Disaster strikes with Saitek Throttle connector

[alpicopter 0]

On 10/4/2020 at 7:39 PM, ark said:

Below is the Saitek TQ Mini-Din pinout info from https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=587663.0 .  Based on the info at this link I converted an original Saitek TQ with the DIN connector to a USB interface (so I could use a different yoke) using an Arduino I had on hand . The color coded wire pinout below is from the perspective of looking into the original Saitek male 6 pin Mini-Din connector.

Al

Here is the pin numbering for a 6 pin Male Mini-Din connector.

Hi Ark,

soldered the cables, green led is on, but it doesn't work. Throttles and switches don't work.

Actually I don't have the blue cable, but a brown one...

my cables are: Yellow, Red, Brown, Black, Orange and Green

I've soldered like this:

5 Yellow

3 Red

1 Brown

2 Black

4 Orange

6 Green

Any idea?

Thanks a lot and excuse for bothering so much...

[ark 1,295]

Well.......

1. Do you know the TQ itself is good, meaning that you know it worked correctly before the Din connector was cut off?

2. Remember the male Din plug pinouts shown in the previous posts are from the perspective of looking into the front of the connector. When looking at the back of the Din connector when making the wire connections, you have the mirror image of the pinouts shown above. It is easy to forget this when making some connections.

3. Try to verify your solder connections are good and there are no shorts between pins of the Din connector.

4. How did you test the TQ? Does Win10 see the TQ if you go to Control Panel >Devices and Printers >Right click on Flight Yoke System > Right Click on Game Controller Settings > Saitek Pro Flight Yoke > Properties? Now try some of the TQ switches or axes. Should look something like this: 

Does the system respond to the Yoke's aileron and elevator axis inputs ( the + sign moves up & down and side to side) which would verify the USB logic in the yoke? The three red vertical bars are the TQ levers, and the TQ switches are below. Note that Win10 sees the TQ that plugs into the yoke as part of the yoke.

5. Since you do see the green TQ LED, I would expect the red, orange and green wires are correct although if you have access to a voltmeter, it would be good to verify you have +5 DC volts between the orange ground wire and each of the red and green wires.

6. So if the power and ground wires are correct, that leaves the Yellow, Black and Brown wires. Assuming you don't have access to an oscilloscope, there are 6 possible combinations to try:

Pin1        Pin2       Pin 5

Brn         Blk         Yel          The combo you tried

Brn         Yel         Blk

Blk         Brn        Yel

Blk         Yel         Brn

Yel         Blk         Brn

Yel        Brn         Blk

Don't know what else to suggest at this point. Hope you can get it working.

Al

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by ark

[alpicopter 0]

On 10/17/2020 at 6:11 PM, ark said:

Well.......

1. Do you know the TQ itself is good, meaning that you know it worked correctly before the Din connector was cut off?

2. Remember the male Din plug pinouts shown in the previous posts are from the perspective of looking into the front of the connector. When looking at the back of the Din connector when making the wire connections, you have the mirror image of the pinouts shown above. It is easy to forget this when making some connections.

3. Try to verify your solder connections are good and there are no shorts between pins of the Din connector.

4. How did you test the TQ? Does Win10 see the TQ if you go to Control Panel >Devices and Printers >Right click on Flight Yoke System > Right Click on Game Controller Settings > Saitek Pro Flight Yoke > Properties? Now try some of the TQ switches or axes. Should look something like this: 

Does the system respond to the Yoke's aileron and elevator axis inputs ( the + sign moves up & down and side to side) which would verify the USB logic in the yoke? The three red vertical bars are the TQ levers, and the TQ switches are below. Note that Win10 sees the TQ that plugs into the yoke as part of the yoke.

5. Since you do see the green TQ LED, I would expect the red, orange and green wires are correct although if you have access to a voltmeter, it would be good to verify you have +5 DC volts between the orange ground wire and each of the red and green wires.

6. So if the power and ground wires are correct, that leaves the Yellow, Black and Brown wires. Assuming you don't have access to an oscilloscope, there are 6 possible combinations to try:

Pin1        Pin2       Pin 5

Brn         Blk         Yel          The combo you tried

Brn         Yel         Blk

Blk         Brn        Yel

Blk         Yel         Brn

Yel         Blk         Brn

Yel        Brn         Blk

Don't know what else to suggest at this point. Hope you can get it working.

Al

 

Hi Al, 

1: yes

2. of course

3: going to re-solder with a magnifier

4: not working

5: Thanks for the combo , I'll try, but I have +5 (+4,6) volts even on the pin nr 1, your blue ( my brown). Is it normal?

to check it, I used the connector connected but with no wire soldered , to read the volts ( + and -) directly from the output of the yoke.

Tomorrow I'll resolder the red, orange and green only and then I'll test all the combo you gave me.

For info, the green led is on even with the red cable disconnected. ( means that the green led is working only with pin 4(-), 6(+) or 1(+)

Thanks again

[ark 1,295]

2 hours ago, alpicopter said:

I'll try, but I have +5 (+4,6) volts even on the pin nr 1, your blue ( my brown). Is it normal?

According to the documentation from the original web site I listed above, Pin1 is supposed to be a 20KHz clock signal,  e.g., like a square wave, provided by the yoke as an output to the TQ. If that info is correct, I would not expect pin 1 to read a constant 4.6+ DC volts, but perhaps a much lower average value depending on what the clock duty cycle is (and the properties of the voltmeter you are using).

Al

Edited October 18, 2020 by ark

[alpicopter 0]

On 10/18/2020 at 11:59 PM, ark said:

According to the documentation from the original web site I listed above, Pin1 is supposed to be a 20KHz clock signal,  e.g., like a square wave, provided by the yoke as an output to the TQ. If that info is correct, I would not expect pin 1 to read a constant 4.6+ DC volts, but perhaps a much lower average value depending on what the clock duty cycle is (and the properties of the voltmeter you are using).

Al

Hi Al,

it works !!!!!

I had to excange the black with the blue and everithing works fine. 

So, pin1 Black, pin2 Brown and pin 5 Yellow.

I added the red box for those who can have my cable configuration, thanks to you!

[ark 1,295]

4 hours ago, alpicopter said:

it works !!!!!

That's wonderful  -- thanks for letting me know!

Al

[mat_p 1]

Just resurrecting this thread - I just picked up a saitek flight yoke and quadrant on ebay but they quadrant doesn't seem to work and on inspection the PS2 socket only has 5 pins.  Could someone confirm if it's definitely supposed to have 6 please?  I'm guessing so by the picture above!

[ark 1,295]

25 minutes ago, mat_p said:

Just resurrecting this thread - I just picked up a saitek flight yoke and quadrant on ebay but they quadrant doesn't seem to work and on inspection the PS2 socket only has 5 pins.  Could someone confirm if it's definitely supposed to have 6 please?  I'm guessing so by the picture above!

Yes, the socket definitely has 6 pin holes as you can see below.  Make sure one of the pin holes is not covered with dirt somehow. How many pins does the plug on the end of the TQ cable, that plugs into the yoke, have?

Al

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by ark

[mat_p 1]

Thats the thing, the actual plug on the cable has 5 and I think one of those is a bit bent

[ark 1,295]

15 minutes ago, mat_p said:

Thats the thing, the actual plug on the cable has 5 and I think one of those is a bit bent

If the socket on the yoke does have 6 pins, but the plug on the cable only 5, then I think one of the plug pins has been broken off.  In that case if it were me, I'd buy a PS2 male plug and carefully replace the broken one paying close attention to what color wire goes to what pin. If you don't have a soldering iron or don't feel comfortable making the repair, look for a computer or TV or electronic repair shop who could do it for you at a reasonable cost. They would need the pin/wire color info shown above in this thread.

Good luck,

Al

Edited April 23, 2021 by ark

[mat_p 1]

Ah, that's really helpful.  I'm ok with soldering so I reckon I should be able to fix this.  Thank you!

[ark 1,295]

1 hour ago, mat_p said:

Ah, that's really helpful.  I'm ok with soldering so I reckon I should be able to fix this.  Thank you!

Couple of other thoughts for your consideration:

1. When you cut off the old PS2 connector, I'd leave at least a few inches of cable attached to the old plug to help with determining what color wire goes to what pin. You could use an ohmmeter to check the continuity.

2.  Instead of trying to solder on a new, bare PS2 plug which can be a bit tricky sometimes, it  might be easier to get a 6 wire cable with a male PS2 connector (of the correct size!) on one end, cut off the plug on the other end, and then splice the cable  onto the TQ cable, again carefully checking pins #s, wire colors, etc. If you do make a mistake, it is much easier to fix the splice than redo the 'bare' PS2 connector. When making the splice, you will need something to prevent the solder connections from shorting to each other -- e.g., heat shrink tubing, tape, or stagger the individual connection locations. In any case, don't seal things up until all has tested OK. And tubing has to be slipped over the wires before making the connections!  😉

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=93    less than $2.   But check this has the correct plug.

3. Another PS2 plug/cable source might be an old computer PS2 keyboard or mouse, but I'm not sure how many pins and wires these actually used.

4. There are different sizes of PS2 connectors, so you have to be careful with that.

5. Another thing to be careful about (I know!) is where a particular plug pin is located ( e.g., 2 O'clock or 10 O'clock, etc) based on how you are viewing the connector -- from the front or the back!

Good luck,

Al

Edited April 23, 2021 by ark

[mat_p 1]

I think I'm gonna go with the spliced cable method, it'll be easier think.  This is so helpful, thanks again!

[Fred Florino 0]

I’ve been lurking here and just signed up.  Got a question for you, Ark.

First, background:  successfully modded the Saitek with BU0836x and built a switch panel.  The original Saitek AtoD was coarse for me, and Logitech driver would “time out” while I was flying, froze every controller movement.  So I decided I was done with Saitek driver.  Native driver for bu0836 is much better, works well  with FS2020.  
But I only ported out the pitch and roll axis to BU0836, then assigned a bunch of other functions to my switches.  So I’m still using the Saitek electronic board in the yoke..My Saitek yoke does have the PS connection to TQ.

I’m disappointed in the Saitek yoke mechanism because it is not smooth, not good for coming in to land.  So I am pondering Honeycomb yoke, but with BU0836 (to go from 8bit to 12bit).  Honeycomb does not have attached Throttle, which means I need to use Saitek TQ.

My question is Does Saitek TQ, that has PS2 connector, electronically different from those that sold alone with USB connector?  
In other words, does the PS2 ones ready to go USB if you just match the wires (means it uses the Saitek board only as usb hub) ?  the PS2 ones really have NO Electronics inside it ?

The Stand alone TQ, sold alone, has usb connection, which means it has an AtoD inside.

 

[LesOReilly 176]

@Fred Florino

The connector for the Throttle that goes into the Yoke is not able to go into USB...

You can take the throttle apart and wire it to a Bodnar board ... I did that (actually wired 2 of them to it and all the buttons)...  It works fine but over time the Pots will just get nasty and noisy anyway.... I have sent it to the bone pile at this point and replaced it with the TCA TQ with the Add ON Module...  I also use the Alpha yoke now...  I have been waiting on a backorder for a Bravo since December...