Tuning Center for the Futaba S3003 servo

 this is a photosequence about modifing a Futaba S3003 servo via pot replacement.(trimmerpot with 5kOhms)
With this modification you still should be able to use the servo as it is/was (no exoprotheses to the servobody) except it does more turns!
Other ways of servos modifications & useful infos can be found on this page.
start focusing the Futaba S3003 servo:

Remove the base:

open the gear box:

Remove the circuit board:

Remove stop tap:

f.e. cut it with a knife:

sweet here after should look like this:

cut part of the pole:

like this:

i used one of these util parts of lego technics to replace the pot axis:

stick it into the gear:

cut it down to 4.5-5mm:

cut a slot to enter the pot:

drill 5mm hole into the body:

so that the axis gets thru:

remove pot holding structure f.e. with a pincer
or if you don't have a small broach at hand
with the soldering iron(dirty version):

the result should look something like this:

reassemble the mechanical part:

now the soldering part - solder some thin metal (here male connector) into the pots slot:

cut & rasp it:

so that it fits:

soldered on a circuit board it'll replace the old poti:

like this:

wire the three cables from the new pot onto the circuit bord of the servo.

place it in the servobox:

reassemble the servo (this is a little bit tricky task though to get it all back in),
sorry no images here - blame it on my memory stick of 64mb
test it & let me know what could be improved in this document!
-> sesselastronaut(a)gmail(punto)com
here's a python script to control servos with the parallax servo controller(psc) board
test_psc.py
written by Will Smith slightly modified by myself to get values from standard in
>>> python test_psc.py (0,5,250) ; channel, rate, position