Bwaze

I have finally replaced the WSS switch the second time, now it finally works. On a stick I bought two months ago... I have a theory that the 5-way switches are failing now because it is winter. Inside there aren't standard 6x6x5mm 4-Pin DIP Through Hole Momentary Tactile Push Button Switch as in Watthog stick - they are thinner (3 mm?), and have long rubber knob portion. And in directions that switches were malfunctioning these rubber knobs were half broken, in the upwards direction. And these long rubber shafts could become brittle in low temperatures. And you can easily damage them, especially if you try to use the stick while cold...

I don't think there is an official answer regarding F-16 throttle grip on Taurus. There was some indication on their Discord that it might be compatible with an extra attachment kit. But pricing of Winwing grips doesn't make much sense right now - complete throttles or complete sticks with bases cost about as much as just the throttle grips or just the joystick grip, since the grips aren't discounted: Orion Throttle FA-18 (base and handles) $235.96 F/A-18 METAL THROTTLE HANDLES $215.95 Orion Joystick FA-18 (base and grip) $223.96 F/A-18 METAL JOYSTICK GRIP $215.95 Of course, buying complete HOTAS is even better deal, only $399.96 for everything, bases and grips. And shipping costs are also high for smaller items - shipping of complete Orion HOTAS set is about $80, but even shipping a single button is allegedly $50... And I think this will not change much with release of new grips. So it will be almost just as expensive to buy whole new HOTAS set as buying just the F-16 stick and throttle grips (especially on sales like this one whis is ongoing from the beginning of December), and neither stick nor throttle grips are very easily interchangeable. Joystick grip is easier, but I don't think it's made to be plugged and unplugged on regular basis.

Winwing Orion is in stock now - the shop had notification it will be in stock on January 10. https://www.wwsimstore.com/STORE

Winwing declares 100 USD as the value of package, so customs might just take that and deduct VAT from it. It doesn't work in my country (Slovenia), you have to send proof of payment, receipts etc. for such items, and the declared low value was stated as one of the possible explanations why my package was being held at customs for 3 weeks now.

I've seen people on Viperpits struggle with aluminium seat backs, building strong timber presses, trying couple of times before they get it (kind of) right... It might be worth it if you intend to do several of them, for friends or for sale, but for one off? Also, ACES II pads are only 3.5 cm thick - and I intend to incorporate Jetseat motors into them, I think it will be much more comfortable if seat and back aren't completely rigid. seatbackpart2.webp P9074094.webp PA054101.webp

Shipping for Winwing Orion HOTAS is about 80 USD to EU. I'm still waiting for mine, it got stuck in the customs since December 17th, but I imagine I'll have to pay VAT for the 400 USD HOTAS + perhaps for 80 USD shipping, 480 USD = 422 EUR, VAT should be about 100 EUR. Plus some 15 - 20 EUR of import charges. So it's not 350 EUR HOTAS, it's more of a 520 - 550 EUR one... If I'll even get it...

Winwing apparently already has some stock of F-16 Orion throttle arms and sticks, it will be released shortly (info from HOTAS/HOSAS/SIMPIT Discord). Might be already at reviewers. The surprising thing is F-16 stick franken add-on: "now, the lower picture. you can see a some kind of attachment on the side sitck, that’s a additional hat and switches with a vibrating motors inside. It can be detached of course." It transforms it to something similar to VKB, Virpil, modern Russian jet stick! With vibrating motor? How come the Orion base supports that? Will that be something you purchase separately, like Z-axis add-on for Super Libra, or will it be included, like the ministick in the A3xx Sidestick Grip? Tony409 (Winwing representative on Discord) wrote: "I need to make sure everyone looking at pictures know about that little attachment. it’s an “addon” part with two extra hat with vibrating motors, it can be detached and then the side stick will be look like an F16 grip. We add a directional hat to MSL STEP, NWS switch so it’s no longer a simple press button, It provide more functionality"

Nah, it would be done on the machines at my job, and I'll be doing the design, drawing, punching on CNC punch, bending, riveting in my spare time... And I bet I can find some mild steel pieces lying around, we work with stainless steel, making kitchen equipment, cabinets, bar counters... So it's mostly going to take my time, not money.

Yes, the seat and back are obviously pressed sheet metal, and so are "bumps" on the lowet seat area. So the very high price of all metal seat is of course understandable. I was going to cheat, of course. I can 3D print the bumps, and contoured back and seatpan are a problem even when doing the seat in wood - I could form them from extruded polystyrene (XPS) - it's a bit harder form of styrofoam. And cover it with worbla - termoplastic sheat you form with a heat gun, cosplayers use it for making armours. It will be sturdy enough for seating, maybe not sturdy enough for cockpit use where people step on seat with boots? Also, even relatively thin Aliexpress ACES II weighs 50 kg in it's bare state - that's almost as much as original that must withstand 12g+ forces... I imagine they are making it from steel sheet, it looks thinner than aluminium on original, but still very heavy when they add all the profiles and parts that make the inner structure... Making monocoque structure from thin sheet is not very easy...

I have been planning on making ACES II (A-10 or F-15 version, for center mounted stick) for quite some time now. I have Stangs and Flims plans for a MDF / wood build, but all woodworking shops here are really charging too much even for simple routing of wood, with material prices I could be at or over Stangs discount price for kit... I have access to cheap CNC sheet metal punch and bending facility. And I'm now conteplating a metal build. Has anyone here done it? Most of the metal builds out there are commercial, so no plans, I'd have to do them myself. But I'm not aiming for any accuracy, wood builds are also quite simplified. I' m also not building a cockpit, just the seat with HOTAS stands. I have seen several commercial offers of metal seats, of course they are very expensive. The inspiration that I could make one myself was this Aliexpress metal ACESS II replica seat which also shows various stages of assembly: 1: 1. For the US ace II ejection seats F16 and F22 A10, simulate the flight DCS flight cockpit Has anyone tried it?

Yeah, they do notify you about "approximately 5 workday lead". And I think many people were now ordering due to the large discounts for some products. "Thank you for your order of which you find a specification below. The lead time for shipping is approx. 5 business days."

The failure was totaly on FedEx's side, and on local banch. But for now it's just a delay, I'm hoping they are no further surprises like damaged packages or problems with customs somehow...

I'm still waiting for my Orion set that was ordered on December 8. Delivery was estimated only on December 21. due to the increased volume of shipments, approaching holidays etc. It has been within 20 minutes of driving distance since December 16., customs clearance was complete, and I had estimated delivery on the next day since December 17. Then every day estimated delivery slipped into next day. I contacted FedEx on 25., and they assured me it's only a short delay, packages are on the way. I contacted them again on December 29., and they told me the packages are still in FedEx customs, and I should contact them. On December 30. FedEx customs replied that they are apologizing, FedEx status is wrong and my packages still haven't been cleared from customs, but they will make it "their priority". Of course all the time this was happening status of my packages remained "in transit" with estimated delivery "tommorow". I contacted Winwing about the delay, they say it's out of their hands. Also, 113 USD shipping has no money back guarantee, FedEx does not do that for shipping from China. So now I'll be happy if I get my products in one month, same as with any slow shipping, not extra expensive FedEx International Priority. But I'm not holding my breath. Also, I don't think "supply chain problems" have any relation on FedEx shipping speed. Supply chain problems are delaying the F-16 grip and throttle, which was first planned for summer, then September, then arround holidays, now sometime early in 2022. Supply chain problems are also the reason why a lot of their current catalog is out of stock most of the time.

Probably not US dollars, and for Taurus Libra, which is much heavier? Orion is about 60 - 80 USD to most locations, I think. But the prices fluctuate.

No, and Orion hasn't been available below $500 before December. And in previous batch at the start of December it sold out pretty quickly twice, now it seems like it's available for longer time, but I wouldn't count of it being available much longer, or again after this sale, Winwing didn't really disclose their plans.

You can configure it as three postion type switch in Winwing software. Other than that I don't know if there is a solution.

Bought Thrustmaster F-18 Hornet stick with quite a big discount in November. When I received it, Weapon Select Switch didn't return from the forward and back position. Found out that stick only had seller warranty, not from Thrustmaster - because I bought it from Ebay section of a retail shop. I had no idea there is such distinction when I bought the stick. By returning stick I would loose shipping both ways, at least 30 EUR. So I opted for buying a new WSS switch by myself for 35 EUR from Thrustmaster. I have received the WSS switch today. It seemed to be working out of the grip, but I only clicked it once in every direction. I removed the old switch with much difficulty, because I couldn't access the tab on the back side so it took me literally hours trying to bend a piece of metal and push the tab on the back side. I couldn't push the switch out by just pressing the visible tab and pushing the switch out. In the end I grabbed it with the pliers and pushed. I have just pushed the new switch into the grip and tried it, and it doesn't return from the forward push - it clicks, but it doesn't return to center, it remains pressed. So, 50% improvement? back press now works. Is it possible I have damaged the new switch already? I just pressed it into the grip by the collar, not by the switch itself, I was really careful. Or is the grip somehow distorted and is damaging the switch? It doesn't seem like it is, because the switch went in quite easily. I have disassembled the old switch, and Hornet doesn't use standard 6x6x5mm 4-Pin DIP Through Hole Momentary Tactile Push Button Switch - they are thinner (3 mm?), and have long rubber knob portion. So not really something you can replace yourself easily without a lot of modification. And in directions that switches were malfunctioning these rubber knobs were half broken, in the upwards direction. So I don't think the new switch will somehow wear in and start working, it feels just like old ones were. This has been really frustrating experience. Maybe Thrustmaster will send me a new replacement switch free of charge, but even then I'm not looking forward with wrestling the old switch out.

In Europe 12900K are still in stock in many shops even now, so they weren't grabbed as every hardware release in the last couple of years. I think the price (680 EUR), price of motherboards and RAM and especially price of graphic cards really limit the size of high end gaming market. And not many people buy such expensive CPUs for productivity, at least not impulsively on the first day of release.

Yeah, half the framerate compared to Persian Gulf when flying low over the terrain.

Looks and sounds amazing! Although I'm not sure I'm a big fan of realistic button forces and travels on sim sticks. In real planes you usually operate the stick with quite a bit of force, and this is true for completely mechanically controlled aircraft, hydraulics, or even fly by wire modern jets - even almost rigid F-16 sidestick reaches "full deflection" at 25 pounds / 11 kg. So a trigger that needs quite a bit of force and large travel is not really a problem on real jet, stick has larger mass, and the forces needed to move it are quite substantial. In the simpit sticks are usually easy to move. Hard triggers and buttons with large travels can in fact throw your aim off quite a bit before you activate them. Of course having longer stick helps with that, so small movements aren't as critical, but I still think these realistic forces on triggers and buttons, coupled with a "flimsy" stick forces can be a problem.

It says "The new flagship" on 3080 presentation. And they compared 3090 to Titan, it's not meant to be compared to mere gaming cards.

Yeah, 3070 > 2080Ti, for $499: That seems to be performance in 4K rasterised games, since RT performance is on next slide. But I'm sure "multiple popular games" could be cherry picked to show this result, and other games or settings could show different results...

Interesting, not a lot of focus on VR in Nvidia presentation. In fact, Jensen didn't spend even one sentence on VR performance or any new VR related tech. Remember Single Pass Stereo in Nvidia Pascal? VirtualLink in Turing? Maybe it's for the better, I believe both those technologies are dead.

RTX3070 for $499 RTX3080 for $699 RTX3090 with 24GB of Vram for $1499 Unfortunately, very little benchmark results or direct apples to apples comparisons.

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