I am familiar with 'servo pots' (I think that is what they are called) used in joysticks. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on upgrading these items? I was thinking that maybe I could get a 'higer resolution' thus finer control by changing them out.Thoughts?

Mike,If you are concerned about the pots in the CH Flight Yoke, there is another solution before buying new ones. The best thing you can do is purchase some electronic contact cleaner (it comes in aerosol cans... a place like RadioShack will have it). Carefully take the yoke apart, remembering where everything goes. Open the pots by bending back the metal tabs on the brass cover. Liberally apply the cleaner, and wipe clean. When putting the pots back together, remember to put the cap back on the right way. (I did not do this and it added an extra hour or two to my time.) Put the yoke back together, and it should work better. I've even done this with the big SFS throttles and it worked well. Now, if you are still looking for the pots after all this, you can find them at your local electronic parts dealer. In fact, my handyman down the street had them. The only catch is you have to make sure to buy the right ones and you have to be familiar with soldering. In addition, if it is the CH yoke you are talking about, you have to find a way to trim the shaft as the receptacles for the shaft are keyed. Hope this helps! Good Luck!Matthew PerryKORFBuilder

One of the things you need to consider is what resolution the software can handle. Most software is designed to work at the lower resolution and spiking of standard (read: cheap) joystick pots. I have Hall Effects sensors throughout my flight control system, and they're terrific. The firmware in my Cougar is designed to a very high resolution, yet it can't take advantage of what the sensors are capable of. And they aren't cheap!The biggest advantage of your idea wouldn't be enhanced resolution, but longevity. Pots are notoriously bad motion detection devices, and they have a rather short life span. Also, a pot will never be as good as the day it was born. You can clean them, you can seal them (not a bad idea when cleaning them), but they will continue to degrade with time and use.So you might see better resolution (and perhaps FSUIPC would help in this area... I've not checked it) from a better quality aftermarket solution, but most of all you would see much more consistent service.Hope this helps,Greg

thanks guys,I am not having any problems with the pots as of yet. My curiosity comes from thinking about the upper end yoke (you know, the $500 dollar ones)I know they are very well built and very smooth, I just got wondering what kind of pots they use? I assumed that it has higer res pots then I got (maybe not?)I like my yoke, I have had it apart several times (cleaning, stiffer springs, ect.). Just trying to make it better.thanks again

Unless the pot is wirewound (and I've never seen a wirewound used used in game controllers) all pots have the same "infinite" resolution. They don't really have any effect on the resolution of the controller except that due to their value when used standard gameports. For decent USB controllers, the resolution is determined by the number of bits that the on-board A/D converters can handle and whether the pot swings through it's full electrical range or not. For game ports, the resolution is determined by the size of the capacitor on the game port, the resistance value of the pot in the controller, and the speed of the CPU. The term "resolution" is a basically meaningless in that context. Not that all pots are created equal, there are certainly higher and lower quality parts, but resolution isn't really a consideration.- BobThe StickWorkshttp://www.stickworks.com

wow Bob,I did not know you kicked around in these forums. I used your stuff for years with my old TM setup. I finally had to sale them because I could never get them to work on my new comp, usb issues. Got a Sietek setup and then waited for the new Falcon release - never came. I am lost at this point with installing F4 and the multitude of mods (I think another new one just came out) - been out of the loop to long and in that sim, thats a death sentence. I will still wait for that simple one or two step 'patch' process.Thanks for your input on the yoke, answers perfectly. I will try some upgrades other than electroninc (i.e. adding mass, rollers, ect.)