RealSimulator F-16 grips on VIRPIL bases

[ZeeMan90]

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

Since I mainly fly the Warthog and the Viper I would like to upgrade from the TM stick. Therefore I am curious whether the RealSimulator F-16 grip or any of its versions is compatible with either the VIRPIL CM2/CM3 and WarBRD/-D bases. I want to upgrade from the TM stick. 

I am looking forward to your answers. 

Regards

[Swiso]

Hi, What you can do is use both Realsimulator grips and TM grips on the Realsimulator bases.

Mounting a 390€ grip (only the grip) on a TM base it wouldn't make much sense to me and you wouldn't get a "noticeable" upgrade compared to what you have.

Meanwhile mounted in a Realsimulator base (FSSB R3L or FSSB R3L ULTRA), you will definitely get an upgrade thanks to the fact that these bases are force sensor based, like in the real F-16, and come with a software that add a lot of features.

Look here: https://realsimulator.com/fssb-r3-ultra/

Much more precise !

I don't know about Virpil, but as I said you can mount TM grips in Realsimulator bases.

The only cavet is that since the TM are heavier and are attached to the base differently than the Realsimulator, it is suggested to use some sort of collars otherwise they will break (the grip) quite easily.

You might print one of this:

https://www.printables.com/it/model/589579-thrustmaster-grip-support-for-fssb-base

 

Hope it help.

Cheers

[VpR81]

I´m running a Realsimulator F-18 CGRH grip on a Virpil T50CM2 base. They are technically compatible to each other (means, the base recognises the grip), but the Virpil base does not recognise all of the numerous buttons of the Realsimulator grip due to firmware limitations of the Virpil base. And the buttons beeing recognised, are all over the place. Same for the TM base, wich does even recognise way less (23 in total) buttons than the Virpil bases (AFAIK something between 30 and 40). If you want to run a Realsimulator grip on a TM / Virpil base and have access to all the buttons, you need to get one with a installed BT module and use the base only for axis control and power supply for the grip, but use a bluetooth connection to operate the buttons. Sounds like a PITA, but works actually surprisingly good and i never had a single disconnect. Just make sure you pick a quality BT dongle as not all of them are capable of providing a stable connection. I use the ASUS BT400 dongle wich works perfectly with the grip, but there is a list of reliable BT dongles for the RS grips somewhere on the Realsimulator Forum.

Just keep in mind, that all of the F-18 grips but only the more expensive versions of the F-16 grips have a BT module installed. The standard F-16 grip does not have one.

[Airtrainpat]

@VpR81 How do you deal with the missing paddle switch on the Realsimulator F18 CGRH?

I was contemplating getting the same stick (in the brief time window when it was available), but the lack of a paddle switch gave me second thoughts. They now offer the F/A-18 Stick Adapter which has a paddle switch, but that would be yet another 280+€ investment

[Swiso]

Since all buttons are 5-way switches, I dedicated one position of the NWS switch as a paddle switch.

 

[VpR81]

5 hours ago, Airtrainpat said:

How do you deal with the missing paddle switch on the Realsimulator F18 CGRH?

The NWS button is a 5 way (like all buttons on the F-18 CGRH grip) switch. I just use one of it´s position for the paddle switch.

[RSharpe]

On 2/25/2024 at 1:01 PM, VpR81 said:

If you want to run a Realsimulator grip on a TM / Virpil base and have access to all the buttons, you need to get one with a installed BT module and use the base only for axis control and power supply for the grip, but use a bluetooth connection to operate the buttons. 

Not true, but I believed the same thing for years because this is what was repeated by everyone.  

That is until last week when I repeated the same misinformation on the Virpil channel on the HOTAS Discord. One fellow mentioned "You can always expand the buttons in the virpil sw if they are 4021 based."

They didn't tell me how to do it, but after poking around in the software for an hour I managed to do what they claimed could be done. 

I found the key was to start with the Thrustmaster 4021 profile, then change the "Bytes" value from 3 to 8. Then manually assign the physical buttons in the right panel. You won't see all of the buttons in Windows game controllers, but DCS will detect the buttons when you try to bind them. 

I currently have 63 buttons bound as one device under the Virpil T50CM2 device in DCS. I have no idea what button 6 is, which I can't seem to find, but all of the buttons I could want to use are bound. 

Bluetooth is a pain in the ass with RS and I don't recommend using it if you can avoid. I used it for a while with their F18 grip, but it stopped working. 

Edited June 2, 2024 by RSharpe

[Airtrainpat]

Thanks for doing that! I was always wondering about this.

I guess next time, they have the grips on stock again, I might get lucky (and poor).