BRD Type N stick.

[FeistyLemur]

Well, It's time to say goodbye to the Warthog, as I was fortunate to get my hands on a BRD type N from the November batch. If you're unfamiliar BRD is the company of Roman Dorokhov, aka Baur. There was another thread about his rudder pedals on here. Roman is based in Sochi, and makes some very incredibly well made hardware. Some pictures of the new mount I made up today which I got the idea for from the simHQ forum.

 

The slot behind the stick is for the wheel of the chair to lock in, The stick and pedals are both mounted on Velcro, which might not be for everyone, but they could always be screwed down. And I like them removable.

 

Chair locked in place. This makes for a really stable and comfortable setup.

 

 

On to the mini review of the stick itself, it's incredible. The quality of Romans work is fantastic. He uses heavy, quality steel for everything. The stick itself weighs over 20 pounds. Motion is based on cams, with an option of either no center bump whatsoever, or a second set of cams with slightly more centering. I have only tried the free moving cams and I love it. Spring tension is very adjustable with many options. Roman sent it on the lowest possible tension level which is extremely free moving, barely has any resistance, but you can crank it up to very heavy resistance with the supplied extra springs, or place them on different slots on the cams for different resistance. Higher on the cam for rising tension with movement, or lower on the cam for more linear resistance. Much like the Crosswind pedals. I could never deal with the grungy hard centering Warthog base again I'm afraid after using this. The feel is just unbelievable. If you want to make super fine adjustments on the stick it's no problem. Just playing around ground strafing with cannons is so precise. You don't even have to trim flying the KA50, just hold the stick where it's supposed to be held, and the super low resistance setting works great for choppers.

 

The downsides, of course being a floor model might not be for everyone, there is a lot of throw given the size of the stick, and it's very heavy. But Roman does make desktop models as well which also look incredible and have cam based motion. Also, you need to think of a solution for a grip if you don't already have one. I'm using it with the WH grip which works 100%. But the Cobra M5 also can be used with a different setup. And I believe Roman also has KG13 grips available but I'm not 100% certain on that, and of course it does add to the cost. The main calibration software for the board is all in Russian so some extra work is required for English only speakers, and Roman as well, only speaks Russian. But he does a really good job communicating with Google Translate.

 

I can definitely recommend dealing with Roman 100%. He always replies right away to communication, and does really well figuring out English with a translator. And of course he makes really incredible stuff of the highest quality.

 

You can see more on the stuff he makes in great detail on his Russian development forum.

http://avia-sim.ru/forum/viewforum.php?f=34

 

As well here are some of his topics on the English forums.

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/24303-new-pedals-brd-f3/

http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3774820/Baur%60s_KG13_Grip#Post3774820

http://forum.il2sturmovik.com/topic/4324-baurs-kg-13-grip/

 

If you are interested in any of his stuff, you can send him an email at brd-2014@inbox.ru and he will let you know what he has available or when he's working on more. The process is as easy as telling him "I want one" and he puts you on his list for his next batch. I know it can seem nerve wracking to wire a bunch of money to a stranger over Western Union. But if you look over the forums you can see he deals with a lot of people (mostly in the Russian IL2 community) who all speak highly of his work. And I can definitely vouch for the quality of his work and trustworthiness in dealing with. Great experience all around and the shipping was surprisingly very fast. The Russian post puts Canada post to shame in tracking accuracy for international orders.

Edited January 15, 2017 by FeistyLemur

[Barefoot Bandit]

Wow, very nice looking bit of kit. I've just ordered a set of the pedals, and am really looking forward to giving them a run, I really, really like the look of his work, and I've only heard excellent words things about his gear to date.

 

My personal experience has been excellent, he responds promptly, and even lets you know if he will be away form an internet connection for any period of time. Flawless customer service!

 

 

Quite an ingenues set up for your pilot chair, by the way...

Z...

Edited January 15, 2017 by Barefoot Bandit

[RAZBAM_ELMO]

Since you're in Canada. How many moose dollars did it cost you? Minus the grip and such?

 

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk

[vitabutch]

Quite an ingenues set up for your pilot chair, by the way...

Z...

 

Hi, one more idea to be used for the gaming chair setup. My mount puts N1 a bit closer to the seat since I have different chair design. I am using VR for flying, so office chair helps me to see the back of the plane by rotation of the chair. I made a bit more heavy mounts and the pictures should be self explanatory. Now its winter so parts are not painted and made quite rough. I will make it more sexy looking by the summer time. Both N1 and pedals are from Baur. Btw I sent my modifcation to Baur and he might come up with "factory" adjustable setup coming with N1 as an option.

 

One more comment - I desided to use MMjoy as a controller. Baur ships his own, its preconfigured and have nice looking PCB's and wires. My home made PCBs and wiring should be considered as skunk work prototype :)

Edited January 15, 2017 by vitabutch

[Krysnic]

My devices, joystick BRD-N(v.4) and Restyling BRD-F2 rudder pedals.

[Pikey]

Yep watched this guy for a while now and there's no bad things being said it looks like the best consumer stick manufacturer there is. As with others of this type, they do short orders and up front with longer lead times. That's the only price you pay for having this kind of great product and it's well worth it, his name is becoming one of the best in the business. I have a friend that swears by his products.

[Barefoot Bandit]

Some very nice stuff. I'm looking forward to my own set of BRD pedals! My build will be a cockpit in a coffee table design, hopefully... As space here is quite limited, everything needs 3 reasons to exist, or it is wasting space! the joys of SE Asia life!

 

I'm still working out if I will try and modify an office chair, or somehow work with wood and padding for the seat. we'll see...

 

Looking at other peoples cockpits gives me ideas...

 

Z...

[Lausbub78]

I'm using the "small brother" of the BRD-N, the BRD-DS since May 2016. It is an incredible piece of Hardware. I've considered to maybe get the BRD-N at a later point.

[FeistyLemur]

A note on the design of the chair lock in, It was not my idea so I can't take credit. I found a video on another forum suggesting it. I love it though, much more solid lock up than what I had going before with the wheelstand and a strap, because it pins it down to the floor and nothing can move.

 

One thing though is the extra throw of the stick, does create more difficulties for me with the keyboard. And I haven't been able to think up something that's easy enough for me to build yet that would solve the issue of being able to keep the stick in place and switch back to regular PC use without hauling the stick out of the way. The DX racer chair I have has an incredibly solid arm mount to a steel base so it would be possible to rig some kind of Obutto like keyboard tray to it. If such a thing existed, I don't weld and making it out of wood would suck.

 

The obutto revolution is on my want list but the Canadian dollar tax all considered, plus shipping, plus accessories puts the revolution at pretty much a $1800 purchase in Canada, so I haven't been able to talk myself into it.

 

As for the question of price, Roman seems to have what I've seen referred to as "top secret" pricing. Which I assume is because he changes the design frequently and does not know the cost of the next batch till he gets it all done. So out of courtesy to him and not being totally sure why he does it that way, I won't say the price. Suffice to say I did not find it unreasonable in comparison to other products, and given the design quality. The "Canada Tax" hit on the price which was in US dollars was definitely pretty nasty, but such is life in Canada. He also does not ask for deposits, so there's nothing to stop you from saying too much no thanks I guess. I'm sure his batches sell out with ease anyway. But I do not regret the money spent at all. This stick will outlive me. If the KV1 tank was a joystick it would be this.

Edited January 15, 2017 by FeistyLemur

[vitabutch]

But be ready to spend A LOT of time assembling nuts and bolts. I had 3 devices from Roman. Each of them took approximately a day to assemble.

[rrohde]

Totally love Baur's stuff, even though I only have his awesome BRD MS3 Rudder Pedals at this time. All made from metal, super sturdy, super smooth.

 

And, as mentioned above, he responds really quickly and makes sure you're a happy customer. You can buy with confidence from him! :thumbup:

[rrohde]

But be ready to spend A LOT of time assembling nuts and bolts. I had 3 devices from Roman. Each of them took approximately a day to assemble.

 

For international customers he ships pre-assembled devices. :)

[rrohde]

 

The obutto revolution is on my want list but the Canadian dollar tax all considered, plus shipping, plus accessories puts the revolution at pretty much a $1800 purchase in Canada, so I haven't been able to talk myself into it.

 

 

I have an Obutto Ozone, and I would no longer recommend it for various reasons. I am looking at replacing it with a MonsterTech rig (https://www.monstertech.de/en/product-category/sim-rigs/). Just a heads-up.

 

The only downside is that you will have to get the seat itself from somewhere else, as MonsterTech does not include one... (at least for now).

[FeistyLemur]

I have an Obutto Ozone, and I would no longer recommend it for various reasons. I am looking at replacing it with a MonsterTech rig (https://www.monstertech.de/en/product-category/sim-rigs/). Just a heads-up.

 

The only downside is that you will have to get the seat itself from somewhere else, as MonsterTech does not include one... (at least for now).

 

Germans sure do love their aluminum open beam construction.

 

I just noticed that the Obutto keyboard tray for the revolution is sold separately for a much more reasonable 99 dollars, with minimal effort a bracket could be made to mount it to a DX racer chair arm base, so I am now thinking that idea over.

[rrohde]

Germans sure do love their aluminum open beam construction.

 

Beats the rusty round steel tubing of the Obutto... ;)

[*Rage*]

Does he have a website?

[Harle]

Does he have a website?

 

Nope. Only his forum and e-mail mentioned in the OP post.

[*Rage*]

The more I read about the BRD-N the more I want it:)

 

Any comparison to the VKB gimballs?

[Harle]

The more I read about the BRD-N the more I want it:)

 

Any comparison to the VKB gimballs?

 

I haven't tried VKB cam gimbal with an extention. Even if I did it would no longer be relevant, cause they are about to start producing their Gunfighter with a new revised gimbal.

But if had to compare my VKB Mamba and BRD floor mounted gimbal (with TM Warthog grip), I'd wanna note that BRD has a much more solid feel to it (makes sense looking at the size of it :D). Produces awesome smooth and juicy tension. Makes you wanna grab and move it in circles.

Mamba sure cannot provide such enjoyable tactile feel. It's pros being software that allows for a high degree of setting flexibility and small size.

However, lately, I found myself using Mamba most of the time because it's easier to take off the shelf and start playing.

[SinusoidDelta]

I haven't tried VKB cam gimbal with an extention. Even if I did it would no longer be relevant, cause they are about to start producing their Gunfighter with a new revised gimbal.

But if had to compare my VKB Mamba and BRD floor mounted gimbal (with TM Warthog grip), I'd wanna note that BRD has a much more solid feel to it (makes sense looking at the size of it :D). Produces awesome smooth and juicy tension. Makes you wanna grab and move it in circles.

Mamba sure cannot provide such enjoyable tactile feel. It's pros being software that allows for a high degree of setting flexibility and small size.

However, lately, I found myself using Mamba most of the time because it's easier to take off the shelf and start playing.

 

The BRD stick looks like an awesome product. Are there any photos of the BRD gimbal mechanism?

[Krysnic]

The BRD stick looks like an awesome product. Are there any photos of the BRD gimbal mechanism?

 

You can have a look at photos and instructions on the forum, BRD-N build instruction.

[FeistyLemur]

You can have a look at photos and instructions on the forum, BRD-N build instruction.

 

Seeing the mechanism in motion is quite impressive. Everything is huge, durable and solidly assembled. The double cams are really nice and smooth, and everything looks like it's going to last a long long time.

 

I really like the configurability of the cams. I've settled on using the soft springs on the highest mount point on the cam. This provides an increasing resistance curve as you move the stick. It's very soft in the center and as you approach the edges the tension grows. I like this a lot, because it lets you develop a muscle memory for where the stick belongs when maneuvering the aircraft.

 

The one thing that did worry me at first is the controller it comes with has 2048 positions, which does not seem like much compared to the 65536 position resolution the WH has. Or even the 4096 positions of the MFG crosswinds. But it feels more precise even at 2048 positions than the WH does in game. Of course modification is completely possible if you're so inclined and wish to put different electronics in. The most important part is the mechanics are incredible, and great for anyone who might be interested in modding, because it's a very straightforward design with tons of room to work with. I have seen people criticize the WH as having a ridiculous resolution that the mechanics of the stick can in no way even make use of though. And I have definitely not felt that there are any shortcomings in precision with the controller in the BRD using it so far.

 

One small downside I have found is it does not cope with being unplugged and plugged back into the computer without requiring a re-calibration. Though I would consider that minor as most people will probably leave it plugged in.

Edited January 18, 2017 by FeistyLemur

[SinusoidDelta]

You can have a look at photos and instructions on the forum, BRD-N build instruction.

 

Wow! It's looks like the best erector set ever :D

 

I'm not a fan of pop rivets but otherwise it's very impressive. I think I remember seeing that gimbal design on the simhq forums years ago.

[Red Yeti]

I'm not a fan of pop rivets but otherwise it's very impressive. I think I remember seeing that gimbal design on the simhq forums years ago.

 

Most planes are made with pop rivets. This only increases the authenticity. :-D

[Sokol1_br]

The one thing that did worry me at first is the controller it comes with has 2048 positions, which does not seem like much compared to the 65536 position resolution the WH has.

 

Tm 65536 (16 bits) is marketing, the real is probable 14/15 bits - already big resolutions.

 

Considering a 50 degrees gimbal movement this 2048 means minimum increments of ~0.02 degrees.

65526 will be ~0.0007 degrees, who is able to make this movement with hands or foots?

 

People around swear that ~0.25 degrees increments of 8 bits (256) used in CH sticks is sufficient. Someone even say that CH allow he better control than Warthog, has both. :D