Choosing a type of pot-meter

[Guest]

I finally managed to assign a pot-meter to my flap control. I'm pleased about this, because now I can build a flap handle with 7 detents. Now I must decide if it is best to use a rotary pot connected with gears to the flap handle, or use a sliding pot connected with a rod to the flap handle. I intend to use the same system for both throttles and the spoiler as well (767 throttle quad).I would appreciate any words of wisdom, pictures, links or crazy ideas you may have on this.Thanks in advance,Kenny

[rcbarend 37]

I personally found using rotary pots with gear wheels a bit easier to construct.Plus, using a transmission (like gearwheels) you avoid mechanical stress on the potmeter level/axis.If you have a look in my Throttles/Pedals articles (file rcbth-10.zip resp. rcb-pedals.zip in the avsim libr.), it might give you some new ideas. Rob

[Guest]

Thank you very much!

[npbosch 0]

Hi KennyI used sliding potmeters (linear 100 kilo-ohm). The reason was that you just need no gears.I made a simple connection between the lever (flaps, spoilers, throttle or whatever) and the pot. see for pictures:http://home.wanadoo.nl/norbert.boschand then click throttleI am currently working on the yoke. For the elevator pot I will use a sliding pot too (no pictures yet)norbert bosch

[Guest]

Thanks for the info, npbosch. Very nice site you have. I like your flap lever. It is the same as mine, except I use a drawer slider instead of pipes, and works very well. I'm having a little difficulty getting those slider pots. Seems like they are a rarity. On the other hand, gears also seem hard to find (I haven't tried the above links yet). I think I am leaning towards the slider pots, although I may give in and buy a K'Nex set and use rotary pots.

[Guest]

Hi,Have a look at this site. You may find the gears you require here and they're also sized for 1/4" shaft on the pots.[http://www.servolink.com/]Hope this helps,CF-AOA

[Flyer Ken 0]

If you want to use Rob's method of construction with k'nex gears, k'nex has an excellent online store. I just ordered a bunch of gears from them for my first project. The advantage of the k'nex gears is that the small ones have a sleeve that fits the 1/4" pots well, and allows you to insert a screw to attatch them to the pots.

[Flyer Ken 0]

Forgot the link: http:www.knex.com

[Guest HepburnUGA]

Just curious to know how you guys have connected plastic k'nex gears to the metal pot shafts? My current try is with super glue but I thought about inserting some small screws through that flange at the bottom of the gear and into the shaft.Any Suggestions?Jeff

[Flyer Ken 0]

I don't have mine yet - I just ordered them. But I'm planning use screws through the flange, as you described. That's what Rob did in his throttle article. I figure it won't take that much pressure on the screw to lock the gear to the flange.The other thing I though of doing is drilling a hole through both the flange and the pot shaft and using some kind of koter pin.

[rcbarend 37]

Hmmm... K'NEX fanatics :-) (like me)Jeff,What I find the best way:- Dril a small hole into the flange of the gearwheel- Use a small a self-"tapping" screw, with a sharp point.- Drill a very tiny hole (1-1.5 mm drill, only 1-2 mm deep in the potmeter shaft, just enough to embrace the point of the screw.This way you don't have to apply any pressure when fixing the screw into the gearwheel, while it's enough to prevent the wheel slipping on the shaft. Beats the glueing, since you can easily replace the pot when necessary, or even re-adjust the wheel onto the shaft for re-calibration.See my rudder and throttle articles.Rob Barendregt

[Guest HepburnUGA]

Thanks for the advice guys!I love this forum :) It's a nice break from all the negativity elsewhere!Jeff