SergeyPe

Hi! 1. The calibration is explained in the AS5600 datasheet (Page 23- Angle Programming Through the OUT Pin). Please note that in addition to the red jumper that you can see on my pictures #7 and #8 you'll also need to connect the two upper leftmost contacts on the PCB to set the output voltage increase with a magnet clockwise rotation (I've just put a drop of solder there). The wire loop that can be seen on the pics is connecting the PGO pin to the ground to put the chip into programming mode; it should be cut off after the calibration. 2. I used PETG, but PLA or ABS will do as well. Regards, Sergey

Any similar-sized button will do, providing that it's of a momentary-switch type.

Hi Mauro, Almost forgot to mention another option- it's Bourns PEC11H series. 100 K cycles lifetime and the footprint is very similar to ALPS. Regards, Sergey

Hi Mauro, EC11K15XXXXX and EC11J15XXXXX are identical other than the PCB mounting method (pins vs surface-mount). Also the difference with "E" (original model) is minor in terms of interfacing with the unit's controller, which is proved by the fact that the "K" version is working fine in Wolf0's system. It means that the "J" will be OK as well. Great encoders, by the way- I'm using the K's in a DIY B737 EFIS module: a very good tactile feeling with a nice click

Well, the most extensive piece of documentation on ATR that I've found so far is the Aircraft Handling Manual. It's very detailed (including the chapter on the flight controls); still no mention of the yoke actuation forces. Good luck anyway😀.

The data for B737 is available (37+/-4 pounds for pitch, 12+/-3 pounds for roll at the yoke handle rim). I never saw it for the planes you've mentioned (except for +/- 52 kG for ATR 42/72 emergency CAP/ FO pitch channel disconnect).

Yep; actually your post was one of those triggering my investigation- thanks for that!😀.

After having acquired my own TCA yoke I decided to investigate the reason for the roll axis issues reported by some of the users. The first thing to check was the roll axis sensor as some of the users were reporting a strange dependency of sensor operation on the external magnetic field (which shouldn't be the case with a properly designed sensor). So after the disassembly I was very much surprised to see the roll axis sensor to be designed around a single AH49E chip which is a simple "old-style" analog Hall-effect sensor. There is a couple of issues with this solution: 1. AH49E is reacting to a magnetic field strength variation in any direction relative to it's body. When a small round diametral- magnetized magnet is rotated close to it, the field strength change is non-linear in relation to the rotation angle. Which means that the yoke's reaction to roll axis rotation is stronger near the center and becomes weaker close to the rotation extremes. Of course it can be compensated in the sim by choosing a non-linear response curve, but in my opinion having a sensor with a non-linear response and no internal compensation for it is simply not right. 2. The magnet is not too strong, so the output signal swing for a full side-to-side yoke rotation is mush less than a sensor power supply voltage. When the yoke internal calibration is performed, the signal is- well- 'amplified" digitally within a yoke controller to match the controller's reference signal voltage swing (from 0 to full power supply voltage). Unfortunately any "noise" (magnetic or electric) that might be induced to the sensor circuit/ connecting wires (that are quite long) will be amplified as well increasing the roll axis sensitivity to the external interference. 3. As AH49E is sensing any changes in the adjacent magnetic field strength, any external ferromagnet object near the back of the yoke handle will create a disturbance in the roll axis; the same goes for the stability of the internal magnet. In some cases this might require a yoke re-calibration. My solution to this issue is the replacement of a simple Hall-effect sensor by a different type specifically designed for registering an axis rotation. In my opinion the best DIY option here is AS5600 from AMS. The main features of the chip are: 1. It is reacting to a degree of magnetic field rotation in relation to a chip's upper/ lower cover. The signal is directly proportional to the rotation angle with a very good linearity. 2. AS5600 offers a very simple internal calibration routine which adjusts the sensor's output signal swing (from 0 to power supply voltage) to a full rotational angle required. This means a much better immunity to the external "noise". 3. AS5600 is not sensitive to the magnetic field strength variations so the external ferromagnet objects do not influence the sensor operation. Also there is no need of a periodic yoke re-calibration. In practical terms the option that I've chosen was to use the ready-made AS5600 board available from Amazon or eBay (also from AliExpress). It has all the external elements needed and the size allows to fit the board into the existing opening in the roll sensor base without the need of any mechanical trimming of either the sensor or the base. The board requires soldering one additional jumper to set the correct power supply voltage. Here is the set of pictures showing the mod. After removing the existing sensor and mounting the new board the new sensor needs to be calibrated internally but it's a very simple procedure not requiring any additional tools. Having done the mod I'm quite happy with the results. If any of you are interested, I'll be happy to provide the additional details.

Hi. No reply from Chris is a pity; I guess you've tried [removed] right? It's the one that Chris suggested in his December letter to the customers; unfortunately I don't have an idea on what's happening now. Now back to your issue. The next thing to try is replacing the shift register board in the yoke handle. Unfortunately there's no 1:1 replacement option; however, there is a shift register board sold on eBay and Aliexpress that I'm 99% sure is fit for the purpose. The risk value is 20USD, but, honestly speaking, I don't see any other way to proceed further if the original boards are not available from Chris. I've suggested this solution to one of the colleagues with a similar issue here, but he didn't report the outcome yet.

In addition to what I suggested already- if you can check the wire continuity with a multimeter, it's worth doing it for the wires running between the board in the handle and the controller board. The measurement should be done with all the connectors seated; you'll need to detach the board in the handle from the double-sided tape for an easy access to the connector pins. Check the continuity between the five pins on the board in the handle and the ones on the controller board one by one. I've marked these pins in red on the pictures attached. Be careful- the numbering of the pins on the two boards doesn't match; you should select the pin pairs to be measured by their names printed on the boards. If all the five lines are measured OK, then the issue is for sure with one of the boards. BR, Sergey

Based on the symptoms you've described, the issue might be related to one of the three items: the electronic "shift register" board in the yoke handle, the main controller board and the wiring between them (with a number of connectors involved). I'd vote for the last one- quoting one clever man, "electronics is the science about contacts"; and speaking about all these connectors, I'm not sure if you checked the one inside the yoke handle. To access it you need to remove the four screws and the cover at the front of the handle; you'll see a board with a number of wires coming from the handle buttons/ switches and also one connector/ 5- wire harness going from the board to a round connector at the back of the handle. Try re-seating this connector on the board, also checking that the board itself didn't get loose (it's fixed by a two-sided tape). If it doesn't help, I'd agree with orchestra_nl's suggestion to try the support e-mail. If the problem is with a controller, then replacing it with something different would require quite some electronic DIY skills. For instance, Leo Bodnar's controllers will not work here, as they are not supporting the button connection via a shift register board. The best option would be a SparkFun Pro-Micro board (or it's clones available at Amazon or AliExpress) with a MMJoy2 firmware. Actually, Fulcrum is using a custom version of MMJoy2. If the additional wiring check doesn't help and you won't get a response from Chris please inform- I'll try to give you some suggestions on further steps. BR, Sergey

I guess the number of VRInsight MCP owners here is very limited and the share of those who had problems and fixed them by themselves is zero. If you are ready for a DIY repair, just disassemble the unit and make the photos of the parts in question; then you'll get help from the forum members for sure.

The heat-shrink wrapping and gluing the buttons both increase the production costs and make the button replacement more difficult. No surprise that these were skipped during the production optimization...

In 8020 series datasheet there is no specification for the plunger travel/ actuation force/ tactile "click". So there's no way to tell if the different production versions/ batches are the same in this respect. Again, in a datasheet there is just one version of 8125 switch body dimensions, which exactly fits the size of the switches on my yoke. For the "H"-type bushing (6,35 mm- long thread, no keyway) and "Z"- type termination (solder lugs) the "S"-type plunger length should be 5,54 mm. I can't check it on my unit as the caps are glued down; but this is probably the smallest issue- the plunger is made of a relatively soft plastic, so it can be easily trimmed down to the length required. BTW, in this thread Ray Proudfoot tells about his experience of a stuck button replacement; he also ordered the switches from DigiKey. I wonder if he had any similar issues- at least he didn't mention any... Once again, a general reminder- all the recommendations provided are based on my sample of Fulcrum, which (I assume) belongs to one of the fairly early production batches. I have no information about the further possible changes in the part types used.

If you check the datasheet on either Mouser or Digikey website you'll see that the two letters after 8125SHZ mean the contact material (gold or gold over silver- doesn't matter) and the contact seal type (epoxy or epoxy potted base- doesn't matter either).