+ HS elite™ Hall Sensor Kit for TM`s Elite™ Rudder Pedals

+ HS elite™ Hall Sensor Kit for TM’s Elite™ Rudder Pedals
for use with the Thrustmaster® HOTAS Cougar™
Designed / Prototyped by Greg “Evenstrain” Cook
“The + HS elite™ Hall Sensor Mod for the Thrustmaster® Elite™ Rudder
Pedal rudder axis is very easy to install. I did not have to modify any of
the Elite’s pedal components. ” - Greg “Evenstrain” Cook
Thrustmaster ® Elite™
INSTALLATION: To install the + HS elite™ Hall Sensor Kit the pedals will need to be disassembled. Turn the pedals upside down
and remove the two larger covers that cover the left and right rudder springs. The smaller cover in the middle of the pedal base is
where the rudder axis pot is. When taking the rudder pedals apart make notes (or take pictures) of how the parts are in relation to
each other.
Take out the screws holding the rudder spring cover and remove the cover. Unhook the rudder
spring from the pin (1) shown in the photo to the left. Take the two screws out (2), do the same
for the left and right rudder. Take the four screws out that hold the sensor cover (3) in place and
remove the sensor cover.
Turn the rudder pedals right side up and remove the two rudder bar
pivot screws (4) & (5) as shown in the photo to the right.
One of the pivot screws is under the “Elite Rudder Pedals” sticker as
show in the photo at the left. The silver
object is the hall sensor shaft adapter.
You can try to take the sticker off without damaging it or cut a small hole
through the sticker with a sharp exacto
knife to gain access to the pivot screw.
Or, if you don’t care about looks, just rip
it off as seen in the picture to the right!
Photo Courtesy of Greg Cook
Photo Courtesy of Sean Trestrail
Lift the rudder bars off the base which
will reveal the pot and its gear as
Photo Courtesy of Sean Trestrail
shown in the picture to the left. You will not see the part shaded in red, all you will see is just
the gear, pot shaft, and the pot nut. You will need to take the gear off the pot shaft first. Do
not damage this gear, you will save this gear and use it on the hall sensor shaft adapter. Unscrew the nut on the pot and remove the pot from the base. The original pot may have
glue around it as shown in the picture to the right. Break the glue bond and remove the old
pot. The old cable just slips out of the notch in the rudder base. Remove any glue stuck to the
pedal base.
Photo S. Trestrail
Photo S. Trestrail
The pot gear will be installed onto the shaft adapter included with the + HS elite™ Kit. Greg recommends that the gear be heated in boiling water to heat it up, then slip it over the hall sensor shaft adapter as
shown in the picture to the left. Don’t heat the gear in any other manner, you don’t want to melt it! I suggest if
you need to tap the gear onto the shaft adapter that you tap on the gear, not the shaft adapter, you don’t want to
damage the shaft adapter. I also suggest that you do this while the shaft adapter is NOT on the sensor shaft. Be
sure the gear is positioned so it touches the bottom of the “flat” on the sensor shaft adapter.
Photo Greg Cook
The picture to the left shows the hall sensor orientation to the rudder pedal base. At the
top of the photo is the exit for the rudder’s DB15 cable. You should position the sensor wires as they exit the sensor straight up towards the center of the rudder pedal
base “V”. When installing the sensor do not use the lock washer on this side.
Turn the rudder pedals over and install the hall sensor lock washer and nut as shown
in the picture on the right. Double check the orientation of the hall sensor to the rudder
base after tightening the nut. Make adjustments as required to get this correct.
Photo Greg Cook
Photo Courtesy of Greg Cook
Using the allen wrench provided in
the kit adjust the sensor adapter set
screw so it almost touches the flat
shown in green in the photo to the
left. The gear is not shown in this
photo for clarity. You will have installed the gear on to the shaft
adapter before getting to this step.
After you have installed the hall sensor into the rudder
base. Slide the shaft adapter down the hall sensor shaft
until it bottoms out. Be sure the allen wrench is inserted
all the way into the set screw and tighten the shaft
adapter set screw. You should have some space between the hall sensor shaft adapter and the body of the
hall sensor as shown in the photo to the left. The sensor
shown is out of the base without the gear installed for
clarity.
The picture on
the left shows the DB15 cable strain relief. This protects
the wires where they pass through the base and prevents
the wires from being pulled out of the base. The two red
arrows show the notch on the strain relief where the strain
relief will pass though the base. This notch in the strain
relief should be inserted into the notch on the rudder base.
The picture at the right shows the strain relief installed in
the rudder base (1) and the wiring placement inside the
rudder base. Route the wires as shown through the notch
in the rudder base (2), Use tape to hold the wires down (3)
so you don’t pinch any sensor wires when you put the
sensor cover back on. Drill a 1/8” (3mm) hole for the drain
screw (4) through the side of the base. Be sure to locate
the hole within reach of the drain wire and that it will
not interfere with the sensor cover when you put it
back on.
Photo Courtesy of Sean Trestrail
The photo at the left shows the installation of the drain wire. The red line represents the wall of the rudder
base. Install the screw with its head on the outside of the base through the hole you just drilled (1). Next
install the internal toothed washer (2) on the screw. Put the drain wire with the ring terminal (3) on the
screw. Then the split lock washer (4) is installed on the screw. Put the nut (5) on the screw and tighten it
up. Time to put things back together. Be careful when putting the sensor cover back on that you don’t
pinch any wires, check the wire placement before replacing the cover.
The photo on the right shows the gear timing. (1) is the center of the “V”, at
the front (top) of the rudder base. (2) is the front rudder bar pivot hole. Draw
an imaginary line through the centers of (1) and (2), center the gear on that
imaginary line as shown (3). This gear position is the rudders center position.
Install the front rudder bar, oriented in its center position. A slight rotation of
the rudder bar may be required to get the gears to mesh when installing the
front rudder bar. Reassemble the rest of the rudder components.
After hooking up your Elite rudder to your Cougar plug in the Cougar’s USB cable. Open
CCP and change the sign for the rudder axis
from “+” to “-” as shown in the picture to the
left. Calibrate the Cougars axes using your
calibration method of choice and save it.
Photo Courtesy of Sean Trestrail
To the right is the DB15 pin out for wiring Toe Brakes. Pin 5 is connected to
GND which informs the Cougar that Toe Brake axes are
DB15 Toe Brake Pin Out
present.
Pin
Wire Color
Desc.
4
Black
GND
5
Brown
3 axis Detection *
9
Orange
+ 5v (Toe Brakes)
13
Blue
L. Toe Brake
14
Green
R. Toe Brake
© 2005 Ernest “Cubpilot” Smith. All rights reserved.