PoleCat

Worth every penny, 5 times. Out

Just as Boberro states I think both of these keystrokes are set like this because of the F-15. In TWS mode if you use the lock button twice in a row on the same bugged target your radar mode will switch to LRS and lock the target in STT mode and the bandit will be warned when you lock. So the unlock key is needed instead if you decide to choose another target in TWS. Maybe? Out

Happy Birthday Grandsurf! Out

Below the Sort list window is the "Activation Phrase" window. Here is the phrase which you need to speak in your mic to trigger the function. So.....In the sort list we now have "Master Arm" By default the Activation phrase should be the same "Master Arm". So when you speak the words "Master Arm" into your mic the keystrokes Alt w will be sent and the function should happen. It is important to note that you can also edit the activation phrase at any time as well using the buttons below the window. I use Middle mouse as Push to talk for VAC and program that to my joystick. Hope this is helpful to you. Out

Thanks very much! Out

Beautiful! Out

Could you put the sheet in some format that most can read please? An open office .ods file is not really the norm. Perhaps a word doc or .rtf maybe more appropriate as the jpg looks kind of blurry printed. Thanks for the effort. Out

Excellent stuff. Can't wait. Out

Nicely detailed write up Grimes. A lot of perspective from an all around stand point. Not that I know/fly this sim as well as many other outstanding V-pilots that post in these threads but to me and IMO it is exactly those things that are hard to learn and require at least some repetition that make me love Black Shark so much. The sense of accomplishment achieved from having learned something is directly proportional to the difficulty in having persevered to do so. Out

Good work guys. Stellar stuff! Thanks. Out

The answer to this question changes every few days usually. I am currently using the 185.68 betas...very stable performance on multiple systems in multiple flavors of XP and Vista x86 and x64. Will give them a go on the latest Win 7 builds shortly. Nice drivers so far. If you want beta releases you can get them at www.guru3d.com as well as a number of other sites like it. If you want to use any new driver set on your Geforce equipped laptop/desktop (even for a Geforce card that is unsupported in a particular build) head over to www.laptopvideo2go.com at this site you can get the latest driver sets and also a seperate pre-modded inf file that gives you support for almost all Geforce cards in the line for most any release. Here you may also find the DOX drivers these are customized and tweaked for performance. Out

Nice work man! Thank you. Out

SoftTH for me. And jeeze don't let 531 "Franken potato head" Ghost start pimping the CH stuff here.;). Damn him and his custom designed suncom split throttle deally too......One of a kind Unlike the long running debate between us about the two top HOTAS systems whos names "shall not be mentioned" here, maybe Ghost and I can agree that it is clear that the touchbuddy software and TS technology trumped the Ergo or MFP in terms of ease of use and value for the dollar.:D Out

Right now I am using Viewsonic 28" LCD center with 2 x 22" Samsung LCDs left and right. Black Shark resolution is 5040x1050 with SoftTH. Plus a 17" LCD with touchscreen overlay, HOTAS Cougar NXT, TIR4, Simped Vario Pro rudders with F-16 toe brake add on, IVIBE Tactile Feedback System 2.0 and VAC (voice activated commands) for AI comms. Immersion everywhere! Running all on this system: Asus P5Q-PRO Intel Core 2 Duo E8600 3.33Ghz (OC 4.02GHz) 4GB (2X2GB) Mushkin DDR2-1066 memory EVGA Nvidia GTX-260 (core 216) EVGA 8800GTS 640MB PCI-E CM Stacker ATX / BTX Full Tower Case CORSAIR HX-1000 80+ certified PSU Ultra Chilltek TEC Cooler 2x 320GB Seagate SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer (Raid 0)(WinXP_Pro Sp3) 2x 320GB Seagate SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer (Raid 0) (Vistax86 SP1) 2x 1Tb Seagate SATA II 7200RPM Hard Drive w/32MB Buffer (XP/Vista BackUp images) Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality Creative Inspire 7.1 Speaker System Lite-On SHM 165H6S DVD-RW OS:Dual boot: WinXP_Pro Sp3 & Vista 32 Ultimate Sp1 DirectX 9.0c Thrustmaster Cougar (Uber2 NXT Mod) Simped vario Pro Rudders w/F-16 Toe brake addon. Tactile Feedback System 2.0 17" Touchscreen & Touchbuddy Software TrackIR4 Pro Logitech G-15 Gamers Keyboard Logitech G-9 Laser Mouse Logitech G-25 FF Racing Wheel Out

This is very true. I have one that was given to me by a friend.:) Touchbuddy is better on so many levels. The cost of the MFP at 200 is really close to the cost of a standalone 8" touch screen or a 17" touch screen overlay. With TB your going to get multiple pages of labeled controls per sim profile. Even a small 8" touchscreen will offer you far more real estate for controls then you can imagine (multiple pages). Again all labeled and you can have state indication (on or off)as well. Easy change over to another sim. The MFP is functional and very cool but I think it is not in the same class as Touchbuddy, not even close. Out

Happy birthday Rabbit! Many more. Out

Got mine. Excellent. Out

Yes man that is crazy talk. How does it take away from realism if you press a push to talk button on your stick and then do all RADIO communications with AI through voice instead of on keyboard (VAC)? Most do NOT use it to control anything more then those actions which would be more sensible using it. In fact more realistic with it then with out it. How does it take away from realism if you use 3 monitors and a 5040x1050 resolution putting your cockpit across the 3 screens or using tv camera on one and abris on the other? Real life is much bigger then the average monitor mate. Again it adds realism does not take away from it IMHO. Absolutely crazy talk. Out

To each his own. I like VAC much better thanks. Voice recognition in VAC for me is much better then shoot. Mapping a joystick button is certainly not a "must" as you put it. Why is it a must? You can just as easily add a keystroke mapping to a joystick button and you have your PTT. You are also correct that VAC is not free. To me this means it will continue to be developed and improved. Shoot well maybe, maybe not. Nothing wrong with paying for something if you feel it is both better and going to be improved. Sort of like Free Track v TrackIR IMHO. The former is great if you have no other option but IMHO most would rather have the latter for the reasons I stated above. Out

Got to love all those big improvements in Vista. Not installing with UAC enabled. Installing everything as Administrator. Not installing games or programs into the Program Files folder. (The default path for about a million progs/Games. Real Convenient. Takes about a half hour longer and is twice as problematic as just using XP to begin with. I got 4 gaming rigs all dual boot XP/Vista. I use the Vista side to update my drivers under that OS and even though I do have many games installed I have yet to see one under Vista and DX10 that makes me want to use Vista over XP. Has not happend yet. Do not expect Windows 7 to be a whole lot different either, anyone that knows these OS's at all knows also that Win7 is just a re-branded Vista SP2-3. Out

Here are a couple of screenies SoftTH/5040x1050. XP triple monitor setup 2 x 22" Samsung sides and 1 X 28" Viewsonic center.

Should I check the CH boards to find a like post or are you guys simply perfect? I won't bother foraging through looking for any unhappy CH customers as by your measure I am sure they don't exist and all is always perfect for those who choose CH. The Cougar is nowhere near the horror show that you (specifically you) try to imply over and over again on every board. You are far from informing any one by overstating every issue you can find long since resolved or not. The people I really feel badly for are the ones that take your advice. Scare them good and don't let them touch it mate because it feels so much better than a CH and even after many years of use I can present you with any number of perfectly functioning stock Cougars. Best advice I can give to others is to look for themselves and don't take my word for it and certainly do not take your word for it. Truth is for under 10 bucks you can likely address any small issue a stock Cougar may have and enjoy its excellent ergonomics and all metal design for years and years to come. I am sure I can count on you not to let any one know that, right? Out

Genius! Out

C2D is doing fine here. E8600@ 4.0GHz stable. Why break the bank? I am waiting until there are more procs in the Intel i7 line and it matures a bit before moving there. AMD meh. Intel has the crown for now IMHO. DCS and Flaming Cliffs run smooth and fast....... Out

WOW hannibal my sound with my x-fi under vista have been excellent for a long while even in FC, x 4 machines as well. No issues. I use no hacks either. What issues you run into specifically? Much of what you mention in your post were indeed issues that were there way back at Vista's launch when virtually all hardware manufacturers drivers were very young and problematic. The later versions of X-Fi drivers/Alchemy work excellent for me with both FC and DCS as well as many other titles. Also of all the X-FI soundcards available the Xtreme music is the only one I would not choose/recommend as it alone in the X-fi line lacks true full blown EAX support. AFAIK it is the lowest end card in the X-Fi line. Out