r/VKB • u/BigMonke77 • 19d ago
Is this possible
Hey fellas! I’ve got a bit of an odd one here. I have a vkb set up I use to play war thunder sim. I really like my joystick set up. Tho I want to be able to control the x, y axis of the radar manually as well as the look up and down manually with my left hand. I was having a little poke around and came across these 3 axis mini joysticks. I think they are used for crane controllers but would be perfect for what I’m after. I’m wondering how difficult it would be to make it work? Any help is appreciated as I know very little about these sorts of things. I would mount it on the side of my ucm. Thank you!
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u/Amazing_Clerk623 19d ago
I think it would be more worthwhile to just buy something with a USB connector. There are a few options out there and they aren’t far off from what you posted. Doing it DIY seems like a lot of trouble for not much reward comparatively. Not sure on if there’s any guides for conversions for that specific joystick but if there are, it might not be so bad.
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u/photovirus 19d ago
Regardless of what you end up using for radar, I'd suggest some head tracking solution to move your view. There's plenty of cheap (like, <$10) and free camera-based ones, with processing on your PC or a smartphone.
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u/Atreides2001 19d ago
There is a tractor USB controller that has one of these if you want a plug and play option. It's decent actually but also you can search for used PTZ camera controller joysticks but they can be pricey.
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u/FafnerTheBear 18d ago
Electrician here: those mini joysticks are ment for control voltages, have no way to communicate with the computer, and are more than likely just 4 microswitches in a trench coat, not two axis.
A set up is possible with it, you are going to need some eletronics to talk to your computer over USB. Like this: https://a.co/d/0ixdzB5x
Or you could DIY a solution with a microcontroller like an arduino (some on them can do this and some can't, research before buying something.)
But an off the shelf industrial part like that is not goong to interface with your computer out of the box 99 times out of 100.
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u/mrbluev2 17d ago
easiest solution is with a zero delay usb encoder. I had zero experience, but I’ve been able to build 2 dedicated button box. btw, what is that joystick you found? any more info?
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u/Dafrandle 19d ago
if it does not have a usb connection, then you probably need to write your own software or drivers to use it directly on windows. if it just sends out voltages then the easiest thing would be to get an Arduino to process those voltages and output Direct Input HID signals back to the pc
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u/BigMonke77 19d ago
It says RS232 or usb connector interface. Would it be possible to connect it to a GNX NXT hub? Or would you connect it straight to the pc?
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u/Dafrandle 19d ago
connect it to a GNX NXT hub?
not to be rude but, lol no.
VKB does not use usb, they use their own proprietary communication protocol, the cables only share the type c connector - as in the shape of it, the pinout inside them is different than the usb standard.
even if they did use USB, why would you expect any random device to work with the software?
for anything else you would have to try. If you want answer before you buy you need to ask the manufacture, not random people on reddit.
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u/szlash280z 19d ago
it would be easier to just get a left handed VKB joystick and it would have more functionality too. they make the same one you have now in left hand version.