How does the Ultimarc E-Stik base mount?

[Sasquatch!]

How does the base of the E-Stik (the plate with the microswitches and the actuator) mount to the shaft?  I can slide it straight on - which would make it 4/8 way straight, and I can then twist it 45 degrees to make it diagonal, right?  But just sliding it on doesn't seem to provide for a very tight fit, meaning that the base can just slide right the heck off during gameplay.  I can't twist it past the 45 degrees (for the diagonals)...so, am I missing something here?

EDIT: Looking at the grooves in the shaft and the plate, it looks like if I really crank on it, it will "snap" into place.  It feels awfully tight though...like "I'm gonna break it if I crank on it that hard" tight.  Yes/no?

[MinerAl]

We were just playing with one last night and had the same question.  Finally I got brave enough to just "really crank on it."  Which did the trick.  My official advice:  really crank on it.

[Sasquatch!]

Thanks MinerAl!

Do the other E-Stik owners here agree?  (Not that I don't believe ya or nothin' Al... )

[saint]

It snaps into place.  The trick is unsnapping it when you want to take it off  *THEN* it feels like you're going to break it (but you won't)...

--- saint

Thanks MinerAl!

Do the other E-Stik owners here agree?  (Not that I don't believe ya or nothin' Al... )

[Sasquatch!]

It snaps into place.  The trick is unsnapping it when you want to take it off  *THEN* it feels like you're going to break it (but you won't)...

--- saint

Thanks, saint!

Looking at the grooves on the shaft and the base again though, it looks like I would have to crank on it pretty hard (again) if I want to rotate it between "straight" and "diagonal".  Is this correct?  Or does it rotate between those two pretty easily once it's snapped into place?

[saint]

Not in front of mine at the moment, but from memory (Andy/others, step in if I get this wrong?)

These sticks aren't really meant to be twistable between straight and diagonal "on the fly."  It's an accident (feature?) of the design that allows us to use them that way.  If you cinch it down tight, then you can't let it float between straight and diagonal.  By not tightening it all the way you get enough play to be able to rotate it "on the fly."  

SO: Hand tighten it enough that it isn't swimming, but don't cinch it down if you want quick straight/diagonal switching.  I imagine with long-term switching, it will work its way loose and you'll have to tighten it down again, which isn't a big deal imho.

--- saint

It snaps into place.  The trick is unsnapping it when you want to take it off  *THEN* it feels like you're going to break it (but you won't)...

--- saint

Thanks, saint!

Looking at the grooves on the shaft and the base again though, it looks like I would have to crank on it pretty hard (again) if I want to rotate it between "straight" and "diagonal".  Is this correct?  Or does it rotate between those two pretty easily once it's snapped into place?

[Smittydc]

There was a big thread about this not too long ago with pictures and discussion.... should pop up in a search

[Sasquatch!]

Not in front of mine at the moment, but from memory (Andy/others, step in if I get this wrong?)

These sticks aren't really meant to be twistable between straight and diagonal "on the fly."  It's an accident (feature?) of the design that allows us to use them that way.  If you cinch it down tight, then you can't let it float between straight and diagonal.  By not tightening it all the way you get enough play to be able to rotate it "on the fly."  

SO: Hand tighten it enough that it isn't swimming, but don't cinch it down if you want quick straight/diagonal switching.  I imagine with long-term switching, it will work its way loose and you'll have to tighten it down again, which isn't a big deal imho.

Huh, that would be pretty disappointing, especially since Ultimarc says "Another feature: the switch-plate can be rotated 45 degrees for games such as Q-Bert!"...it doesn't say anything about "it's not REALLY supposed to do this, and you can't easily do it on the fly".  Being able to switch between the two is why I bought this stick in the first place!  

Also, I don't see that I have the option of "not tightening it all the way" though.  If I don't tighten it all the way, it won't line up for the "straight" configuration.

The way that it looks to me is that:

- You can slide the base onto the shaft, which will line it up for a "straight configuration", but the base would/could slide right back off the shaft.

- You can rotate the base 45 degrees, which will give you the "diagonal configuration" (for Q*Bert, Congo Bongo, etc.).  The base is on decently solid (it at least won't just rotate right off of the shaft anyway), but this 45 degree rotation is as far as you can rotate it without applying a good deal of force and cranking on it.

- You can rotate it another 45 degrees (for a total of 90 degrees from the start point, where the base just slid onto the shaft) if you apply some force and crank on it and get it to "lock" into place into the "straight configuration".  Unfortunately, you can't easily rotate the plate back 45 degrees to go back into the "diagonal configuration" unless you apply a good amount of force and "unlock" it.

Sorry to be a pest about this, but I just want to make sure that I'm seeing this correctly.  Is this correct?

There was a big thread about this not too long ago with pictures and discussion.... should pop up in a search

I know which thread you're talking about (1UP supplied the pictures), but that only dealt with how to switch between "straight" and "diagonal"...he didn't really get into how to attach the base.  1UP, are you out there??  

[Sasquatch!]

Bump to see if anyone can/will verify my assumptions, plz.

[1UP]

Sorry, I'm not here this week, I'm looking for a job...

What I did to fix the tension problem was wrap a thin strip of duct tape around the grooved part of the shaft, that way when you put on the switch plate, it won't just drop off, and it will stay in the position you switch it to.

The other possibility is to rotate it all the way until you lock it in place, then switch from straight to diagonal by rotating the whole joystick.  This is a method I'm planning to use later on, for switching on the fly.  Some pics of this in the other thread...

Back to job hunting...