Apologies for a hardware query

[mart]

Sorry to come back for one more query. I'm sure you've had enough of me already!

 

But, looking to (hopefully) the not too distant future the future , I was thinking of HOTAS set ups, and realise that things have changed. At one time, my eye would have gone straight to Saitek and be looking at an X-52 or x-52 Pro, but it seems things at Saitek have changed, and a very high proportion of people are expressing concerns about the quality control since they were taken over by another company.

 

Then, there seems to be a big jump to a Thrustmaster Hotas. I had a good look around and noticed that you could get a CH Fighterstick, for a reasonable amount, and i've experienced their quality in the past. Also, unlike many companies, you can buy the throttle separately and so bulld up. I know the CH throttle is really too big for me, but other companies don't seem to sell them separately.

 

So, in a nutshell, Saitek used to fine, but now seem to have quality issues, and after that the expense rockets, and the kit could be too large for a small hand.

 

I'm sure lots of people have faced this problem, and decision. But having been hiding away in a cave for so long, I don't have the perspective that most people on the board would have, about how these different factors should be considered.

 

Any advice would be really helpful.

 

Thanks (again)

 

Martin :)

[doveman]

I've seen the TM Warthog throttle for sale separately, on Amazon I think, so that's an option to consider.

[mart]

Thanks Doveman

 

Very kind of you to get back to me.

 

Since I made the post, I've continue to work hard at figuring things out. I finally concluded that I'd just have go for the controller that seems good for me, and buy it from Amazon. If it just doesn't suit me, or, in the case of Saitek, I get a duff one, I'll then have no problem replacing it ether for a different model, or the same model that actually works. That's one really good thing about them. I also began to notice on the forum, and on tutorial videos, that people have all sorts of different, weird, and wonderful setups. Just amazing. You lot are ingenious!

 

Also, on reflection, I can't just keep asking people questions without doing more myself to get out there and try things. We're all different, and I should get off my backside and do something to try them out.

 

But I really do appreciate you getting back to me. But I''m getting used to people on this forum being helpful.

 

Have a great day.

 

Martin :)

[mart]

I've been flying!

 

Hi

Since I last posted, Martin has been flying!!

 

I started a thread today, which I now can't find. So, I hope you don't mind if I put it here. I first got going this afternoon, with DCS installed on an external SSD Hard Drive. I set myself up for instant action, and then the game was frozen, with a completely still graphic of my plane in the air. I could look around with the mouse, but that was it.It was simply frozen, mid-air. I've discovered that the problem was down to something much simpler than my external hard drive, or the fact that I'm running on a Windows partition of my MacBook.

The cause of the problem was that I had my joystick (a Cyborg Evo) plugged into a powered USB hub. My computer is completely USB 3.0, and so is the hub, and it's cable. The hub's never caused me trouble before. But, in this case it clearly did, because the moment I plugged my joystick directly into a USB 3.0 on my computer, everything started working perfectly

 

If anyone has any thoughts on why that might be, I'd be grateful to here them. A Macbook 13" only has 2 USB ports, so your not going to be able to run a HOTAS unless it's simply a case of trying a different USB hub.

 

But thanks again for all your help. You've all been very kind. Oh - and was also pleased to say that my modest MacBook, with Intel integrated graphics, flew very smoothly with the graphics options near maximum. Couldn't believe it.

 

So, thanks again for all the encouragement. Seems I have my foot on the first rung of the ladder :)

 

All the best

 

Martin

[DarkFire]

Hmm, not sure why your Saitek didn't like working with a powered USB hub. The only think I can think of is that it might have been a driver issue of some sort, though not being that familiar with Macs I can't really help much further. I've had Saitek setups in the past and they've all been pretty reliable for a good few years of use.

 

Well done on getting in to the air! What are you flying at the moment? For an easier introduction I'd recommend either the F-15 or the Su-25T. Both are fairly tame, though the Su-25T can get fairly hairy at the edges of the flight envelope. The Su-27 is a great plane but can take a lot of getting used to it's peculiarities now that it has the professional flight model. It's very rewarding when you finally get used to it but it's nowhere near as easy as the Eagle. I can't comment on the A-10 as I've never devoted that much time to it.

[Mar]

I have no idea why plugging your stick directly into the computer worked the way it did, but you should know that the game will always be "frozen" or paused when you first load a mission in singleplayer. The briefing screen should show immediately with a fly button somewhere on the bottom that you can click to unpause the mission, or you can unpause with the pause|break key (if your keyboard has it) and close the breifing with Esc.

 

But if you already knew and did all that you can just ignore me. :)

[mart]

Hi Darkfire

 

Well, I was at this until about 2am but before I did, I ransacked my old cable and bits box. I read your post about 40 minutes ago and thought I'd test a theory before replying. The truth of it seems to be power. With my laptop, I have a mini USB Hub that can also be powered with a cable you can plug in, and power from a USB adapter. I had a very old USB hub that's powered via a huge brick, and my latest phone has more powerful USB charger than the old 1st generation iPhone charger I'd been using.

 

The joystick functions perfectly well now, both with my old monster, and my small hub if I use my new phones USB adapter. So the whole problem was simply about a small power margin. That'll be easily solve. GREAT!

 

I've been using the Su-25t, which came with the free DCS World download. But I'll probably get FC3 in time. I have FC 1.1 but I wouldn't get the benefits that DCS offers. I like the Frogfoot, but would like to give the A-10 a go. I'd also like to try the F-15.

 

I can't say I've really been "flying" yet as most of my time yesterday was about un-freezing the plane and getting a controller to work. But at least, in doing that, I've stopped being frightened of the program. So, along with realising my Macbook has hidden powers, I had a pretty good day.

 

Thanks for your continuing help, Darkfire. It really is appreciated.

 

Time for that strong coffee and a few minutes of smugness.

 

All the best. If I missed anything from your post, I'm sorry. I was trying to post and experiment at the same time :)

 

Martin

[mart]

Thanks Mar

 

I just replied to Dark fire. The problem turned it to be getting enough power to my joystick.

 

Thanks for getting back to me though :)

 

Martin

[Mar]

Glad you got it fixed. :)

[DarkFire]

Glad you got the stick working.

 

The Su-25T is one of my favourite planes that DCS offers at the moment. I suppose I'm a 'ground pounder' at heart rather than one of those flashy fighter types :lol: If I might offer a tip for flying the Su-25T it would be to only take what you need for a given mission. All those hard points are very tempting to fill up with weapons but when heavily loaded the thing has a fairly poor range and drinks fuel as if it was going out of fashion. Also be very wary near the edges of the flight envelope: at high angles of attack try to be very smooth with stick inputs. Because in reality and in the game the center of gravity is to the rear, if the aircraft departs from controlled flight it's unrecoverable 95% of the time. Until you're very used to its quirks try to keep your speed up (don't go below ~350 Kmh) at all times.

 

I would recommend FC3 as a great investment because of all the flyable aircraft it gives you. It's great value for money.

 

I understand completely about getting things set up properly: the more time you take to get things set up to your liking, the more time you can spend fighting the enemy instead of fighting your controls :)

[mart]

Hi Darkfire

 

I experienced some of the Su-25t properties you mentioned. But I enjoyed the "feel" of it, & also miraculously re-spawned! It's quite a long time ago that I played flight sims. I got Lockon Flaming Cliffs 1.1, but had to stop shortly afterwards. So, flying the Su-25t has, I guess, been my first time in a plane that feels quite different , and doesn't recover as easily as I'd been used to. I would play sims on and off as my son was growing up, and the only one that seemed less "tight", was , I think, Su-27 Flanker (?). Yes - I AM that old!

 

Anyway, I have Flaming Cliffs 1.1 which I never had the chance to explore properly. So, I thought I'd get it out, but then buy the latest F-15 as it's only $10, and use the money saved to get the A10-C. Not too sure yet. I think it could get a bit confusing if I had too many planes available, and I do confusion REALLY well!

 

Incidentally, from those days, I had a "TrackIR 3 Pro". Not as good as the TrackIr 5, but you still do get 6 DOF with the baseball hat band. I didn't get the opportunity to use it long, but I liked it. I know the TrackIR 5 has a much better viewing angle, smoothness etc, but do you think it would be OK for a while, until I can save up for the new version?

 

This is still a really nice forum. Very rare, sadly. I avoid them all except my fountain pen ones. Maybe they could mount a huge fountain pen on an A10, which could fire soft ink bottles labelled "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" :)

 

All the best, and thanks again

 

Martin

[mart]

PS. By coincidence, my son, Dave, is an Air Ambulance doctor. He spent 6 months winching into gorges in North Queensland, Australia, but is now at Addenbrookes, and managed to get a jammy and competitive extension to his registrar contract by an extra year, so that from August he'll be back on the helicopters, for exactly half his time, over the next two years. No winching though! He's only 5'6" but as adventurous as you'll find. He's amazing. Don't think they do Air Ambulance Black Shark's though! :)

 

Martin

[tintifaxl]

So, I thought I'd get it out, but then buy the latest F-15 as it's only $10, and use the money saved to get the A10-C.

 

Better skip the F-15 and get the A-10C at once. Put the saved money towards the fantastic qualification campaigns for the A-10C here: mapleflagmissions.ca

 

And take a look at the equally fantastic campaign for the A-10C here: http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=139279

[DarkFire]

Hi Darkfire

 

I experienced some of the Su-25t properties you mentioned. But I enjoyed the "feel" of it, & also miraculously re-spawned! It's quite a long time ago that I played flight sims. I got Lockon Flaming Cliffs 1.1, but had to stop shortly afterwards. So, flying the Su-25t has, I guess, been my first time in a plane that feels quite different , and doesn't recover as easily as I'd been used to. I would play sims on and off as my son was growing up, and the only one that seemed less "tight", was , I think, Su-27 Flanker (?). Yes - I AM that old!

 

Anyway, I have Flaming Cliffs 1.1 which I never had the chance to explore properly. So, I thought I'd get it out, but then buy the latest F-15 as it's only $10, and use the money saved to get the A10-C. Not too sure yet. I think it could get a bit confusing if I had too many planes available, and I do confusion REALLY well!

 

Incidentally, from those days, I had a "TrackIR 3 Pro". Not as good as the TrackIr 5, but you still do get 6 DOF with the baseball hat band. I didn't get the opportunity to use it long, but I liked it. I know the TrackIR 5 has a much better viewing angle, smoothness etc, but do you think it would be OK for a while, until I can save up for the new version?

 

This is still a really nice forum. Very rare, sadly. I avoid them all except my fountain pen ones. Maybe they could mount a huge fountain pen on an A10, which could fire soft ink bottles labelled "The Pen is Mightier than the Sword" :)

 

All the best, and thanks again

 

Martin

 

I know what you mean about the old Flanker! My first sim experience of the Su-27 was the old "Su-27 Squadron Commanders Edition" in about 1999... Great days...

 

The TrackIR 3 will almost certainly be absolutely fine. The experience of using it will take a bit of getting used to but when you're comfortable with how it behaves you'll never go back to using any other form of view control, it feels so natural.

[mart]

Ill let you know how I get on - slowly I expect :)

 

Martin

[Ironhand]

...

Incidentally, from those days, I had a "TrackIR 3 Pro". Not as good as the TrackIr 5, but you still do get 6 DOF with the baseball hat band. I didn't get the opportunity to use it long, but I liked it. I know the TrackIR 5 has a much better viewing angle, smoothness etc, but do you think it would be OK for a while, until I can save up for the new version?...

I still use TIR3 myself. Attached is the profile I use for Flaming Cliffs. It adds a bit of dead zone

to the YAW axis so it's easier to center your view in the cockpit and alters a few other sensitivities here and there as well. Give it a try, if you'd like. It goes in you TIR installation's "Profiles" folder. After that just select the profile in TIR's menu.

[mart]

Thanks Ironhand!

 

That is just amazingly helpful, and also very reassuring. Just can't thank you enough.

 

I'm in business. Great. I've popped on your site and was pleased to see it still there. :)

 

Incidentally I read that some of you use are using VAC, for voice control. I hadn't realised it was still used. I wrote the 1st VAC profile for Flaming Cliffs 1, which is in a separate archived "downloads" folder on the VAC site. It must have been fairly rubbish because someone wrote another, which I imagine is much better.

 

Funny how things change. Anyway, that was a long time ago.

 

Thanks so much for your advice and the profiles. You've also saved me 160 quid! GOOD man!

 

All the best

 

Martin

[Ironhand]

Thanks Ironhand!

 

That is just amazingly helpful, and also very reassuring. Just can't thank you enough.

 

I'm in business. Great. I've popped on your site and was pleased to see it still there. :)

 

...

 

Thanks so much for your advice and the profiles. You've also saved me 160 quid! GOOD man!

 

All the best

 

Martin

No problem. Glad to be of help. And it's always good to save your money. :)

 

I'm not updating the website anymore. With YouTube being so ubiquitous, I've simply created the Flankertraining.com YouTube channel instead. New material now gets posted there. Unfortunately new material comes more slowly than it used to.

 

Welcome back and take care.