5-mode selector on Virpil SharKa-50 Control Panel 3

[bmbpdk]

Hi everyone.

Is it possible to have the 5-mode selector to work as the weapon system mode selector?
I can only keybind "left" and "right" in the keybindings, which is disappointing

Are there any way to go around that or am i stuck at left and right?
Thank you.

[Rongor]

May I ask how this is disappointing?

It's a dial on the rear auxiliary panel which you would only ever use when rearming with a different rocket type, so not that often. You do that before taking off.

Of course it's your individual choice but why would you waste a 5 way switch on a HOTAS for something you won't ever need in flight and even very rarely when on ground?

Left and right will turn the dial left and right as in the real thing. To map all 5 positions onto different button signals would be unrealistic and invite wrong settings if you unintentionally hit one of these during flight.

[jubuttib]

11 hours ago, Rongor said:

May I ask how this is disappointing?

It's a dial on the rear auxiliary panel which you would only ever use when rearming with a different rocket type, so not that often. You do that before taking off.

According to Chuck's guide, the "Weapon System Mode Selector" is the knob that selects between moving, fixed, etc. modes for the cannon. This one.

What you're talking about is the "Unguided rocket and Gun Pods settings" in the manual.

As for why you'd want individual buttons instead of just left/right, it's the same reason as why the 3 position flaps on the A-10 map to a 3 position switch on the Warthog throttle, not just "flaps up" and "flaps down". You have a switch that expresses X number of specific positions, you want them to actually be used. If the in-game switch has 5 positions and your switch has 5 positions, there's nothing unrealistic about mapping them one to one.

Additionally as for why you'd want for example a 5 position switch instead of a two way infinite rotary encoder, it's the absolute vs. relative selection. When you put a 5-position switch into a specific position, you KNOW that it's in that position, usually even by feel. Encoders have really bad habits of sometimes not triggering a button press, sometimes triggering two, etc. (or just the game ignoring a short pulse like encoders often use), they might not have super clear steps, etc. If you need to select a specific setting _right now_, a switch with individual outputs is way better. Kinda like in an FPS game, it's more reliable to switch between your weapons by pressing the number keys than it is to use the mouse wheel.

12 hours ago, bmbpdk said:

Hi everyone.

Is it possible to have the 5-mode selector to work as the weapon system mode selector?
I can only keybind "left" and "right" in the keybindings, which is disappointing

Are there any way to go around that or am i stuck at left and right?
Thank you.

Can't find a command for it in dcs-interface's lists that have many more things than are shown in-game, so I doubt there is... =(

[Beirut]

11 hours ago, Rongor said:

 

Of course it's your individual choice but why would you waste a 5 way switch on a HOTAS for something you won't ever need in flight and even very rarely when on ground?

 

This is why I am such a big fan of Voice Attack. My Thrustmaster 16000/TWCS HOTAS has a decent about of buttons, but never enough. With Voice Attack it makes flying so much smoother and more fun. Best $10 you'll ever spend in flightsimming.

 

End of fanboy rant. 

[Rongor]

17 minutes ago, jubuttib said:

the knob that selects between moving, fixed, etc. modes for the cannon.

Oh, then it actually could have a use on a HOTAS.

Hope you get these additional bindings implemented then.

[bmbpdk]

18 hours ago, Rongor said:

May I ask how this is disappointing?

It's a dial on the rear auxiliary panel which you would only ever use when rearming with a different rocket type, so not that often. You do that before taking off.

Of course it's your individual choice but why would you waste a 5 way switch on a HOTAS for something you won't ever need in flight and even very rarely when on ground?

Left and right will turn the dial left and right as in the real thing. To map all 5 positions onto different button signals would be unrealistic and invite wrong settings if you unintentionally hit one of these during flight.

It is disappointing in the way that the real thing is not a "left/right" knob, its a selector knob, it have five positions; Mov, Fix, Man, Fail, Nav.
That is why its called a selector, it selects a function.
I could often use all five functions, its much much faster and easier to quickly select "Fix" when gun running than fidling with Shkval, and in cases where Shkval is broken, fixing the gun can be a lifesaver.
So there are plenty of arguments to put five keybindings to the selector, instead of just "left/right".
And as jubuttib says, there are plenty of reasons for multi-way switches.

[Rongor]

Well at least now you save 3 button positions

[Jester]

there must be a way to program this in the virpil config software, or ED would need to add further keybindings for the 5 positions individually. There's actually a number of buttons on the Sharka50 panel which currently can't be directly assigned in the Black Shark as there aren't the keybinding options for them.

[jubuttib]

5 hours ago, Jester said:

there must be a way to program this in the virpil config software, or ED would need to add further keybindings for the 5 positions individually. There's actually a number of buttons on the Sharka50 panel which currently can't be directly assigned in the Black Shark as there aren't the keybinding options for them.

Yeah, all planes have that, and it's REALLY ANNOYING that there isn't any masterlist of absolutely every available command anywhere.

The stupidest thing IMO is that the A-10C has the ability to set up, maneuver and down flaps individually, but those binds are hidden unless you're using the Warthog HOTAS. You can use them of course, but it requires adding them manually into a controller's .lua...

[Red Yeti]

I don't have the panel (yet) but this should help you guys out a bit.  It took me some time to figure it out.

Add these lines to the :\DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\aircraft\Ka-50\Input\ka-50\joystick\default.lua. The switch can then be assigned in the options.

{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.0, name = " Weapon system mode selector MOV", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.1, name = " Weapon system mode selector FIX", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.2, name = " Weapon system mode selector MAN", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.3, name = " Weapon system mode selector FAIL", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.4, name = " Weapon system mode selector NAV", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},

^{Donations for panel 3 are welcome.}

[jubuttib]

You absolute star!

[Munkwolf]

Those commands (and a lot more) are in the keybinds project: https://github.com/Munkwolf/dcs-community-keybinds/blob/main/InputCommands/Ka-50/Input/ka-50/joystick/default.lua

[Red Yeti]

Crap! Where were you yesterday? That would have saved me hours of time!
But good to know! Thank you!

[bmbpdk]

On 11/28/2021 at 11:11 PM, Red Yeti said:

I don't have the panel (yet) but this should help you guys out a bit.  It took me some time to figure it out.

Add these lines to the :\DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\aircraft\Ka-50\Input\ka-50\joystick\default.lua. The switch can then be assigned in the options.

{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.0, name = " Weapon system mode selector MOV", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.1, name = " Weapon system mode selector FIX", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.2, name = " Weapon system mode selector MAN", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.3, name = " Weapon system mode selector FAIL", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},
{down = 3014, cockpit_device_id = 12, value_down = 0.4, name = " Weapon system mode selector NAV", category = _('Ins Targeting Mode Controls Panel PVR')},

^{Donations for panel 3 are welcome.}

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
If you ever come by Western Jutland in Denmark ill buy you a beer

17 hours ago, Munkwolf said:

Those commands (and a lot more) are in the keybinds project: https://github.com/Munkwolf/dcs-community-keybinds/blob/main/InputCommands/Ka-50/Input/ka-50/joystick/default.lua

This is just awesome!
Thank you for you work!

[Munkwolf]

19 hours ago, Red Yeti said:

Crap! Where were you yesterday? That would have saved me hours of time!
But good to know! Thank you!

Sorry! I was working on keybinds for the Harrier

[Raven (Elysian Angel)]

22 hours ago, Munkwolf said:

Those commands (and a lot more) are in the keybinds project: https://github.com/Munkwolf/dcs-community-keybinds/blob/main/InputCommands/Ka-50/Input/ka-50/joystick/default.lua

[Icaro_07]

Is there something similar for activating and deactivating the cannon ?

[ZeroReady]

On 2/4/2022 at 5:28 PM, Icaro_07 said:

Is there something similar for activating and deactivating the cannon ?

Yep very simple. Open C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\Mods\aircraft\Ka-50\Input\ka-50\joystick\default.lua

 

Comment out line 278 "down = iCommandPlaneModeCannon, name = _('Gun Select'), category = _('Ins Cyclic Stick')}," with "--"

 

Add the following right below it

{down = iCommandPlaneModeCannon, value_down = 1.0, up = iCommandPlaneModeCannon, value_up = 0.0, name = _(' Gun Select Toggle'), category = _('Ins Cyclic Stick')},

 

This works perfectly with the trigger on the VKB gunfighter.