VIXEN413

Hey all, I wanted a good replica of oru beloved f/a 18 pair of throttles. Options are scarce so I had to come again to the old say that "you are only well served by yourself"... So, I ll build them. And carve them from a block of aluminium that I have lying around.... Doing this is not a big deal if you have a bit of équipement and skills. I ve been doing mechanics and crafting for a while as a hobby, so... I saw nothing that would not be possible. I took some plans that I found on the net, together with pictures and even a 3d photography scan that was posted here as well And, off we go... Plan is to mount it on my virpil CM2 throttle base and also to add the AB detent... Quite a program.... Did some plans and a 3d mockup with foam to validate them ans my angles. Some adjustments still required. For ex, the protective edge in front of the switches flares closer to the TDC unlike on my pic here, it's just because I still had the cardboard template in it...

Yeah, I made it work in the end going from safe to Gun is still a bit stiff but I can live with that. at least the button on the selector is functional. Still running strong after the mod .. As for the looks, well, it's quite a clean repair although it would be nice to be able to get the black plastic bell casing as a spare part to get it back to mint condition.... But the worn out look is fun to.... I opened all my Virpil stuff. Bases and throttle and always found great quality hardware in clean and well build fashion. I was very surprised by the difference I saw here in the build quality and internals. both stick halves are also glued together unlike other products, a lot of plastic shaffing inside and liberal use of hot glue compared to the chirurgical application I noticed on my CM2 throttle. SO I wonder if the VFX is not made by a sub contractor... Nonetheless, once I overcame all those issues, it's a fantastic piece of hardware and I love it the DLC wheel is fantastic, the selector has a look so typical of the tomcat and the trim china hat is very tactile and precise with center push. Really happy with it!! You see the filiation between this stick and previous technology so I fly f86 and mig 15 with that stick too. These were the days before a true hotas ergonomic concept... About your WArbrd bases, one of mine was trouble free from start. the second one came with the cable routing arranged in a different way. It looked to me that it could create issues so, and since I was changing for the stronger springs and cams, I also unplugged it and route it like in my other base. Full control washout shows no excessive bent or pinching but you might have a look at it before going any further with the base. Rerouting also got me back more slack in the cable so less stress. I m done with the over G in the tomcat thanks to that base with it's stiff spring and aero hard cams it's really a pleasure to fly... Enjoy

Hey all, just wondering if anybody knows where to get these 2 5-way switches who does it for Thrustmaster/ Guillemot? any place to get those? Thanks in advance, Best regards VIxen

I took appart my WarBRD multiple times to change cams, springs and whatnot... ANY thrustmaster stick works with the base. With or without the 2 screws, the base is fully functional. If you take the screws out, you have more then enough cable lenght inside so you are NOT going to create any issue to remove these screws. With screws, your stick is mountable in only 1 position Without screws, you can mount it with an angle. My f/a 18 is rotated 15deg left just like in the plane. Whe you screw the tightening nut of a thrustmaster stick to the base, the nut goes fully screwed but the male plug is not in firm contact with the stick metal piece soon top of the lid, you can glue a tiny elastic cut to lenght to match the circumference in order to shim it. Then, added friction and no more twisting....

Indeed. I posted some pics of mine during disassembly since I had to fix the button on the weapon selector switch due to a snapped wire. It's not that hard to fix. Tough if you are handy. I do flying models too so I had all the gear required to repair that electronic part... On the other hand (sic), about Jabbers review, Ergonomics is what it was on the f14. Not a virpil thing, better complain to Grumman I guess... Lol Trim hat is indeed fantastic. I don't see the point of his comment about the 8 way.... As when you trim, you trim only one axis at time in a plane so it's perfect as it is. Trim depress is set for me as a VR view recentrer. DLC button is good with a good feel and click. The ordonnance button and nws on the other hand are mushy as he mentioned. DLC wheel is fantastic to use I wish they had the exact same wheel on their throttle for antenna elevation just like in the hornet... Here DLC function works perfectly with the wheel. AP paddle... Well, for F14, you barrelly use this paddle/button if mapped like the jet. And if U need to use it, it's a function that you normally use while not in a critical time so changing your grip to activate it does not really matter... Been dogfighting and doing case 1 etc, never had to use this switch so... No issue for me. I installed this stick on a warbrd base with the 3 dot cams and heavy springs. For the time I fly without the extention. Quite stiff TBH but I fly smoother and avoid those over G way better like this. With the extention I use this combo for f86, mig 15 and fw190. Works like a charm! My dad flew the f84 in the air-force and besides of the weapon selector switch, he feels at home with this grip... Quite happy with that setup....

Right, guys Having a great time on the jdf multi the last few days! Due to Corona situation, we see a lot of players constantly logged in, quite a blast! I m fully proficient with the hornet and enjoy every aspect of it's ACM abilities and I have no issue with IFF and target I'd... But, 2 weeks ago, I got myself the Tomcat as a present. It's an amazing machine, really BUT a loooot harder to get your SA right. And Jester is sometimes creating more confusion in the great furballs we see there. If I lock a friendelly, he usually tels me when we are a bit further but in close, iff is good to nothing... I m still learning it.. SO, to make it short, MY APOLOGIES FOR THE FRIENDLY KILLS! Got me kicked out of the room all right but still, sorry. Hope to come back soon BR Vixe

Awesome, thanks for the help!

Just saw the noobifier video about the Cm2 throttle. It looks awesome but some shots of the internals revived an idea I have and this throttle looks like it can make it possible. The inside looks so clean and well constructed. And made of different boards wired together.. Great construction Got me the idea to disassemble it and rearrange the buttons and switches on a new chassis of my liking. I also want to 3d print some f18 throttles and get the hardware in. So, before I buy this hotas, does anybody have more pics of the internals? Thanks

Mine toooo That is niiiiice Will kick-start...

Hey guys, Quick follow up on my previous post (already 2-3 pages away...) I m now powering the Reverb trough an outside powered USB 3.0 No major difference in game. With SS at 198, I still get the jiggies but loading screen is much less flickering. So indeed, it must do some good. Together with this USB port, I got myseld à new PSU. 850w Iso 620w.with my rig and the OC in mind, I thi k it was somewhat needed. With my setup, the power calculator tels me I need at least 640w so... Will see once installed. Also will try again the curve thing in Afterburner. This one was telling me that I had indeed a lack of power. Testing testing...

Hey guys So, I ve also been playing with the steam settings a bit. Through the Last 3 months I m running my reverb, I ve always left SS at 200%. It always showed the same res then and now with same quantifiable performance on hmd. With that and the other settings I m using, I have great cockpit visuals but some ghosting and micro stuttering. I Tought it was the price to pay to get the performance I wanted and liked. But like always, there is place for improvement and reading what You guys were talking about, I gave a shot at tweeking perfos again. I m running DCS at PD 1.0 and leave it there for the testing. I tried different SS settings in Steam, 100,150,168,178,198(initial setting) I just use the Caucasus map as trees are a great performance drain. Shadows are set at medium also. 198% 3100x3030pix(initial) great pit quality, but ghosting of objects if they are moving fast in the visual (like merging with A/C or looking at ground sideways while rolling at low alt) Rolling over wooden hills (at very low alt and looking out) dips fps to 35 and image is slightly jaggy. Now, going down with SS, I settled on 168% ~2800x2780pix. Honestly, I can't see any difference in the pit then when at 198. Same great pit clarity and sharpness. But outside, passing by trees is sooooi much better. No more jaggies. Rolling tree tops over same wooden hills gets me to 40fps. An d overall, I keep a higher fps rate at low alt over objects and trees. Going more down with SS, at 100%, I reach native resolution. And although it's smooth and gets me another perfo boost, the pit quality suffers and is missing sharpness. So I join the crowd by saying that I m great at 150 and above but no need more then 200 for sure. Now, other question but maybe I m missing a point but still, here it is: SS is applied by steam for rendering so it s a gpu resource. PD in DCS is outputted from the cpu so I guess it s before rendering. Right now my gpu is running strong while my cpu is having a walk in a park So my question is what good would that do. To lower SS and add some PD. What s the pros and cons of having SS 198(or 168)& PD 1.0 versus SS 150&PD 1.2 vs SS100&PD 1.4 This week, I ll also need to get a powered usb hub for all the benefits described above. Will give it a try. BR guys Blue side up!

Bumping up Was doing some testings today. Ended up with stroke_thickness = 0.5 stroke_fuzziness = 0.3 Using HP Reverb VR headset with SS at 200% This setting is still a bit thick but can adjust with the brightness know to desired level. Awesome.... BR

Have this issue also on some MP with air spawn. At spawn in, I select aim9 (only ordonnance on pylons anyway) and the radar pop up on right ddi with PDI mode on. I need to cycle to guns then back to aim9 to get out of it. Does not happen everytime but quite often indeed. In SP, there is no issue.

Motion reprojection gives me some micro stuttering on my rig. So I have to live with a bit og ghosting. So I came across another possible tweek. Did U guys edited the register file to disable full screen optimisation? Seems to give a bump up to your fps since it s one process less in the way from Windows. If I can gain from this, maybe I would be able to use reprojection to get rid of that ghosting. Or even use msaa 2x who knows... Any info on that? BR

Thanks all for answers and a happy new year! Well, Indeed I went water cooling and got rid of the fan that was with the cpu cooler but somehow, I gained ventilation by adding the 2 extraction fans attached to the radiator that are blowing air via the top openings. Still have 1 extraction fan at the back and 1 sucker fan at the front The idea is that I was wondering if it was a good idea to add some cooling to the M2 memory. As I found some old Zalman heatskin, I was wondering if that will do any good. Thanks again

Hey all, In MP, at spawn in, there are imes my radar sees nothing. Until I notice it is stuck in Pulse doppler illuminator. Itcomes back to prf if I switch from a weapon to another. I barrelly never pack any sparrow so I don't see why it should even go in PDI to start with... Can't provide track for now, will try to add later

Hey all, Just recently updated to watercooling of my cpu to get rid of that big chunky fan and heat exchanger. Now the case looks empty and aerated but the nearby M2 drive does not get as much air running around as it used to since that fan is gone. I did found some little zalmann heat skins made for RAM and was wondering if it would help my M2 sdd to stick them on top, keep them cool.... What s your idea? BR

Funny, If I activate reprojection, I got all the jaggies and micro stuttering possible. Leaving it off gives me a smooth ride. Price to pay is some ghosting of course when abeam some other planes. It shows of course during dogfight and I still need to find a way to get rid of this. It might get better with updates (WMR, steam...) in time and with new future vid cards. Who knows... So I just enjoy the smooth ride and the amazing cockpit quality offered by the Reverb and learn to live with a bit of ghosting...

Indeed it s very noticeable in MP. In SP, the pioper works great. It s like that since mid November. Hope they find a fix for this...

Just played on it an hour or so. Theory confirmed. Nobody in jf17. And dl off. All was good. Great fight everyone! Lots of fun

hey there, I had some free time today and will again later in the afternoon so, and because I m a stubborn person, Tried my luck again on the JDF server. Ended up doing some 1V1 against "angry farmer" and had great time. Sorry if I didn't answered you in chat, I have a hard time with the keyboard in VR... It was just a testing morning and I narrowed down the instability issues to be linked with D/L. air spawn slots start with DL ON and it crashes to desktop after a bit. if I turn DL off straight away when spawning in, no more crashes. That's also the same side if I boot on the CV, the DL is not on so no crashes. this DL problem came up after the introduction of JF17. something related to that module is not right DL wise i think. Also, the f18 slots with 9X are screwed. When I launch a 9X, i m stuck and can't launch any other sidewinder. switching to 9M and I can shoot them again. When the first one leaves, I see it leaving the plane with about 20kts more then my jet only. try slow. Useless... Dunno what hinders it. So if I take a slot with 9M only on the F18, it works alright.. but then I need to quickly reconfig my radar as it spawns in PDI and sees nothing unless I cycle trough weapons to get back on PRF... I m only on stable DCS but I feel like beta user on this room... Ah well, ads some fun I guess....

Did a few tests on busy servers I could find last night. Got on GrowlingS and did a few spawn in. Anytime I hit the D/L switch I just crash back to desktop. Either in flight or still on gnd. Even with just Ext power, click that little button and crash. Had some crash as well in the JDF server (fury ball) now, if I spawn in, I check and turn off DL imediatelly and I can stay in. If I don't do that, I just crash to desktop again after few secs.... Clearelly something wrong with DL... I m running stable build BTW...

Same behaviour on my rig. I also have the strong feeling these crash are jf 17 related...

Hey all! This server really became a pain in the butt for stability. I still try my luck but for whatever reason, the room crashes my DCS. Don't have that on other rooms right now... While I managed to stay in for more then 10', I got shot down by Jf17 using an aim54 mk47.... I loved this room but really, we need to leave mods off except for the skins....

Great few post Notso, Thanks for the intel... Makes total sense :)