TL;DR: I got my CH Fighterstick grip converted to the Warthog connector standard and now I can use it on a VPC base. Images here
Full story:
I have been playing Elite: Dangerous for a few years now. My original stick of choice was the CH Fighterstick and I loved it - tactile buttons, light action, good tough industrial plastic. Recently however I upgraded to a VPC base for its superior sensors and gimbal and got a Warthog grip to go with it (sorry VPC, I absolutely need the 4-way at the thumb rest).
Despite the praise the Warthog grip gets from a lot of places I did not like it, I just prefer the lightness and tactile buttons of the CH. Fortunately, there's a way to get the best of both worlds for those who feel similarly. A big shout out to the fine folks of r/hotas/ and especially /u/Pover0n for getting me on the right track!
I got in touch with Debolestis through his Shapeways shop where he designs and sells 3d-printed connectors and replacement pieces for HOTAS controllers. I took measurements of the CH tailpiece and he drew 2 CH-to-Warthog adapters: a straight one and one that's offset 10mm to the back to better balance the grip over the attachment point.
The conversion is not too complicated but not very easy either, especially for someone like me who is quite bad at soldering, doesn't have the right tools and has negative free time. CH sticks use key matrix scanning to observe button state, Warthog uses a shift register. You need to get a shift register PCB that supports at least 20 switches, make sure it fits inside the grip, wire it up to all the switches and terminate the thing in a 5 pin mini DIN connector.
Fortunately Debolestis was great and agreed to do the work for me. I received the converted grip a few weeks ago, and it's very nicely done. I do recommend checking out his shop and getting in touch with him if you want to extend the life of your CH grip. He is also active on the Eagle Dynamics/DCS forum.
Images here
Full story:
I have been playing Elite: Dangerous for a few years now. My original stick of choice was the CH Fighterstick and I loved it - tactile buttons, light action, good tough industrial plastic. Recently however I upgraded to a VPC base for its superior sensors and gimbal and got a Warthog grip to go with it (sorry VPC, I absolutely need the 4-way at the thumb rest).
Despite the praise the Warthog grip gets from a lot of places I did not like it, I just prefer the lightness and tactile buttons of the CH. Fortunately, there's a way to get the best of both worlds for those who feel similarly. A big shout out to the fine folks of r/hotas/ and especially /u/Pover0n for getting me on the right track!
I got in touch with Debolestis through his Shapeways shop where he designs and sells 3d-printed connectors and replacement pieces for HOTAS controllers. I took measurements of the CH tailpiece and he drew 2 CH-to-Warthog adapters: a straight one and one that's offset 10mm to the back to better balance the grip over the attachment point.
The conversion is not too complicated but not very easy either, especially for someone like me who is quite bad at soldering, doesn't have the right tools and has negative free time. CH sticks use key matrix scanning to observe button state, Warthog uses a shift register. You need to get a shift register PCB that supports at least 20 switches, make sure it fits inside the grip, wire it up to all the switches and terminate the thing in a 5 pin mini DIN connector.
Fortunately Debolestis was great and agreed to do the work for me. I received the converted grip a few weeks ago, and it's very nicely done. I do recommend checking out his shop and getting in touch with him if you want to extend the life of your CH grip. He is also active on the Eagle Dynamics/DCS forum.
Images here