Profile Building an X65F

[jeffyd123]

Hi all,

 

Getting my new X65 and I started making a profile by first building a 3D button/Hat map of the stick.

 

I am uploading the original Publisher ('03) file so you can play with it if you want. It will print right out on letter sized paper (Ill be using stiff photo paper so i can refer to it until Im proficient). I am also uploading the picture below.

 

 

 

 

If anyone wants me to blank out the areas of text let me know. This way you just print & write on it

 

 

Let me know if any changes should be made.... hope it helps

 

Jeff

Saitek_X65-3D Buttons.zip

Edited December 24, 2010 by jeffyd123

[Boggit]

That`s a nice piece of work sir . And i for one will be using it to get started . What do you intend to do for the 4 modes of each switch ? Use a sheet per mode or make the Button boxes a little Bigger ? Not a criticism at all , just wondering which way you plan to take this . Personally a sheet per mode may be clearer while learning and then all in one for reference as you get more proficient . Anyway thanks again . Was beginning to wonder if anyone else had an X65F and trying to use it with A-10 .

[jeffyd123]

I havent got mine yet so Im still planning on what to do. I may not use the modes for different aircraft roles like i did in Falcon 4 AF on my trusty x45.

 

I am thinking of maybe incorporating an emergency mode to map the emergency flight control panel hats and switches though.

 

In other words I have no idea!...LOL

 

After dealing with the x45's lack of hats Im going to enjoy the X65's abundant options.

 

Ill be happy to mod the template for you and I just installed a newer version of office if anyone needs a newer format.

 

How do you like your stick boggit?

 

Jeff

[Boggit]

Only really messed a bit with it . Nothing serious yet . Really like it though . The pressure aspect takes a bit of getting used to , but can be a lot more precise , especially by changing force required for different phases of flight . A-10 feels good , but Black shark is going to take a bit of practice . Trying to balance flying sim time with clan play on Medal of Honour and my 3 kids . Want to get a lot more serious about the simming with A-10 in the new year . I`m sure you will like your stick when it arrives . The throttle stiffness does wear off after a bit , so don`t panic when you try it first time .

[jeffyd123]

ya i got it today and did some minor setup and flew... more like Blew.LOL.... The twist rudder is pretty unusable but the one time i managed to get aloft and actually started flying it was starting to feel pretty dang niiiiiiice. I am experimenting with different profiles for different flight modes as well.

 

This is a very nice piece of equipment. Pretty cool to start the engines using the T3/T4 buttons LOL. I am now seeing the game doesnt support things like gear retract on the stick (among other things) so I will have to program some things using the SST.

 

When I get a working profile I will upload and see what others think of it. Maybe we can trade 'em and tweak.... using this post as a discussion for the best profile.

 

Have a great Christmas boggit

 

Jeff

[Speck863]

I just (minutes ago) bought an X65F and am totally looking forward to it! I've never owned a HOTAS setup so this will be quite new for me. My old trusty Logitech Wingman Rumblepad died on me tonight so I went all out and splurged for the X65. Maybe a little too much holiday beer - I mean cheer was in play. lol :)

 

I'll be returning to this thread once I have it in my hands and will post my thoughts / profile ideas / etc.

 

Cheers!

 

Mark

[Boggit]

Cheers Jeff and to you and yours . Have a great holiday .

[Le0kong]

Here is my current one for BETA 4, very basic. Just a note that i'm using Hat 'H1' as trim because a switched the hat with the trim one(POV).

 

Included are the '.lua' file for DCS and the '.pr0' for the Saitek Profile Editor.

 

 

 

I don't have Publisher so i can't make a graphic for it.

DCS-A10-Beta4_Profile1.zip

[HotelPapa]

Merry Christmas all,

 

Please, someone could tell me what force setting he's using ?

Flying with this stick seems very difficult for me...

[Boggit]

I use force setting 2 and 3 for most general flying and combat and then use 1 for landing phase . Don`t forget you can alter the forces for each setting to make all of them a little easier . There can also be a slight drift if the centreing is not dead on . You need to increase the deadzone very slightly in game via the axis tune button under options . They are working at Saitek to have a re-centreing option in the calibration screen . But i have not seen it yet .

[HotelPapa]

Many thanks for your fast reply, Boggit,

 

Reset to default settings, and l'll try that. I just set rudder to 2.8 Nm on the 1st configuraton so taxi is more easy.

I found this bird requires lot of triming ^^

 

Cheers !

[Boggit]

No probs sir . I`m sure i`ll be asking for help before long on something . As i said i want to get more serious about sim flying in the coming year . So following topics and getting involved is all part of it .

[jeffyd123]

OK been tweaking.... I did swap the POV Hat for the bowl hat on the stick and swapped the 2 Hats on the front of the throttle which I found to be much better.

 

I use Force setting 4 for taxi and generally Force 2 for flying. I may switch to Force 1 for run in on a target to help stabilize the stick. I have tried Force 3 for times when I need high maneuverability (like AA battles or evasion)

 

I have also been playing with Helios (panels on another monitor) but Im not sure I want to pay $90 for it. I have mapped engine start/stop, Flaps and Gear so that frees up the "T" buttons. I am afraid to map the engine stop to the T buttons because I have seen my fingers brush up against them sometimes and I dont want to shut off an engine mid flight. I currently have the gear mapped to the "ARM" button.

 

I am also thinking of stacking my control panels so the Panel with the buttons sits on top of the blank panel. My stick is weird BTW. the legs that hold the throttle panels dont match up so I can only install one panel, But I did notice that the two panels can be attached to each other in various configurations which is cool.

 

Still messing with it so no final thingy yet. Thinking of mapping different views to the T buttons and Hat 4 is currently being tested for Radio functions but I dont like it.... its hard to feel the hat and I get it confused with Hat 5 a lot (which is making my TGP boresight which totally sucks). I am considering using the mode switch to map the China Hat but Im also considering mapping 1 mode to allow for mapping the emergency control panel to some of the hats.... dunno.

 

I have been using the lower rotary for analog zoom which is a nice placement but the view sometimes jitters requiring me to touch the dial to stop it. I may try banding the rotary which isnt Ideal either. Too bad the game wont let you independantly map the mouse wheel to zoom without the ALT-C option. but then the button switching in the cockpit would be porked. Im going to try messing with the sensitivity of the rotary axis and will report back.

 

Anyway this is what I have so far..... Let me know your thoughts.

 

Edited December 30, 2010 by jeffyd123

[Boggit]

Hi Jeff . Do you have TIR ? I am waiting for Freetrack drivers to be compatable with Win 7 64 bit . So will just be using a hat for POV functions at the mo . Will try the setup as you have it . It looks similar to the one i have started . Will let you know if i come up with any ideas . May not be till next week now as big weekend planned .

[jeffyd123]

Ya I just got TIR... I have tried freetrack and it isnt really up to spec (neither is Face Track).

 

I was using my POV Hat for looking around. Now its my TMS.

 

A track IR is really expensive but it is very good. It makes the game real next level stuff.

 

I made a couple changes shown here.

 

Edited January 1, 2011 by jeffyd123

[159th_Vigil]

Has anyone had an issue getting the aircraft to respond to rudder commands from the stick? I don't seem to be able to profile it in either the software or in game.

 

Edit: Never mind, sorted the issue myself. Turned out settings in the profiler were interrupting the normal operation of the joystick in game.

Edited January 21, 2011 by 159th_Vigil
Solved on my own.

[Agent_Archer]

My profile for A-10 http://forums.eagle.ru/attachment.php?attachmentid=46873&d=1295803417

[jeffyd123]

Archer... do you have all of your commands running in your stick software?

 

If so, how do you like it?

 

ALSO, I was wondering how X65 users have mapped their radio Hat to their sticks?

[Raz]

Hey there, i am still totally new to DCS A-10C. Iam also a owner of the X65F. jeffyd123 I was wondering how you are able to use the rotary 2 as Zoom? I cant seem to get it to work inside the game. And iam not sure how to set it up in SST program. Any help would be nice, Thx.

 

/Rasmus

DCS NOOB

Edited February 21, 2011 by Raz

[Le0kong]

For the MIC i'm using the mini-stick configured through bands as a hat.

 

 

Raz, i'm using the rotary 2 as zoom too. I mapped it like any other axis, remember that for DCS to auto-detect a axis you need to move it completely from minimum to maximum. And make sure you are not confusing the Zoom axis with the Zoom buttons on the options.

[jeffyd123]

Raz, there is a section in your game options (controller section) that has "axis assignment" or something like that. I assigned "analog zoom" to the rotary there. Like Leoking says, rotate the dial all the way up and down to fully use the entire zoom axis.

 

Thats a good idea Leoking... I dont like where the mini stick because its in a bad place for my hand so I used the mode slider combined with the D key (I love the placement of the D key on the throttle and I use PTT more than any other button so I wanted it easily accessible and comfy)...

 

I first re-assigned all of my radios to 1= AM radio, 2 = UHF radio, 3 = FM radio, 4 = "SHIFT" (which is my default TeamSpeak PTT key). 1, 2,and 3 are perfect for the radios because you have to have your hand right there near the F keys anyway when you are using the radios for ATC and JTAC.

 

Using the stick profiling software, I then re-mapped my "D" button on the throttle to reflect these same keystrokes (1, 2, 3, SHIFT) when I move the mode select slider on the throttle to the different numbers.

 

It works great!

plus I can easily activate a radio once and then switch back to SHIFT (position 4 of the slider) so when I key the mic while using TARS the radio menu doesnt come up again. awesome setup IMO.

 

I was thinking of using shift states for mapping some of the emergency flight controls to the Hats but I decided its kind of useless to do that so I made the radios work first.

 

Friggin X65 isnt perfect but it sure does have a lot of buttons to use... I dig that.

[Raz]

Thank you guys so much, that did it for me :) Now i just need to learn to fly this beats :pilotfly:

[bestrokin]

I can't believe people are not buying or recommending this stick. It totally kick ass...

[jeffyd123]

bump

[mingocr83]

HI Folks,

 

Hope you are keeping well.

 

Im planning to get a new HOTAS stick, it would a first for me... my previous Joystick the Logitech Extreme 3D is going bunkers as we speak with the rudder issue...

 

General opinion about the Joystick, how do you feel it...button location, etc etc...I would really appreciate the advise..

 

Regards,

Mingo