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The poor mans sim pit (Read 3333 times)

Reply #30 - Feb 21^st, 2013 at 12:13pm

Bass Offline
Colonel
Love flying.
Scandinavia

Gender:
Posts: 996

Yes, one word comes in mind Cool

"Just try to be YOU".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw23LQkvg_k

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Reply #31 - Feb 21^st, 2013 at 11:57pm

OldAirmail Offline
Colonel
Low and Slow
KPNE

Posts: 52

PART 1

A while back I started to wonder about flight sims again. It had been a very long time since I last tried one. I didn’t know if I would even like it, because the original flight sim left me Soooooo uninterested. Green blocks, blue blocks, gray blocks.

I wanted to see buildings, roads, mountains, cars, clouds in the sky, girls in… etcetera. But this is what I saw back then.

So, for FSX, my sim pit started out small.

However minimalism CAN be carried a bit too far. A flight sim probably CAN be used with just a mouse and a keyboard. But there were 3 problems with that; 1) I wanted to throw the stupid sim in the trash, 2) I wasn’t crazy, and 3) I thought that I MIGHT like it better if I at least had a joystick.

Unfortunately, joysticks can get more than a little expensive. I wanted the cheapest one that had, at least, a few buttons on it so I wouldn’t have to use the keyboard all that much.

The choice between the very cheapest joystick and the Logitech Attack 3 Joystick was very little so I went with that. If FSX didn't work out the Attack 3 would be money down the drain, because I don't play any games that need one. But I took the chance.

One of the things that I like about this joystick is that it lets you assign any key of your choosing to act as a shift key so that it almost doubles the number is keys that you can send to your flight sim..

ITEM – 1 joystick

I went on for several months flying my Cessna 172, Baron 58, DC3 and other planes with my joystick. At some point the infection started to take hold. I WANTED A YOKE!

ASUSTeK SABERTOOTH P67 Motherboard + i5 2500K @ 3300MHz (Not overclocked) + Radion HD 6870 (Eyefinity) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 + 16 GB DDR3 memory. Win 7 Pro 64bit

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Reply #32 - Feb 21^st, 2013 at 11:59pm

OldAirmail Offline
Colonel
Low and Slow
KPNE

Posts: 52

PART 2

So I wanted a yoke. It took about 3 or 4 months for me to decide which one to get. There’s a lot to consider when you start looking. And then too, you have to wait for a sale.

For anyone who can afford a MEGA sim pit it’s less complicated. But for most married people it’s a little more complicated. What’s the wife, or significant other, going to say. After all, you could better spend the money on THEM! Angry

If you have to consider how to explain the purchase to the other half, there are only 2 choices for a yoke; the Saitek yoke ($127 with throttle quadrant included), or Ch Products yoke ($200 with the throttle quadrant built in. Plus built in rudder pedals). If the included Saitek throttle quadrant had a USB connector I might have bought the Saitek yoke set.

At the current prices it’s fairly simple: get the Saitek yoke/throttle quadrant if you don’t think that you’ll need the $92 Saitek rudder pedals. But when I bought mine they were both about $120-130. I went with the CH yoke because it had the throttle/prop/mixture controls on top AND the rudder control built into the yoke. One less thing to buy.

ITEM – Yoke, throttle/prop/mixture, rudder control, elevator & rudder trim.

If you do decide to get the Saitek or CH throttle quadrant, or even a regular rudder peddle set, the levers and rudder paddle can be reassigned for whatever you want. The 2 gray switches on the right are momentary switches. I have them set to Engine 1 (up) and Engine 2 (down). The second switch is Engine 3 (up) and Engine 4 (down). The pitch and rudder trim wheels on the front of the base yoke assembly works better than the one on the Saitek multipanel (which doesn't have a rudder trim anyway).

Over all, I like it a lot. The one problem commonly reported is that the shaft binds/sticks when you push/pull it. I tried several types of oil on the shaft but it didn’t really help. Not even Teflon oil helped. TIP
And then I remembered white lithium grease. THAT worked perfectly. Put a very thin coating on the front and back of the shaft. After its worked its way into the shaft bushings you can wipe it off. Lasts about a year. A small tube (about $3) of lithium grease will probably last you a lifetime.

At this point a prudent person is done. You have EVERYTHING (yoke and joystick) that is needed to fly any plane.

Except for the fact that there is no one solution that pleases averybody, me included.

ASUSTeK SABERTOOTH P67 Motherboard + i5 2500K @ 3300MHz (Not overclocked) + Radion HD 6870 (Eyefinity) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 + 16 GB DDR3 memory. Win 7 Pro 64bit

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Reply #33 - Feb 24^th, 2013 at 10:41pm

OldAirmail Offline
Colonel
Low and Slow
KPNE

Posts: 52

PART 3

Flight instrument panel

What's wrong with these pictures of Saitek Pro Flight Instrument Panels?

Spot price check - #123.30 EACH

Picture #1 - $493.20
Picture #2 - $739.80
Picture #3 - $1,233.00

And that is only for the Instrument Panels!

Don't get me wrong, I like the Pro Flight Instrument Panels a lot. Just not $493.20 to $1,233.00 a lot.

This makes a lot more sense to me:

Spot price check on 16 to 18 inch monitors - $100

AND LESS

!

Believe me it really is a MUCH better having the flight instruments on a separate screen. Imagine driving a car and having to look around for your instruments while making a turn or going up/down a hill.

I use two 9 inch USB screens because I wanted one to be a touchscreen monitor. At the time one 16-18 inch touchscreen monitor was more that $700. Prices are dropping fast now. And with Windows 8, which binefitts from a touchscreen, I expect that they'll drop even faster.

The two small monitors suit my setup perfectly but as of today I can no longer recommend them. You can get a 17 inch monitor from Amazon
for less than $200.

ASUSTeK SABERTOOTH P67 Motherboard + i5 2500K @ 3300MHz (Not overclocked) + Radion HD 6870 (Eyefinity) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 + 16 GB DDR3 memory. Win 7 Pro 64bit

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Reply #34 - Feb 25^th, 2013 at 4:00am

Jetranger Offline
Colonel
Jetranger

Gender:
Posts: 675

Well don't know that anybodys interested, but, heres my poor mans sim !

it ain't much, really, but,, its kinda like being in the real thing ! Shocked

Cost : 0 - Zip, Nilz , notta a thing ! Shocked

Ahh my Fathers 1965 Cessna 172

Jetranger

Please do NOT link images, it slows the forums down for other users.

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