Removable Star Wars Yoke mount

[rampy]

Phew!  Well I've done a proof of concept half way finished "dry fit" if you will removable mount for my star wars yoke.

I imagine it could be used for other items if one were to get creative or other applications (a side mount removable spinner/tball on a classic/small control panel perhaps?)

This doesn't account for the wiring part yet as my soldering iron is on loan and I haven't decided if I'm going to mount the dual-strike guts on the removable piece... or keep the guts in the cabinet with a molex-esque connector for quick hook up. (decsisions decisions...)

Anyways without further ado (adiue?) ...

half arse gallery of my removable mount star wars yoke It rests on  flush mount cabinet/mirror hangers.  I need to add an additional one, and I have plans for two "L" brackets to give support on top -- lined with foam weatherstripping in order to not scratch my precious laminate CP=P

Rampy

PS I need to thank Metzer for his removable CP idea that spurred me to think of this method of attachment/detachment. (his thread is here)

I also need to thank Birdtales for not bidding up this particular yoke up when recognizing my ebay handle way back when... thanks (even though i still over paid for it anyways)!

EDIT: A couple of Additional notes: It's a wee bit off level, but so is the CP so it matches... honest.  It's not really gonna work for stand up play -- A stool is a must.  And the angle isn't perfect (which is why sit down will be more comfortable than standup play) it angles slightly back instead of the forward I would have preferred.  I may "shim" the yoke to compensate a a later date.

[Birdtales]

Rampy it looks great. Heres a thought, make an angled box to mount the yoke into then put the picture hangers on the back of it. That gives you the angle for the yoke but involves a bit more work.

Run your wires out of the bottom of the box and plug it into a jack under your control panel.

Great idea you came up with.

[rampy]

Rampy it looks great. Heres a thought, make an angled box to mount the yoke into then put the picture hangers on the back of it. That gives you the angle for the yoke but involves a bit more work.

Run your wires out of the bottom of the box and plug it into a jack under your control panel.

Great idea you came up with.

You know you're right.  Revision 2 will definitely be a box... but I was so worried about whether the concept would work I didn't think about doing a full on box (although considering the slight skew to my control panel box ... maybe it's a good thing I started with just a sheet of melamine shelving)

For revision 2 I'd get the little flush mount cabinet thingies powder coated or annodized or something (I don't think paint would hold up)

*Shrug* thanks for taking a look and commenting BT.

Rampy

[Chris]

What I was going to do when I got a yoke is get my hands on a cheap PC steering wheel, remove the wheel and mount the yoke in its place. The Logitech wheels will clamp onto an inch of overhang...

I think the Dual Strike should be in the yoke assembly, and you should just have a USB port available under the CP.  That way you can make an add on spinner, wheel, yoke, 4-way joy, Spy Hunter setup, a Sea Wolf periscope, or whatever and just plug it into the USB port.

--Chris

[OSCAR]

Looks good, rampy.  I still need to build my SW yoke / trackball panel, but I have to finish my cocktail project first.  Seeing a yoke on a cabinet gets me fired up to start on mine.  Ahh, so much to do, and to think there used to be a time when I would watch TV, walk the dog, mow the lawn, etc at night...  

[rampy]

What I was going to do when I got a yoke is get my hands on a cheap PC steering wheel, remove the wheel and mount the yoke in its place. The Logitech wheels will clamp onto an inch of overhang...

That was the bane of my CP...  and the reason why it took so long to find somethign workable to mount my yoke.  I have no overhang =(  

Be sure to take pics of your steering wheel to yoke mod when you  get to it =)

And yoiu're right about mounting the DS to the yoke and setting up a usb hub action...

Rampy

[Chris]

In my CP redesign (I'm finalizing it now, constructing this weekend), I'm explicitly leaving overhang for a clamp-on wheel (Crazy Taxi!).

By the way, I remember once seeing cheapie clamp-on wheels that had no electronics... just a roller!  You stuck your mouse in a little velcro pocket against the roller, and the wheel turned the mouse!  They were utterly useless for PC games... but I wish I could find one now!  Insant 360 degree wheel for MAME!

--Chris

[Frostillicus]

That's great rampy.  I was thinking about this for awhile and had a similar idea of Birdtales.  Here is a quick cheesy illustration of what im talking about.

I was thinking of some really good suction cups to attach to the four corners of the trackball mounting plate - or perhaps the lexan around it if the plate isn't a good sale.  Obviously this isn't too much to scale

EDIT pic attached.
 

[Aceldamor]

Looks fantastic Rampy!!  One question though....

Are you positive it is sturdy enough for those "overly excited" (sp?) players?  What I mean is, how do you think those brackets are going to handle above average pull and push?

I wish I had the opportunity to see the romovable control panel...I clicked your link but it's a page error...checked the original thread, but it looks like his site is gone...

Again, great work Rampy!!

[1UP]

Rampy, this is much the same as my design for a detachable yoke base.  I think though you really need to have the yoke at about 45 degrees to the control panel to be playable upright, and it should be mounted a few inches back from the CP edge.  Looks like you have lots of room on your CP to mount it farther back.  The best thing to do is make a base with a  triangular profile like this:



Note the long bolt that goes thru the back of the base.  This would have a knurled plastic knob on the top that allows you to finger tighten it into a tee-nut on the underside of the CP.  These knobs are sold at Home Depot, with molded hex shape on the bottom, to fit onto a specific size of bolt.  You'll have to drill a 1/4" hole thru your lexan and wood.  But this one nut could hold it all in place.  Right now, I'm planning to just have the USB from the Dual Strike hanging out the bottom of the base, where it can plug into a USB connector mounted flush with the CP.  I would probably have some kind of plastic cap to cover the USB port to make it look like a button or something when not in use...

Actually, the drawing above is not right, the bolt should probably be mounted perpendicular to the CP, but you get the idea...

[Shieldwolf]

What a piece of junk.

I say that only in reference to Star Wars ( You know the good movie). Nice job, You're going to have a kickass time playing star wars now.

[BillyJack]

She'll make point five past light speed.  She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid.

Good job.

[rampy]

Heh, thanks for the kind words (and the SW quotes)

Chris: You've got to figure out hte name/model/maker of that "drop-in" mouse wheel thingie.  If you remember/figure it out let me know... before the ebay stamped =P  Since the SW yoke kinda does 280 I'm thinking about modding a el crappo PC gameport steering wheel to be 360 degrees.

Frosty -> I had considered suction cups but wasn't certain that ones that were "good" enough would be too difficult to remove =P (unless one used the snap and pull easy release suction cups AS-SEEN-ON-TV)  

My first inclination was to do a box to rest ON the control panel with some sort of nubs/grooves/sockets but didn't think I could pull it off (or find the right hardware)

I also considered velcro but thought it would be unsightly (no snickering in the back please).

1up -> I did consider a bolt through method but didn't want any more holes/threads on my CP.  The whole thing is a compromise... and you're right about the 45 degree angle.  We'll see after play testing if it's stupid/annoying or not.

Aceldamor --> well we'll see as it's probably a "working" prototype.  If I break it - you'll hear it here.  I don't know what happened to metzer's site =(  

FWIW I have no doubt the hangers are up to it (if they hold up cabinets or 100lb mirrors) The only "play" was a little bit of "flex" in the front mdf sheet of my actual CP box (kinda hard to explain)  


I can always go with the Dr. Evazan method ... "I'll be careful...."
"YOU'LL be DEAD!"  i.e.

As mentioned earlier I need to add 1 or 2 more of those brackets.  I also plan on adding some support from the shelving to the top of the CP (an padded L bracket)

Question to the studio panel should I add 1 or 2 more brackets?

i.e.       X     X
               X


vs      

            X     X
            X     X

*shrug*  BTW I got those clips at walmart ages ago to hang a mirro and never used 'em... if my memory serves me right (when I went to get more at HD last night they had everything but that style -- but I coulda been in the wrong aisle!)

well maybe someone will take the cheezy idea and bring it to the next level...  meanwhile I'm pantomiming SW on my cabinet because:

I left my soldering iron in el segundo ... I gots to get it I gots to go get it...

Rampy

[Chris]

I left my soldering iron in el segundo ... I gots to get it I gots to go get it...

Get a $7 Radio Shack pencil iron for now...

Chris: You've got to figure out hte name/model/maker of that "drop-in" mouse wheel thingie.

I've been racking my brain... the one place I saw that sold them is out of business now... they were liquidating them for $5.00... I remember laughing at them as the most worthless piece of junk... before I found MAME, of course... they had about a hundred of them, and I don't think they ever sold one...

[rampy]

I left my soldering iron in el segundo ... I gots to get it I gots to go get it...

Get a $7 Radio Shack pencil iron for now...

Chris: You've got to figure out hte name/model/maker of that "drop-in" mouse wheel thingie.

I've been racking my brain... the one place I saw that sold them is out of business now... they were liquidating them for $5.00... I remember laughing at them as the most worthless piece of junk... before I found MAME, of course... they had about a hundred of them, and I don't think they ever sold one...

Did they have a website when they were in business? Did they offer on the site? maybe it could show in archive.org? I don't konw why i'm so interested if ivan stewart wheels regularly go for 10 beans on ebay --> it's just the thrill of the hunt to hack more products to mame use =)

Hopefully some overstock/big lots type place bought out the inventory=P

Thanks!

Rampy

[Chris]

Did they have a website when they were in business? Did they offer on the site?

No, they never had a website...

I don't konw why i'm so interested if ivan stewart wheels regularly go for 10 beans on ebay

I'll have to keep an eye out for these!My new CP design should accomodate three clamped-on wheels easily...

Hopefully some overstock/big lots type place bought out the inventory=P

I hadn't thought of that... I'd better go hit Big Lots at lunchtime!

[1UP]

Here's another idea to consider: snaps!

Go to home depot and you'll likely find screw-in snap sets in the hardware area (tool corral).  You could put 3-4 on your cp, would look pretty much like screws with finising washers to hold down the lexan...  then put the other ones on the underside of your base.  Just an idea....

[rampy]

Here's another idea to consider: snaps!

Go to home depot and you'll likely find screw-in snap sets in the hardware area (tool corral).  You could put 3-4 on your cp, would look pretty much like screws with finising washers to hold down the lexan...  then put the other ones on the underside of your base.  Just an idea....

Care to scare up a pic of snaps?

I'd be concerned that the uh.. male end of the snaps on the yoke box might scratch the surface if you didn't line it up before dropping it down.

I did some play testing and playing standing up is akward because it's difficult to flip the Y axis down enough to hit the top of the screen without straining your wrist.

Sit down play was more agreeable.  I gave it a moderate work out but was still babying it a bit as I'm still short a bracket. I'm sure one could hulk it off because of the leverage advantage -- but I plan on addressing that.  The one thing I was happy about is that there isn't a lot of play between the shelving/mount and the control panel.

*shrug*

Just thought I'd share/follow up.

Rampy

[1UP]

Sorry, no pics.  HD's site is not being cooperative right now.  Try a search there for snaps.

Anyway, the snaps I've seen are pretty large and rounded off, so I doubt they'd scratch much.  And you'd probably be using the male snaps on the CP istelf, and the female ones on the base.  I think I'll give them a shot once I get my platforms built...

[1UP]

I'm finally going to be building my removable yoke and T2 gun bases today!    I'm going to try using snaps or a combination of snaps and brackets to mount them.  I'll let y'all know how it goes tonight, and I'll take lots of pics!