I am happy to present two latest devices I’ve designed recently, the USB collective base you’ve asked for and the Bell407 collective head!
The new base has a redesigned enclosure with better-looking rounded lines, a flat back for more mounting options (the standard Gunde mount is now a separate part, you can change it to whatever you like), and the Pro Micro-based master controller in it.
Two versions are available: the one with the top slot for extensions and the more compact one. You can use whatever rear lid you like with either of them (USB or I2C version).
It has two mode switches: the one that’s been there earlier – for buttons (and now – hat switches as well!), the other – for throttle axes. The single lever can now drive twin-engine helicopters, just flip the switch up or down to choose the throttle axis you need. When you change the current axis, you have to turn your physical throttle to match your current axis value, after that, the throttle axis value will “stick” to your physical lever position.
The Bell407 style collective switch panel is the scale one, modeled after the head found in Bell 407GXP (it has more buttons than any other version). I tried to combine a cool look with functionality – it has both scale features (3-way switches with middle buttons), and mode switch support for all of its momentary buttons. There’s also a new hat switch, which you will likely find to be better than the KY-023 one, again, with added mode switch support.
Enjoy!
Hi, apologies as this is probably not the ideal place to ask this, but I couldn’t find any contact info on the site. Have you considered offering fully built versions of any of your collectives? I’m sure you’re aware that there is huge interest especially in the DCS community right now for collectives, especially by those of us like myself who have no ability to print or build anything this complex. I for one would be extremely interested if you started offering any fully built options. Thanks.
Hi! I build them for guys, but mostly to develop new hardware. It’s kinda “DIY-oriented, very rich with functions but harder to produce in numbers” kind of thing. At the moment I am working on something called the simple collective v2, which will be an inexpensive collective lever, that will be simpler in production.
The plan is, it should contain a hat switch and a button. Using the mode switch on the base, we have 3 hat switches and 3 buttons (you can assign directions of the hat switch to various functions).
I want it to be able to drive up to 3 throttle axes as well (same for all EVO variants).
It should be inexpensive, work fairly well for everything, be very durable, and I will probably be able to make more of them. Something like a people’s lever =)
Btw, 3d printers now are not what they have been before, they are very plug and play and inexpensive (Ender 3)! This is quite easy to build in fact, I will gladly help with answering your questions if you decide to go this way =) A printer really is a dream come true for a hobbyist =)
Great, thanks for the quick response. I’ll keep watching this site to follow your progress and look for updates. Thanks!