Bob1943

Thanks for the reply. I'll get one ordered & installed.

I am in the same situation, having been away from flight sims for 10-years. Just received my TM Warthog HOTAS and am making a few revisions to my old sim chair to best accommodate the new TM HOTAS. Yes, having the stick between you and the desktop keyboard is a location problem, but all the planes that I flew in the USAF had center sticks, so I like staying true to my old flying days. I too do not know how much keyboard/mouse usage is required to fly the modern jets (when using a HOTAS) in DCS. I have been thinking about adding a wood platform to the right side of my sim chair to set a wireless keyboard and mouse on. It would not be attached to my chair, so I could move it out of the way when not needed. Been doing some design sketches this afternoon. It I get something I like, I will post a picture.

I'm new to DCS, so still finding my way around. Is it possible to print out a picture of the HOTAS mapped buttons from any of the tabs in the DCS Options menus? Used to be able to do this with my old CH Control Manager software (no longer works in WIN10), so hoping that DCS had a similar capability.

Been toying with the idea of installing a ButtKicker system on the wood base of my flight sim chair. Both throttle and stick are also connected to the wood base (see attached picture). Obviously, the controls are going to get some of the vibrations, as well as the seat. Should there be any concern that the vibrations will weaken/damage solder connections, as well as any other electrical components, in the HOTAS controls? https://forums.eagle.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=226033&d=1580266579

Intel i7 7700, 32GB RAM, Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB, MSI Z390 Gaming Pro Carbon AC, Nvidia RTX 2070Super I flew the F-111, F-100, and A-37. Flew 165 combat missions in the F-100 in Vietnam in 1970, 612th TFS at Phan Rang AB. While I was flying the F-111 at Nellis AFB, I was able to get some backseat time in the F4 with the Fighter Weapons School instructors. Fun years.

Nice video. That would be so great if TM would make those with the video panels already installed. Would probably be a great money-maker.

Excellent pictures. Yes, that design would work. I'll have to see what a local shop will charge to cut a square piece of metal and just drill some holes in it for me. Thanks again.

So, you are saying that the buttons were already correctly mapped to the onscreen display, right out of the box, no manual button mapping needed? Wow! That sounds pretty slick, and, fun. Does each MFD just connect to a USB port?

That link is broken, says "An error occurred".

So, to be clear, when you push a button on the external TM MFD display, it will actuate the correspondingly assigned display button on the on-screen MFD display? I understand that you would have to map the buttons in a controller setup in say, DCS Control Settings. Yes, I don't know why TM, or someone else, does not sell these with the LCD display panel already built in. Seems like that would be a hot-selling item. I have seen some home-made setups like that on YouTube - very impressive, but beyond my skill set.

Yes, that is a good option. It looks like the 4 centered holes for the TM base are countersunk, so there would not be any protruding screw-heads under the plate that would prevent it from fitting flush on top of my plywood platform. Is that correct? Looks like I would be able to use the same original screws that fastened the stock TM plate to the stick. Opps: I just checked their shipping costs - 35.95 Euros to ship a 9.95 part! Might just go down to a local machine shop and pay them to cut a similar size piece of metal and drill the holes for me.

I have noticed that TM offers a 2-pack of MFD panels. I am curious as to how these panels interact with the MFDs that we see on our computer screen while flying a sim that uses MFDs. Specifically, if I push a certain button on the TM MFD, does that button push translate to the same button on the MFD on the computer monitor? In other words, will we see that button being depressed on the on-screen MFD display, with a corresponding change of the on-screen MFD display that correlates to that specific button. Is it like a clickable on-screen cockpit scenario, except that we are actually pushing a physical button on the TM MFD, instead of using our mouse to click the on-screen button?

Yep, that would be an option to consider. However, it would require drilling precisely located (and vertically aligned) holes through a 3/4" piece of plywood and finding some extended length screws to match the threading of the fastener holes in the stick base. One feature that I did like about the Monstertech plate was that the circular mounting slots do allow for some rotational adjustment of the stick to provide a personalized ergonomic feel. Guess I could cut slots in my existing wood base, but I am not a woodworker - would have to take it to a wood-working shop. Still waiting on delivery of the Warthog HOTAS, so once I get it I will have to do some experimenting with different layouts to see what might work best and be the easiest solution. Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

If I add a bass shaker transducer to the wood base frame of my flight sim chair (see photo in Post #1), the vibrations will be carried into both my throttle and joystick, since they are both bolted to the wood base frame. While this may be realistic in real life flying, I am wondering if the constant vibrations being transmitted into the HOTAS electronic components might eventually weaken some solder connections, or, somehow damage other electrical components? Any thoughts on this potential problem?

I thought I had read that folks using a 5.1 sound system on a motherboard integrated sound processor were having problems when they put a splitter cable on the subwoofer output to drive both the computer speakers and the transducer. Seems like the recommendation was to use a second sound card to isolate the SimShaker signal from the computer speakers that were being driven from the motherboard sound processor. Has that limitation been overcome, i.e., do we still need the second sound card?

The base that I will be mounting the stick to is a small wood platform connected to a vertical steel rod. See the picture link below to see how my current CH Fighterstick is attached. Since I use a center stick position for my sim chair, the stock TM base plate is too large to fit between my legs when sitting in the chair. My thought is to screw the Monstertech plate to the small wood platform for the CH stick (using the 2 screw holes on the rectangular extension of the Monstertech plate), so that the circular part of the new metal base (the part with the stick) would protrude beyond the wood platform. Picture is attached as to how this would look. https://forums.eagle.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=226033&d=1580266579

Excellent explanation. Thank you. One more question. It sounds like a second sound card is needed for the best operation of the software. Will the small USB sound cards (about $8 or $9) be sufficient to connect to the ButtKicker systems that include the transducer & power amp?

I am new to this kind of software. So, a couple of basic questions. Is the "SimShaker Sound Module" a requirement to make "SimShaker for Aviators" work properly? I don't understand how they interact. Also, will this software work if just connected to a subwoofer speaker instead of a ButtKicker transducer?

I need those circular slots on the new plate to match up to the screw holes on the bottom of the TM stick. I found this at monstertechusa.com (picture attached). I can use those 2 holes on the rectangular end to secure the plate to the wood platform that my current CH stick is mounted on. At little pricey at $37, but I don't think the Virpil unit will work like this one will.

I am about to order a TM Warthog HOTAS system today. However, the large base plate (10.71" x 9.13") for the stick is way too large to mount on my home-made sim chair setup. Does anyone know if there is a smaller base plate available for the stick?

I was wondering about that. I have a large subwoofer with my Boston Acoustics speaker system that plugs directly into my computer motherboard. How would I go about connecting a second subwoofer (under my chair) to the computer? I don't think there is another speaker input on the motherboard to connect to. Wouldn't the second subwoofer require a separate power amplifier?

I am thinking about installing a Buttkicker, or similar acoustic vibration device, under my flight sim chair. I have attached 2 pictures of my chair to show where it would go - inside the wood box that forms the base for the chair mount. Do you think this would work ok on a wood frame chair base? Do not know how well the wood will conduct the vibrations.

I contacted CH Products yesterday about a Windows 10 update for the Control Manager software. Here is their reply: "Hi Bob, No, we do not have any plans of releasing a patch for this legacy program. Please note the Control Manager is an optional program we offer, and it is not needed in order to use our products. this legacy program is not required to calibrate. We recommend calibrating within the Game Controller menu built into your Windows operating system. You can find this by searching your Windows Settings for “USB” and clicking Set up USB Game Controllers." So, the product manufacturer says we are good to go without using Control Manager software.

Thanks for the verification.

I currently have a CH stick, throttle & rudder pedals. If I buy the Warthog HOTAS, will the CH Pro Rudder pedals be able to work with the TM gear? Hoping to not have to buy a new set of pedals.