CyBerkut

I have been wondering about that as well. I'm hoping the fact that the wheel's arc of movement (I believe it is 270 degrees for the Saitek R660, but I haven't confirmed that) being geared down to the much smaller arc of movement of the pedals, will translate to enough mechanical advantage for the wheel motors to get the job done well. Keep in mind that the Trim/Auto-pilot 'authority' on the controls is supposed to be 20%. The trim isn't meant to hold against you straining for all you're worth. We do need to be concerned about the motors and mechanics holding up though, to be sure.

I'm thinking along the same lines for FFB rudders/anti-torque. I'm not going the Hi-Fidelity route that some of you folks are, but I do want to have FFB on the cyclic and pedals to get the trim function benefits. I have an old analog game port Thrustmaster RCS that I plan to use for the mechanical pedals, and I'm thinking of picking up a Saitek R660 FFB wheel to meld to that. I'll have to figure out the right ratio of gears / pulleys, and some way to mount it all in a useable manner.

That's a rather arbitrary line to draw. It can as easily be said: But if you want to play it as close to the real deal as is possible given the limitations of the software and hardware - mount the throttle to pivot up and down and then pull for increased collective. Hell, move the arbitrary bar a little higher, and insist that one must rig up a collective bar, (like Urze's collective mod). IMO, we'll do more to advance enjoyable participation by a wider audience if we recognize the things that are subjective, and refrain from equating an approach that differs from our own (on those subjective things) as equivalent to playing arcade mode (with the derogatory implication that acompanies that).

Not everyone. If you're pushing it forward and pulling back, as you would normally operate the X52 throttle for fixed wing operation, then it is really very subjective as to what is "best" for you. Like LoyalNine, when I have mine setup to pull back for more collective, I find it non-intuitive / unnatural. I agree with Zembla... if you are going to mount it so that the handle goes up and down instead, then by all means set it up to pull up for more collective. If you are staying with a forward and back motion, do whatever feels good to you!

I would say you should do whichever feels best to you.

Could be I was just including another quote from the same page as the quote above it. I suspect the lack of DirectX support for the secondary monitor would be a deal breaker any ways.

Interesting. I'd seen that before, and forgotten about it. I don't think it will serve our purposes with DCS:BS though... Excerpted from http://www.maxivista.com/docs3/09/sysreq.htm : " Hardware graphics acceleration such as DirectX or OpenGL is not supported on the Secondary Display as it would require the emulation of a graphics processor by your standard CPU which would not be favourable. " (also of note:) " Windows Vista x64 disallows to install software with unsigned drivers "for your safety". As MaxiVista drivers are not signed, it does not work under Windows Vista 64 Bit OS. "

Check this thread out: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=37311

Do a manual update within AVG's controls. If it gives you anything, do another manual update. Repeat until it doesn't give you any new updates. Once you've done that, you should be up to date on both the virus database, and the executable. (You may be already, but it is worth checking).

I'm using the latest AVG Free with the latest virus database update here, on Vista 64 bit. I just ran BS using Jesse's Affinity tool without a hitch. I would say it is worth making sure that you have AVG updated with the latest version of the AVG executable as well as the latest version of the virus database. (2 very different things).

Very nice! :thumbup: I thought for a moment that you were going to land facing the tail end of the train on that second landing. :joystick:

If you do a search in these forums, you may find some profiles that you can download from here. (Just make sure you are getting X52 Pro profiles, and not x52 profiles...). Also make sure they are .pro files, and not .dat (older SST version) files. One thing I found useful is that when defining commands in the profile, it is a good habit to name them the same way the game/simulation does. It doesn't matter functionally, but it makes it easier for you to come back months/years later and figure out what each thing does. Of course, if you make some custom macros, you'll need to come up with something descriptive. It will take some time to get up to speed on the SST software, but it is time and effort well spent.

The BS option screen list the commands, and which keystrokes activate them. If desired, you can change what keystroke(s) activate a particular command, but I would suggest refraining from that. The BS option screen also has a column for each additional controller, such as your Saitek X52 Pro. If you want to, you can specify X52 Pro buttons, etc. for various BS commands. When you do that, you do not have access to utilizing multiple modes for the buttons that are assigned in that manner. Alternatively, you can use the Saitek SST software to configure what key strokes will be sent by the buttons, etc. When you use the SST software in this manner, the buttons can have multiple assignments... one for each mode, and if desired, another one for each mode while "shifted" (usually by the pinkie switch). Basically, the SST software is making your X52 Pro's buttons, etc. look like a specialized keyboard to the game. In the SST software, you will be building up a list of game commands, and the corresponding keystrokes for a given profile. That can be very handy, as when you decide to move a game command (function) to a different button on your HOTAS, you just assign the command without having to reconstruct the corresponding keystrokes. Additionally, you can use a hybrid of both approaches. My recommendation is to assign the axis in the BS Option screen, and the buttons, hats, etc. in the Saitek SST software. If you do buttons, etc, in both places, make sure you aren't creating conflicts.

Are you using the SST software?

In mine, the left Alt and Ctrl keys just show as "Alt" and "Ctrl" respectively. The right counterparts show as "Right Alt" and "Right Ctrl".

Latest beta version is 6.6.1.15: http://www.saitekforum.com/showthread.php?t=16232 It didn't work right for me back when I tried it, so I went back to the latest release version 6.0.10.7. I have Right Alt and Right Ctrl key entries... http://www.saitek.com/uk/down/drivers.php

Roger the experimenting. What you have not yet said though, is if you have re-run the calibration of the stick. If you have not calibrated the stick, it's the next thing you should do before moving on to anything else. If you have a good calibration, the deadzones can be minimized. As for resetting the trim.... I highly recommend that you remove that from your flying repetiore. When you do a "trim reset", it resets it to the neutral trim configuration, which is designed keep the Black Shark from rolling forward while you are on the ground. What you want to do in flight is re-trim (adjust the trim) using the trim command. A search of the forums will yield more information on trim and trim reset... have a pot of coffee brewed, as there are a lot of posts available to read. :music_whistling: "Trim reset" is a creation of the programmers (apparently because there was a demand for it in Lock On)... it is not an actual function that exist in the real Black Shark. I'll leave the AP answers to someone who has a better handle on it.

The beta doesn't work right for everyone, so it depends on whether you can use it. I had to go 'back' to the release version. I'm using Vista 64, but I don't know if the trouble was related to that. For someone who likes to map a gazillion commands to their HOTAS, it would be worth trying. For someone who keeps things simpler, it might be less of a headache to just re-define the key strokes for any commands that they want to put on the HOTAS.... or just use Black Shark's built-in facilities. To each their own... :)

You should check the joystick's calibration if you haven't done that yet. You may not need those deadzones... As for the beta versions of SST, etc., check the Saitek forums. There is an announcement about the latest beta, plus a downlioad link. You may want it, but you also might decide it is better to avoid messing with it. Saitek addressed some issues that could be of interest to you for using Black Shark (ie. recognizing right and left modifiers like Ctrl, Alt & Shift as separate modifiers).

As tronso said, there is an axis selection on the pull down list. Once you are in there, it will probably be pretty obvious. Like tronso, the first thing I'd suspect on the cyclic issue is your X52's X & Y calibration. Get into the operating system's Control Panel, find the game controller / joystick settings and re-run the calibration routine in there. Which version of the SST software do you have? (The older one that makes .dat files, or the newer one that makes .pro files for the profiles) If you are on the newer SST software, are you running the release version, or one of the newer beta versions?

I believe that would be stationary relative to the ground. If you have a 5 K/Hr head wind, your chopper would need to fly at 5 K/Hr to stay over the same spot on the ground. Of course, if the wind isn't head on, then the math gets more complex. :)

I guess I'll stop saving up for that flight on Virgin Galactic... :P

Now girls... you're *all* pretty! :smartass:

Faced with that, I think my next step would be to get that sound card situation figured out. (Either get it working [preferable], or get it out). I'm not a multi-screen guru, but I have to wonder if bumping that 2 Gb of ram up to something higher might help. Hopefully someone else here can give you a more authoritative answer on that. Which Operating System are you running? (and 32 bit or 64 bit?)

I don't know. I'm not sure that I would want to go that route (all Vikhrs) in light of the reported laser problems/limitations...