6 July, 2020
A MINIMALISTIC PULT FOR MY DS-16
Completed project
After many years of faithful service, it became time to replace my Multiplex MC4000. At that time Multiplex did not have anything to offer that I liked, so with a somewhat heavy heart I decided to switch to Jeti.
Although I am a pult flyer, I chose the handheld model (DS-16). The pult (DC-16) version just felt too bulky. But I did want to use it as a pult transmitter of course. At that time there were not that much pults on the market yet, and being my critical self I thought I could do better anyway. So I set about to build something around the transmitter that would be as small as possible but still be comfortable (or is it comfortable because it is small?).
The final result is a small pult that sits snugly around 3 sides of the transmitter. The handrests have been angled down to fit with the angle of my hands and to align the finger position with the top of the sticks (avoiding the need for longer sticks). Additionally it keeps the two slider controls on the sides and the switches at the front reachable.
Main ingredients are 2 layers of 3mm liteply for top and bottom panels and 2 layers of 1.6mm multiplex for the connecting pieces. The reason for the 2 layers is that I like to make my own laminated wood because I find that this results in flatter plates than what is commercially available. I use epoxy for the bonding and vacuum for pressing or weights if the panel is small.
The parts got 2 coats of wood sealer, sanding with 220 grit after each coat, and were then painted with matt clear varnish from a spraycan. With hindsight, satin might have been a better choice. To improve the smoothness of the wood surface I tried out a trick I had heard about many moons ago : rub the surface with fine steelwool. This removes small particles without creating scratches as would happen with sanding paper.
For the handrests I laminated a couple of layers of a bio fabric material, mainly for looks. I included a layer of peel ply on one side that was removed again after cure. This provides a slightly rough surface that I find more agreeable. The original handrests were laminated with carbon fabric, but these were exchanged soon for the bio fabric ones because the carbon got uncomfortably warm on sunny days.
The neckstrap/harness attachments are available from Jeti (http://www.jetimodel.com/de/katalog/Sender/Sender-Zubehor/@produkt/Sender-Aufhangebugel/). The bolts go through the attachments and the pult into existing holes in the transmitter. Additionally, the carrying handle is clamped to the pult with a small wooden bracket. This results in a secure connection between pult and transmitter. The carrying handle remains functional.
Total mass of the pult ended up at 214gram, 78gram of this on account of the metal harness attachments.
