Love the button swapping feature. So customisable and repair friendly. So often these dinky 5 way hats take a hammering and this makes it very easy to swap out worn switches.
8:00 you can in fact use those buttons for your game. On my STECS, you have to hold the bottom grey button, and then turn the dial and it will swap profiles.
FYI. The 5-position selector on the base can be used as a modal switch thereby increasing the number of key binds for the STEM module. I believe the VKB config manual says something about each button can be modified by up to 4 modal states.
15:00 Well said- it's worth pointing out that real aircraft use plastic or resin controls, not metal, for good reasons (and not just for weight savings).
Great video. VKBs quality always impresses me. Looking to upgrade to this from my Warthog throttle. Not having a little slider axis for zoom will take some getting used to.
It has a wheel axis for your thumb that would work just fine for zoom. This doesn't really affect me because I use VR, and you use a button for zoom in VR
@11:18 where do you get replacement caps for those? I also don't like the pyramid style and want the dish style. I think I have one from my MCGU III, but I heard the joy connections are different, but can I just pop the cap off and swap it out?
Technically, the black detent frame is meant to have no detents installed. I mean, you can do it anyway, but the software LED-plastic matching won't work like it will for the other colors. The software allows all sorts of curves and buttons to react with the detents. VKB has a good video on it. Edit: I see you found the detent software later in the vid.
@@purplepenguin43I'm going to do that soon. Upgrading from an X56. I just ordered my Gladiator NXT. Is there anything I should be aware of or look into when I get my stick and eventually the throttle?
seem very good and you can still go hard on to idle without breaking into cutof and so in DCS Afterburner comes at 75 ? good information to keep in mind
Really like all the customization my only issue would be the self tapping screws, no problem if you customize to your personal choice once or twice but doing multiple times you usually end up stripping the threads if your not careful. Also do like having all those switches just as spares in case one goes faulty rather than having to send the whole unit back to replace it while under warranty or pay and wait 2 weeks or more for a replacement.
There are self tapping screws in gladiator NXT base too and I've had that thing apart probably 50+ times with no issues. The key is not over tightening them
Also if you ever do mess up the threads in such a situation you can repair them fairly easily. Just fill the hole with a suitable glue and redrill an appropriate diameter hole.
I have a Warthog that's done well for several years but the slider pot is dying and I've seen on forums that replacing it doesn't seem to solve jitter. The customisation wil lallow me to replicate the general layout but also adding extra buttons which will be really nice for extra functions; which makes VR a more appealing option. Also I play a mixture of serious flight sim and space sim- currently I have to use a gamepad for space simming because the thrustmaster HOTAS just doesn't work for it. The hot swappabl detents will really help with that; also just for different types of planes. Really looking forwards to seeing the reviews for these, will pick one up in a couple of months if they prove as favourable as this one.
Missed out the analog wheel on the first go around of the "right face", but a very thorough video nonetheless. =) 28:32 There is only one correct opinion on this subject: All of them should have been Torx! =) EDIT: Also, any specific reason why you'd use a setup with an afterburner detent on the A-10C? I'd have expected only the idle one being of any use.
This is looking like the best throttle to possibly get for me, but I'm unsure on the stick. Think I might pair it with the VPC contellation alpha. Can you use the encoder dials as a digital axis? Thanks for the excellent in-depth review. (btw the discord link is invalid)
@@FalconsLedge Oh, that's a shame. Was really hoping to be able to use those as my zoom axis or radar elev. Might consider a different throttle, because I really need those.
@@vincentvoncarnap There is a setting that you can use to set it to a "trimmer" that acts like an axis in the software. So you can make it behave like one.
@@vincentvoncarnap You can convert the rotary encoders into a digital axis by using the VKBDEVCFG software and upload that to the device. I've done it. You still don't have physical endpoints of course, and there is a very slight reduction in resolution compared to a real axis, but it works very well overall. I use my pinky dial as an axis for prop RPM, but keep the middle finger dial as an encoder for VR zoom.
I've just got mine, it was so tight after unpacking, I didn't know what is wrong with it. I haven't heard about this before, but I figured it out eventually. But, alas, I have a different problem when making it reasonably loose - the right grip falls down towards the max position. This can happen with locked throttles as well, if they are just a bit looser. It has to be tighter not to do that. Have anyone experienced this? Is it just temporary and will it eventually stop doing that? I'm a bit disappointed it has to be quite tight not to fall.
@@virgo47 why not tighten them both so that both have the independent feel you want, then while connected you should have the desired feel. If you don't get the desired feel, I'd recommend going to the VKB discord, post a short video with the behavior and the community can help
@@FalconsLedge I'll wait a few days, it may be just some dampening stuff not distributed enough. Most of the time I'll have them locked anyway. I may also get used to a bit tighter feel. It was more of a question than a real concern, really. Perhaps, some stiffness preventing crazy fast moves may be good. Precision is from another planet though (going from TWCS).
Hoping to have the STECS review done filming in about 2 weeks. Usually I try to spend a month with sticks, but throttles are less complicated. Then after that I think a comparison would be a great thing to have next
have been waiting for 5 years and 4 months ago got the Virpil. i would like to know how high the top off the throtle compares, the virpil one is about 20 cm in the middle position.
@@FGCH03 the triggers act as buttons which can be useful for things like finger lift activation for the mudhen and whatever else you might want to use, the trigger locations are very convenient. Finger lifts are there to prevent you from accidentally going into an area of the throttle you don't want to accidentally enter. This was considered to be a shortcoming of the Orion 1, because the included detents were very weak and could easily be pushed through. The STECS has detent options that are light, or hard to press through. The detents I installed were the tall ones. I will not be accidentally pressing through them.
@@FalconsLedge Yeah, it's not that rare in the scheme of things, the Viper, Harrier, Mirage 2000C and JF-17 have it under the thumb (and for that matter the F-35, Gripen and I think the Rafale too, at least one one of the two throttle grips), the F/A-18C has it under the index finger (and I think the Eurofighter too), and the F-15E and A-10C have it under the middle finger, which IMO is the worst place for it (I think F-22 as well)... Russians tend to put it on the flight stick. My thumb is already used to operating a thumbstick from gamepads, so I'm fairly certain I'm not gonna have any issues with is. Having an option to put it under the index finger would be a nice to have, but if I had to pick I think thumb is my preferred spot.
Love the button swapping feature. So customisable and repair friendly. So often these dinky 5 way hats take a hammering and this makes it very easy to swap out worn switches.
Yeah me too, and VKB is the only one that offers this level of customization
8:00 you can in fact use those buttons for your game. On my STECS, you have to hold the bottom grey button, and then turn the dial and it will swap profiles.
Thank you!
Great video don't worry about the mic we did not notice and enjoy your vacation
FYI. The 5-position selector on the base can be used as a modal switch thereby increasing the number of key binds for the STEM module. I believe the VKB config manual says something about each button can be modified by up to 4 modal states.
Very cool
15:00 Well said- it's worth pointing out that real aircraft use plastic or resin controls, not metal, for good reasons (and not just for weight savings).
Yeah some do use metal, but many use resin
Looks amazing
Great video. VKBs quality always impresses me. Looking to upgrade to this from my Warthog throttle. Not having a little slider axis for zoom will take some getting used to.
It has a wheel axis for your thumb that would work just fine for zoom. This doesn't really affect me because I use VR, and you use a button for zoom in VR
You can configure the middle-finger encoder on the front to be an axis and use that for zoom.
Excellent review Thank you.
This is a fantastic video, straight to the point and very informative... thank you.
@11:18 where do you get replacement caps for those? I also don't like the pyramid style and want the dish style. I think I have one from my MCGU III, but I heard the joy connections are different, but can I just pop the cap off and swap it out?
The mcg-u analog sticks are the same connection as the analog stick in the STECS. I am using the dish style that came with the mcg-u
Technically, the black detent frame is meant to have no detents installed. I mean, you can do it anyway, but the software LED-plastic matching won't work like it will for the other colors. The software allows all sorts of curves and buttons to react with the detents. VKB has a good video on it.
Edit: I see you found the detent software later in the vid.
I would've caught this later, but I appreciate it, now I don't have to
Just put in an order for mine along with the gunfighter mark 4 stick! Cannot wait!
I'm hoping to test the gunfighter 4 upgrade to the gunfighter 3
just ordered an nxt and stects, i hope its gonna be a huge jump from my x52.
@@purplepenguin43 Thats great! I have no doubt you'll love it, HUGE upgrade! congrats!
@@purplepenguin43I'm going to do that soon. Upgrading from an X56. I just ordered my Gladiator NXT. Is there anything I should be aware of or look into when I get my stick and eventually the throttle?
@@FalconsLedge One year on, how did it turn out?
Great video mate, can't wait for mine! 🇦🇺
seem very good and you can still go hard on to idle without breaking into cutof and so in DCS Afterburner comes at 75 ? good information to keep in mind
Yeah the detents are pretty strong, especially those I used on the idle
excellent review thanks
Really like all the customization my only issue would be the self tapping screws, no problem if you customize to your personal choice once or twice but doing multiple times you usually end up stripping the threads if your not careful. Also do like having all those switches just as spares in case one goes faulty rather than having to send the whole unit back to replace it while under warranty or pay and wait 2 weeks or more for a replacement.
There are self tapping screws in gladiator NXT base too and I've had that thing apart probably 50+ times with no issues. The key is not over tightening them
Also if you ever do mess up the threads in such a situation you can repair them fairly easily. Just fill the hole with a suitable glue and redrill an appropriate diameter hole.
I don't really see it as an issue as I don't think they are designed for repeated changing, but I do mention it to help people avoid problems.
@@timp2751 great tip
been waiting for this one for a while.
You and me both!
Okay these are not available yet in UK/EU, another month away apparently.
I guess it's good that you know what to expect though I suppose (trying to find a silver lining here)
It looks like you might be able to swap the TDC cap with a different as s it looks like there are some spare caps in magazine
Those caps are a different size, but we confirmed that the caps from the gunfighter fit
Woot!
I have a Warthog that's done well for several years but the slider pot is dying and I've seen on forums that replacing it doesn't seem to solve jitter.
The customisation wil lallow me to replicate the general layout but also adding extra buttons which will be really nice for extra functions; which makes VR a more appealing option.
Also I play a mixture of serious flight sim and space sim- currently I have to use a gamepad for space simming because the thrustmaster HOTAS just doesn't work for it. The hot swappabl detents will really help with that; also just for different types of planes.
Really looking forwards to seeing the reviews for these, will pick one up in a couple of months if they prove as favourable as this one.
This is way better than the WH I can tell you that right now! Great value for it's features
Any word if the rail version will be released?
No word yet
Another awesome video Brother. Let's do some flying when you get back! - Orko
Absolutely
Missed out the analog wheel on the first go around of the "right face", but a very thorough video nonetheless. =)
28:32 There is only one correct opinion on this subject: All of them should have been Torx! =)
EDIT: Also, any specific reason why you'd use a setup with an afterburner detent on the A-10C? I'd have expected only the idle one being of any use.
That one is for the mudhen, I'll have a separate one for the A10
@@FalconsLedge Oki, makes sense. Got confused when you said that you'd be using that setup for the A-10C as well. =)
if i buy throttle from virpila ,and the whole stick with the base from VKB, will it work together?
They are just USB devices. They don't care about each other
I am currently using a VKB throttle and a Virpil stick
Are any of those changeable stick options an analog stick? Like an Xbox thumb stick for example?
There is an analog stick on the side , it is not changeable.
This is looking like the best throttle to possibly get for me, but I'm unsure on the stick. Think I might pair it with the VPC contellation alpha. Can you use the encoder dials as a digital axis? Thanks for the excellent in-depth review. (btw the discord link is invalid)
I will take that as a note and see if using the encoders as a digital axis is possible.
I reached out to the VKB community, and it looks like the encoders cannot be used as a digital axis.
@@FalconsLedge Oh, that's a shame. Was really hoping to be able to use those as my zoom axis or radar elev. Might consider a different throttle, because I really need those.
@@vincentvoncarnap There is a setting that you can use to set it to a "trimmer" that acts like an axis in the software. So you can make it behave like one.
@@vincentvoncarnap You can convert the rotary encoders into a digital axis by using the VKBDEVCFG software and upload that to the device. I've done it. You still don't have physical endpoints of course, and there is a very slight reduction in resolution compared to a real axis, but it works very well overall. I use my pinky dial as an axis for prop RPM, but keep the middle finger dial as an encoder for VR zoom.
far as i know VKB modularity is unmatched
Absolutely true
I've just got mine, it was so tight after unpacking, I didn't know what is wrong with it. I haven't heard about this before, but I figured it out eventually. But, alas, I have a different problem when making it reasonably loose - the right grip falls down towards the max position. This can happen with locked throttles as well, if they are just a bit looser. It has to be tighter not to do that. Have anyone experienced this? Is it just temporary and will it eventually stop doing that? I'm a bit disappointed it has to be quite tight not to fall.
Have you tried tightening the clutches for each throttle handle independently? It sounds like one of the clutches just isn't tightened enough.
@@FalconsLedge the feeling of each is the same when split. I have to tighten the right more to prevent the fall. That's not ideal.
@@virgo47 why not tighten them both so that both have the independent feel you want, then while connected you should have the desired feel.
If you don't get the desired feel, I'd recommend going to the VKB discord, post a short video with the behavior and the community can help
@@FalconsLedge I'll wait a few days, it may be just some dampening stuff not distributed enough. Most of the time I'll have them locked anyway. I may also get used to a bit tighter feel. It was more of a question than a real concern, really. Perhaps, some stiffness preventing crazy fast moves may be good. Precision is from another planet though (going from TWCS).
@@virgo47 damping is a good thing! I hope things do get better. Mine feels great!
When can we expect the video where you compare the STECS to the Orion 2?
Hoping to have the STECS review done filming in about 2 weeks. Usually I try to spend a month with sticks, but throttles are less complicated. Then after that I think a comparison would be a great thing to have next
I've been debating if this is worth picking up (probanly the mini plus) if I exclusively play star citizen. Thoughts?
My preference in star citizen is dual stick. But out of all the available throttles on the market l, this one is by far the best for space Sims.
As a correction, the Virpil CM3 also comes with a center detent, so that one is good too, but it's considerably more money
have been waiting for 5 years and 4 months ago got the Virpil.
i would like to know how high the top off the throtle compares, the virpil one is about 20 cm in the middle position.
I'll try to remember to measure it
does the triggers work for jumping the detents?
No, they are not finger lifts, I actually like it better this way
@@FalconsLedge why??
@@FGCH03 the triggers act as buttons which can be useful for things like finger lift activation for the mudhen and whatever else you might want to use, the trigger locations are very convenient.
Finger lifts are there to prevent you from accidentally going into an area of the throttle you don't want to accidentally enter. This was considered to be a shortcoming of the Orion 1, because the included detents were very weak and could easily be pushed through.
The STECS has detent options that are light, or hard to press through. The detents I installed were the tall ones. I will not be accidentally pressing through them.
Im going to buy it . But i don't see it on website is there a link ?
It is listed in product categories
Thanks looking . lol oh i see its on the USA website not UK or Europe one yet . @@FalconsLedge
how do i get 1 in the uk?
VKB EU would be your best bet
@@FalconsLedge they dont have it listed :( id be willing to buy direct from china but they only seem to ship to the usa and canada
@@Scoobydcs sorry to hear that
self tapping screws into plastic?
Not for structural elements no
My only problem is the tdc slew being on the side
Been flying the f-16 lately so I'm used to it
@@FalconsLedge Yeah, it's not that rare in the scheme of things, the Viper, Harrier, Mirage 2000C and JF-17 have it under the thumb (and for that matter the F-35, Gripen and I think the Rafale too, at least one one of the two throttle grips), the F/A-18C has it under the index finger (and I think the Eurofighter too), and the F-15E and A-10C have it under the middle finger, which IMO is the worst place for it (I think F-22 as well)... Russians tend to put it on the flight stick.
My thumb is already used to operating a thumbstick from gamepads, so I'm fairly certain I'm not gonna have any issues with is. Having an option to put it under the index finger would be a nice to have, but if I had to pick I think thumb is my preferred spot.
That you still can not define custom positions for the afterburn in DCS is straight up pathetic.
Well, the good thing is: in VKBDevCfg you can. So it makes up for what you pointed out is a shortcoming of DCS
Just ordered mine. Kinda pisses me off that it's coming from china
One of the downsides for sure but worth it. Nothing made in the US competes sadly
Almost knows how to use a knife…Cub Scout??
?
Those white knob look terrible. Why on earth wouldn’t they make them black or grey. They just look cheap. I like vkb, but that was a fail
I'd prefer them to be black too, but honestly doesn't bother me. I play in VR.
does the triggers work for jumping the detents?
The two front levers are mappable triggers - not finger lifts. The detents are push/pull through.
@@lucefinshadowspawn1193 ok too bad.