Bahger Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 I must be missing something simple here. I do not have a TM Warthog so the A-10's left throttle button ("pinky switch", I believe), is mapped to UP on a four-way hat on my CH HOTAS throttle. I cannot seem to figure out how I use this hat to enable certain exterior lights functions that do not seem to work otherwise. In fact, I do not know what this left throttle button is for at all. Can anyone enlighten me? Thanks!
MTFDarkEagle Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 BACK = lights as per the panel MIDDLE = No external lights FORWARD = "default" lighting Oh, and the left throttle button is the same as the LASTE AP ENGAGE/DISENGAGE button. Lukas - "TIN TIN" - 9th Shrek Air Strike Squadron TIN TIN's Cockpit thread
Zenra Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 First, realize it is a three position switch, so mapping to a single HOTAS switch won't do much unless you set up toggles or something more complex. In the center position all exterior lights are off. Forward turns on a set of "default" exterior lights (navigation lights, primarily). Aft set exterior lights as dictated by the settings you've made on the lights panel on the right cockpit console. Hope this helps. Zenra Intel i7 930 2.8GHz; ATI HD5850 1GB; 1TB Serial ATA-II; 12GB DDR3-1333; 24 x DL DVD+/-RW Drive; 800W PSU; Win7-64; TM Warthog HOTAS
Bahger Posted April 7, 2011 Author Posted April 7, 2011 (edited) Very helpful, gents, many thanks. All the above functions are set to FWD/BACK/DOWN on that hat, so that takes care of the 3 pinky switch lights functions. UP on my hat is "Left Throttle Button" so it must be mapped to AP engage/disengage, something I never noticed before as I had mapped this function to another button, which I will now eliminate as redundant. Thanks! One thing, what's the trick to getting the formation lights, nose floodlights, and nacelle floodlights functions to work individually? Edited April 7, 2011 by Bahger
MTFDarkEagle Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 Pinky switch AFT, and use the dials/switches to which you want. No other way. Lukas - "TIN TIN" - 9th Shrek Air Strike Squadron TIN TIN's Cockpit thread
NoJoe Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 One thing, what's the trick to getting the formation lights, nose floodlights, and nacelle floodlights functions to work individually? Pinky Switch Aft (so you can control the lights manually via the instrument panel), then adjust the light knobs to your liking. I believe each of the lights you mention have their own adjustment knob, though the nacelle floodlights knob is over by the refueling panel rather than with the rest of the lights. --NoJoe [EDIT] Gah, sniped! :D 1
Bahger Posted April 7, 2011 Author Posted April 7, 2011 I would never have figured that out, guys, many thanks.
MTFDarkEagle Posted April 7, 2011 Posted April 7, 2011 [EDIT] Gah, sniped! Ha too slow ;) :devil_2: Lukas - "TIN TIN" - 9th Shrek Air Strike Squadron TIN TIN's Cockpit thread
GurbY Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Bit of a topic bump (...) but, what IS the difference between fwd and aft? If I switch it into aft position, I'm able to set the anticollision switch on the panel to ON. If I switch to center, then fwd, the anticollision switch flips back (into off position), all lights are off. Then in fwd, default lights are on again. If I put it in aft again, same lights still function, however, anticollision remains off..? So, what more lights are switched off when switching from aft to fwd? Can't figure it out...
Rongor Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Bahger and Gurby, simply look it up in the manual... Hint: pages 160 and 92
GurbY Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Bahger and Gurby, simply look it up in the manual... Hint: pages 160 and 92 Thank you. Very kind. But I read it already. You don't get my point: the manual says: Pinky Switch Forward : Sets external lights to default settings. o Retains set illumination levels for formation lights, nose floodlights, and nacelle floodlights. o Position lights set to ste ady. o Disables anti - collision lights. Pinky Switch Center : Turns off all external lights. Pinky Switch Aft : Lights are according to Lighting Control Panel settings. I get that. No rocket science degree necessary. However, if I select Anti-Collision (and for that I need the pinky in AFT pos), it works, until I switch it to center. If I switch back to AFT again, the anti-collision does not switch back on again. That I don't get. Why is that? If I wanted it disabled, I would switch to FWD. However, everything else than AFT flips the a.c. switch on the panel right back. Why? Why not keep it in that position, because I can disable it with the pinky? In other words: moving the pinky affects the actual state of the panel switches. That is the thing I am curious about.
GurbY Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Bahger and Gurby, simply look it up in the manual... Hint: pages 160 and 92 Thank you. Very kind. But I read it already. You don't get my point: the manual says: * Pinky Switch Forward: Sets external lights to default settings. - Retains set illumination levels for formation lights, nose floodlights, and nacelle floodlights. - Position lights set to steady - Disables anti-collision lights. * Pinky Switch Center: Turns off all external lights. * Pinky Switch Aft: Lights are according to Lighting Control Panel settings. I get that. No rocket science degree necessary. However, if I select Anti-Collision (and for that I need the pinky in AFT pos), it works, until I switch it to center. If I switch back to AFT again, the anti-collision does not switch back on again. That I don't get. Why is that? If I wanted it disabled, I would switch to FWD. However, everything else than AFT flips the a.c. switch on the panel right back. Why? Why not keep it in that position, because I can disable it with the pinky? In other words: moving the pinky affects the actual state of the panel switches. That is the thing I am curious about.
PiedDroit Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) The anticollision is held with an electromagnet (just like the EAC switch). I think this feature is meant to be used as a quick disconnect as well as a safety when you put your lights back, because the anti-col can be a safety hazard for your wingmen. It's very bright and distracting, especially at night. Edited June 2, 2015 by PiedDroit
Rongor Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 Ok, I understand your question now. Well, you may want to put that pinky switch into its center position when fencing in. We have to be sure that lights are off after doing that, so the spring loaded acol switch is forced to flip to aft position. If it wouldn't be designed that way, we would have to trust solely the pinky switch. But we want to be sure that lights are off right? So, switch flips back and we can judge the anticol is shut down by its switch position. So the pinky switch actually has the force to alter the switch positions, if pinky is not aft.
GurbY Posted June 2, 2015 Posted June 2, 2015 It would be better to understand if the manual stated, amongst others: - fwd: xx, xx, Disable anticollision lights (as it says right now) - aft: xx, xx, lights as per panel, disable anti collision lights
Aginor Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 Fun fact: I wanted to buy such a switch with a spring and a electromagnet for my home cockpit. I finally found one somewhere, but it seems those are quite expensive, around $800... DCSW weapons cheat sheet speed cheat sheet
Deadman Posted June 3, 2015 Posted June 3, 2015 eBay under$100.00 quite often https://forum.dcs.world/topic/133818-deadmans-cockpit-base-plans/#comment-133824 CNCs and Laser engravers are great but they can't do squat with out a precise set of plans.
PFunk1606688187 Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 The anticollision is held with an electromagnet (just like the EAC switch). I think this feature is meant to be used as a quick disconnect as well as a safety when you put your lights back, because the anti-col can be a safety hazard for your wingmen. It's very bright and distracting, especially at night. Just for reference this is about real life, not DCS and its miserable version of a strobe that involves basically turning the nav lights white temporarily. I pray 2.0 improves this then realistic lights procedures would be more than just milsim fluff. Warning: Nothing I say is automatically correct, even if I think it is.
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