Another Winter Project Complete (I hope)
You may recall that I added joystick steering to my pondtoon last summer. The joystick is a commercial version with a stiff return spring. This stiff spring created a problem of overshooting the start point of the pwm circuit that drives the steering ram. This overshoot caused the boat to respond to quickly which caused over steering. I got used to the steering, but others had problems with the over steer, especially the first time drivers.
To compensate for the overshoot, I modified the pwm start position from 10* to 20*. This works perfect, but doing this modification, caused the pwm rate to lag. I fixed this by adding a miniature switch in the handle of the shifter that engages when the button on the shift knob is depressed. Ah! Turbo boost steering.
The new shift knob is a generic Volvo shift handle with the reverse button in the center that I purchased from Ebay. If I push the button, the pwm rate shifts by 25-30 percent, which compensates for the lost shift from the detente position being moved.
Original joy stick.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps7ecb6422.jpg
New joy stick with shift.
http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...psd9a5069d.jpg