Forum: General F-16 forum

Hello, I am writing to find out if anyone knows of any resources that could assist me in getting the side stick controller that I have (photos below) connected and running either through a USB or ethernet patch card or some other form so I can run some experiments?

Any information on the unit would be great! I was told that the stick came from the YF-16 though the dates on the unit do not seem to match the time frame, not sure if the plug config tells anything about this.

Any information would be great! Thank you.

David

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1. Mount side stick on a table or chair arm
2. Fire up game or Flight Sim
3. Stroke stick lovingly

That's as close as you're going to get. Wink

Since every stick is different you would need to create a custom interface computer to convert the signals to USB.

@SpudmanWP: I'm not sure anyone here would give out the official information, but doesn't mean nobody can help drozovs

I don't have the schematic/specs available for the F-16, but there are USB Arduino boards with HID (Human Interface Device) emulation. At one point, our test team were able to wire up F/A-18F WSO hand controllers to a PC via USB for authorized testing purposes. This was pre-Arduino era, but wasn't that difficult. The F-16 "stick" (with force transducers in the base) for PC based training was commercially made, but deamed "close enough" for the project teams purposes.

I would test the transducer box for which wires go directly to the stick, and which go to the actual transducers. You might even lift the lid to see whats inside.

That basically what I meant by custom computer.

He'll have to do a lot of I/O testing and debugging, but it's doable.

Gentlemen, thank you for your quick response. The device would be for official testing (I can clarify via PM if needed).

Regarding the comments above, if I may ask a few questions:

1. Any knowledge if the stick is actually different from the standard ([Link pending approval] YF-16 controller?

2. Are there are schematics on how to open this unit? I am an engineer though I want to make sure I dont loosen a screw that is holding something that I wont be able to secure after.

Thanks again!

David

drozovs wrote:

Gentlemen, thank you for your quick response. The device would be for official testing (I can clarify via PM if needed).

Regarding the comments above, if I may ask a few questions:

1. Any knowledge if the stick is actually different from the standard (i.e. YF-16 controller?

2. Are there are schematics on how to open this unit? I am an engineer though I want to make sure I dont loosen a screw that is holding something that I wont be able to secure after.

Thanks again!

David

I suspect if it really is a YF-16 controller, there may be differences with regard to missing controls/switches on the stick, compared to later F-16 blocks, changes are that the transducer connections would be similar.

With the base unit, you should be able to remove the lid without too many problems, but beyond that, a bit of caution would be appropriate.

Even though I have a background in electronics, I typically worked on the software, and testing part, not on the avionics of the jets themselves.

Please remember the YF-16 stick did not have any motion to it, as it was strictly a rigid force sensor. The F-16 stick has a small amount of motion to allow the pilot some position feedback and some sense of hitting the stick position and command limits. The YF-16 rigid stick did not allow the pilot to know when full command was applied, so would just keep pushing harder to be sure he was getting full command when he wanted it.

johnwill wrote:

Please remember the YF-16 stick did not have any motion to it, as it was strictly a rigid force sensor. The F-16 stick has a small amount of motion to allow the pilot some position feedback and some sense of hitting the stick position and command limits. The YF-16 rigid stick did not allow the pilot to know when full command was applied, so would just keep pushing harder to be sure he was getting full command when he wanted it.

Oops.. forgot that detail. The YF-16 was before my time Very Happy

drozovs wrote:

Hello, I am writing to find out if anyone knows of any resources that could assist me in getting the side stick controller that I have (photos below) connected and running either through a USB or ethernet patch card or some other form so I can run some experiments?

Any information on the unit would be great! I was told that the stick came from the YF-16 though the dates on the unit do not seem to match the time frame, not sure if the plug config tells anything about this.

Any information would be great! Thank you.

David

Hi David,
I have no idea if it will help but you could try contacting these folks:
http://www.f16rental.com/
fisk

Forum: General F-16 forum

Connecting the side stick to a computer / wiring diagram