Jump to content

Thermal

Members
  • Posts

    256
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Thermal

  1. Thermal

    DCS size !

    My install is 503Gb - all the maps, about half the aircraft, maybe 10% of the available Campaigns. Syria is 72Gb Falklands 86Gb Sinai 59Gb Persian Gulf is 34Gb Nevada 36Gb
  2. I run zero deadzone on the X and Y axis. And I run lighter springs (and little in the way of damper action). Calibrate the stick in the VKB software and you should be able to reduce that DCS deadzone way way down.
  3. I have the non-plus version, and it does the same as described in the thread.. I dont think there will be any real difference between the two. The twist mechanism is all close to the centre pivot. Which grip you put on the collective is going to make a much bigger difference.
  4. That looks like a nice easy solution Toutmal. Just paint it black and someone might actually want to steal it! The sticktion/collective free-fall trade off is a pain - and there is additional pain because if you adjust for a "minimum sticktion" setup, then you need to keep adjust the clamping force due to wear. A gas strut might work, but you'd need to be pretty precise to not make things worse - and all a dampner is doing is adding additional friction to the system - your trading one friction for another.
  5. What Bailey said. There are three configuration knobs you can set in the StreamDeck - the button action and the image state and the text change. You want a "Momentary Button with Lamp" on your Stream Deck to configure , go to ID lookup, search for "Master Caution", select it and then hit "Image state change". That populates the values for you, in this case the Image State Change fields with be updated with the DCS ID. As Bailey said, you can see those in the github repo above.
  6. I have a TR8. For racing its simply excellent. Assemble in an hour all up, start driving. Its comfortable, and the adjustments are all about right. For flight sims - the TR8 flight-sim mounts didnt work for me. Note that I had a Fanatac wheel and race pedals mounted on the pedal plate. I attempted to go for a "seat forward = drive", "seat-back = fly" strategy. I dropped in rudder pedals in front of the main wheel plate. I made my own side mounts using the original mount holes. Everything worked. It was fairly serviceable, if a little hard to get in and out of with the RH side stick. There is 500 +/- 1 mm inside edge to inside edge of the main tube work on the TR8. The actual pedal plate is about 390mm wide. I decided to "upgrade" to the TR160 using 40160 aluminum profile. I was specifically after the extra height it gives you above the floor, I now have my rudder pedals sitting half under the top race pedals plate. "Legs up = drive", "Legs down = fly". Upside is everything is adjustable. Downside is everything is adjustable. It probably took about 20 hours to build via trial and adjustment to get it "right", although that was both for driving and flying. I made custom mounts so the side-stick is mounted to the seat. If your just going to fly in it, a TR80 might be a better option. I wouldnt hesitate to buy from Trakracer, they have been great. For your specific concerns: Side-mounts, might work for you if you are pure-flight and have the rudder pedals on the pedal plate. TR8 - centerstick would be a pain. It would make it hard to get in and out of the rig. Would not recommend. Yoke mount... yep might be a pain. The philosophy of the TR8 is you adjust the seat/pedals around the wheel (*) Height wise and of their rigs will fit. If your worried about the seat size, get the rally seat. The seats work for anyone up to at least 6'4. That being said, I have a TR8 in great condition with a full Fanatec CSLE setup for sale (*) I am not sure the "wheel" position is a great match for a yoke position. I think a yoke should be a bit lower.
  7. I have got the FA-18 DDI with the screen. I got this from the Aliexpess vendor linked below. I also have the F-16 MFD version without the screen (different vendor, not linked). Both of them obviously come from the same factory. They are very similar in feel and function. Note that all the pictures on aliexpress are renders, not photos of actual units. For both: The front of the surrounds - "bezels" are made of some cheap cast metal I think. Either that or a high quality, very rigid plastic with a really thick surface covering. It does feel pretty solid. The buttons are kinda rubberised, they have a good tactile feel, and they have a discernible and satisfying click and positive action. Gotta say, the units feel expensive. I have a pair of Cougar MFD's, and they feel cheap, and there is no button feel or click. The buttons do rotate individually a little in the bezel, so particularly with the LED backlight they can look a little unaligned, they rotate a tad more than the Cougar buttons. That might bother some people You can not dim the backlight, and its pretty damn bright. Both devices appear as a WONWAR joystick/HID device, and all the buttons work just fine. The two encoders on the DDI work well in-game. They dont appear to work when you bring up the windows joy.cpl util and check the buttons. I think that is because the encoder on-off signals are a bit too fast. As I said, works fine in game. The DDI three position day/night switch works, but does not align exactly with the markings. For a three position switch thats ok. Both use micro USB connections. FA-18 DDI: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002817844172.html When I placed the order (with this vendor) the store immediately contacted me and said it would take an additional 10 day to ship. Then then asked for another 24 hour extension, and then they shipped. Specifically the FA-18C DDI is approx 125mm square inside (its bigger than a TM Cougar at ~105mm). There is 12V power, the micro usb and full size HDMI. Monitor controls are on the rear sandwiched in the crook of the L that the display and base makes. Hard to reach from the font, but then you can see them normally either. The mounting solution per the aliexpress pictures isnt great. Its just stiff enough that I have mounted it using the 4x 3mm bolts from underneath. The "frame" is a bent ~2mm thick metal plate that the monitor and bezel is mounted too. It will sit on a desk ok, although I get the impression that it might tip a bit when actuating the top buttons. The monitor is 1024x768, and the middle 768x768 is visible. Its a low quality panel, I cannot get it as bright as my main display. Viewing a FLIR display through it, its not as good as the main display, lacking contrast mainly, but its bigger apparent picture than a Hornet DDI on my 34in screen, and the fixed screen does not wiggle around with my head tracking when I look at it. Having the surrounding buttons accompany the DDI picture - thats really nice. You can apparently turn off the backlight if you take it apart and the could be a switch inside? The store wasnt a 100% sure. "Later version" might have dimming. Overall the DDI is great to use, way easier and faster than using the on-screen mouse to click buttons in the cockpit. I do wish it had a slightly better LCD panel underneath it, and a VESA mount on the back. The DDI was good enough that I thought I would grab the non-screen version and mount it on my 13in secondary display (to replace my TM Cougar). Looking at the pictures before I bought it, I was expecting to pull it apart, carve out the DDI hole, maybe re-route some cables and then find a way to mount it on, or over, my screen. I was also going to find the backlight circuit and tell it to calm the hell down, before making the same mod on the first bezel. NOT DDI: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002817831123.html The nameless Aliexpress vendor sent me the F-16 version, not the FA-18C version. I chose this vendor because the shipping was cheaper, which is ironic because they were almost two weeks late - shipping after the promised arrival date. The link above for the F-16 MFD is from the store I got the FA-18C from (with no problems). I disputed this transaction with Aliexpress, the store/vendor asserted that if the entire store page says "FA-18C" including the title, and is plastered with pictures of only a Hornet DDI, but if you click on the specifications tab and in small print the part number is "F-16 MFD" its ok to send the F-16 version. I got a full refund I have bought alot of things from Aliexpress, and so far, for me, this was my first real problem. On par with my Amazon experience. The F-16 MFD is *exactly* the same dimensions as a TM Cougar MFD, and it does not have anything apart from the "bump" aka usb connection housing obscuring where the screen should go. You can see the bump on the back as per the pictures. Its attached internally by a 4" ribbon cable and only two screws externally, so its easy enough to re-route if you want and mount it on a screen. If you get the "with screen" version then the smaller internal size means you get an effective 600x600 resolution.
  8. Is DCS-Interface (DCS-ExportScript) setup correctly in you Saved Games\DCS\Scripts directory? Setup in the Export.lua?
  9. Check the DCS.log (Saved Games/DCS/Logs) - it should show you the error it is bombing out on (which means its not selectable in-game).
  10. There are multiple ways ED could have gone about this, for instance in this OB they could have printed warnings yet still let the IC pass, then in the next OB fail the IC check. Instead ED make a sweeping, arbitrary change, impact many users, and dont even list the change in the patch notes.
  11. Yes you can copy over the install directory to another drive, but nearly all the DCS user/config files are stored in your Save Games folder inside your home directory. These dont need copying anywhere.
  12. Rhino - I am not sure what isnt working for you with the Hornet A/G and A/A mode buttons. But here is my settings: AG: DCS Command: Button-ID =3002, Device ID = 23, Send Value = 1, Release Value = 0 Image State: DCS-ID = 48, Show 2nd State = > 0 AA: DCS Command: Button-ID =3001, Device ID = 23, Send Value = 1, Release Value = 0 Image State: DCS-ID = 47, Show 2nd State = > 0 With these settings - single press will switch a mode on, second press will turn it off. Pressing the other mode button will switch to that mode. Am I missing something?
  13. This is probably better covered in the Streamdeck-DCS-Interface thread. Certainly you should read that thread for some further information. Also DCS-BIOS is not required for this to work. You need DCS-Exporter - https://github.com/s-d-a/DCS-ExportScripts And you need the StreamDeck plugin installed in your Streamdeck software.
  14. Have a look at these guys: https://au.element14.com/c/switches-relays/switches/joystick-switches/hall-effect-joystick-switches Typically ground, 5v and X and Y - they need 5V to work the hall sensors.
  15. I've tested TIR4 vs TIR5 back to back. There is not a huge difference. TIR5 is better, its a bit smoother and I'd say "refined". Its not night and day difference. Given the current price of TIR5, its not really worth the straight upgrade cost. TIR5 has higher framerate, resolution and field of view. So some of those things might gain you more if your setup isnt quite right already. Higher resolution means you could have the head unit further away and get the same performance. Or if you find your FOV of the camera is limiting today, then the TIR5 might be worthwhile.
  16. Its all conjecture, but there is a new TECS placeholder on the AU VKB site. And the AU Store emailed out, today, saying they hope for information on TECS "soon". Also today, the AU site added additional pieces to the store - some spare parts and additional base/grip options. I doubt they would add a TECS placeholder page, unless something was close. Again, just conjecture.
  17. Firstly - I have only used the 30deg cam as yet. Its the default one. I feel like with the Alpha grip, its going to be uncomfortable with the extra throw. The default zero collective position is +15 degrees from horizontal. I have increased that to about +25, which puts the Alpha grip about 5deg nose down. Max collective is now 55deg from horizontal. So at this point its already moving back more than its moving up at top of travel (just). I spent only about 30 minutes trying to tweak the tension bolts. Although I was not trying to find the perfect feel, I was trying to find out if perhaps the settings out of the box were perhaps so far out that they impacted the performance. In the end I didnt make any improvements, and I think there was none to be found. I am thinking I am about 90% where I want to be right now, and will tweak with experience. I coped some flack on reddit for daring mention ARMA. I have also done some flying in the gazelle, and with default curves all round, found the collective control in ARMA far more sensitive. So in comparison the gazelle was, subjectively, just easier to control. The default ARMA setup had a fairly small collective throw in the "usable hovering range", whereas the gazelle seemed to have a larger throw. Now in ARMA I can simply apply a curve to the axis and improve the situation (and will). You could also start using curves to expand the "middle operating range of the collective" and shrink the idle and max zones to get better effective control. I think my point still stands, really fine control is hard. And tweaking in software can make the experience better, but there the physical issue remains. Some people will probably not notice it, and its noticably better than the base Thrustmaster pedals I have. Its important to note that I am not saying the collective is bad. Its "good" yes, but certainly not "great".
  18. The twist collective was delayed. Shipping mid-July. https://www.facebook.com/VIRPILControls/posts/4752777208171434
  19. dang, the above post ate all my text I spent some time today exploring the tension/clutch mechanism and trying varying settings - it didnt seem to make any difference between tightening one bolt vs two. Its pretty easy to get enough tension to get the collective to hold in position at the top stop, but have it gently sink when its half way down. The first half of the first graph above shows the Collective "falling" from stationary at about 50% down to the bottom stop. It took like 12 seconds. It was beautiful to watch. Its smooooooooth. The second half if the first graph shows me trying to move the Collective around the 50% line. In terms of my hand-movement its: Push-nothing... push-nothing... push MOVE STOP. Pull-nothing... pull-nothing... pull MOVE STOP. You can see the flat spots on the tops of the curves. This reflects the feeling you get. Fine adjustments are difficult and require concentration. I also found that the more tension you put in the system the greater this tendency. In comparison, the second graph shows my flogged out 10yo Warthog throttle. Both the throttle axes track really well together, and you can seen its smoother and you have finer control, with less concentration. its just easier to make the throttle do what you want. You can gently nudge the throttle and progressively move it. And these "laboratory" examples are borne out when flying - its just a bit harder with the collective to get it to do fine adjustments. Coarse adjustments are fine. So I find the precision of the Collective to be just "ok". Its not "great" like my VKB Gunfighter. Its not even as good as my Warthog throttle. But its not terrible. It might well be the best collective on the market, I dont know. I am just comparing it to what I have. I certainly acknowledge that there are some very significant engineering challenges to be overcome with the collective and the large lever arm. So I feel like, for the money, I was expecting a 300AUD single axis purpose built device to be a bit "more". Or at least "better than my throttle".
  20. I did get mine on Friday. I just put up a "review" on reddit (started as a quick impression, but then I dug into it a bit deeper based on my findings): https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/odinhc/virpil_collective_and_lh_alpha_impressions/ One other guy posted some impressions on reddit/simhq: https://www.reddit.com/r/hotas/comments/obyttd/virpil_collective_sharka50_grip_chair_mount/
  21. Mine has landed and just cleared customs by the looks. Still saying 8th July, but I'd expect hoping this Friday.
  22. No-one has their collective yet? Mine has gone the long way round - EU then the US and is now sitting in Hololulu on its way to AU.
  23. I placed the order on June 1. From that date till today both items were on back order. My guess would be that I am not alone in ordering that collective/grip combination, and that any LH Alpha stock that has been available this month has been allocated to the one-off surge in new orders based on the collective. I just hope the pitch angle of the Alpha grip doesnt require to much stuffing around to make it comfortable.
×
×
  • Create New...