JaseGill

Great work. I will be watching closely. Always blows my mind how innovative, creative an downright geek cool people here are :) You should once fully developed release it as a micro-payware or just let people donate money to pay for your time and effort in this. We all pay TM, Saitek whatever a fortune and I don't see why we don't do so for developers like you. Free Apps have made us all a little tight methinks :)

http://www.coolcomponents.co.uk/catalog/arduino-p-1052.html Or you could just Google Arduino Due. Pops up everywhere :)

Hi all, Just in case very on has not seen it there I a new Arduino, the Due out now. 51 digital I/O, 12 of which can be PWM, 12 analog inputs and 4 UART. Could be good for that Arduino Cockpit I have been promising myself. I wonder if there is a Netduino alternative? I could do a lot more in .NET.

See my Sig. I wouldn't go back, those who say there is quality loss bought cheap ones methinks? In my experience you get what you pay for and its worth paying more to save your eyesight if nothing else. J.

Airdog, Thanks for that. very impressive set-up. Cedaway, Thanks for the 460 Info too. I wasn't aware of that. Its always been pretty good to me but I don't do many games and I have only just gone to a 2 screen set-up so I guess its now that I'm noticing the memory issues. It looks like a GTX670 is best, but a bit pricey (£379 for a 4GB on Overclockers here in the UK). As I'm not going to be going beyond 2 screens for the next at least 18 months would it be prudent to get a GTX 5 series? I notice from others here (Cichlifan I'm primarily thinking of) that a 5 series is good enough for a 2 screen setup? What sort of frame rates do you get Cichlidfan? Thanks again, J.

Thanks guys. Kind of what I expected but good to get confirmation. What sort of FPS you get with 670 Air dog? J.

Hi, Using the guidance here (thanks PeterP) Ive just got SoftTH working on my PC with a 2nd monitor. My primary is a 1920/1080 LCD and the 2nd is a 1440/900 which was my last monitor. Using PeterP's guidance to run the graphics test (once at Low setting, once at High using FRAPS to give me an average FPS count for both) it seems that my PC is not surprisingly Graphics Limited not CPU limited. My current Graphics card that both screens are attached to is an Nvidia GTX460 1GB OC Edition and I was wondering if I should add a 2nd card to run the 2nd monitor (probably a cheap GTX260 from the local Computer Exchange) or buy a new 6 series Nvidia card? Does anyone have experience of which would be best? Obviously the GTX260 will be cheaper, the 6 series quite expensive given current costs. The rest of my PC I believe will support it, I have a new 800W PSU so that should cover the new or the addition of the 2nd so all I need guidance on is 2nd or new graphics. Thanks in advance, J.

Usually with these things you have to capture the exact sequence of the key presses for a Modified Key Press. If you ever did anything with the old Thrustmaster setups you will have seen this with Foxy. What you need say for CTRL ALT F1 is: Key Pressfor CTRL Key Press for ALT Key Press for F1 Key Release for F1 Key Release for ALT Key Release for CTRL. It needs to be done in that exact order or most applications it seem wont accept it. Whether that's possible with what you have I'm not sure as I've never used one. Maybe someone here has though. Good Luck. J.

I like these. They look good. I was thinking I'd have to bastardise a spare 19" LCD screen I have that's currently on my RaspberryPi box. The same supplier does 7, 8, 10.1, 12.1, 17 and 19 inch solutions with the screen and controller hardware plus power supply all thrown in. I'm quite tempted to throw £69 of my hard earned at a 12.1 one and have a go. Does anyone know off the top of their heads f 12.1 is sufficient for 2 x Cougar MFCD's side by side? J.

Pyro, Why do I get the idea you don't like commercial pilots much? It seems you have, reading between the lines, some significant real life flying experience but don't rate commercial pilots? Is there a back story to this? No insult intended, just asking. Here's my two pennyworth: I'll precursor this with a caveat, I'm ex RAF Rotary wing Aircrew, but spent some considerable time at ETPS and have flown a few military types (Bulldog, Firefly, Harvard, Tucano, Hawk, Hunter, Tornado GR4, Harrier T10, Jaguar T2, Gazelle, Puma, Sea King and Lynx) though always accompanied by a type qualified pilot. I'm now a PPL and have time on Tiger Moth, C172 and some 3 axis Microlights (which I like the most - well except for the Moth maybe). My real job however is Air Traffic Control in the UK (so I have some respect for Commercial Pilots - not all of them mind there are as many numpty professional pilots as there are numpty builders, plumbers, drivers and even I can say ATC types). So with all that in mind all I can say is that having had a "play" with the above and having some RL experience that yes that's helped me in Sims but only so far as knowing effect of controls and the usual rules of flight (push forward cows get bigger speed increases for no change in power setting, pull back cows get smaller speed decreases for no change in power setting, secondary effects of controls, etc etc) as is the case I suppose with most RL pilots who fly sims. It also annoys me too that people often say something like "DCS is rubbish, the P51D doesn't fly as it should when the obviously have no RL P51D time. How do they know. Are the controls harmonised in their sim gear the same as a P51D controls are? Are they providing exactly the same inputs to the sim that the RL pilot has in all those You Tube videos they've probably been watching to come to this conclusion? No probably not. I'll give a real life example. In the Operating Manual for a certain type I fly it says that if the aircraft is taken to the stall it will stall wings level and settle into a nose down attitude even if stalled in a turn (i.e. it will naturally, if you take your hands and feet off, roll wings level, nose down). pretty docile I'm sure all will agree and as a result its a great trainer. Now, that's based on a few criteria one being that rudder and control column are both returned to neutral at the point of departure. Now If I fly said aircraft and stall, but have rudder or stick input it will drop a wing in the direction of the rudder/stick input. Sensible don't you think? Now, say that's the same if I set up said aircraft in a simulator and my rudder pedals have some (because of their design limitations, misuse, bad calibration, whatever reason) inability to settle at exactly central if you take your feet off them. There is an input being made that I have not demanded (rudder input) which the sim reads and see's as real rudder input thus dropping a wing in the stall as expected in RL. Someone with less understanding of their setup and its effect on the sim will say the sim is wrong, you stall and it drops a wing. That is where RL experience mostly in the regime of effect of control input (and also lets not forget an understanding of your own sim kit) comes into play. The aircraft shouldn't do it, but it does, is the sim wrong or the sim user? As has been eluded to here quite a lot its often the user and lack of knowledge of their kit limitations that is at fault here. What would I do? Well I'd add a dead-zone of course so that when my feet are off the pedals the input to the sim is a central neutral position. My first course of action (which is often the case it seems here) wouldn't be to say the FM is wrong and the sim therefore is wrong because it doesn't stall like my favourite little trainer does. That said in the above example I've seen it said here more than one that rudder pedals aren't necessary in jets and one can fly without them. If that's the case why do they still exist in the RL aircraft I wonder? Its not there for steering on the ground only. Ever tried asymmetric landings in multi engine aircraft (jest included) and tried to not use the rudder I wonder? I very much doubt it. That is one comment you'd wouldn't ever hear from a RL pilot for sure, so maybe there is something in it after all... I've been lucky enough to fly a few commercial simulators, Military and Civil, even they aren't 100% right. As someone said here a balanced 30 degree bank turn is much easier in real life due to "feel". You can feel the aircraft slip and slide around and subsequently use stick and rudder inputs to keep the ball centred by feel without even looking at it in most cases, in the sim you only have the ball as reference and are as such heads down much more than in RL. Try even a 6G pull in the sim and see how you physically react. Can you still maintain situational awareness, can you even stay conscious? Well of course you can the screen may go grey/black and you will recover in no time, in RL its not quite the same. In RL you may not wake at all and end up being the next subject for the AAIB. That's the biggest difference between sim and RL, "feel", sensation, even sound in a lot of cases. You don't have to be a RL Pilot to know this, or have flown the RL Commercial/Military simulator for the type in mind but I think it helps.

Shock of Shocks. Aircraft are difficult to fly. Who'd have thought it. I wondered why it was so expensive to get my license in real life. Who'd have though if I could do it in Wings of Prey and be a WWII Ace with little practice it wouldn't just be the same in real life (I haven't ever and never would play WoP BTW). Ok, real life mode back on. Bloody hell that was difficult, it took me an age to get my take off, circuits and landings right in a Tiger Moth. I wasn't much better in a modern tricycle undercarriage immediately. DCS is close, and I've flown a couple of near warbird like aircraft in real life (Harvard and Chipmunk) and a few jets plus a couple helicopters. The one thing every pilot here will tell you is this though. If you can do it here, even with the fidelity of DCS don't assume you can do it out here in the real world. Seat of the pants, real control forces, real cable/hydraulic/fly by wire controls, wind, atmospherics, rising air, descending air, turbulence, that pillock in the A109 ahead creating some nice turbulence as he hovers at the threshold whilst you turn final all make for an experience that wont ever be replicated fully, even in full motion flight simulators, the real feel of flying and the pleasure a good job of doing it gives one. if you think DCS isn't right buy some time on a real simulator (I've had a go at the BA 747, the RAF Harrier and Typhoon ones) and even they don't feel right. Simulation is always going to be that, no matter how good, its still a simulation. Anyone who say its not right, unless they have hours on the Mustang, doesn't know what they're talking about. Simple. Even the good ones amongst us (and I don't count myself in that group by the way) get bitten by an aircraft now and then as the guys did at Duxford. Those incident don't make you a bad pilot, they make you a better one and in his case had he slammed into the deck he wouldn't have hit "Fly Again" and been on the grass ready to roll again would he? In the end that's the real difference :) try spending $40 and the 1st time you crash it and scrap the aircraft, let alone kill yourself, see how you feel having to spend another $40 to fly another one :)

Its more game than simulator. Does that mean its not fun. Hell no its bloody good fun. You're not suppose to comment on it as a live Beta Tester but I would say this: If you fancy a change, fancy shooting down some aircraft without worrying about the flight model for the literal hundreds of aircraft being perfect and just want some fun then play this. If you want a simulation of what is possible (within the limits of classified data) fly DCS. If you want a great FM and WWI fly RoF, If you want a limited civvy sim fly FSX. If you want real FM, real wind, real atmospherics, real life come fly a real aircraft and see how you get on. I love comments on it doesn't stall like a P51D, it climbs like a homesick angel unrealistically blah de blah when not many of us here have flown a P51D. I've flown and flown in all sorts, some of them warbirds too and guess what, sims feel (and I mean feel) nothing like real life, even the ones that reckon they are "proper" sims cant get close to even flying a C172 in real life never mind a priceless warbird :) When you take into account that War Thunder doesn't claim to be a reference sim on one type, never mind the hundreds that are in it, you may find your perspective changes on what is a good "game".

As a Flight Sim fan I'm excited about this. Look at those graphics. That's live game-play by the way not pre-render. The whole thing about my this is better than your that really gets on my nerves. Why does everything have to have everything? I'll give you a for instance. because its cheap I fly an Ikarus C42 3 axis Microlight. Basically its a real aircraft other than it has 2 seats and some weight limitations. Now in the past I've flown in no particular order of preference Bulldog, Chipmunk, Tiger Moth, Tornado, Jaguar, Tucano, Harrier, Hunter, Hawk, C172, Nimrod, C130J, Sea King, Gazelle, Puma and Merlin. Now was any one better than the other, no of course not because they were all different. The Tornado was great low level and supersonic at medium to high level, the Jag and Hunter were steam driven and fun for that, the Tucano and Hawk were like sports cars, the Harrier was the coolest ride in the fleet especially in the hover, the 172 was a nice docile trainer, the Gazelle another sports car, the Puma and C130J's trucks and the Merlin great fun because it was brand spanking new. My favourite, well I didn't have one but It'd be difficult to separate the Tiger Moth and the Hunter as top of the list but again this is not because they had all the toys but they had totally different characters that both appealed to me. My point you ask? Well they all have a job to do and all do it different ways. None of the other Jets could hover like the Harrier, the Puma wasn't supersonic and the Jaguar would have been a crap trainer to learn on. Look at DCS, RoF, FSX and whatever else the same way and you'll never be disappointed. RoF reminds me of my Ikarus, back to seat of the pants flying, no toys, no computers and no fancy start/shutdown sequences but does the job its designed for (entertainment and in some ways preserving a way of flying now lost to most of us) brilliantly. You could do worse than learn the principles of flight in RoF before you move onto more advanced types, just like I did in real life. Encourage and embrace the differences, otherwise you'll soon be all moaning that there isn't enough variety in the land of Flight Simming :) It also means that as one advances the others will follow or find their particular niche, just like the real thing, development, differences, and technology advances drive progress and in the end benefit us all, but that's true in all forms of life isn't it :)

I play MMO's (SWTOR and World of Tanks) and also fly a lot of simulations (though DCS will be taking over a lot with all the new stuff coming). So it does attract SOME of that trade. SOME is the relevant word though, and I'm glad its so. Does everyone want the random, general gamers in on DCS? I don't think so. All of the MMO forums are spammed, full of kids who want what they want and not what the overall community wants and will just flame anyone who doesn't agree with their point of view. I'd rather DCS stayed as is, populated by more mature (in outlook, not necessarily age) players who are at heart Simulation lovers. Can you imagine the "Why do I always miss from 20 miles out using a Humvee 50 cal?" questions ED, and by association we via the forums, would have to put up with. I'd rather DCS stays as is. A reference Sim with a mature, educated audience. Anything less would drive away the DCS core audience I think. I don't see many MMO users who have the desire to play Star Trek Online in a home built switch filled Enterprise Bridge Pit do you ;) That's what sets Sim and other Game users apart. We see the reality of 100 switch actions to startup an A10C realistically the challenge, not the pretty explosions and thrill of the easy kill.

I get exactly the same. I run DCS World, select training and the game hangs at the loading screen. I have to do a Ctrl-Alt-Del and use Task Manager to close it. My system spec is in signature.

Thanks Mack. Nice to know its not just me. J.

Has anyone else noticed that if you use the throttle tension slider as a Zoom control that the view flickers slightly back and forth? Mine does and I wonder if this is a common trait. Its really annoying and I think I may need to find some other way to control zoom unless anyone knows of a fix.

Gunner, Sorry for the late reply,. lifes been a bit hectic. To rename the channel I did this: 1. Hit the remote Source Button, 2. Hit the remote Tools Button, 3. Select the input youre plugged into (I use HDMA1/DVI) using arrow keys, 4. Hit the Enter button on remote in the centre of the Arrow Keys, 5. Select Edit Name, hit Enter on the Remote again and select PC, 6. Job Done. Have a cuppa/beer/stiff drink. Hope this helps, J.

I sit much further way now, yet it still feels much bigger and a a result much better immersion. Maybe this is due to the fact that it much more life size than a 22". As the previous poster says 1080 is 1080. I was scared bigger pixel = worse picture. How wrong I was :-) J.

All, Well after much questions here and on an AV Forum or two I took the plunge. On Friday evening I bought a Samsung UE37D5000 37" LCD TV and its great. I was worried it would give me problems having tried an older HD Ready Plasma. Didnt have any. One good hint came from an AV Forum. People had experienced problems with scaling on screen when using the HDMI input. In Samsungs there is an ability to rename a channel, so renaming it to PC fixes it. You wouldnt expect that to work but it worked perfectly for me. Have done some RoF, SWTOR and A10c already and I can say its such a difference. Anyone planning or worried about doing the same I'd say go for it as long as you can ensure its a full HD 1080 TV and in my case I paid a bit extra to get a 100Hz model as I figured 50Hz was below the ability of my rig at this resolution.

Memphis, I can't talk for anyone else but: 1. My Warthog is old enough to be out of warranty, 2. My Pinky Switch jammed when I almost dropped it and it hit my desk, nothing else was damaged, not bad from a 1 metre drop, 3. I have never owned a piece of sim kit thats given me the imersion, pleasure or problem free operation that the Warthog has, and I've gone through the Cougar, an X52 and a G940 before I got to here. 4. In a previous job I flew real, living military helicopters. Switches, comms cabling, soundproofing and all sorts fell off and had to be repaired all the time. Thats basically €30,000,000 of hardware. A smidgen more than a €300 for bit of computer gaming gear. That's why we had very well paid, well trained aircraft engineers working near 24/7. I didn't have an engineer available anymore which is why I asked TM for the replacement parts for mine and did it myself. Make your own decisions if you want to pay, if you don't then you could buy a graphics card instead every year or so for the same price for what will probably be an extra 10fps that most of us cant even see. Your call.

I had the same issue with the Pinky switch. I described the fault, told them via email that I was soldering iron savvy and they sent me a new switch and its enclosure free. Mine was also purchased from Amazon, all I had to do was print my Amazon Order Info from my old orders and send it as proof of purchase. Try again, I found them very helpful. J.

Guys, Thanks. I will look for the equivalent machines in the UK. I was thinking 32 to 37 was good for me, but having some model numbers to chase is a real help. As an aside I use a Samsung UE40D7000 3D screen for TV use at home and I have tried that connected to my PC in game mode. Its 40" 3D and stunning. That said it was over £1000 and I cant see myself pushing to that for a PC Monitor. If I was allowed my pit in my living room well it'd be sorted wouldn't it ;) J.

All, Does anyone that's used or is using a large TV as a monitor have any do's and dont's as far as what to look for in a LCD or LED TV. I have scoured the internet and can't find any good guidance. I'd like to use it for A10C obviously and other Sims but also generally as a monitor for Windows and for general gaming. Thanks in advance. J.

Hi, Well its arrived today, 4 days after I managed to find my original receipt that was required as proof of purchase. very fast service I'd say and totally free (all I have to do is solder the wiring for it which is an easy job with a soldering iron and some cheap shrink wrap. In case anyone is wondering which switch manufacturer is used by Thrustmaster (I know some cockpit builders probably are) the pinky is this one: http://www.mhaoswitch.com/mhaoswitch.com/english/MS-102-F1.htm Rgds, J.