[Goober5000]

The trigger button on my joystick (Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2) seems to have died.  All the other ones work, so I'm guessing the switch just broke.  I'd get it replaced, but apparently MS discontinued all their joysticks, so all I can do is return it for a refund.  I'd rather not go searching for a new joystick, though, because I like the one I have.

So... do any of you guys know what kind of switch is in the trigger?  I opened it up and had a look but didn't see any visible identification marks.  Or does anyone have a MSFF2 with a trigger button that still works that they'd be willing to cannibalize?

[mikhael]

you'll probably just need a contact switch. Open it up, take a look at the switch and head for Radio Shack.

Alternatively, buy a good stick, like a Cougar.

[demon442]

I've said it before and i'll say it again.  Logitech devices are teh shiznat!!!!1

I payed $35 for my Wingman in '99 (bought it for FS2) and it's still going strong today.  Although my Z rotation is a bit off, I can probably fix it with a little work.

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by mikhael
you'll probably just need a contact switch. Open it up, take a look at the switch and head for Radio Shack.

See, but I have no way of identifying the switch save by what it looks like.  I think I'd want to have the electrical specs on it too.

[mikhael]

For your basic joystick contact switch, I doubt there's going to be much variation. Besides: the switch should list the details on its housing. Failing that, buy a cheap non-FF stick and gut it. The microswitches are almost certainly going to be the exact same ones as in your FF stick.

I still say buy a good HOTAS setup and stop being a gamestick pansy, but I'm rather fanatical about my sticks, so feel free to tell me to shove it where it fits.

[mikhael]

*hrm*

It looks like they use Omron parts for most of the sensing gear in the Sidewinder line. I still can't find which one though--the switches are usually the LAST thing to die on a stick.


http://oeiweb.omron.com/

[Stryke 9]

Those little black-plastic-and-steel momentary switches are basically universal. Unless you buy the most incredibly ****ing pathetic switch in existence, it'll be able to handle any power load going through an input device like a joystick just fine. Just get anything that fits.

The trick to electronics is that it's pretty much all only as precise as you care to make it. I have never, in all my years of repairing and building ****, had to do anything more than estimate what'd work for a given application.

Which has, granted, yielded some incredibly ugly hackjobs, because I'm too lazy to get any parts I don't have right on hand, but aside from aesthetics and the occasional thing you shouldn't touch 'cos I grounded the device to the metal housing, everything so far's worked.

[01010]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Those little black-plastic-and-steel momentary switches are basically universal. Unless you buy the most incredibly ****ing pathetic switch in existence, it'll be able to handle any power load going through an input device like a joystick just fine. Just get anything that fits.

The trick to electronics is that it's pretty much all only as precise as you care to make it. I have never, in all my years of repairing and building ****, had to do anything more than estimate what'd work for a given application.

Which has, granted, yielded some incredibly ugly hackjobs, because I'm too lazy to get any parts I don't have right on hand, but aside from aesthetics and the occasional thing you shouldn't touch 'cos I grounded the device to the metal housing, everything so far's worked.

This reminds me of a joystick that was brand new on the Commodore 64, which was routinely destroyed and resurrected and lasted almost the entire course of the history of the various Amiga's.

It looked completely different and for all intents and purposes it might have well have been. But it was awesome, the best stick ever, and it only had one button.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Those little black-plastic-and-steel momentary switches are basically universal. Unless you buy the most incredibly ****ing pathetic switch in existence, it'll be able to handle any power load going through an input device like a joystick just fine. Just get anything that fits.

There's a few problems here. If Goob wants to get his stick back into working order, one of the things he's going to have to do is make sure that the switch he gets is built properly to fit in the casing. I doubt he wants to go screwing about with the internal architecture of the stick, just to reroute some wires because he didn't get the right switch.

The problem becomes more complicated when you start looking at things like potentiometers, but that's probably beyond the scope of any discussion about a Microsoft gamestick.

[Goober5000]

Well, the rest of the joystick works fine; it's just the one switch.  It's just a little 1/4 inch cube with a little flat button on one end.

I'll see if I can upload a picture of it.

[Stryke 9]

Mik: Yeah, I guess some people are still picky about things fitting in the case, but outside of high-power jobs buttons pretty much boil down into the up ones, the down ones, the ones with too many terminals, and the ones with too few. All of which is common sense.

Goob: If it's one of these suckers, yeah, like I said, they're everywhere. They're all functionally the same as all the others, except when they're broken. You can get one practically anywhere, or just pull it out of some other piece of home electronics that's busted (clock radios basically always have plenty).

[Stealth]

Originally posted by demon442

I payed $35 for my Wingman in '99 (bought it for FS2) and it's still going strong today.  Although my Z rotation is a bit off, I can probably fix it with a little work.

same here.  except i bought mine in 2000

[Goober5000]

Originally posted by Stryke 9
Goob: If it's one of these suckers, yeah, like I said, they're everywhere.

Almost.  They're used in the other buttons, but the trigger one looks slightly different... it has a gray top with a different height.