horstweihrauch Posted June 17, 2022 Share Posted June 17, 2022 On 6/13/2022 at 5:11 AM, SunDevilPilot said: I did a counterbalance mod using a Ram brand clamp, a one inch ball and the counterbalance from my compound bow. Perfectly neutralizes the weight of the collective. I loosened the tension to almost nothing when I installed the counterbalance. Friction is in no way needed to hold the collective in position with this setup, friction is just used to as a function of preference. I highly recommend the modification. That is genius. Thanks for sharing Darkstar: Merged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 18, 2022 Share Posted June 18, 2022 Well whilst it is still showing expected delivery on Wed the 22nd, my shipment has arrived this morning at the sort facility about an hour and a half from my house. Thinking I may see it on Monday actually, will see. Not sure if it will go to another facility prior to getting to me. In any event I will be happy any day I get it next week. I am ready for it for sure. 1 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 Just got notification on my cell phone, my new collective and grip will be delivered today! 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horstweihrauch Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 I am curious of your impression Darkstar: Merged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 21, 2022 Share Posted June 21, 2022 They have arrived. I started the assembly of the Monster Tech Mount for my AK Racing chair to the collective base. Not sure how much more I will be able to do this evening, promised the wife a movie with our dinner this evening. If not I will get it finished up in the morning. Really liking the looks of this Monster Tech Mount for it. 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 Monster Tech Mount for my AK Racing chair fit like a glove, going to be easy to quickly detach and attach the unit to the base plate on chair. Just loosen two bolts a little and she slides right out. I have always loved the quality of the Monster Tech Mounts as I have used with both my Virpil CM3 Throttle and Gunfighter Mk III stick. Little pricey but imho well worth it, and so easy to attach and detach. I will post my initial impressions a little later on probably in a new thread. Just got to get the rotor plus Alpha L grip set up in the software now. 1 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 (edited) Got to spend some time in the Apache with my new setup today. Having trouble getting just the right feel on those two screw adjustments for the friction on the collective. Turn a very small amount to loosen and it is so loose it drops down on it's own, turn a small amount to tighten up a little and it feels just too tight. Does not seem to be much in between on the adjustment. And the force required to especially increase collective is significant and can't really make any fine adjustments to the collective - which the Apache requires. Still early in the process for me, flying was ok and landing was ok, just not much happy initially with the feel of using the collective. The feel of realism is nice, but initially I am somewhat disappointed with the feel of moving the collective up and down, it should not require this much force. I will spend some time tomorrow trying to fine tune those screw adjustments a very small amount at a time and see if I can get it closer to what I would want. Edited June 22, 2022 by dburne 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted June 22, 2022 Share Posted June 22, 2022 (edited) Well made some more adjustments to those two screws, really have to turn them a very slight amount and test in between. Now I have got it somewhat better, but now just having my hand resting on the collective grip lowers the collective. Got myself in trouble doing that, but I mean taking one's hand off the collective is not a wise thing either. Very slight force to move down, and whilst flying seems like a huge force to increase the collective. Certainly can not make very fine adjustments on increasing the collective. This has me concerned now, still early on in the process for me so maybe I will find a happy medium somewhere in the upcoming days. Would be interested to hear others views that have the collective as well. I would say the force to raise the collective is easily 2x the force required to lower the collective, and that I am not real happy about. Virpil states in the manual to be sure and move those adjustment screws on top and bottom evenly which is what I have been doing. Making much smaller adjustments now to try and find the best for me. Edited June 22, 2022 by dburne Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dallas88B Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 (edited) @dburne Saw your post on Virpils Site too " unless things improve with it over the next few days I will likely go back to using my Virpil CM3 Throttle as collective also" If your going to persevere with the collective I reckon the counterbalance mod by @SunDevilPilot earlier in this post https://forum.dcs.world/topic/280757-virpil-collective-base-plus-had-to-increase-friction-after-2-weeks-use/?do=findComment&comment=4987773 is the solution The RAM mount and Ball is here: https://www.rammount.com/shop-all/motorcycle/components This is the stabilizer's web site https://www.hi-teksports.com/home @SunDevilPilot Can you provide any extra detail about the stabilizer you used - its not on the HI-TEK web site (I guess its an older model) - specifically weight, length. Also what size is the RAM® Tough-Claw™ Clamp Base with Ball that you used? @dburne Maybe send SunDevilPilots photo over to HI-TEK and they can advise you what the equivalent is. Edited June 23, 2022 by Dallas88B added questions 1 MSI Z690 EDGE | i5 12600K | RTX 3070 TUF OC 8GB | Kingston Fury Renegade 32GB 3600MHz CL16 | Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 |SilverStone 1000W Strider 80+ Platinum PSU | LG 34GN850 UWQHD 160Hz G-Sync HDR IPS 34in Monitor | Antlion Audio ModMic Uni-Directional Microphone with Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO Closed Back Studio Headphones | Behringer Xenyx 302USB Mixer | Virpil T-50CM3 Throttle | DELANCLiP head tracking | Gunfighter Mk.III MCE Ultimate | Crosswind Pedals | W10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lucky13 Posted June 27, 2022 Share Posted June 27, 2022 Yeah, my collective did that too. I fly a lot and had to re-tightened it once or twice every week. I fixed that by using stainless lock-nuts like crashmetwice did. It works fine now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted July 3, 2022 Share Posted July 3, 2022 So far on my end have not had the need to re-tighten. I did however for the first few days kept adjusting to get the best feel for me so there is that. I have settled on it now so will see how it does over the next week. Have been using it some every day, 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Well I am pleased to report after two more weeks of pretty much daily use, I have not had the need to re-tighten those clamping screws. So far so good for me on that end for my VPC Rotor with Alpha L Grip. 1 Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirrah Posted July 18, 2022 Author Share Posted July 18, 2022 I hope it stays that way for ya @dburne Must admit, after I really gave 'em a big notch about 3 months ago, I haven't had to re-tighten since (±6 hours of use a week) System specs: i7-8700K @stock speed - GTX 1080TI @ stock speed - AsRock Extreme4 Z370 - 32GB DDR4 @3GHz- 500GB SSD - 2TB nvme - 650W PSU HP Reverb G1 v2 - Saitek Pro pedals - TM Warthog HOTAS - TM F/A-18 Grip - TM Cougar HOTAS (NN-Dan mod) & (throttle standalone mod) - VIRPIL VPC Rotor TCS Plus with ALPHA-L grip - Pointctrl & aux banks <-- must have for VR users!! - Andre's SimShaker Jetpad - Fully adjustable DIY playseat - VA+VAICOM ~ That nuke might not have been the best of ideas, Sir... the enemy is furious ~ GUMMBAH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, sirrah said: I hope it stays that way for ya @dburne Must admit, after I really gave 'em a big notch about 3 months ago, I haven't had to re-tighten since (±6 hours of use a week) Thanks yeah me too. It was a big concern I had going into it, so am glad to see at least so far I have not had a need to re-tighten those screws. So really then my only gripe with the collective is how raising requires significant more force than lowering, but that is product of it's design and I do not have much appetite for trying to mod it to make it better - at least for now. Edited July 18, 2022 by dburne Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunDevilPilot Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 In addition to the stabilizer you see in my initial photo I have 8 ounces of Archery Stabilizer Weights on the end…. This resulted in a perfect balance. You can buy the weights from Amazon. They look like washers that screw onto an all thread stud. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunDevilPilot Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 (edited) Here it is with the weights. Just a note on the clamp. I have some 1/8” rubber under the clamp / around the collective to give the clamp some clearance on the friction adjustment for the throttle. With the rubber on there the clamp can scoot back onto the tapered collar near the main box giving some clearance. You can just see the rubber strips between the clamp jaws and the collective arm in one of the photos. Edited August 4, 2022 by SunDevilPilot 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunDevilPilot Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 (edited) There is also a little rubber spacer at the rear of the junction box to take some load off the clamp.. This spacer is just two stick on rubber feet I stuck together to make a little rubber block. The block is just wedged in there… no damage being done to the collective by sticking anything to it. Edited August 4, 2022 by SunDevilPilot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horstweihrauch Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 That should be the stock solution from virpil 2 Darkstar: Merged Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMM Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 On 5/30/2022 at 10:21 AM, k1ebe said: The collar is a thing I 3D-printed to fit a 8mm machine screw which fits with the dampener. How do you get the collar around the shaft/ collective? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1ebe Posted August 11, 2022 Share Posted August 11, 2022 37 minutes ago, TonyMM said: How do you get the collar around the shaft/ collective? The shaft is held in place with two screws on the outside, undo those and open the main housing and detach the cable that runs through the shaft. Then the whole thing can be pulled out. It's really simple once you have a look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMM Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 22 hours ago, k1ebe said: The shaft is held in place with two screws on the outside, undo those and open the main housing and detach the cable that runs through the shaft. Then the whole thing can be pulled out. It's really simple once you have a look at it. Great! Thanks for the feedback! Did you print it in PLA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1ebe Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 2 hours ago, TonyMM said: Great! Thanks for the feedback! Did you print it in PLA? Yes, it's printed in PLA. The M8 bolt presses against the shaft for extra support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyMM Posted August 12, 2022 Share Posted August 12, 2022 1 hour ago, k1ebe said: Yes, it's printed in PLA. The M8 bolt presses against the shaft for extra support. Great!! Now I have to figure out how I am going to attach the bottom to the rig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoxTwo Posted August 14, 2022 Share Posted August 14, 2022 Just a head's up, this guy is selling a bracket for a counterweight (not included) on etsy. https://www.etsy.com/LaserWing/listing/1271733962/counterweight-bracket-for-virpil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dburne Posted August 15, 2022 Share Posted August 15, 2022 1 hour ago, FoxTwo said: Just a head's up, this guy is selling a bracket for a counterweight (not included) on etsy. https://www.etsy.com/LaserWing/listing/1271733962/counterweight-bracket-for-virpil Interesting may have to give that some thought thanks. Don B EVGA Z390 Dark MB | i9 9900k CPU @ 5.1 GHz | Gigabyte 4090 OC | 64 GB Corsair Vengeance 3200 MHz CL16 | Corsair H150i Pro Cooler |Virpil CM3 Stick w/ Alpha Prime Grip 200mm ext| Virpil CM3 Throttle | VPC Rotor TCS Base w/ Alpha-L Grip| Point Control V2|Varjo Aero| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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