SurClaro Flight Simulator Resources

Looking for mini Self Centering USB joystick for FS9.
Must be all wired, like a cut in half game pad Saitek P220 (left side). Size in this case, smaller is better. Must Be USB and XP ok.

Nothing fancy, no force feedback, shaker or flight attendant call button needed.

For use with Notebook on flights.
Thanks Much

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 1:58 am Post subject:

Ha! I was looking for the same one in India a year back for exactly the same purposes! I couldnt find one here but I suppose out there in the US you may have many! In case you come across one, PM me the details please.

I have finally decided to pull apart an old standard USB joystick and reassemble it as a miniature one. I havent gotten around to doing it yet though!

Posted: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:11 am Post subject:

Hi guys
If you would like a "mini" JS, go to:

www.ebay.com

If you just type in what your looking for, you will most likely find it. Try the search subject of "Joy sticks" in the electronics section of the site, and you should be set. A few months back, i was looking for a Saitek x-something or another (it is a new type of stick they now make...you can find it in circuit city), and i just so happened to run by a few OOOLSCHOOOL joy sticks. I mean they were from the 80's. a few didnt have a throttle, but some did, and they werent anything special. BUT they did fit your search criteria "Mini..." BUT, i dont know if they are XP compatibal. If you want to have usb capabilities, you might need a few connectors for them, for I dont think in she 60's on through the early 90's they had UBS ports on their computers.

I hope this helps y'all!!

King_Air

Posted: Mon Jan 02, 2006 9:50 pm Post subject: More Info On Mini Joystick

I have an OLD SUNCOM 1inch x 3inch x 1.5 inch self centering joystick with a 9 pin connector. My notbook has only USB and I1394 ports. Don't know if this early 1990's piece has drivers for it and if it there is an adapter for it to go to USB.

Any more help would be appreciated.

On bottom is US Patent 4,382,188 other patent pending and a sticker with X12359.

According to a 1991 post this is a Suncom Icontroller:

". . . . . .COMPUTE! ISSUE 132 / AUGUST 1991 / PAGE 55

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suncom Icontroller. (joystick)(includes related article) (evaluation)
by Robert Bixby

This tiny, wedge-shaped joystick works as an alternative mouse and is primarily intended for laptops.

The ICONtroller is more than a joystick, though, despite appearances. It plugs into the serial port and mimics mouse movement. But it's more than a mouse, too. It's festooned with buttons that make adjustments, such as the speed of cursor movement and the kind of mouse emulation. The ICONtroller provides pixel-by-pixel movement when the joystick is deflected less than 20 degrees.

Suncom had located the mouse buttons about where you would expect to find the fire buttons on a normal joystick. There's even a "thumb button" at the top of the joystick. Holding the joystick between my thumb and second finger, I operated this button with my index finger as if it were my left mouse button. It was an intuitive positioning that I adjusted to instantly.

Although you can attach this unit to the side of your keyboard with Velcro patches, I found it more natural to operate it two-handed, with the base in my left hand and the joystick in my right. I came to appreciate the advantages of joysticks: no more desk space sacrificed to the mouse pad and no more fights with desktop clutter for control of the mouse cord, to name but two.

Don't try to draw with the ICONtroller. Technically, it's completely proportional, but my experience was that the cursor wanted to move in one of eight directions (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, or NW). Therefore, it's better used as a general pointing device than as a complete mouse substitute, and in this role it was a success.

The ICONtroller was the simplest to install of all nonmouse mice I've tried and the friendliest to Windows and GeoWorks Ensemble. . . . . . "

Greatpistacios

LO!! My reputation as a wordsmith is challenged:

"Nonmouse mice?"

(Cool)

Richard

Posted: Tue Jan 03, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: Sorry I should have pointed out

Sorry I should have pointed out more clearly that this was a post from a 1991 report in a magazine. So I changed the lifted text to reflect that.

I am still looking for help in using this 9 pin connector to a current USB connector AND a driver for XP.

After all if I was patient enough to load the 1st version of this program from cassette in 1 out if 10 tries in very early '80s on my Apple II then on a II+ on a 40kb disk, I can chase this obscure target.

Thanks