[simpits-tech] Suncom stuff keeps breaking down

[Gene Buckle]

> wire to keep the input for the second throttle from interfering. My throttle
> stopped working mysteriously, but after checking it out thoroughly I decided
> the wiring for the throttle pot must've just failed. The one for the second
> throttle works fine, so I just wired it up instead.
>
I'd check the pot itself.  Wiring doesn't typically fail unless it's
repeatedly stressed.  You can check the pot with a simple multi-meter.

> I don't know what it is about the Suncom stuff, but it seems to just hate
> me. I realize they were some great products and I know people that love
> them, but I've gone through four Suncom sticks already (3 Talons and one of
> the single-hat ones), and now my throttle is acting up. It's always acted
> kind of quirky, though. What's wierder is the four sticks stopped working at
> pretty much the same time. The first one, one of the potentiometers
> literally snapped in half inside the stick. The second one, the buttons
> stopped working right, then altogether. With the third one, the pots seemed
> to just be all over the place in terms of output all of a sudden, making it
> impossible to use. The fourth one, which I bought to replace the first four,
> just went totally, undescribably crazy.
>
Inside the stick grip itself is a little circuit board that controls the
functions of the castle, hat and other buttons.  If you desolder that chip
and put your own wiring in there, you can use the "broken" sticks with a
Plasma or keyboard encoder.

> Maybe I should stay away from the whole simpit thing; I'm beginning to
> suspect that if I built one it'd spontaneously combust, with me trapped
> helplessly inside.
>
...then don't make the canopy lockable. :)

g.

-- 
"I'm not crazy, I'm plausibly off-nominal!"

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