FPV Joystick Housing for RC Radio by Mochanic

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

Designed for the Taranis radio but can be used on just about anything.
I spent a lot of time designing and fitting a housing to add a cheap PS2 joystick that will control the pan/tilt camera on my FPV airplanes. A selector switch is not necessary, but allows you to choose between the stock sliders and the rear joystick. If you do not use a selector switch the joystick and the sliders will counteract each other when both are not in their neutral position. I kinda prefer this option, it allows you to use a slider to put the camera in an exact position and leave it there until you move it. It also can act like a trim for the joystick.
To wire them this way you simply take the power and ground from only 1 of the sliders and send it to the terminals on the joystick, then the signal wire from each slider will go to the X/Y terminal on the joystick. You choose which one you want to be X and Y and wire the signal wire accordingly. See the pictures for a better idea and to see where I soldered the wires to that come from the joystick. YOU DONT NEED TO CUT ANYTHING! Just solder to the back of the pins on the pcb then put some hot glue on them to help secure the wires. If you still need help, just post a comment below.
There are now 2 housing versions to choose from. V1 is the original version that has the 4 M3x10mm button head screws coming in from the outside of the housing and uses nylon nuts on the inside to sandwich the joystick to the radio housing. V2 eliminates the holes on the outside of the housing and now just uses 4 M3x6mm button head screws to pull the joystick housing down, so you will not need the 4 nylon nuts. ( I recommend tapping the holes just to get the threads started)
Print the included flat template and the joystick housing of your choice, then open your Taranis radio and separate the cases. Use the pictures to see where you want to locate the template. Basically it needs to be slightly above the PCB enough to clear the m3 nylon nuts (if using V1), and very slightly off center towards the outside edge between the raised areas on the back side of the rear case.
Use the printed joystick housing and place it on the back of the radio between the raised areas so that it is centered and not hitting either of the raised areas. When you are sure it's good, drill your 4 holes then place the flat template on the inside as seen in the picture and proceed to dremel away the material. When you get it close, use a square file and make all the corners nice and squared off.
For the PS2 joystick, I got mine from eBay for $.83! This one has black plastic rather than white plastic and it has the word "shield" in the title, I'm not sure it will matter, but since it was designed for this very specific joystick I would recommend that you stick to the one with the black plastic coming out of the metal housing. Use this link to find exactly the one I have:https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=ps2+joystick&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xps2+joystick+shield.TRS1&_nkw=ps2+joystick+shield&_sacat=0
You will need to trim the bottom side of the thumb cap so that the total height does not exceed .500" (1/2") I used curved Lexan cutting scissors. If you do not trim the bottom skirt, it will hit the housing when moving the joystick.