Mobile Driving/Flying Cockpit with Motion and Tactile ( Build )

[RCHeliguy]

Good decision to buy glue gun!

Everybody should have glue gun at home.

Yup! Charging up as I write this.

I originally designed this with easy to detach panels thinking that I would end up changing the button layout of the panels after I put my button box together. As it turned out I've been very happy with the button layout and haven't even had an itch to change it.

It came apart very quickly and easily.

The soldered connections are good. I'll be adding glue to the single wire plugs by the ribbon connector and to any screws.

The screw top terminal came loose ( I had backed the screw off here) and I could use locktite on those, but I think I'll just glue gun the top to the plastic. Those plastic crimped pins are a bit fragile. I had one break off on my arrow joystick. So far it looks like those two are the only ones that came loose, so not a big issue yet. If I had glued them together to begin with I wouldn't have this apart right now.

Fortunately the vast majority of these screws are still very tight, but while I'm in here, I'll snug every screw connection before gluing them down. All the buttons and switches are still just compression tightened and are holding well, but I may add a smidge of glue to them as well just to be safe. as well as a few of the magnets that I banged in. However they are at least in a state of tension holding the magnetic labels with matching magnets pulling them together.

Edit: All glued up!

 

[RCHeliguy]

The Virpil CM3 base will be here Thursday, but the Slaw pedals are currently in Operational Delay status so there is no telling when they will arrive.

Their definition: Operational events at FedEx that delay delivery of the package.

 

[Procrastinator1]

Oof, tough crowd. I couldn’t imagine following and commenting on a thread I wasn’t interested in, but everyone’s different I guess.

Either way, the write ups in your thread and others (you, Pete winkler, mr latte) have been incredibly helpful. I have slowly moved up to a motion rig with haptic gear, and having those threads to look back on for inspiration was incredibly helpful. Hope all you guys keep the updates coming, as they are much appreciated.

 

[RCHeliguy]

as a fellow henseleit owner, you obviously know quality and I figured I should pay attention to your posts, lol. I actually implemented your magswitch idea into my own rig, and used the magmount 300 to mount my CM2. I originally mounted it to my racebass plate, but going to mount a small plate for a longer term solution. Thanks again for the tip on magswitches.

I somehow missed your post a month ago!

Yes, Henseleit owners tend to be a fastidious group! Are you on Helifreak?

I still have one full TDR kit in a box I keep it as a parts box, but have kept it replenished with all parts in appropriate numbered bags etc.

Sadly both my TDR and TDR2 are collecting dust these days. Currently my TDR2 is setup with speed blades and when I do take it out to fly, I'm typically shaking by the time I land. At those speeds it becomes a tiny dot in the sky way too fast.

Are you flying one of the newer low headspeed TDF's ?

 

[Procrastinator1]

I somehow missed your post a month ago!

Yes, Henseleit owners tend to be a fastidious group! Are you on Helifreak?

I still have one full TDR kit in a box I keep it as a parts box, but have kept it replenished with all parts in appropriate numbered bags etc.

Sadly both my TDR and TDR2 are collecting dust these days. Currently my TDR2 is setup with speed blades and when I do take it out to fly, I'm typically shaking by the time I land. At those speeds it becomes a tiny dot in the sky way too fast.

Are you flying one of the newer low headspeed TDF's ?

I can totally relate to the helicopters collecting dust. I put my TDR2 in hard which took a lot of wind from my sails. Being a constant tinkerer, I had changed the wiring and rotated the gyro, but never changed the setup in the controller. Funnily enough (or tragically, lol), because only L/R were wrong in the gyro, i climbed to 40-50ft with no issues. However, when I flipped it into high HS and gave it right stick, that’s when it wild. I fought it for 2-3 seconds and it started doing this down the drain circle and I realized I was toast. Hit TH and watched it literally bounce off the ground and annihilate itself. Airframe was a total loss, but saved most everything else. I flew my Diabolo speed and my TDS a few times after that, other wise they just sit in my home office as a static model. I did get into the turbine planes & hotliners for a bit, which were incredible, but so many places restrict them because of the risk of a massive explosion/fire if you put it in.

I have the same name on HF and RCG, and it’s funny how many participate in a lot of similar hobbies. I noticed some HF guys on the pinball forums, and some pinball guys on here. Apparently we all share great taste in hobbies. Lol

 

[RCHeliguy]

Ouch!
A friend, who once placed 3rd in the IRCHA speed cup, crashed his Banshee 700 at about 140-150mph. The motor ripped through the canopy and stopped 50 yards away. Most of the electronics were toast.

I've cratered my TDR a couple times. It takes a while to get your confidence back after a crash like that. So far I've been at slow enough speeds when I got into trouble with my TDR2 that the VBar Neo rescue has saved me.

Slaw pedals released for Friday delivery, Virpil CM3 base delayed for Friday delivery. So Friday will be fun

 

[RCHeliguy]

My package from Poland came early

This stuff feels like it belongs inside a tank!

Very smooth, very solid, and quieter and without play compared the the Crosswinds. BTW the only play in the Crosswinds came after installing the damper on it. The way the damper is install on the Slaws there is no way it can cause issues.

Crosswind vs. Slaw

Now to build a mount for it. I have something I can get together pretty quickly to get my positioning worked out, but it won't be permanent. Also the pedals have two other positions and the brakes can be set at different angles, so I'm not sure what will feel "right" in my rig yet.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Some times you just get lucky! I had two lengths that fit perfectly, 4 x M6 bolts, washers and T-Nuts, and a couple knobs to make it easy to drop in. I'll probably come up with something a bit cleaner, but this is pretty comfortable already.

Geeze these pedals are smooth! Like butter

 

[MarkModdy]

Very nice indeedy… I think the fitting works well… some times what just ‘works’ can be best…

But there again I’m always amazed at how you then come up with another level of fit/ functionality above and beyond what I would be ok with

 

[RCHeliguy]

The Virpil CM3 base arrived yesterday.

The hole pattern is identical which I expected since their mounts are supposed to fit both and it fits my existing 3D printed mount perfectly.

The CM2 base required a flat head screwdriver and while there are small bent handle flat head screw drivers, they aren't as common and reaching the adjustment at the base of the stick required pulling the stick back out of the way to reach it.

With the CM3 they went with hex heads which I find more convenient. It has both Spring tensioning adjustments for both axis and drag adjustments for both axis.

One other change they made was to go from a 5 pin DIN to a stouter 4 pin DIN. So my spare cables won't work, but the pins looks less fragile.

I debated getting the CM3 base. However with the new Slaw pedals which are buttery smooth and nicely dampened this feels like a much better match. Adding damping to the the stick gives it a more believable feel that matches the feel of the pedals. I'm surprised at how big a difference it makes. The flight stick no longer springs to center and rings. It just feels smooth and mechanical.

I still have my CM2 base and TM A-10 stick that fits it. I "could" create a side mount and it would match an F-16 cockpit better. Maybe for another day.

 

[GagarynGaribaldi]

Like you say, little offset drivers like these are available but I always find them awkward; you would probably find something like this mini ratchet driver more useful. Looks like a toy but it has saved me a few times.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Like you say, little offset drivers like these are available but I always find them awkward; you would probably find something like this mini ratchet driver more useful. Looks like a toy but it has saved me a few times.

The ratchet drivers are definitely useful and I'm pretty well setup with Wiha drivers, but I always have Allen keys handy and I like that the Virpil base just uses standard metric wrenches to adjust it.

In terms of preventing "Doh!" moments, I understand why Virpil went with a 4 pin USB plug. Virpil Controls have a USB and AUX plug. The AUX is for side button boxes. The plugs were identical 5 pin connectors, but now the USB is 4 pins and the AUX is 5 pins. I just made the mistake of plugging my collective stick USB cable to its AUX connector. I thought I had blown my 10 port USB hub! Then I realized what I did, plugged the USB cable into the correct port and all was good again

In the other things that are nice category, the Slaw pedals come pre-calibrated from the factory and they were absolutely nuts on out of the box. Zero was zero with no jitter what-so-ever! Each extent was absolutely perfect.

For the CM3 base I had to download Vipil's latest configuration software so it would recognize the CM3 base/Alpha pairing. Then I calibrated it and tested all the buttons, analog hats and slider. All was perfect.

I feel like I'm flying smoother with the damper on the stick and new pedals.

One more happy side effect of the Slaw pedals is that my heels are planted and the heel rests are rigidly mounted to the frame. As a result it seems like I can feel the motion a bit better. I like the control of using my ankles vs. my legs to adjust the rudder. As anti-rotation pedals this makes a pretty huge difference.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Printables

www.printables.com

Cosmetic touches profile end caps and clean transitory cable routing for the flight control wires that can be removed easily and quickly.

I created these earlier and it all fits together well. I can drop in the flight controls pop the wires into these guides and plug the flight controls into the USB hub without cables laying all over the place. Can't have a messy rig

 

[RCHeliguy]

I also don't like my 4 pole tactile plug hanging when my driving pedals are removed, so I created a simple storage plug to bolt to the back of my flight pedal profile so the connector has a home when the rig is in flight mode.

That's better.

Even if it is a plug to nowhere, I like not having that cable dangling.

 

[RCHeliguy]

Finishing touches.

Added a couple T-nuts to store the knobs that hold the flight pedal deck to the chassis.

Now that my flight pedal deck sits on top of the chassis rather then fitting under my driving pedal deck, that opened up some space, so I re-bundled and secured all the wiring etc. up higher. I'm just leaving the two M8 T-Nuts in the frame so I can drop the flight pedals on easily.

Now I need to find a good way to store my flight gear out of sight when I'm not using it. (Orders from my wife)

I did recently sell off the flight gear that I wasn't going to use anymore. The old collective, CM2 stick base, A-10 grip, and Crosswind pedals. I still need to find a home for the NLRv3, but haven't bothered to list it yet.

I am hoping to get a 4090 when I can find one and in a weak moment picked up a Reverb G2 on sale for $399.99. I figured now that I've done that it would prompt Valve to introduce their Index replacement, because that is how it works, right?

 

[RCHeliguy]

Looks like I'm going to go down the OpenXR rabbit hole!

From what I understand it is the best way to get the G2 to work well in some titles at solid frame rates. Looks like some work ahead of me.

OpenXR Guide - Deprecated - This time for real (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)

By request of a few members I have put this guide back up. But please note OpenXR now runs natively on DCS TURBO and Reprojection work with the latest version of OpenXR Toolkit! You may be better off with the official implementation than with OpenComposite (aka this guide) If you are unsure, I wo...

forum.dcs.world

 

[cnhoff]

Looks like I'm going to go down the OpenXR rabbit hole!

From what I understand it is the best way to get the G2 to work well in some titles at solid frame rates. Looks like some work ahead of me.

OpenXR Guide - Deprecated - This time for real (▀̿Ĺ̯▀̿ ̿)

By request of a few members I have put this guide back up. But please note OpenXR now runs natively on DCS TURBO and Reprojection work with the latest version of OpenXR Toolkit! You may be better off with the official implementation than with OpenComposite (aka this guide) If you are unsure, I wo...

forum.dcs.world

OpenXR has been good for a massive framerate increase with my G2 in almost all titles i play, especially if you use the OpenXR Toolkit functions like foveated rendering and upscaling for additional boosts.

 

[HoiHman]

in a weak moment picked up a Reverb G2 on sale for $399.99. I figured now that I've done that it would prompt Valve to introduce their Index replacement, because that is how it works, right?

Interesting....... Looking forward to your impressions.

Hope you're right about Valve announcing their new HMD. I feared the same when i bought the Vive Pro 2 and even more when i bought the Varjo Areo, but still no announcement.

Nevertheless at that price i think you would be happy to take a 100 dollar loss and sell it, knowing that your purchase drove Valve to announcing the Index 2

The smaller FOV of the G2 is something you will get used to, but the small micro movements with motion and the small sweet spot is what made me to decide not to keep it. But the extra sharpness in the dead center might be more than enough for you to be very happy with it.

 

[Elaphe]

The new Valve index will surely be another stand-alone headset. Most of the companies developing VR hardware are focused on that exclusively, because it's what people demand and where they can make money. Simracers are what? 5% of the VR users? That's why they don't care about improving FOV any more.

 

[RCHeliguy]

The smaller FOV of the G2 is something you will get used to, but the small micro movements with motion and the small sweet spot is what made me to decide not to keep it. But the extra sharpness in the dead center might be more than enough for you to be very happy with it.

These small micro movements with motion sound the most concerning. I'm used to rock solid headset tracking. So you are saying that with your SFX-100 system the headset was having issues maintaining a solid lock? I assume this is worse in rally than on the track and is probably less of an issue in flight.

I've been very happy with my Index for 3.5 yrs now, but it's showing signs of wear. I just ordered a new tether for it. My tether is starting to look rough from use. It's been stepped on, abraded twisted and in the last couple weeks in room scale mode, I've had my headset abruptly disconnect and reconnect a few times as well as showing lots of sparkling in the displays. It varies from something you only notice in dark spaces to very bad. Hopefully the new tether will make it tip top again.

As far as the next Index headset goes. My best guess is that it will be something like the Pimax Crystal which on paper is supposed to work wirelessly or tethered and run both inside out or using base station tracking. Time will tell. But I think an Index with 140 FOV, 35ppd, better color, darker blacks and no fuss use native SteamVR support would be a good next enthusiast headset. Time will tell.

I ordered a 12VHPWR Cable Mod wiring harness for my Corsair 1200W PSU to hopefully eliminate the issue with the NVidia adapters.

HP has a warehouse in my state and my G2 will arrive tomorrow. My 2080Ti won't be able to push the G2 very well, but I can start setting up OpenXR and learn how that works and then wait for a GPU that can actually push it pretty well.