket, so don't worry about me turning out to be a third world's con man or anything like that. I'm just a flight simmer that want my 300 dollar cougar fixed.Here in Bangkok parts and labor will be pretty cheap - so I don't think my friend will charge me $400 for a mod like this guy does at frugalsworld.If you all are interested then let me know. cheers{EDIT}Also, I have been thinking about replacing this F16 style grip on my Cougar with something a little more exotic - like the one on a Russian Su-27 Flanker. If anyone could come up with a cad drawing of the above grip (or anything that we could all live with) then I know a place where they can do injection molding (using hight impact plastic) for a decent price. Again, I'll finance this myself if it's not too much. Of course the design would have to allow us to transfer all the switches to the new one.Yes, I hate the default F16 style grip that much!

[TX-Zen]

Leafer,Thanks for the post...this is some good info. I think TX ought to look into this a little more, I'd be willing to contribute to the project. Hell, for a different set of gimbals and a flanker stick, I might even come out of retirement. S~TX-ZenBlack 6 Reserve

[TX-Rahman]

W00T!!  That would rock Zen!  Miss ya in the air and on comms.... How are you my old buddy Ismael? B~TX-Rahman"BLUE 2"

[TX-EcoDragon]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH. . . very cool offer! Hmm. . . lets wrangle Zen back. . . I think between the return of  the OC3, the addition of the Ta-152, and a refurbed and better than ever cougar the guy will have no choice but to relinquish control to the game gods  ;-)S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX Squadron XO

[TX-Zen]

Ismael Petrozzi is rocking right along, hitting the Gym twice a day, dropping tonnage, fulfilling his self improvement plan and trying to stay out of trouble. I turned off my net connection at the house since I didn't need it any longer, if I decide to get some stick time in, I'll have to really consider turning it back on. Once free of the gaming gods, its hard to walk back into that temple of doom...I've done more in the last two months than I have in the last year and half, no doubt about that. Meanwhile, about to start my Kendo training, maybe throw in some Jujitsu too. Have a hankering to take Zen Buddhism to a deeper level, considering some major lifestyle changes to accomodate. A little while ago I almost bought a katana to practice with, the urge to swordfight has jumped up on me again, something fierce this time. Guess its time to stop reading the book of five rings and watching matrix reloaded lol. Otherwise things are going pretty well, got no major complaints. Kinda miss flying, definately miss TX online. Hugs all around!TX-ZenBlack 6 Reserve

[leafer]

Hello, all.Ok, that's the answer I was hoping for. Been wanting to fix my cougar since I first bought it. Ok, so do we have an engineer around here? I installed a CAD program on my comp so I could tinker with the Cougar and designing new gimble, but I have no idea how to use it. BUT, I would be more than happy to help with the designing process; I'd even take the time to learn CAD if someone would point me to a 'free' source to learn the program. I am currently learning Maya 4.5 and I'll alternate between the two programs.Moving on...Ok, so what do we hate about our Cougars? 1. The center freeplay - it's so bad on mine I feel like I'm playing with a 20 dollar joystick.2. The cheap and unreliable potentionmeters; aka POT. 3. The ridiculously stiff spring. Don't they know us geeks have small biceps?Do we agree that the above three are our main concerns?Then we need to come up with an innovative and cost effective design to get rid of them. I have a suggestion on number three. Instead of replacing the original spring, why not make the stick longer like those in the real jets? We play sim often enough to warren mounting it permanently on some kind of board and put it under our chairs, so the result is something like this:I believe the above setup also gives us the immersion of sitting in a cockpit, too. Of course, if we put the stick between our legs, the grip will have to be angeled about 45 degrees to the left to accommodate the natural shape of our hands. Try pretending to grab a flight stick that comes up between your legs to see what I mean.With a setup like that, i think the gimble will have to be machined from a stronger aluminum/steel, but what type I don't know. Any suggestion would be nice because I could take that information and shop around for the best price on the material. The actual machining will be cheap! How cheap? I don't know, but I'm thinking 20-30 u.s. dollars - probably 20 dollars. The bad news is that my friend doesn't have computer control machine, so the whole process will be done by hands. But don't worry, he's very skilled!As for the replacement grip, let's focus on that after we're all done with the fixes. But yes, I definitely want to replace the default stick - I am not too crazy about it being metal either. The novelty of having an all metal HOTAS are gone after the second day I got my Cougar. In fact, I think the real sticks are made of plastic.I will draw a preliminary sketch and post it here shortly. I have a hare time communicating my vision with words so I think a drawing would be better.For now I hope you guys can understand what I am talking about.Cheers

[leafer]

edit-had a flash back and got off topic there for a second. ;)So, no one is interested?

[LW_Tornado]

WOW , He liiiiivvvveeesssss , lol, great to see ya jakus. And glad to hear your on track and moving along. I PM'ed you . S~TX-Tornado Blue 3TX Squadron TOp.s. Whens the release of the best seller ?!?!?!

[TX-EcoDragon]

Leafer,    This is an older thread, and just by coincidence most of the TX members who used the cougar are on reserve at the moment fulfilling other real world goals/duties etc. So I wouldnt say they are not interested necesarilly, but rather that the timing is a little off, and they might need some coaxing back into it  ;-)Despite this I know there is talk of doing this work, so lets see what happens!S!TX-EcoDragonBlack 1TX Squadron XO

[leafer]

Oh. ok. I knew that this thread was old but assumed the project was still on. Bah... I got all excited for nothing. heheAnyway, I talked to my friend and showed him the inside of the Cougar; he smiled and said "that's it?" Meaning it'd be too damn easy to machine the parts. I'll have him do mine as soon as he has some free time - currently he's trying to complete a large order of some automotive airconditioning parts, so he has no time to fiddle with my "toy." :pWhen I have time I will look into the cost of molding a replica of the Su-27 stick. My friend thinks it will be around 250-300 dollars to make a mold using CNC machining process. Anyway, they are long-term projects and I will come back here when there are news.cheers

[WUAF_CARBONFREEZE]

TX & Friends,I have also had problems with my Cougar, I purchased it 5 months ago and a month after the purchase, my Y-axis pot went "jumpy" so I took it apart & cleaned it. My X/Y axis gimbals are also so loose that I have 1 inch of center play on the X-axis, and 3/4 inch play on the Y-axis (measured from the top of the stick). I was planning on emailing Guillimote (sp) for replacement parts, but never got around to it since so many people have not been able to contact them lately.I also broke my SPEED BRAKE switch on the throttle, I have not been using it. I need a new mount for the switch, and maybe even a new 3-way switch.I have a CNC machine and I was thinking of making new gimbals, with plastic tabs lining the areas of influence on the X/Y axis to reduce wear and center play. Also lining the shaft of the stick with thin plastic (1/32). Of course, lubricant applied to all of these areas.Since these sticks all have a 3 year warantee, I will attempt to get replacement pots/gimbals/3-way switches/microsticks/trim dials.For a 200$ joystick (wholesale) it sure is a piece of $hit.I eat, sleep, and deam of killing yaks.Then again, when do I sleep, I'm always killing them!

[TX-Deck]

I am currently waiting a callback for a quote on a lot of 60 replacement pots from CTS.   These are an exact replacement, brand name and all, for the pots that currently ship standard in the Cougar.   More info to come.Why 60?   If I am going to order 1, I might as well order 3.   Again I might as well do this 5 times.   There are at least 4 of us in the squad who use the Cougar, so I might as well order enough for everyone.    Total of 60 pots.I'll post the pricing information as soon as the dude calls me back.TX-Deck out.