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TheGeek
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Joined: 07 Nov 2009
Posts: 33
Location: In my own little world
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 Posted: 8 Nov 2009 9:11 pm Post subject: Geek Project: Poor-man's Mech Pit |
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This is copied from my post on the MekTek forums.
I heard of a helicopter sim enthusiast making a copter pit, so why not make a "mech pit". With me being a poor college student, I don't have a lot of spare cash, so I set out to make a mech pit with all the various stuff I had laying around. I'm a huge pack rat so I had a ton of stuff laying around. ^_^
Did some more work on my "mech pit" I give you Poor Geek's Mech Pit V4:
I mounted the Suncom F-15E Talon joystick. Its all bolted down and doesn't wiggle when I move it. I have to admit its one sexy piece of hardware:
With about $5.00 USD of hardware from Lowes, I widened the Pedals a bit. They work well for my big feet:
I mounted the base buttons, why not the old pots? I took the old throttle pot and made a "dial" out of it. This thing has to be the most ghetto looking thing I've made yet:
Yes, that is an electrical tape container lid (kudos to you if you knew that).
I'm currently using it to test a special script inside GlovePIE. I'll post the code once I refine it a bit more.
Oh and for those who are wondering how I use such a monstrosity to play Mechwarrior, I whipped up a pair of button config pictures:
 
For now, most of the hardware is done, although I may mount the old x-axis pot into another equally ghetto dial. Most of the work now is refining the scripts, and seeing if there are any extra "tricks" i can get GlovePIE to do.
Any questions?
For the full thread go to: http://www.mektek.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=144705
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Fireball
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Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 38
Location: Jacksonville, FL
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| Posted: 9 Nov 2009 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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Very impressive. All you need to get now is the 3rd Space Gaming Vest, so you can feel the mech getting pounded.
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Jaeger
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| Posted: 10 Nov 2009 4:02 am Post subject: |
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Damn....
And all I have is my new MS keyboard (by Razer) and new Razer Death Adder mouse (on a new Razer mouse skin). Just got the stuff in the last week (My Saitek Eclipse, Razer Diamondback, and Ratzpad were completly worn out.) and just got system running last night. |
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TheGeek
Petty Officer
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
Posts: 33
Location: In my own little world
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| Posted: 10 Nov 2009 6:05 am Post subject: |
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LoL. Why so much money?
Like I said, its an experiment on how little I can spend, and still have viable mech controls. I was incredibly lucky to find a Suncom F-15E Talon stick that didn't have to be completely overhauled, and for only $5 at that.
$5 worth of hardware from Lowes
$5 For used Talon Joystick
$12 for new "Heavy Duty" drawer slide for slide throttle
Free for wood I salvaged from various wooden furniture that was lying by the dumpster
Can't remember what the Saitek joystick cost. It couldn't have been more than $20-$30 (Saitek Cyborg 3D Rumble) Joystick is well used and has been repaired several times. Had it for years.
I bought the Mad Catz Andretti Wheel used off of E-bay. Couldn't have spent more than $20-30 on it. Had it for years, and it was collecting dust in the closet.
One of my goals is to work in the field of Human Interface Devices. Things like 3D displays and affordable VR equippment are in the works, and I want to be there designing them. Things like 3D mice, next gen joysticks (using mo cap or tracking hardware). So a mech pit is really easy for someone like me.
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Jaeger
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| Posted: 10 Nov 2009 6:31 am Post subject: |
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OH...
I buy from newegg or "gaybay" (they are anti-gunners...I'm pro....belong to ALL the gun forums). The kb was $16.65, mouse $15.50 and pad $15.00 s/h included. All new.
I really like your pit.  |
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TheGeek
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Joined: 07 Nov 2009
Posts: 33
Location: In my own little world
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| Posted: 14 Nov 2009 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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One of the problems I encountered early on is that the F-15E Talon Joystick was connected to a really lousy old soundcard, which meant that there was a lot of "noise" on the X-Y axis. This means that the stick would read as moving around when it really wasn't, and even with a good quality sound card, there would still be noise issues.
Interconnect Diagram V1.0:
I then realized, "Hey! I have a spare X and Y "channels" on the Saitek Joystick board!" So I set out to see if the potentiometers on the Suncom Stick would work with the X and Y axis connections on the Saitek board. Sure enough, they worked like a charm. No noise, no jitter, and it worked just as well as it did when the Saitek stick was still in one piece, only with the Talon stick's superior centering mechanism. I did have to move the Slide Throttle from the Y axis connection to the Throttle axis connection, but once I calibrated the stick, they all worked just fine.
The Talon stick also had its "keyboard emulation" function, which pressed keyboard keys when the buttons or hats were pressed. This means that even without the Gameport interface being connected, I can still read the buttons and hats from the stick.
Interconnect Diagram 2.0:
Next on the list to do: Create some cute pictures explaining how exactly my script handles the "zoom window" function, what the funky dial used to control.
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TheGeek
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Joined: 07 Nov 2009
Posts: 33
Location: In my own little world
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| Posted: 9 Dec 2009 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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After using my mech pit for awhile, I started having my first problem: The buttons and hat on the slide throttle were intermittently stop working.
Cause: the fragile wires on the circuitboard were not designed for that kind of motion.
Solution: Fix the wires, then mount the circuit board on the moving part of the throttle instead of on the side of the board.
New and improved Slide Throttle:
I had to re-route the wires going to the Talon Stick (I attached the X and Y-axis circuits to the pots in the Talon stick to bypass the lousy gameport), and to the base buttons, but all works now and should last for a good 6 months before I have to work on it again.
I also modified the throttle by adding gate hinges and a slide bolt. Now when I'm not playing Mechwarrior, I can swing the throttle out of the way.
So I present Geek's Mech Pit V5:
I'd post this on MekTek as well, but I raised a stink on the forums about how Microsoft is stonewalling them about the free release and got myself banned. If any of you knows who to apologize profusely to, I'd really appreciate it.
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Jaeger
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| Posted: 10 Dec 2009 2:29 am Post subject: |
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So you are "TheGeek007".
You probably need to appoligize to Jehosephat2k.
Your Mech pit is coming along nicely. |
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TheGeek
Petty Officer
Joined: 07 Nov 2009
Posts: 33
Location: In my own little world
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| Posted: 10 Dec 2009 7:48 am Post subject: |
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| Jaeger wrote: | So you are "TheGeek007".
You probably need to appoligize to Jehosephat2k.
Your Mech pit is coming along nicely. |
Thanks.
Sent a PM to Jehosephat2k, got read at 10 PM last night. No unban. Looks like I need to call in a favor and have one of you guys vouch for me or something. I hate dealing with self-absorbed assholes... 
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