Headwarp

I think eventually I might just try an older 1080p Sony Bravia or something with a vga port and go the dvi - vga route. They aren't terribly expensive. Just too much $$ to be spent trying to get into higher resolutions.

I'm not sure what it is currently but when I ordered my Crosswinds like $1.09 USD = 1 euro, so it's not much different. Shipping would likely be high though. Would totally be offering to take those off your hands if I hadn't just broke the bank on a TM warthog as the rest of my saitek gear failed. Good luck with your Fat Mamba! Hope they're still making them in a couple years. I like the concept of switching grips out for different planes.

Because your crosswinds will be hall sensors, with insane resolutions and the spring tension being adjustable with it's magnificent around the center cam profile is going to blow those combat pedals away. :P Not to mention being adjustable by replacing the cam.. not to mention nothing's being held together by plastic. If those combat pedals are anything like my pro flight pedals were.. Crosswinds will be miles ahead of them in construction and performance afaik tell. But if you want, I'll tell you more about how I feel about them when I get mine in March.

Lol preaching to the wrong crowd about amd/ati. Never again. Never. :) My main gripe with the 34" and 35" curved monitors out there is that the view increase is0 horizontal. This might provide more peripheral view but call me mistaken if I am, the models of objects in the air or on the ground look to be about the same size they would be. I have TrackIR - scanning the horizon isn't the problem.. trying to pick a tiny little spec of nothing out of it is. I appreciate your opinion but at this point I'd like to hear from some people who have gone the low response time HDTV route, especially if they're using something other than HDMI out, to see if it's holding up for DCS. Particularly one that properly utilizes dvi input, if something like that even exists. I'm not going to play FPS's on the thing.

Well I mean.. I'm fine with my 27 inch for any other game I play. I guess I should comment that much. The largest PC monitor I've found was a 35" curved BenQ and that thing was like $800-900 with a much higher resolution which makes me think even if I could afford that, I'd probably want to step up to a gtx 980 or something to support it, and heck then why not bypass a bigger monitor all together and just pick up something like the Steam VR when they're here. . And I just don't have those kind of funds. At the moment. The bigger screen is strictly for flight simming. I don't watch tv, I don't play console games. I spend a lot of time on my PC at home. Again my major goal here is to make it easier to see targets. In DCS World and RoF I'm having a very difficult time spotting targets without labels on. I'm just wondering what my options are without having to factor in the cost of a new video card. That being said I don't believe I've ever really pushed the limits of my 680 4gb.

whoops.

Yeah, I have to admit - I like jets. I like flying them more so than the a-10c even. I grew up around jets. Many a time have a seen a low flying f-15, f-16, or f4 over the housing section of an air force base on its landing approach. Warthog pretty much has the controls for the f-15, f-16, and a-10c covered. Jumping into the su-27 in fc3, I realize I am more into fighter jets than anything as far as flying goes. But definitely will be flying the a-10c a lot since it's going to be very close to the real thing. Apologize for stepping outside of DCS in the Eagle forums - but one thing I like about using the CH stick for prop planes aside from the reduction in force required to manipulate off center is that is has two rotary dials on it that would be awesome for rudder/elevator trim in prop planes. And maybe easier to fly helicopters if I choose not to mod my warthog at all. The DCS P-51 D module and any wwII I'm kind of spoiled on the idea of having an axis assigned to trim on planes that utilized such methods. And honestly I feel in a game like say- Elite: Dangerous - the stiffness of the warthog with stock springs and no extension might actually be preferred if you ever choose to fly with flight assist off, as I felt like I was constantly overcorrecting when I tried to do so with my x52 pro. I'd be very interested in knowing how the CH Fighter stick performs for prop planes and choppers, even knowing the warthog a-10c/f16 stick is going to be in my arsenal for the rest of my simming lifetime.

Milan's website actually has a video that explains that yes, the corsswinds will tip if you are using only one foot.. but it's easily solvable with velcro, or if you have something to mount it to you can mount it with bolts. If you don't have a seat or a diy solution just buy some heavy duty velcro and you'll be fine. I think if the warthog proves too tiresome for non jet piloting, I'm debating currently on just getting an extension, or perhaps even just getting a CH fighterstick to have sitting around so I don't have to take my warthog stick apart if I decide certain planes feel better at stock height. From what I hear the CH stick doesn't take a lot of force to manipulate.. but we shall see. Either way I'm going to give the warthog a full go at stock and see if I'm man enough to manhandle it.

I had my stick running Win10 but it was tricky. When I would install drivers and unplug for a couple days it wouldn't recognize it and would attempt to install new drivers and fail. Going into device manager manually and installing "Generic USB Device" or something similar to that got it to where I could reinstall the latest saitek drrivers with my x52 pro and have it work. The drivers before that I had to install the win 8 drivers rather than win10. I will admit..their software has always been kind of janky but..I think my issues were more hardware related. Dirty pots and what not. CCleaner is our friend. Also I disabled any usb 3.0 functionality on my machine and uninstalled usb 3.0 drivers from win10 because they in general don't mix well with saitek devices and I also don't use any usb drives or anything to that effect.

Yeah, I actually have quite a few modules in DCS, fc3, the two free modules that come with DCS World 1.5, a-10c, blackshark 2, p-51D. Also having IL-2 1946 and RoF, I'm already considering an extension. I actually saw what looked to be most awesomely simple DIY setup where they mounted the base plate of the warthog on a piece of wood on the ground with Velcro to hold rudder pedals in place. Holes to put office chair wheels to stop movement. From the mounted base plate they machined a pipe to elevate the actual control base up to above knee level, and then even added an extension between that and the stick for prop planes/choppers. I had been asking the folks that make the wheel stand pro if they would be able to alter their design to add room for keyboard/peripherals but honestly it seems like something I could easily add a stand for the throttle to. An extension is definitely something I'm already thinking about.

Edited my OP to try and be more specific. Is there anybody out there simming on Larger 1080p displays? Has it helped you in spotting targets without labels or made it harder? Are displayport/HDMI outputs going to be able to put out 60hz refresh rates on said HDTV provided oldskool VGA ports tend to be limited at lower resolutions? I don't watch TV.. I want a larger screen specifically for flight simming because I've been lead to believe it makes spotting targets easier. I'm currently running on a 27" 1080p monitor with gtx 680 4gb and I'm content with that for anything else I've played recently. I usually keep my AA low or off by habit anyway using a single card solution, and shadows being the framerate killer they have always been I will set to low if my system feels sluggish in anything usually as well, but there's not been many circumstances I have had to do so. So, that being said - I'm probably going to skip the 900series of cards, I'm not in some rush to get into 4k gaming or SteamVR/Oculus Rift.. TrackIR suits my needs for head tracking. I'm lead to believe it's easier to spot targets in the air on a bigger screen.. and I remember how I felt when I upgraded to a 27" when playing First person shooters... it was easier to see people. My main concerns are - A.) Is it going to be easier to spot targets on a 40" 1080p display as opposed to a 27" 1080p display? B.) Are display ports/hdmi ports on said TV going to be able to run at advertised refresh rates from the display/hdmi port of a video card? (I.E. 60/120hz) Would it better to find a DVI to HDMI cable? Is there a solution for my goal?

TL:DR - My saitek products are failing/broken. Expecting Crosswinds in March and just ordered a TM Warthog, and considering something like the black mamba if they're still making variations of it in a year or two. If you want to hear about it - Let the reading commence - those of you having better luck with Saitek, I'm not trying to bring you down. My proflight rudder pedals (not combat) have been collecting dust for about a year now as the right pedal snapped off at the base, admittedly likely my fault... they were velcro'd to the ground under my desk so they became the place to put my feet. I might have gone to stretch my legs and stressed them one too many times. That being said - toe brakes were extremely touchy, little jitttery as well. The rudder axis was great, a far cry from a twist axis on a joystick. For prop planes and jets they did the job, even if the toe breaks were too sensitive for my taste. I miss having pedals - But - I think I'll be set for life with the Crosswinds I'm expecting in March. Now on to the x52 pro - knowing what I know now I should have RMA'd this stick as soon as I got it. But - it has been usable up until a couple of days ago. From day one it's always had jitters in the throttle and rotaries, and I see all these posts lately where that's not normal. And lol if I didn't loosen the bolt for the handle adjustment too much and it fall out. It uses the tiniest nut ever to be held and there's no way I was ever putting that back in. If this happens to you - take a piece of paper - fold it 7 times, find your desired height and wedge that paper between the stick and the handle adjustment just left of the pinky trigger. Holding strong for 3 years now. I got around axis jitters it using deadzones in windows game properties. I have never liked the throttle detents below and above min/max. But over all I really liked the stick.. I mean the rubberized feel is pretty nice... the 2 hats on the stick can be 12 hats, same for throttle if you include the mouse nub. The little safety flip above the launch button is fun for me. Worked great in Elite:Dangerous seeing as they made the game around it's older brother. For other games I've never quite been able to find the sensitivities/curves I would like. But I got used to that.. learned how to be very very gentle with the stick. But it eventually developed an issue where if sitting flat, if I pitched down it wouldn't snap back to center without my help. That's ok I just titled it back..but..here's where my disappointment comes in. I hadn't been flying for awhile and E:D comes out.. i bust my TrackIR out, x52 pro and resolve to be content with the twist in the stick for rudder (deadzones and huge sensitivity curves). The rotary around the E button was spurratic. It floats left and right when I'm not turning it, it won't go to 100% This is a far cry from the slight jittering at center when I first bought it. The other rotary still works fine but also jitters. The slider I really want to be my zoom axis, has always been jittery and no amount of deadzones are helping it. The throttle has always had some bit of jitter to it at certain points. I figure what the heck.. this thing has to be out of warranty, I'm going to bust it open, remove the throttle detents I have never liked...try cleaning or replacing the pots and see if this stick will last me much longer. Since the throttle is the one giving me issues, I started with it. 2 screws stripped very easily, and even using other methods to grip them they're very tight and apart from breaking the throttle casing, I don't see getting them out. The screws that came out easily, chunks of plastic came with them. Well there went that. I screw everything back in and settle for turning my rotaries into keystrokes with bands in SST, and living with those horrible feeling detents. Until two days ago - The forward detent doesn't grip anymore, it just pushes the throttle away from 100%. The lower detent grips, and you can hear the spring stretching out up to about 40% throttle. I GUESS i could add deadzones and get around this but.. at this point.. with a broken piece of plastic for rudder pedals, and this stick dying a slow horrible death. I think I'm done with Saitek for good. I didn't bother going so far as to considering the magnet mod for the stick. I considered buying another x52 pro for the $160 pricetag and hoping I didn't get another dud, but for all the times the ps2 connections have fallen out? Nahh. I considered the x-55 and honestly it looks about the same in construction material, and I've about people having some issues with jittery axis already and I just have to assume..it's hit or miss with Saitek. I know the Warthog I just ordered is capable of having is issues as well but from what I hear it's easy to order replacement parts for it, and I'm pretty my gentle with my sticks. I learned back in the ms sidewinder days not to be slamming them like you're trying to break someone's arm in an arm wrestling match. I will miss the concept of having rotaries to use as trim dials in prop planes as well as the slider, but seeing as how they were jumpy little pots anyway, I guess I won't have the chance to miss them in practice, and there are other solutions for that. Really hopeful my warthog lasts me years, as I'm quite confident the crosswinds will.

Simpeds for $125? If I wasn't expecting Crosswinds in March I'd be all over that!

This makes me wish I hadn't just ordered a Delan clip to replace my broken track clip pros... and the $20 pos I ordered from hong kong. I'd buy this just for the clip.

Sooo I was having this same issue in FC3... well not CCRP, but trying to manually target with mavericks.. when I tried to use the pipper to lock the "target" button would only cycle between targets. Turns out it's a bug with "Game Avionics Mode"... disabling Game Avionics mode in gameplay options made the target function work like normal, and I'm going to bet it will fix your CCRP problems as well, as the thread I read said both issues were caused by game avionics mode. I hope this gets fixed because I'm a noob, and I liked that little radar with my nav waypoints in the upper right hand part of my screen.. now I have to learn how to fly without it >.<

I've actually got quite a setup going although I'm only in the 3rd training mission. I'm using the thumb rotary on the side of the x52 to switch modes, as long as I check the MFD going into mode 3 because it will go past it and show no mode at all.. it's mostly SST, with a few in game binds. I've managed to keep all f16 stick controls on the stick, between modes 1 and 3, and all throttle controls on the throttle between modes 1 and 3. Thinking I'm going to end up setting mode 2 to startup controls and just sequence the toggle switches on the stick to do everything in order t1-t6, using hat switches to do the rest of start up if necessary. I almost started listing every thing I've set up because I'm pretty impressed with it so far honestly, but I tell you what, when it's a finished product I'll upload my SST Profile and Joystick HTML exported from DCS. I'll also do my best to make a diagram of some sort showing the function of each of my buttons in what mode. Not promising that though heh. It may be a PITA to set up in a lot of games, but, man the x52 pro is a beast of a stick. And when the profiling software is actually working it really shows it's capability. P.S. - Just encase someone from ED reads this - I LOVE that I can use the rollers/buttons on my MFD. Please host a flight sim video conference or something telling people how to old this to their older games. =D Charge them for the advice for all I care but.. MFD love ftw. Post Post edit* - I know the SST software and saitek drivers can be a complete PITA, frankly lately in windows 10, I can't unplug my controller and plug back in without going into device manager and telling it to use a generic usb driver with or without SST. And I've definitely run into the locked mouse/beeping issue in the past. Saitek drivers/software can be really janky sometimes. But personally - Uninstalling my 3.0 USB drivers and disabling them in my BIOS + Running CCcleanear to clean up my registry when removing SST software/drivers seems to have gotten me into a working state with the latest SST software. Just after uninstalling, running CC cleaner and rebooting, make sure drivers first, if successful THEN SST. The profile editor has closed on me once or twice but other than I've not had any BSOD or lock ups or any issues out of it whatsoever. My y rotary axis is going a little crazy and won't go to 100%, and I fixed this issue with the CC cleaner and fresh driver install, but it came back Don't know if it's from SST install or what. . I fixed this by making HUGE deadzones, then I set bands 0-30% -30-70%, 70-100% on both rotaries and now Y = speed break (grab it with two fingers for quick inputs) and thumb rotary for china hat. Mousewheel = pinky switch since it has no long functions.. mwheel click = center pinky switch, and boat switch on the left MFD roller. I've set up mode 3 to be a "navigation" mode and it also uses the Mwheel for the Kneeboard, and also uses the mouse button by the ministick to mark position on kneeboard. I believe I stilll have days of setting this up.. but I think soon enough I'll be simming like a pro! lol.

Good tips. I'm decided... I'm going to learn how to DCS. I'm totally already planning on Thrustmaster Couger MFD panels, possibly a saitek switch panel just for some extra toggles, annnd I probably need to invest in another pair of rudder pedals. Lol I should probably finish getting my hotas set up before doing that.. but I needed a break. Probably take me at least a year to finish my flight hardware collection.. and then maybe I'll retire the x52 for a warthog in the long run. Maybe wait til some extra spending money comes along next year. I've been wanting a warthog anyway, I've always found the x52pro a tad touchy, and I hear good things about the hog in most sims I've played.

Yeah I honestly am humbled and feel pretty silly. Looking at the manual for a flight sim is the first thing I should do always. The diagram of the hotas in the manual is perfect. Combined with the Hotas Fundamentals mission, I believe by the time I make it to the weapon's training mission I might even be up to attempt Sim mode. No promises though. That's a big book lol. My bad guys. I think I've got this figured out. Coolie on throttle index hatswitch, slew on ministick, I'm going to assign Trim, CMS, TMS, and DMS to the hatswitches on the stick with a shift state, since all four of those are on the f16 control stick. I really should've known there would be a large comprehensive manual. It took someone mentioning it and me googling it to remember the huge novel sized flight manuals laying around for the sims my dad got into back in the day. I'm going to edit my OP to let people know I'm making significant progress since this morning- if a forum moderator saw fit to delete this thread I would not be offended. Or keep it up, for one more google entry to be searched for "Help! Controls! Noob panic!"

Sweet I downloaded, I'll take a look at it for sure. I gave everybody in this thread some + rep, I believe it was the push I needed. And even if it wasn't recognized at first, you all had something worthwhile to say. It's a beautiful DCS World.. (and I just reinstalled directx and got my engine sounds yay. Immersion.) FYI guys my first "flight sim" was on a Tandy Color Computer 3 on a serial connection to my dad across the house. I don't even remember the name I wasn't even 5 years old and it had like zero graphics. How times have changed since the 80's.

Thanks! I'll look at it. for sure. Honestly, between the advice given here and diagram of the HOTAS in particular in the manual... I'm starting to learn a lot already. Consider me a once panicked but now eager noob. . I've replayed the HOTAS Fundamentals training mission several times.. not even having completely finished it the first time and I'm starting to gain a sense of being able to "work" it out on my own. I just need to study that hotas diagram, keep training/reading and figure out what I feel is acceptable between the x52 pro and the f15/f16 platform. As I"m typing this on my second monitor I'm looking around my cockpit and wow 1.5 looks great. I can't wait to unload some BRRRRRRRRRRR BRRRRRRRRR bRRRR. But, things are starting to look less daunting already. In hindsight, maybe that's all I needed was "Play training missions" and "Read manual and view diagram..you noob" and "work it out yourself. You guys might have saved Bacon some time. We'll see by tomorrow. Thank you again everybody. Will definitely take a look at your SST Profile Ian. Well I would but I don't think you provided a link. :)

Thank you Pikey, for helping Bacon. I'm sure after a chat with him I'm going to be well on my way to enjoying the heck out of DCS World, and not just for A-10C. And you're right. Sometimes a person might need a kick in the rear to turn on the light bulb in their brain. You guys helping people out is what makes strong gaming communities out of games with steep learning curves. I am/will be reading the manual and doing the training missions to learn what I can in the meantime, but that could just give me more questions for Bacon when he gets to me tomorrow. My hope is simply to be left in a state where I have minimal control setup left to do.. that way I can focus more on training and flying than binding. Hopefully I won't take up too much of Bacon's time. I'm seriously grateful though. And maybe when I'm somewhat more able I'll do this for some other noob some day. *edit* DCS is really making me want to buy those Thrustmaster MFCD's. I bet they'd be nice for the F-15C as well.

Yuron - already explained why I haven't downloaded SST profiles. I can only find pre 1.5 profiles, both in game profiles and SST, it's my understanding they won't work with 1.5 You were right about training, it's helped me figure out a few controls, but I can't stop and ask the instructor why I couldn't slew in the hud even though the hud was set to SOI so I could my SPI. (I didn't know any of this 20 minutes ago). Dav - I'm not attempting to be argumentative but you might have missed in my first post that I've owned a few DCS modules for 2 years, and only played a handful of times before I moved on out of frustration. I spent more time setting up controls than I did actually flying. So working it out myself doesn't seem to be getting me into the spirit of this amazing game. I mean, it's gorgeous, it is probably one of the best sims ever made. It runs smoothly. I WANT to fly in this game, but, it's pretty daunting to a noob. If you look at the p-51D module forum, someone was kind enough to post a pretty visual image of what they consider to be essential hotas binds. They used the specific names of the actions listed under "Action" in the control settings menu. Like sure, I get the basics. I can assign yaw/pitch/roll wheelbreak air break. But then you mention "GunPAC" and there's nothing I can see representing "GunPAC" in the A-10C Game options. I assume I already set that up as I'm under the impression that the first stage of the trigger enables gunpac.. but that's listed as "Gun Trigger(Frist stage) and then Gun Trigger, or both. And I'm probably wrong about that, but that's after quite a bit of time rummaging the forums. But then, I look at the A-10C Sim control settings, and GunPAC is listed as if it were a toggle, with SAFE/ARmed/GUn Armed. So, when I go full sim (not there yet, still trying to set up GAME[ez mode], that might be good to know. But - I'm kind of looking for specifics here. What is TGP in relation to what's listed under "Action" in the control settings? Is that something I just learned about in the HOTAS tutorial? Is it a part of the MFD I just learned was controlled by the Coolie Hat? I can't find anything that says or could be abbreviated to "TGP" in the control settings menu.. It's not that I won't end up "working it out for me".. it's just that I can't seem to find any reference points to get a working setup via my hotas, as they are either outdated by the 1.5 update, or, they don't exist, or, I'm missing them in a sticky somewhere. So the information I would gather from elses profile, is what they consider essential to have bound, as a reference point. Very similar to the post I mentioned in the P-51D forums. Thanks everybody for your input. DO feel free to offer some schooling to the noob. If you can't offer a link to something similar to what I described above for A-10C, or you aren't willing to hook up a profile, or be so generous as Baron is choosing to be, just go ahead and pass on by this post. No harm done.

Heh Elite has great space flight mechanics imo. But yeah, it get's boring, and I can't seem to stay connected to wingmates in game no matter what I do trying to solve it. I'd have more fun flying with them. To be honest DCS and IL:2 1946 are the only sims worthy of my attention at the moment, I've tried many, and while the two mentioned seem complicated, both seem to run with stability, making me really want to be able to gain some ability in them. I live east Coast U.S., think that's -5 GMT, but I'm sure I can work something out I have a lot of free time. I'll send you a PM, or you can send me a PM tomorrow, I'll figure out what time to be around. And thanks! I really appreciate your willingness to help a noob.

Not to bump the thread - but I mean..this includes even already having a working 1.5 control profile saved from in game (Non SST) that I could download and play around with long enough to get accustomed to what does what. Even if I had to manually remove a hatswitch from head movement or snap views

The only reason I mentioned the TrackIR is just in case someone offered a 1.5 compatible profile so people knew I didn't need to assign headmovement to a hat switch. I started by trying to bind without SST software, but I really wanted to use my ministick as slew, I don't mind NOT using SST for the rest of my buttons, I just figure with 3 modes to choose from I can assign quite a bit to the hotas. Dude.. I'd honestly LOVE to be talked through control setup at this point. I mean.. I figure if I can just get a decent control config, I can begin to make sense of the wealth of information available on A-10C. My friends and I are on a mumble server right now playing Elite (they are, I'm "Duhh'ing at my dcs control screen), which while being fun to fly in is the polar opposite as by default the x52 pro is configured, and no where near as complicated to learn how to control as next best thing to real life modern jet fighter.