Honeycomb Alpha Acting Up!

After owning the Honeycomb Alpha for a couple years, it recently has become unstable with the yoke settings being erratic, as I push in (elevator) the ailerons turn and visa-versa. I have recalibrated it internally, set up a new profile in msfs, and calibrated in Windows too. Nothing I do changes this issue. It’s like the X and Y axis’s are bound together on the yoke. I see they move together in the config settings. I’ve searched for answers to no avail. Is this a software setup issue or a hardware defect?

see this post

1 Like

Thanks! I did more testing and plugging the usb from hub, directly into the mobo. Unplugged and replugged or secured the ethernet cable from the moving yoke.
Recalibrated the internal unit then in Windows. Seems less noisy and a bit more stable. The aileron axis is fine (no movement in the elevator axis), but the elevator axis still moves the aileron axis, but now very slightly. Enough that I could set a small dead zone so the ailerons don’t move, or only slightly at the maximum extremes. I fly mostly GA, Baron 58, or occasionally the 737-600 for learning commercial. I’ll give this a complete test flight including on autopilot and manual in vfr.

Kenny i have my 2nd honeycomb alpha now that suffered the same thing you are describing. I could RMA my first one, but my second one, after a month or so, started with the same symptoms (which matches the ones you describe too). I had to tear it down, there’s a cable that is loose and makes the ailerons move when elevator is moved, you have to fix this cable with a hot glue gun, that completely fixed mine. It’s like new now for almost 2 years. If i remember where I got the data I will post it here. But you should be able to find the problem with ease, if when you open the unit, plug it opened and move the cables, it will show in windows game controllers when you move the cables it will spike the ailerons. Good luck mate. Happy new year.

2 Likes

read this forum…I’m 100% certain you’ll fix yours.

1 Like

Fantastic, thank you! I read the entire thread, with arejax solution to open it up and tie down the loose wires that rub the circuit board. Everyone who did this says it worked marvellously! Rumour has it Honeycomb is in trouble and may even be bankrupt. So I can forget my extended warranty lol!
I will try this and let you know. Thanks again and Happy New Year!

3 Likes

That’s what I did before, too, and it helped me as well. It was a quite new product and has not been tested for years so these things will keep happening to us. But it’s well accessible inside and we can repair it ourselves.

1 Like

It’s been solved/fixed! After opening it up, I couldn’t find any wires that were loose or binding up when the yoke travelled. Everything looked secure, didn’t tie down anything. Yet it was better after. But still the ailerons were not balanced and nothing I set fixed the uneven rotation. I took a suggestion on doing the internal calibration a bit differently (moving the yoke faster) than Honeycomb says, caused this. So I recalibrated as Honeycomb suggests, moving to each extreme very slowly and viola, it’s now perfect!
Thanks everyone for all your great imput! :slightly_smiling_face:
Happy New Year!!
_albumtemp

This makes me nervous about buying one. Would you still recommend?

After less than two years getting some issues. I’m hearing some very negative things about customer service and the state of their financial health. Personally, I would look for something else.

Unless you want to purchase a brunner force feedback yoke or maybe a yoko both over $1000 I don’t think you will get the same value from any other device out there. The issues with drift affect all models of low cost yoke solutions over time. I was blowing through CH, logitech and even alpha yokes every 2 years before I figured out they can be fixed for cheap. I also really like the alpha yoke, it is by far the best product for the price range so I would still buy one especially if they won’t be available in the future. If it drifts which usually takes a few years it can be fixed. I Haven’t seen anybody else that has claimed to fix the yoke drift problem. So here it is in case anybody is wondering.

If your alpha is drifting and the internal calibration plus windows calibration cant fix it your potentiometer is broken. The first fix could be just removing the outer case and using some electronics contact cleaner on the potentiometer. This is the easiest potential fix and does fix drift in thumbsitcks like xbox controllers and oculus touch controllers. I would try this first. For me this didn’t work. A company called digikey sells the potentiometer used in the honeycomb yoke for $2, a worthwhile investment in my opinion. The model number is REPPOT604, this is the same potentiometer used in some CH products and is listed as a replacement for those.

To replcae this there is some soldering work but it’s very easy. Cut the wires for the old potentiometer as close a possible to the old one to leave slack to solder the new one. Unscrew the bracket holding the potentiometer in place, it should slide out from the hoder. Unscrew the old potentiometer and screw in the new one, slide it back into the socket, screw it back in. Solder the three wires back onto the potentiometer, from the right red, black, white. Put everything back together, run the alpha calibration tool and the windows calibration and drift should be gone, for a whopping cost of $3.

1 Like

Excellent info!!! Thanks! :+1:

Yep, it a cheap 10K linear pot (24mm case) you just need to make sure the shaft is longe