Sorry, I have some additional new pilot questions for the Alpha Honeycomb:
Still having an issue with the left look camera (hat switch left) and wondering if it’s normal or just my unit? If I hit the hat straight left (like 270 on the compass), it jumps and sometimes doesn’t cleanly give me a left view. It kind of jumps between left and straight when I hit it and takes a while for me to simply get it to the left view. It may just be my lack of precision in trying to look left? (context: when I am the downwind leg of pattern work and I want to figure out how far past the end of the runway I am for turning towards base/final).
Trim: Do you use the trim buttons on the Alpha? Forget which buttons these are called but they are on the left side of the yoke. I am finding them not to be terribly precise, and I have better luck scrolling down with my mouse and looking down to turn the trim wheel. As a new flyer, it makes me nervous to look down so much taking my eyes off the instruments, front view, but is this what you do? I’ve seen one guy on Twitch who has an actual trim wheel connect (instructor, Howard Fodor), but I feel like I’ve spent a lot on this already.
Do you use the throttle keys on the keyboard with your yoke, have a quadrant or something else? Finding that the keyboard F3 and F2 isn’t that responsive, but I’m wondering if there is a better solution? Have you bit the bullet and laid out for a throttle quadrant or?
Thanks in advance, and sorry for asking so many dumb, newbie questions. I’m trying to learn how to fly the right way (or reasonably close).
If it matters, I’m mostly flying in the 172 right now. Tried the DA40? but found myself not to be ready for it.
I am also very new to Flight Sims and the Alpha Yoke - can’t help with any technical stuff, but I do know that your Q2 is a known “fault” that should be fixed in an update in the future - you are not imagining the fact that the elevator trim is tricky to use with the left yoke stick buttons.
Hope this at least provides some reassurance.
Regards, Alasdair
I have that problem with the Honeycomb Alpha yoke and also with my Yoko+ yoke. I think it is me not pushing exactly in the right direction. When I am very careful, it seems to go to the right spot. I had the settings set to toggle/no toggle in the past, and because of the way I set it, the view wouldn’t stick where I put it. That was part of my problem for awhile. However, I think that it is likely that the way my hand holds the yoke, when I push what I think is straight to the left, I’m actually pushing a bit off center frequently. Hope this helps some.
The trim is also difficult to set using the lever/button on the yoke. It either is slow to respond or enters a big adjustment. I have found with some finesse that I can get it done, but it isn’t the easiest of things. When the Honeycomb Bravo Throttle is out, it has a wheel and that will be great to use.
I do use a throttle (TQ6+ right now, or my Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog). Any throttle is much better than the keyboard in my opinion (same for rudder pedals when you get around to thinking about them).
This could be down to you having the magneto switch mapped, which is a known issue (something to do with sending a continuous signal to the sim that confuses it). The upshot is that things like trim have their settings accelerated somehow, the heading bug can only be adjusted in increments of 10 etc. Unmapping the magneto switch should solve this, although it is a bit annoying. I’ve raised a zendesk ticket, as I’m sure many have, so feel free to raise another!
This thread has more info on this issue (and there are others if you search for “honeycomb” )
I use a throttle quadrant. I bought a Logitech Yoke + Throttle Quadrant bundle, but found the yoke to be a bit poor and there were good write ups on the honeycomb. Much more expensive (2 x what I paid for the Logitech yoke + Throttle quadrant) but definitely worth it - light years ahead on quality. Upshot though is that I have a “spare” throttle quadrant. I’ve pre ordered the honeycomb bravo quadrant, so hopefully that will arrive at some point (Amazon say 9th Dec). Another bucket of cash, but I’m hoping equally worth it compared to the Logitech. When it finally arrives I plan to eBay the Logitech stuff.
Point to note on the Logitech. As I bought the bundle, the throttle quadrant doesn’t have its own USB controller and so can’t be plugged straight into a USB port. It has an old PS/2 or DIN connector that connects to the Logitech Yoke which is where the USB controller lives. Upshot is that I have to have the Logitech Yoke plugged in to my PC with the USB plug and the Logitech quadrant plugged into the yoke. The yoke sits on the floor under the table while I use the honeycomb. Fortunately the cables are long enough.
However, note that you can buy a standalone Logitech quadrant which DOES include a USB controller and hence can be plugged straight into your PC. However it costs a lot more. See these links:
Hi gordongreig, I’ll check the magneto switch mapping. I’ve gotten pretty good about getting the trim adjusted with care, but from time to time I’ll overhold the button and things go crazy for a time.
Best,
M.
Cool. I ended uo setting my trim control to be one of the throttle quadrant levers. I fly the TBM mainly and only really need one lever - for the throttle. I find this gives me a bit more travel on the trim setting which makes it a bit easier - and that’s with the magneto switch unmapped!
Hoping the trim wheel on the Bravo quadrant will be good
I too hope the Bravo trim wheel is good. I also fly the TBM mostly. It seems to fit right in the middle as a fast plane that can fly slow and land on short runways. I really like it . While awaiting the Bravo, I sometimes use the slider lever on the Thrustmaster Throttle as trim. I normally only use the Thrustmaster for flying military type jets (which means just one so far in MSFS) , but I do use that slider mapped to trim and the gear toggle button for all the planes I fly.