No advantage to mapping both throttles to axises during emergencies?

[ChrisIhao]

Basically what the title says. I know that most people think that there is no point in using dual throttle axises, after researching this a bit, but I somehow feel that this perhaps would give some extra immersion as they ARE axises in real life, aren't they? I also think that being able to quickly reduce the throttle on one motor if its damaged while increasing the rpm on the other in some rare cases may be advantageous (not having to cut the damaged one completely), or do I miss the spot completely? A tactile control that feels somewhat like the real thing is always preferable as well, compared to pressing page up and down, and then the stopper before reaching emergency levels would actually have a function. I will use the Saitek Quadrant for this purpose. It seems like few, if any, use axises for these controls.

 

Just interested in getting some feedback from you guys on these thoughts. Cheers!

[Reksi-Erkki]

I'm using the Saitek quadrant with a printed color bar to show the approximate positions for the throttles.

 

I don't need them often, but when I do it has to be quick...

 

The controller axes are linear, and the measurements for the color areas are (in millimeters, from blue to red) 20, 20, 30 and 45 - the stripe is 17 mm wide. Those are Powerpoint measurements, but probably rather close to real ones.

 

I tried to create a custom curve, but the problem was that the in-game throttles don't move smoothly - they have predefined stops and the movement needed between them is rather short.

 

The red handle is for wheel brakes.

 

[ChrisIhao]

I'm using the Saitek quadrant with a printed color bar to show the approximate positions for the throttles.

 

I don't need them often, but when I do it has to be quick...

 

Cool Reksi! Exactly what I wanted. I also thought of the need to do things quickly when using HOTAS the single most useful festure of this type of setup. You got that Powerpoint document readily available mate? Looks awesome. I will have to print out and laminate at work this weekend to get colours, so that would be awesome. I got the wheel brake mapped to my CH pedals, but I will map that stick as a parking brake if its possible to do it with the saitek software. Would be a breeze in the CH controller software... Thanks a bunch man.

[Reksi-Erkki]

Here's a PDF, some keycap stickers included For Your Convenience :)

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28363421/www_photos/Ka-50%20keycaps.pdf

 

I have a Rapoo E9070 wireless keyboard for the most important keys, and some not so important fit in nicely as well. They're mapped behind a modifier.

 

Using the PVI-800 and the data link keys is pretty easy with this setup.

[ChrisIhao]

Here's a PDF, some keycap stickers included For Your Convenience :)

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/28363421/www_photos/Ka-50%20keycaps.pdf

 

I have a Rapoo E9070 wireless keyboard for the most important keys, and some not so important fit in nicely as well. They're mapped behind a modifier.

 

Using the PVI-800 and the data link keys is pretty easy with this setup.

 

Thanks man! I have compressed and edited the PVI, the data link and also the Abris buttons into a single screen on my Ipad, using an existing Touchcontrol profile, and it works really great. No latency and really practical as I am a "keep it simple stupid" kind of guy. I also kept the flares layout on its own screen for quick setup and activation. I will probably share the profile one of these days, but I'm considering adding a few more features first.

 

Anyways, looking forward to downloading your profile and printing it out. I've grown really fond of velcro for modular designs these days, so I will probably use a laminated version fastened with this.

 

Thanks again mate! :thumbup:

Edited January 14, 2015 by ChrisIhao

[Yurgon]

When I read the thread's title, I was all ready to jump in and tell you that it's totally not necessary to map these axes to a controller, but as long as you've already mapped the collective stick and still have two (or more) axes to spare, that's a pretty cool and creative way to use them. :thumbup:

 

Now I'm almost envious of those that have the throttle quadrant sitting on their desk as a supplement. :smilewink:

[ChrisIhao]

When I read the thread's title, I was all ready to jump in and tell you that it's totally not necessary to map these axes to a controller, but as long as you've already mapped the collective stick and still have two (or more) axes to spare, that's a pretty cool and creative way to use them. :thumbup:

 

Now I'm almost envious of those that have the throttle quadrant sitting on their desk as a supplement. :smilewink:

 

Hehe. Thats an interesting turn of events mate. The Quadrant isnt expensive you know... ;)

 

Oh, and you can link (connect) several of them together if needed in other sims.

[Home Fries]

I mapped both throttles together to my range knob on my Cougar (see the linked profile in my signature). The center detent is where the "auto" portion of the throttle axis lies, so this is perfect.

[ChrisIhao]

I mapped both throttles together to my range knob on my Cougar (see the linked profile in my signature). The center detent is where the "auto" portion of the throttle axis lies, so this is perfect.

 

That is a nice coincidence indeed. :)

[Yurgon]

Hehe. Thats an interesting turn of events mate. The Quadrant isnt expensive you know... ;)

 

I did peek at it when I posted yesterday. But to be honest, the problem is not the price, it's that the desk is already cluttered with flight sim gear and I don't even currently fly the Black Shark. But maybe I'll think about it if I get back to it. :thumbup:

[thdman1511]

ChrisIhao, I didnt realise it was possible to use your ipad in DCS World, how is that possible.

[ChrisIhao]

ChrisIhao, I didnt realise it was possible to use your ipad in DCS World, how is that possible.

 

Oh. Sorry mate. I didnt see you post here. Didnt know I had to manually enable the notifications.

 

Anyhow, there are two primary apps as far as I have seen. There is the DCS Icontrol one, which is exclusively made for the A-10c Warthog, and Touchcontrol which has a few user made templates for DCS games online, but is basically a customizable screen where you can add buttons that sends keystrokes. These work by running a server on your pc which sends information to the Ipad apps, and this basically is configured automatically.

 

If you put a lot of work in it, you can create really complicated profiles, but for now I personally just make simple profiles so I wont have to lean forward to my keyboard when sitting back with my hotas. I also use an Ipad stand with a swan neck, so I have it in a comfortable distance by my throttle hand. Here is an example of a simple profile for the su-25's, which I will add features to if I feel like I need more (most functions are already mapped on my CH hotas):

 

 

You can do screen grabs from both DCS Icontrol and Touchcontrol, so that you can import mfd's and in-cockpit displays to the apps on the Ipad. This works best with Icontrol, as the refresh rate is really good, but as I get really bad performance when running windowed fullscreen compared to normal fullscreen, I vouch to not use these functions. Even DCS Icontrol is practical even when not using this feature, as in particular the mfd buttons are hard to use efficiently by using mouse or keyboard. You also get a few things sent from the A-10c, like the present radio channels etc, which is a nice bonus.

 

You can look for a few profiles for Touchcontrol online, although most of them need some fixing to work properly. I am offering you a link here to an edited KA-50 profile, originally made by jib on these forums, where I have removed a few features (that were buggy), fixed a few things and compressed the Datalink, PVI and some abris buttons at the bottom to a single page. It also has a countermeasure page I left in there, which is practical to have. I have also included the su-25 profile pictured above in this post, in case you want to see how I did that. The way it works is that you have "locations", which basically are profiles, while "activities" are pages that house "devices" that you can use across both locations and activities.

 

You will have to experiment a bit though, and you will probably need some time before you understand how it works, but just send me a pm if you get stuck, and I'll see if I can help you out.

 

PS: Touchcontrol can also be used for a bucketload of other things, for instance creating macros etc. for other games or programs, so I can highly recommend this app in general.

 

I did peek at it when I posted yesterday. But to be honest, the problem is not the price, it's that the desk is already cluttered with flight sim gear and I don't even currently fly the Black Shark. But maybe I'll think about it if I get back to it. :thumbup:

 

Hehe. I can see that. To be honest, before moving in a few months I dont really have much space for this myself, so I decided to wait a bit until I'm finished moving until setting up this.

Edited January 25, 2015 by ChrisIhao