GF MKII connexion/ghost problems with extension

[Mud]

Hey guys,

i might need help for an issue i discovered latelly and i think has been going on for quite some time.

So overall, i'm facing the same problem that's already been raised multiple times on the forum about ghost activations of the push buttons of all 3 hat switches(thumb, front and index) that was due to the stick being badly settled/ having bad connexion with the base by the user.

What made me discover i had this issues was the fact that latelly my Roll axis was not registering its full range, spiking halfway, when i was making a medium/fast right roll. So taking a look inside VKBdev instantly showed the axis prob and ghost press all over the place. And thinking back it explained all the yelling at me about poping some random chaffs sometimes or not being fenced in/out so without the big axis thing it was gone under my radar.

So of course first thing i've done was to take on and off the extension and stick, which solved the axis issue but not the ghost activations of the 3 hats push, always happening when rolling right.

I thought it was the extension, so i moved from my setup i'm using since 1.5 years #40+30 | 10cm extension to 40# per axis without extension and tada! it was working perfectly, no ghosting, no nothing!
Next i wanted to test the extension to be sure, so i slapped the extension back again on the same setup with only one spring #40 per axis and it was also working perfectly.

At this point i think having too much required forces(too strong spring setup) to move the stick right has an undesirable effect on my connectors and may be the cause.

I don't know what i could/should do?
Maybe i'm not tightening the extension screw enough? for me it feels right but in the end i don't know how much this screw require, it could be fine for me but not enough for the device.


Little off topic PS: i'm wondering how the new cams compare to the old MKII? from vkb last videos i've seen that the new cams seem to put more pre-tension on the srping at neutral position compared to the old steel, does it make forces around center stronger? Also with steel cam u can feel one side being stronger than the other( right stronger than left for me on the roll for exemple). Is it same with the new ones?

Thank you for your help

[Mud]

hello,

any thoughts?

thanks

[fallout9]

The new Avia cams are a bit deeper at the center and axis detent is a bit more pregnant comparing to the original cams, especially the nr. 10. There are also the Space cams with a softer curvature at max deflaction.

For your ghost inputs and axis spikes best would be to open up the base, disconnect and plug back the white JST-like connectors. And when you're doing that check also the wires.
Another thing that could give you spikes in the axis (but not ghost inputs) would be, as reported by a user, a small metal piece attached to the magnet of the sensor; if you think that might be the case you should take the PCB out carefully and inspect the magnet on that respective axis.

Would also help if you'd post some screenshots with Profile/Axes/Physical and Logical axes and Profile Button/Physical layer.

[Mud]

Hey fallout,

thank you for your help and the little insight on the new cams.

here are the screens you asked for, i hope it is what you are looking for.

For the physical part i'll take time this weekend to look inside, do more tests and i'll report back here.

good day.

[fallout9]

Your both firmware and software looks outdated. Please follow this link and flash your device to the latest: https://youtu.be/LBW0P1mlGno
All software needed is here: https://vkbcontrollers.com/?page_id=4609

[Mud]

same screens with updated softwares

quick edit: i dont have the solid green LED "stick" and "pedals" that would blink red when there was no/bad connection. Is there a way to get back to the old behavior? thx!

[fallout9]

Post a screenshot with Global/External/LEDs panel open. If there's no LEDs tab open the zconfig.ini file (in the same folder with VKBDevCfg), add this line: User=Developer under [User] section and save it.

But let's see first about those ghost inputs with the combination of new software and re-plugging the connectors.

[Mud]

hello,

so i'm reporting back from the tests that turned to be quite expeditive actually and sent me back to step 0, because as soon as i've plugged the stick and the keylogger(VKBDev), i had a LOT of activations just by doing small circles around center(20% range).
At this point i hadn't used/touched/modified the stick since friday when i sent you the screens with updated firmware and the stick working fine.

So i kept pulling the stick around front left right back ..... , after ~30 sec, activations started to fade from ~1 every 2 sec to ~1 every 30 sec. After 2-3 minutes everything was gone and working fine.

Now i remember reading on the forum some user having issues and that "warming up" their stick solved their problem but that doesn't sound right.

I took appart the stick(like for a cam/spring swap) and checked everything i could, i didn't notice anything suspect.

thank you for your help

[fallout9]

How about the spikes in the axes? Gone after updating the firmware?

[Mud]

well i think i explained myself very badly about the axis thing my bad .... english is hard ...

it was more about missing range at some point into a right roll.
for exemple as soon as the force started to ramp up on a quick full deflection right roll, the axis value would oscillate between 50-55k. if i wanted to get the max 65k i had to be very gentle and slow until maximum deflection.

After seing that i took the extension off and on again on the base and the axis problem was gone but still had the ghost activations.

all of this prior to getting back to single spring non extended setup and any firmware/software update.

[fallout9]

Could you post some pictures with the contacts areas on your base, grip and both sides of extension? Try to make the focus on the contacts pads and pins.

[Mud]

Hello,

firstly i apologize i've not responded for ages, got to move with work, that covid situation did not help, so i put aside flightsims for quite some time.

Anyway, i wanted to report back that that my problem is solved. I've been testing for almost a month now and i have no more random button presses nor jitters ....

So the bad guy was the main cable between the main board and the outside board. It was making some kind of loop in the middle of the gimbal(red stroke in the picture attached), i've never bothered with it because it came like that from factory(mine is first gen MKII).
After seeing a video of a newer mkii with that same cable running along the side and being ziptied to the cable linking X and Y board, I reproduced the same setup on mine with a good slack and tada no more random stuff!

[fallout9]

Nice! Thank you for posting the resolve.