CH Products Yoke - anyone move the hat switch to the other side?

[Guest markt]

After a lot of simming with my CH yoke, it occurred to me that it would be a lot more useful if the hat switch was on the left hand side. Right now to use the virtual cockpit, I have to pan my view to the correct location right hand and then let go and use the mouse. It would be way easier to pan the view with my left hand and have my right hand free to work the throttle and/or the mouse. This would be way smoother to operate things and remain control of the aircraft.Has anyone modded their yoke to move the hat switch to the left handle on the yoke?Cheers,MarkTPS. The new Saitek yoke has the more logical layout with the hat switch on the left.

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

I've used my left hand for the mouse at times... with a wireless mouse that is quite simple.

[Guest markt]

Wow, so I guess I'll be the first to do this mod if I attempt it.Cheers,MarkT

[january 19]

Mark- I've had the main case of my CH yoke opened to fix a factory assembly error. Haven't tried opening the horn and not sure how you would find room to move the hat switch. Be aware that the warranty will be voided as there are seals that have to be broken to remove assembly screws.On balance, I would advise NOT. (I had to, because I had moved 500 miles and dealer/factory warranty/shipping cost was impractical.) I have photos I can post of the open case. Works just fine now.(If you want to get a sense of the emotions of an explosives disposal expert working on a new type live delayed action bomb- the CH yoke is good practice!)Alex Reid

[Bob Church 0]

Hi Mark,FWIW, I have a sacrificial Yoke LE here so I tried it. It's slightly different, no front button on the right horn, but the flat plastic caps on the horns look to be the same as the Yoke USB. You don't really need to disassemble the yoke proper, just pull the screws out of the back of the handle, the wiring comes up the shaft and you can swap them without rewiring. I don't know, my guess is the redbutton on the front of the right horn would make them basically the same. Unfortunately, the flat plates on the top of the horns that carry the switches on the top of horns have a slightly different outline and it they don't seem to fit on the opposite sides. They sort of slide into grooves and they just don't seem to want to fit in. You might rework those. The switches are soldered into a coupleof small PC board right under the plates.I suppose you might be able to rework those cap pieces a with a little Bondo, a Moto-Tool, some paint, and a lot of profanity, but it doesn't look like there's much probability of success unless you've got the skill and patience to rework those to cap plates. Offhand, unless you're good at such things, I'd say the chances of it working would be pretty slim.Best regards,- BobThe StickWorkshttp://www.stickworks.com

[Guest markt]

Hi Bob,I too disassembled my yoke handle to take a look. Those dang plates are a huge bummer since they are not symmetrical. So, I'm debating on going through a hack job to get them to fit on the other sides.The other option would be to saw the yoke handles off just above the thumbrests (providing they're symmetrical at that point), switch them over and glue them back on with superglue. Some sanding would have to be done to make them smooth again at the gap. You'd also have to use the thinnest saw you could get so the gap wouldn't be too noticable. It would be a hack job for sure.Too bad that CH doesn't offer a retrofit kit with new plates and buttons to switch the sides over. Then it would be easy...Cheers,MarkT