Tshark

The group I fly with have been trying to get ground ordinance on target with human WSOs for months without success. It does not matter the type of ordinance or bombing method. If we use Jester then the bombs work as expected, no matter the ordinance or bombing method. We have even tried to let Jester make the WSO settings, then jump into the back seat to see what he did. Unfortunately, the settings zero themselves out as soon as you occupy the rear seat. The only thing we can figure is that there is such a de-sync between the human players that ground pounding is next to useless. We are now avoiding flying the F-4E, which is really a shame. Is ANYBODY having success bombing with human WSOs?

The above repair procedure did not entirely repair my pad. It did stop all motors from coming on full power along with a bright white LED. Now only four motors and the LED are working correctly. It appears the ATMEL chip is still malfunctioning, but at least there is partial usability restored. Next Level Racing support did reach back out to me and we were able to come to a satisfactory replacement solution. Hopefully, NLR will be able to fix this long standing issue or offer a standardized repair solution.

I would wait for it to fail. Might as well get as much mileage out of the sub-standard parts. The US could use better consumer laws (among other things)!

It is sad. When the product works it is great. Replacing the circuit board is a simple matter of removing four screws and three electrical connectors. NLR should have replacement boards available for purchase instead of leaving customers hanging!

I know this is an old thread, but the Next Level Racing HF8 is a clone of the Realteus Forcefeel and still has the same problems. Unfortunately, NLR provides NO repair options outside of warranty. The original post in this thread fixed my problem of all motors coming on at full vibrate anytime power was applied to the pad. The de-soldering technique linked above has a couple problems. One is that many do not have a heat gun. Two is that you must figure out a way to shield surrounding components from the heat. I came up with a better way. 1) Use a solder wick to remove as much solder from the chip pads on both sides. 2)Take a nail and bend it into a "U" shape (I used needle nose pliers) so that it sits around the chip and the legs of the "U" covers all the solder pads of the chip. #Note: make sure the "U" sits flat, beat it with a hammer or use a vise to flatten it. 3)Apply flux to the pads and place the nail heat applicator over the chip/pads. 4)Place the soldering iron tip on the nail heat applicator to heat it up and melt the solder. 5)As the solder melts, take a toothpick and slide the chip off the pads while heat is still being applied. After that, clean-up flux and solder the new chip as described in the original post. I bought three replacement chips online and total cost with shipping/tax was under $12. Repair time was about one hour. Attached are a couple pictures of the nail heat applicator. Here is a YouTube link showing the chip desoldering with the nail heat applicator: Hope this helps

I have gone over the cabling and motor wiring. All motors on full power, along with a solid white LED, and no response from the controller dial indicate a circuit board failure. The circuit board is easy enough to replace (four screws and three electrical connectors), but NLR will not sell the circuit board or offer repair options.

BEWARE!! Next Level Racing provides NO support if the HF8 malfunctions outside of warranty. After 15 months, all the motors in my HF8 suddenly turn on at full force anytime power is applied to the seat pad. NLR customer support response was that it appears to be a hardware issue (several other customers have the same problem), but it is out of warranty and they do not sell any replacement parts or offer any repair suggestions. If your HF8 breaks (it is a weak design as other customers have discovered) outside of warranty, NLR expects you to throw out a $200 piece of sim equipment. Other sim hardware companies do not drop their customers like this!

For us it was easy to overcome, because the pilot is using springless cyclic and does not need trim hold. It is a problem for the CP/G if the pilot needs to use trim hold. I think the force feedback effects should only be applied to flight controls. In this case it is being applied to thumb stick axis on the grip (which I have mapped to the joystick X and Y axis). I originally had the FFB stick mapped to flight controls, but only with a switch modifier engaged. There is the reason the real Apache has LHG and RHG separate from flight controls. Even if the RHG is mapped to a thumbstick on the FFB grip, it is going to make it more difficult for the CP/G when the stick moves around. As FFB controllers become more mainstream this is going to be a problem. DCS needs to address this.

Found an interesting feedback effect in DCS, when flying in the Apache as a CP/G with a human pilot. Every time the human pilot input a trim hold, it moved my FFBeast. This of course causes my TADS to slew accordingly. The FFBeast is mapped as only as the RHG in the CP/G seat. My pilot friend is not using FFB. This does not occur with George acting as pilot.

Since the new patch this week the pilot can no longer see what his human WSO see's on radar. You can see the cursor move, but top readouts do not work and there are no radar returns. If the human WSO leaves the aircraft, Jester takes over and the radar works. As soon as the human WSO rejoins, the radar again only displays the grid and radar cursor. This currently makes the F-4 unplayable as a two player aircraft.

Since the new patch this week the pilot can no longer see what his human WSO see's on radar. You can see the cursor move, but top readouts do not work and there are no radar returns. If the human WSO leaves the aircraft, Jester takes over and the radar works. As soon as the human WSO rejoins, the radar again only displays the grid and radar cursor. This currently makes the F-4 unplayable as a two player aircraft.

This track is the same mission from the client side. Phantom Menace-20241026-170921.trk

Still run into this issue occasionally. We have both disabled all mods and each done a slow repair. Also we get DCS crashes every once in a while. Never had either of these problems with the Apache, Kiowa, or Mossie.

Thanks for the replies. Yeah, I am thinking about converting the Crosswinds.

This is my solution for using a floor mounted center joystick with a computer that is not dedicated to flight simming. Hope you find this useful.

Had a similar problem with the Mossie. I looked into my axis commands and noticed that a twist stick axis on my joystick had been mapped into thrust controls in addition to my throttle axis. I have always deleted the twist axis in DCS and have it physically locked by set screw. Going over all my modules I found the axis mapping has been changed on most of them. Most of these changes had added axis mapping for the other half of my split throttle. So one side of the throttle retained slider mapping, but the other side was the default center mapping. This must have occurred after recent patches. Might want to check ALL your axis mappings for your modules.

I appreciate HB's addition of a 2nd stage trigger binding, but it would be helpful to tell customers that their original trigger binding is erased and needs to be rebound. Me and a buddy found that out the hard way with a bogey in our sights.

My friend and I have had this happen three times so far on a couple different cold start missions. After everything has been aligned, the WSO is left at the parked location upon taxi. The cockpit looks the same, he can still work controls (no effect on the taxiing F-4), and he can hear audio of the taxiing/taking off F-4. We have tried stopping the F-4, having the WSO player exit to the multiplayer role screen, and join again with no luck. To fix we have to both exit the mission and start over. We routinely fly co-op Apache, Kiowa, and Mossie missions with no such problems. Here is the track file from last night. Iraqi Scud Strike Phantom-20240726-173047.trk

You were right. I just wasn't allowing enough time. Refuel is much slower than I am used to. Thanks for the help.

Since the patch changing engine spool up, it seems I cannot get "FULL" indicator lights on the external tanks when AAR. I stay hooked up to the tanker after internal fuel gauge reads full, but nothing seems to be happening. If I do a manual disconnect from the tanker then I get radio message from tanker that refueling is complete. I have tried with the external tanks selected and off, with no difference. Anybody else having the same issue?

If you turn off Quadviews then the shaking goes away. Of course you take the performance hit as well.

Thanks again for making DCS VR such a pleasure. Your kneeboards NEVER disappoint!

Windows allows me to remove the stock kneeboards, but they are reinstalled upon a DCS repair and probably after every DCS update (will find out tomorrow).

I use Vaicom kneeboard function and it also allows you to place tabs on the pages you want. Just a pain to do it every time you get a new aircraft.

Good point. Wish HB (or any DCS developer) would not mandate THEIR kneeboards. Put them out as a "kneeboard pack" that can be kept available in "saved games".