Random Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 (edited) For christmas I bought myself a new stick. A Spitsim Edge Combat Stick. It's part of the Edge range from Spitsim. Significantly cheaper than the flagship Spitsim range but its still more than a Warthig with throttle. These are made to order and they are willing to accomodate special requests! For example my stick has been fitted with my old Logitech G940 head. They usually supply these with either a beautiful aluminium replica spitfire spade grip or with a B8 grip. I've tried both and the spitfire grip really adds a special something when you are flying a spit in FSX of Il2 Cliffs of Dover etc. Construction is all stainless steel and incredibly sturdy. The stick gimbal is supported on rose joints so can be replaced easily if they ever wear out. There are no potentiometers both X and Y axis are on Hall Effect sensors and have 12bit resolution, thats 4096 discrete steps compared to the 1024 of the Logitech G940. A Warthog does have it beaten here with 16bit resolution but honestly above 1024 steps you really cant tell the difference. The mechanism is covered and protected by a leather gaiter which is available in a variety of colours. It doesnt fully seal to the shaft but it will keep most of the dust out. The things that really set this stick apart from all the others I've tried are the length of the thing. About 16" or so! Curves are a thing of the past as its much MUCH closer to real life stick deflections. Of course this does mean you can't use the stick on a desk. Fortunately Spitsim also make a plinth to support the stick. Though I currently just have it screwed to an old stool. I will be building myself a proper simpit eventually. It also uses a unique springing arrangement. Its an obvious choice when you think about it, rubber! A Y shaped custom made rubber spring fixes to the bottom of the stick and to 3 posts on the base. Its slightly lighter loading pushing away than pulling towards you and roll is lighter than pitch but here's the game changer: there is no centre detent! It simply gets progressively heavier the further from centre you go! No more "bump" as you cross the centre, no over-controlling as you have to overcome the initial detent before anything moves. Just beautifully smooth control. It has a different feel to coil sprung sticks. More like the feeling you get in a real light aircraft with airflow providing the resistance. The Edge range is designed as a simpit package. Seat, stick, Plinth, Rudder Pedals and bar to link to the seat plus a throttle quadrant. For me this was just too expensive but its an excellent setup. All stainless and aluminium alloy with the rudder pedals again featuring rubber springing but no toe brakes. More details at http://www.spitsim.co.uk/ under "edge controls" Edited March 15, 2015 by Random
Rangi Posted March 15, 2015 Posted March 15, 2015 Wow that looks and sounds like a beast. I was wondering what you have done with the rest of your G940? I have fried the pcb on my G940 joystick and if you still have the pcb from yours lying around I would love to come to some sort of agreement for taking it off your hands. Pm me. I hope you enjoy your new best and thanks for the great write up. PC: 6600K @ 4.5 GHz, 12GB RAM, GTX 970, 32" 2K monitor.
Random Posted March 15, 2015 Author Posted March 15, 2015 Im currently using the G940 board for the stick head... 3 wires then vs 14 for the buttons etc. Much easier and neater.
aaron886 Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Beautiful. I have my own homemade stick but didn't think to try rubber in that configuration! How strong is the tension at maximum deflection?
Random Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 I could try and measure the resistance but its far greater than any other commercial stick I've tried. You could try a DIY rubber spring using silicone tubing...
NeilWillis Posted March 16, 2015 Posted March 16, 2015 Jeez they're pricey! I'd be interested to see a good in-depth review once you have a feel for it though Random. I've reached the point now where I'm looking for more precision, a better feel. The big question would be do you get value for the extra costs involved. The gaiter looks like it could be much improved.
Random Posted March 16, 2015 Author Posted March 16, 2015 I've gone through several sticks in the past 3 years... If I'd just gone with one of these straight away it would have worked out cheaper! I agree the gaiter is the only area I think could do with altering at the moment. However the loose fit does mean it wont snag anything. After I've been using it for a month or so I'll do an update. I'm having to re-train my myscle memory for the new control forces!
313_Nevo Posted March 17, 2015 Posted March 17, 2015 Nice one Random, but... this one is unbeatable ;) http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=134618
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