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Everything posted by Ragtop
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Haha, attitude is correct. EAC is there to keep the aircraft stable in flight, aswell as automatically coordinating turns with the rudder. It is also responsible for the GAU-8 cannons PAC (Precision Attitude Control) which stabilises the plane on it's current axis during a gun run.
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This is an awesome idea, when I'm not flying, my second display is never used, so something like this would be very helpful!
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It's a plane deserving of it's new position! Saw it flying at Eastbourne earlier in the year, and it's a great aircraft! It'll be very interesting to see how it fares in combat. Chances of it coming to DCS are unlikely, we've already got a mud mover!
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How To - Assigning toggle switches to DCS using Helios.
Ragtop replied to Ragtop's topic in Home Cockpits
Haha, I just got my second board, hopefully that will get me through the majority of the panels I need! AHCP was more hungry than I expected it to be, lots of double throw switches! I haven't tried, but theoretically you should just be able to assign multiple commands to the single switch in Helios, as though you were doing it for different switches, just with the same switch! Great idea though. -
How To - Assigning toggle switches to DCS using Helios.
Ragtop replied to Ragtop's topic in Home Cockpits
Your suggestion turned out to be the solution anyway, but IMO the benefit of discussing these things in PM isn't for privacy, but to cut out the back and forth in-between the initial question and the final answer. Having that discussion in a public forum just means more reading with no solution for future readers. When a solution is found, is when it should be made public. -
How To - Assigning toggle switches to DCS using Helios.
Ragtop replied to Ragtop's topic in Home Cockpits
Haha, because her husband can finally come to bed? My girlfriend is usually just relieved that I'm not going to be up until 5am swearing at the screen :P -
Very interesting! It's a lot wider than I'd have thought without any consoles in it.
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Great day today! MFD's! Hey all, hope you've all had a great Christmas. Much to my surprise, my wonderful Girlfriend and parents bought me the TM Cougar MFD's, without me even asking for them! After a couple of days to recover from all the food and driving to family homes, of course I had to set to work. First up, I had to pull out the front panel, remove the AHCP, take out the display and do some drawing, which made me feel like I was stepping back further than I was progressing! Sometimes you really have to make a mess to go forwards. Next I made some very careful cuts to house the MFD's. The reason I did this was to get the best screen estate possible. If I were to simply put them inside the borders of the wood, I would be missing out on about 16mm of display around the outer edges, which on a 19" just isn't an option. I've had to scale the gauges down enough already, any more and it'd just be too hard to read them. Funnily enough this method meant that I didn't actually need to do anything at all to mount the MFD's, the area they sit in is actually tight enough that they hold perfectly tight with zero screwing/taping! I had to make a slight modification to the top right corner of the AHCP to allow the left MFD to sit in place, but its barely noticeable in use, and once it's all painted black I don't think you'd be able to tell at all. Screwing around with the Monitor Config file was something I really wasn't looking forward to, but it only ended up taking about an hour to get just right. For peoples reference, on a 1440x900 19", the MFD output should be about 380-390px square. Positioning of course is subjective. I recently updated DCS so I need to get my other viewports sorted out again for the Clock, UHF repeater, RWR and CMSC, if anyone has the necessary files for it, that'd be great. So, all in all, a successful afternoon! As always, here are some photos.
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How To - Assigning toggle switches to DCS using Helios.
Ragtop replied to Ragtop's topic in Home Cockpits
Replied to your PM, with a similar suggestion to Agrasyuk, and a couple of side notes. -
Haha! My girlfriend is the one who finally kicked me into gear and helped me get started on my pit build! TM MFD's for christmas too! :P
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You mentioned that you don't really understand the concept of the HOTAS system. This is something very fundamental to the A-10, and almost every other modern combat aircraft. But I'll do my best to give a quick explanation in order to get you off the ground with it. HOTAS stands for Hands On Throttle And Stick, which is more than just an object in the cockpit, but infact an entire system of thought for the pilot. By this I mean that the HOTAS is the key to almost all of the avionics and weapon systems in the A-10. The idea behind this is that the pilot can access all of the vital systems and controls without ever moving their hands off of the Stick and throttle. Most pilots will refer to the stick and throttle as the HOTAS because of this. Of course this has many benefits, not limited to the ability to utilise the switches under heavy G loading, and very quick control without having to move around the cockpit. The HOTAS features a large range of switches and buttons, all of which are physically different, so the pilot can differentiate between them purely by feel, without having to look at it. Of course there isn't nearly enough space on the HOTAS to put an individual switch for every system. As such, a lot of switches will be utilised by multiple systems, dictated by what the SOI (Sensor of Interest) is. For instance, if you have the TGP set as your SOI, the Slew hat on the Throttle will move the TGP head around, but if you have the TAD set as your SOI, it will move the cursor around, and so on! Therefore, unlike in other sims like LockOn/FC1-2, which have keystrokes for every single system feature in the cockpit, DCS gives you the option to assign the HOTAS buttons. For further information I recommend you run the HOTAS fundamentals mission built into the Training section of DCS.
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I'm interested. Based in Maidstone, so I'm an hours train ride from Victoria station. I'm away for Christmas but if you shoot me a PM with the specifics I'll be happy to go through some details in the next couple of days. Lewis.
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DCS A-10C and Thrustmaster Hotas Wharthog Controls
Ragtop replied to perryfincher's topic in PC Hardware and Related Software
I have a very slight curve to grant me better precision when I'm doing things like landing/refuelling. There's also a tiny dead zone just to account for when I'm shuffling around with the stick is centred. Configuration will be automatic, so there is no need to run the Target app, but it won't simply wipe everything as soon as you launch it as July865 seems to be suggesting. As he says, by default the Trim hat will be set to camera POV, so if you use a TIR you will want to change that back to the trimmers. I have assigned the Mic switch UP to be my Teamspeak/Ventrilo Push to Talk button for multiplayer. The push in feature of the Slew nipple on the back of the Throttle I have set for my Center Track IR button. (Both of these commands are set up directly in their respective applications.) A lot of people (Including me) also like to set up the non assigned Pinky paddle on the stick to act as a shift switch, allowing you to double up any other command on the HOTAS. I have done this so I can use the Landing Gear Horn Silence button as the Gear Up/Down Toggle when the paddle is also held down. The CMS thumb hat on the Stick, when pushed vertically in, with the paddle pulled, will turn on my NV Goggles, and pushing the CMS has Forward/Aft when holding the paddle will increase or decrease the gain. Of course you can assign whatever you deem useful! Finally I set the unassigned throttle slider (Which in the real HOTAS is the throttle friction) to my zoom view. Very useful when you're on a gun run/ID'ing targets/refuelling! -
What to consider with TM HOTAS Warthog?
Ragtop replied to 33 309th_Hedgehog's topic in PC Hardware and Related Software
Consider you will have a light wallet and spend too much time flying! But seriously. I think you're referring to the EAC switch in the sim. That was not a throttle problem, but a sim programming problem - Nonetheless, resolved now. Update your firmware when you get it, but there are no problems at all. -
Did you ever get a Christmas present on Christmas Eve? Come back tomorrow :P
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I'm still here! Happy holidays to everyone still looking at my thread, hope you're all having a good end to the year. :xmas: Christmas at work has meant the pit has taken a back seat unfortunately! But I'm still kicking away with it slowly. Small update for Christmas, managed to get an afternoon to put the AHCP together finally. Bought a second Leo Bodnar BU0836X to wire it in with. Next up is the fuel panel, but that's not going to get tackled until January at best! So with the current delays in mind, I thought I'd throw up some pictures of the pit in it's entirety at present. Paint is definitely in order, but I'll be damned if I can find some MDF primer in the UK that doesn't require me to sell my soul first! Enjoy!
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Keeping TM Warthog plugged in?
Ragtop replied to Rocky49's topic in PC Hardware and Related Software
Got mine a couple of days after release. Updated the firmware when it became available, and it's never unplugged except when I've been building my pit. No problems whatsoever. -
Just picked up a TM Warthog HOTAS
Ragtop replied to JCook's topic in PC Hardware and Related Software
Also download and run the firmware updater for both parts, after that, hit the skies! -
Freefall I have exactly what you are describing with my Combat pedals.
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You need to save the audio files into a location (I'd reccomend with the install location somewhere, then in it's own folder for each mission, so you don't get files from different missions confused.) Then in the triggers part of the ME you need to set something like "When enter trigger area play sound/audio file" Then just set the file location as the variable.
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I think the previous posters have pretty much cleared this up, but my own two cents would be regarding the actual visual representation of turbulence. I don't know if you have been/frequently fly in a single seat/small aircraft where you can see through the front window, but if you do get the chance, try actually looking for a visual indication of turbulence, apart from wing flex. You will notice then, that the effect of turbulence is almost entirely the feel, not the sight. Unless you can build a motion platform, then you'll never get a truly accurate simulation of turbulence for this exact reason. If you made camera jiggle, it wouldn't feel real, because that's not what turbulence is like. As said before, what you're really experiencing is a change in equilibrium, the feeling of balance in your inner ear. This is how the body can feel when it is being rolled and rotated. As well as inner ear balance however, a huge part of turbulence is the feeling in your chest and stomach, as you encounter very short fluctuations of ±1 vertical G, as the aircraft gains sudden altitude and then drops again. EDIT: Another thing that I think cold make a huge difference to an approximated simulation of turbulence would be the sound. Although I've obviously never flown in an A-10 so I have no idea how well they shield wind noise, something that could greatly enhance visual shaking would be to add the sound of wind beating against the aircraft. If you've ever driven over a windy bridge or something you'll know what I mean, the way that wind very quickly picks up and roars, blusters across the body panels, then quiets back down again, whistling all the time, rather than a constant smooth wind noise. When combined with timed visual shakes for the heavy sounds, IMO it would be a very effective and immersive system.
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Seat covers look great! Is that a very large RC heli I spy?
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Congratulations to The VRA. After last nights display, I can say you are truly deserving of it. My girlfriend thinks I'm a total geek for watching VFAT, but last night she watched the entire display with me, and said it was as enthralling as the real thing! Great work guys, keep doing what you're doing!
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Wasserfall, your pit is absolutely beautiful! Such perfect construction of everything.
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If you keep it on your headphones permanently you can just cable tie the wires together and it'll be the same. Personally I use the Hat Clip now, I got the Track Clip Pro, but I've been through two, and personally, I've seen no discernible difference in tracking quality.