Dudikoff

Didn't you find it weird that you're buying a full DCS module of a 4th gen jet for that price? Try contacting the customer service for a refund, but I'm not sure what's the point of this thread TBH?

AFAIK that was a laser cockpit scan that will be used in modelling the cockpit, not an actual render.

Yes, the grip is an improvement over Warthog as it has a better slew control by default and also adds the vertical elevation control for the radar. But, the buttons on the base are a bit of a weird mish-mash, hence why it seems somewhat unfinished to me. E.g. Hornet's AA and AG buttons above the autopilot controls with A-10, F-15 and F-16 markings (which are quite similar to what Warthog has). IMHO, at the very least they should have added 4 more buttons next to those AA and AG buttons to be used with other modules. And a generic rotary encoder like on their panels wouldn't hurt.

I would presume it's a bigger issue for the Orion since being a desktop version, it would be mounted higher than your arm level more often than not and thus your hand will probably be somewhat bent at the wrist when pushing it (amplifying the effect of the issue), while the Taurus will be mounted lower or at your arm level so your hand will be more like resting on top of it. Orion seems like a great deal otherwise given multiple throttle handles and the price, but I'm not really thrilled with the button options on it - doesn't feel like it brings much more compared to Warthog and the end result kind of feels more like a prototype to me than a final iteration. Also, it replicates a lot of controls from the existing WW panels so if you have those already, the chosen control set will feel less than ideal even more so.

But, if you change the angle by using twisted holders, how would you move the throttles past each other independently? It wouldn't work.

You can do that with Target Script Editor. For example, I had something like this programmed on my FC3 Su-27 profile which used the Cougar throttle: SetCustomCurve(&HCougar, THROTTLE, LIST(0,0, 8,0, 90,75, 95,75, 100,100)); KeyAxis(&HCougar, THROTTLE, 0, AXMAP2(LIST(0,1,100), EXEC("bothEnginesStop();"), EXEC("bothEnginesStart();"))); The first line sets the custom curve for idle and afterburner detents and the second one splits the axis in two parts, one between 0 and 1 and 1 and 100. When the throttle moves into the first part, the engines are shut off, when it moves beyond that, they are started.

If you'd only posted this a few days earlier, I would have delayed ordering the Taurus indefinitely, but I've just gotten my FedEx tracking number so.. It remains to be seen how much it will bother me, but I guess the location of the throttle will have to be closer to me than I thought.

Hmm, good catch, wonder how nobody else noticed this yet? The Warthog throttle handles are at least straight on the backside, not canted inwards like the WinWing. So, for WW to be comfortable it should be almost right in front of you rather than beside you. To fix this, they'd have to redesign and remold the handles I guess. Perhaps if enough people complained on their FB page, they would eventually. A plug in fix might be to design some kind of add-on parts which would stick to current handles and straighten the angle at least.

True, though I guess an LHA seems like a simpler affair as its smaller and it has no catapults and arresting gear. But the point wasn't that it can't be done; the point was that having such extras is not standard for modules and if pressuring developers on releasing such extras is warranted given that it's a free extra.

That's a rather narrow-minded way of looking at it which conveniently ignores what generally constitutes a DCS aircraft module. Do other similarly priced DCS modules come with a freebie such as the aircraft carrier? From a somewhat more realistic perspective, one could say they have generously (or perhaps stupidly, given how they get pestered about these) decided to throw in some extras with the module like the A-6E AI and Forestall carrier because the DCS World is lacking some important Tomcat-era assets. If the module price was much more than other modules so that these extras were realistically factored in the price of the module, then I would understand your insistence on these being part of the module that should have been delivered ASAP, but the price was more than fair given two variants of F-14, plus LTS, plus Jester AI included.

I've bought a used Warthog Throttle 4-5 years back (and not in a mint condition) and have had no issues with it. The throttle handles can move a few mm left and right, but it's not noticeable when flying, no problem there. In fact, I find it pretty well made and would only replace it with WinWing Super Taurus because that one is a unique throttle set mimicking the movement available to the real one. Maybe VKB will come with something special, but by the time they finally decided to release that, I will probably have gotten WW already.

When you install Target, it has a subfolder called Resources with the diagrams for Cougar and Warthog showing the button names.

He's not specifically mentioning they were used in combat in ODS, though. The few official sources I've checked mention only A-10s and F-16s on the USAF side and AV-8B on the USMC side (which would be those three dozen laser guided ones fired) as using Mavericks there.

The IR Mavericks mostly went to the A-10s which used them for night strikes, IIRC and I've only seen references of the Air Force using them. A-10s fired like 90% of them, the rest were fired by F-16s, IIRC. Do you have any references to show that the Navy/Marines used their IR variants on their Hornets in ODS? I only saw a mention of the Marines using a few dozen laser ones.

BTW, am I right that the Sim App Pro doesn't really let you edit the key bindings at the moment ("coming soon")? I see there's some "create from game" option, but it says it can't find the bindings in the DCS user folder and I'm not really sure how to get those to appear (it mentions I need to save something in the game).

I can see two black wires on the left side when the handle is all the way down, but I don't notice it TBH.

Here's a potentially useful link showing how different 3080 laptops fare against the desktop one. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Here-are-all-the-slowest-and-fastest-GeForce-RTX-3080-laptops-you-can-buy-right-now.529039.0.html

Interesting. Scalpers?

What's the odd part? The pot is there to move the virtual throttle tension lever in DCS F-18. I guess if one would remove the screw connecting the lever to the pot and thus unhook them, you could fix a desired throttle friction level manually and then use the lever as a free axis for whatever purpose (e.g. nozzles in Harrier).

Agreed, it is somewhat weird given the text, but the biggest issue I've noticed is that the launch bar extend/retract switch is not a three position switch with temporary up and down positions (like e.g. the switch they've used for heading and course adjustments).

NVME drives have much higher sequential read and write values since SATA 3 is capped at 550 MB/s roughly, but these are mostly useful when copying large files only. In loading games, random reads matter and these still didn't reach levels that would saturate SATA3. So, the NVME drives might be slightly faster in loading DCS, but judging from those older game loading tests, that's probably barely measurable, let alone noticeable (I for one didn't notice any difference when moving DCS from SATA to NVME). On the other hand, the NVME prices have gone down significantly so I'm not sure a SATA drive gives you a better deal anymore. Just be sure to get a TLC drive, most of the QLC drives are not there yet.

The laptop 3080 is not in the same ballpark as the desktop cards due to a big difference in power available (e.g. a desktop one has at least a 320w TDP, while the laptop one starts at 80w and has at max 150W). It's somewhat faster than 2080 Super on laptops, but not by much. Having said that, given what the desktop 3080 goes for now on the scalpers market, that $2600 price doesn't sound like a bad deal in comparison. Keep in mind that there are different power variations of the 30X0 laptop cards, so in some cases a laptop with a higher watt 3070 (e.g. 130W) variant can be faster than a lower watt 3080 one (e.g. limited to 80W) and for less money.

Yeah, that's probably the reason. Finally got a set of my own as well so have to see how to mount them best to my current Wheelstand Pro setup.

Perhaps it's due to how the data is encoded and sent which makes it more sensitive to some electrical interference from the PSU or something?

It doesn't matter how new it is if the stories about abysmal availability are true (like, some systems getting knocked out of function after landing on a carrier or MK engines crapping out in flight), which is not the case with their UPGs.