Thanks! My doubts has been dispelled and I'm also considering to get one now. The manufacturer should show some gratitude to you. It's a bit frustrating that this bug is not actively communicated by the maker.
Thanks so much for this. My yoke was in the 20 degree out category. I've just followed your guide and successfully recalibrated it. It's now the excellent yoke I expected it to be. The only puzzling thing is why the manufacturer just didn't issue a fix themselves. Simple to do and would not harm sales. Anyway, this is very appreciated.
Glad it helped. By the way, I wonder if it would be helpful for people to let Honeycomb know that they hav eused this procedure to improve their yokes. As for your question, the only reasoning I was given for keeping the information secret was "we don’t want customers trying out this process yet and potentially messing up the yoke". Then Mattijs Kok of Aerosoft said in response to my video that they don't support this because it can "brick" the yoke. I think the latter claim is unconvincing. However, the fact is you can easily mess up the yoke if you calibrate it wrongly, and I am sure there would be a fair proportion of people who would then return it as 'faulty' afterwards. I think the situation is most likely a consequence of a retail system that has become far too biased in favour of the consumer. Honeycomb (and Aerosoft, as its representative) is catering to the lowest common denominator, so ends up treating everyone like an idiot.
Thank you for speaking it out, as well as your previous video of explaining the possible mechanisms behind it and other useful information, which is very helpful and helped my friends to figure out how to calibrate it correctly. He has been given the "instructions" as well but failed to make any difference after doing it at first. What he did then after watching your video is, using some wire to make an "aim" and tied it on the column of the yoke, and aligned the aim to some sort of marking behind when logging the center position, to make sure they are at the same position each time. HC's action of dealing with this issue makes me unhappy, but unfortunately, there is no alternative at this price point. Their upcoming throttle is even more so. Just hope they can make it better this time.
Got mine a month ago. Love it. No yoke experience with others. No dead zone. Not sure what all the dead zone talk is in the community, mine didn't have it. Thanks for showing the calibration mode on the yoke. Cannot wait for the Bravo TQ to come out.
Fitting on this Easter Sunday that Mark has now enabled us to resurrect our Alpha Yokes from the "dead" zones! Mark, Honeycomb should give you a free Bravo Throttle Quadrant for providing customer service to us. I requested the procedure from them 11 days ago, have not gotten a response yet, maybe they are not servicing the support tickets remotely while staying at home. This would have been an opportunity for them to be proactive and get ahead of the dead zone issue by letting customers know about the possibility of mis-calibrated yokes and how to correct it ourselves. Proactive communication about a possible issue would have made for confidence and brand loyalty, as you would know they are transparent and accountable. As it is, seems like they have just wanted to keep it quiet, and made it a bigger "issue" than it needed to be. My yoke went from 5mm elevator and 9° aileron deadzone to none detectable, but my centering was not as repeatable as I thought it was - had to mark the shaft and watch the end of the yoke handle to get the exact same centering every time. So now i can setup a small dead zone to taste in my software, instead of having a fixed amount in the yoke. THANKS!
@@AlmostAviation I posted a link to this video in 6 different YT videos where the dead zone was being questioned, to spread the word. It's in the wild.
@@AlmostAviation I think the truth might be halfway... they don't share the information to protect them if anybody screws up their yoke, but the leak was due to a rookie mistake by the "global manager"
@@attiliodariva5417 Maybe. I have had one other person say he was given the calibration info by tech support, although perhaps it was by the same person!
Thanks Mark. Checked the output of my yoke in DIView and there was a small but appreciable deadzone on the roll axis so calibrated it as you described (letting it oscillate back to its own center) and its appears it's now totally eliminated. Very pleased, good work!
A HUGE THANK YOU. I just bought the honeycomb yoke several months ago and found the deadzone to be excessive. I fly for the airlines and upgraded my old yoke to this, and was frustrated with the deadzones, especially with the Ailerons. I did the 45 degree calibration and its a new yoke! It worked perfect at correcting the deadzone issue. Thank you for sharing this calibration method, it has helped me tons!!! Much more functional yoke now. I currently use Prepar3d for my sim training at home.
I just received my Alpha Yoke & Bravo Throttle yesterday, and so haven't yet even got it fully set up. However this info could be very useful in my near future so thank you very much for going through the process and showing us how to enter the calibration mode. I've already had issues with just getting the lights to function on my throttle. You earned a new subscriber and thank you very much!
Thank you for sharing this - I've been on the fence about buying this for the last few weeks, but now I'm going to backorder it, now that I'm fairly confident calibration can be resolved. If Honeycomb Aeronautical have a problem with this video then let me know as I will then cancel my order, as videos like this are what help....not marketing BS. I just wish they'd release more info on the rudder now
Your free floating method absolutely helped, thank you. While I didn't have a huge dead zone issue this really helped improve it to virtually negligible on both axes. Subbed :)
Thank you so much for this video. It has helped fixed my yoke after nearly 4 years of owning it with the issue. I also used the free-floating method. I highly appreciate your videos. Eric
Very informative, especially the bit about “chatter”. My new Honeycomb is fine but my old Saitek Yoke had this “chatter” at center - I had to clear the calibration values with a console app every time I booted up my PC. Thanks for shedding a little light on that with this in-depth explanation!
The knowledge you delivered has been incredibly helpful! I was considering cutting apart my brand new, less than a week old Honeycomb Alpha to install an Arduino to fix the dead zone when I found your video. Thank you so very much!
@@AlmostAviation Agreed! I'll be further reviewing your videos, very educational. I do also hope to identify how to use all 5 positions of the starter switch, I'm currently using the 2 positions available for panel lights on/off. Using FSX Acceleration and FSUIPC.
Thank you so much for this - I had a significant deadzone which was a real immersion breaker when using the yoke. This method has almost removed it completely!
MAN! This helped me so much! I had like 1 to 2 inches of deadzone in the pitch axis. This completely fixed it. I used the second method you showed and I couldnt be happier! Thanks again!!
Hello sir, Although the yoke is great but definitely has a dead zone.... and thank you for sharing this very important issue and calibration.... Hopefully, the throttle in production does not have a problem!
Just tried this technique and it is day and night difference! I was so disappointed when I got this yoke as I had at least 8-10 degrees deadzone - especially since there didn't seem a way to calibrate this at the time and I didn't find your video. That deadzone is simply too much to make fine adjustments in small aircraft. I ended up flying almost as if I was pressing buttons on a gamepad. Not very satisfying after spending so much money on a yoke. People even swapped the control board to make this better. But now, with a new calibration, the yoke is finally usable! Thank You!
@@AlmostAviation There is a second issue folks wanted to resolve by swapping the guts: The low resolution used for the yoke. I'm not sure how many bits it actually uses but it does look like 8bits, so only 256 different values from all the way left to all the way right. Modern controllers should at least use 10 bits, better 12-16 bits. USB supports this out of the box and there is almost no added cost, depending on the microcontroller used in the joystick.
Thanks for the help on this one Mark. I had a small dead zone but now I’ve got it tuned in perfectly. In regards to the RJ45 jack in the based, a previous comment made mention of the vulnerability there. I’m my case, the jack totally failed about 3 months ago. I returned it to Honeycomb and they sent it back as “fixed”. Unfortunately nothing was fixed or replaced. I’m not sure what they did, if anything. I took it upon myself and did a permanent repair by hardwiring an Ethernet cable into the base. It was a fun and educational project and I am very happy with the unit now. Keep up the good work. I always enjoy your videos.
Yes, I have seen a number of people having issues with the connector cable, so that seems like a vulnerability. Your solution is probably the best, if you don't mind opening the box. Someone else suggested just getting a longer vable, as the curly one supplied strains the connector every time you move the yoke.
Matt - It's very disheartening for a potential customer, me, to read about these very bad customer responses from Aerosoft. This type of 'head in the sand' reaction is very very bad, and to return a faulty unit to a customer, unchanged or not fixed, is disgusting. Aerosoft - YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! Grow some balls and rspond to the criticisms.
Cheers for that Mark that is most helpful. My Yoke has a slight stiction when initially pulling or pushing on the elevator away from centre. This seems to be over just a short amount of travel say 5-8mm but it is certainly noticable when trying to make slight flight corrections. I also feel the connecting cable between Yoke handle and body is too stiff/short and will not last too long before problems come. If you put your fingers on the back of the cable at the rear of the RJ45 plug on the yoke body and then rotate the yoke full deflection right and left you will feel the strain on the cable. In fact there is considerable rub on the coiled section when rotating full right. Anyway will give the recalibration a go and see what happens.
Have you already done a new calibration ??? Has it helped remove the dead zone? I also have a 5-8 mm dead zone, but calibration did little (or nothing helped).
@@tombulva Sorry for late reply. No I have not done the recal bit yet but I have replaced my R45 cable with a 250mm long patch cable and that is a lot better. I still have a slight sticky point at elevator centre but not sure if I should return the unit back to Aerosoft but I can anticipate that will cost me in postage and packaging and doing without my yoke for many weeks.
Thank you, sir, for this very instructional video. I had no concern about the dead zone but my yoke's calibration had gotten way out of whack and the Windows device calibration wasn't helping. I went through the built-in calibration that you showed in this video and my yoke is now calibrated properly. I appreciate your time.
Thanks for this great video! I (unfortunatly) already bought the Logitech / Saitek yoke system, which has logic-board dead zone faults. But i will soon buy a Alph Yoke instead, so this info is great to have! You make really good vids!! :)
I bought the yoke and literally just received it. I was so surprised that they did not have any diagnostic software about checking functionality and calibration (or recalibrate). The manual as well would require some attention in my opinion as only refer to a drivers web page that doesn't really exist. Thanks for the walkthrough. It's a shame because as a piece of hardware this yoke is amazing. You gained a subscriber sir!!
Thank you - I just got the Alpha and it did have a noticeable dead zone out of the box. Nothing too extreme and liveable with, but your advice in this video has reduced that deadzone to a very very minor "unconscious" zone - I only notice a slight pause on the onscreen yoke when turning very slowly. Consider yourself subbed. By the way the calibration mode is now documented on Honeycomb's website, but doesn't offer as much info as you as to how to minimise the dead zone
Thanks for doing what honeycomb should have done from the beginning! I get mine tomorrow and have been worried since Ive seen people talk about this dead zone problem (saw it after I ordered it) now I can relax a bit.
I had a decisive discovery on this question. After dealing with the sloppy and dirty sensibility, I decided to take my yoke off and see if I could clean up or see anything. I found that when pushing or pulling on the yoke, the ROLL potentiometer plug and cable moved on the circuit board due to the travel of the yoke. I took a small zip tie and secured this cable to others nearby, so that when you push or pull the yoke, the plug isn't affected. My yoke is BETTER than new now, super responsive and no more dirty jerking or off-centering. I also sprayed my X and Y axis potentiometers with contact cleaner while I was at it. Easy solution, hope this helps!
Thank you so much Mark! With the "Jiggle technique" you showed us I got no dead zone at all anymore! its perfect. I mainly fly the P38 in Il2 sturmovik ww2 flight sim so accuracy is key. I've been using it with the (4-5%) deadzone the day it came out. I did notice it and it bothered me a bit, but i got used to it. But now its like a completely different yoke! It baffles me how i put up with it all these months! But what baffles me even more is how honeycomb don't simply address the problem by making the calibration sequence public knowledge!!!! They have dragged their name through the dirt for no reason. It is an awesome yoke I definitely recommend it!!! Subscribed!
Thanks, I guess if people let Honeycomb know they might change their approach, although their present stance must be working for them regardless. P38 - good choice! I used to have one for FSX, I need to find it again...
YOU are The MAN Thank YOU soo much for the help. I was just going to return it. and then I saw your video and I love it now.. That is why You are THE MAN.... Thank you once again!!!!!!
Great Video, attempt Calibration mode by using your second suggestion of letting go the yoke roll axis no dead zone, pitch axis slight dead zone barely noticeable, overall great improvement over stock Calibration, flying feels a lot better
Amazing how facts are helpful in getting everyone happy and on the same page and that disingenuous / confusing marketing speak and denial can switch customers off and lead to unnecessary product return and dissatisfaction. With this information on the calibration feature I'm convinced this is a good device with good hardware inside it, which is why I've ordered one and will be arriving tomorrow (Wed - 26th Aug). Thanks for this information.
Thanks for the encouragement. I do wonder how many sales Honeycomb is missing out on, and particualrly how many returns they are getting due to this issue. Maybe it's a small proportion, I guess they have some rationale.
Thanks Mark again for this very helpful video. Saw it a while back already but since I thought that the dead zone on the elevator of my yoke was a bit too large (and with the A2A 172 you fly a lot with steering around the dead zone) I decided to try your method of 'turn and let go' calibration. Worked perfectly. The deadzone is now nonexistent (checking with DIView). At least I can now use fsuipc to create the deadzone I want (I used -129 to 129) instead of what is given by the manufacturer :)
Awesome. It's notable that Honeycomb has now come clean about the calibration and included the instructions in their knowledge base (although not the 'let it go' method!)
I love the Honeycomb yoke, but there was a flaw with the stiff z-axis. I was able to mod to it by replacing the bungee with a .25 inch (6.35mm) bungee. It is absolutely a great yoke now. I am glad this yoke doesn’t come with a center detent. I prefer the Honeycomb over my former PFC jet yoke-which I promptly gave away.
I'd be interested to know what kind of trade-off this has for the centring of the pitch axis. If you run the calibration mode it will compensate, but you will likely end up with a bigger null zone. Perhaps it's a good trade, although personally I like the weighty action. If I was going to experiment I think I'd try adding extra weight to the roll action!
Bob Gilchrist I saw no dead zone on Austin,s review. the Homeycombe Yoke is fine when using with Xplane but P3D and FSX users seem to experience a dead zone. I own one of these for the past couple of weeks now and my Sim of choice is Xplane and I have no issues with it and neither do many other Xplane Users who also own the product.
@@Stringbean421 As you will know if you have been paying attention, I measured both of the dead zones on camera without any simulator running. Think more, talk less.
Thank you for such in depth videos. This fixed my issue. Also the video you did on calibrating a full range yoke for FSX helped a lot since I play both MSFS and FSX.
Thank you so much!! i just bought an Alpha yoke on the used market with a noticeable dead zone on pitch. Its enough that i thought it was damaged or age related. Now i know its not uncommon. and correctable.
A very educated content creator, similar to myself in views of others’ logical fallacies. One of the problems I see in society is egos and lack of cognitive dissonance.
It's absolutely bananas that a manufacturer of a yoke/stick would be completely oblivious to this, especially when they're not even in the "budget" range of hardware. I noticed it within the first 5 seconds of flight and was very shocked to see it's not configurable at all. Not one review I watched mentioned this.. Hopefully this calibration works otherwise it's a pretty easy decision to return this thing.
Thank you very much for this (and previous) film. I have made several attempts at calibration (in various ways), but almost nothing (or minimal) has changed it the behavior of yoke. I have a continuous (about 5-7 mm) minimal dead zone. So I can live with it, but it's strange I can't get rid of it completely.
@@AlmostAviation BINGO :-). I was tired yesterday. Now I did calibration again and the zero zone was completely missing :-). Please tell the secret, what are your settings for CONTROL RESPONSE and STABILITY AUGMENTATION sliders in XP settings ??? The sliders on the right are probably all set to 0. And the sliders (Pitch, Roll, Yaw) on the right ???
Thanks for doing this Mark. It has put my mind at rest that this issue can be resolved. My yoke will be arriving soon hopefully for my birthday tomorrow 8th May V.E. day 🇬🇧. This is the first thing I'll be doing with it. Keep up the great work. 😷 subscribed 👍.
Very good informative video, thank you. Can you explain why you say that the dead zone is necessary, is that because there can never be a perfect center?
Had a really bad deadspot between centre and 20deg right aileron. Followed this calibration 10 times to no avail. Seemed to be a mechanical issue so popped the 8 Philips head screws out along the sides at the base, top comes straight off, and I could immediately see that the grub screw that is supposed to secure to the trimpot was very loose. Tightened up and it's no longer got the deadspot. Followed this calibration again along with the one in Windows and flying is now back to how it was when I first received the yoke.
Thankyou so much. Mine is still boxed, just waiting for FS 2020 to drop next week. Hopefully no problems . You did the right thing as these yokes are not cheap. P.s im a big AUM user myself and i wanted to listen to that little mix you had there!
Great! I will be checking out MSFS in due course but I'll probably leave it a month or so to get some honest reactions from others. Oh, and hope to do some more music stuff too :)
My best guess is that the folks at the factory are shortcutting the calibration. Just hitting the button early to get through more of them per shift, probably because the management doesn't want to employ enough of them to do it right every time. Honeycomb should include the calibration procedure in the box.
This is great info Honeycomb should MAN up people arent dummys and realize that things need calibrated .... Everything needs recalibration at some time or another thanks for the video
When I reviewed this yoke, I noted how surprised I was they were using potentiometers rather than a solid state mechanism. I expect they're good quality ones but I'm aghast that (as good as it is) this yoke didn't employ what amounts to a relatively simply rotary encoder as found in older mice. With an optical solution or even hall effect that would be even sharper.
@@AlmostAviation Hall sensors are used in the triggers for the XBox One and probably others. I haven't pulled any others apart to look. So I don't buy that argument. ;) Rotary encoders using Gray code (which is a slightly aphasic pair of bitstreams) were used for decades in "ball" mice. They met their end when optical came out but it was dirt on the shafts that caused the problems - the encoders are mostly solid state and the moving parts aren't under a lot of pressure. If I had the money, I'm willing to be it would be possible to replace the roll axis with a similar design and drive a X9315 (Intersil solid state potentiometer) that would replace the pot they are using. The X9315 is about $12 so more costly than a pot, but not a dealbreaker. Rotary encoders aren't expensive but you'd need one that doesn't have idents so hence something al-la 1980s mouse would do the trick. The pitch axis is a bit more tricky but I've been working on a design that could (IF it works) do the same thing for that too. Basically (and because I detest patents so this is some open source prior art) the idea uses pulse-train with PLL to detect changes in distance as the yoke is moved in and out. It might turn out to be less practical that my theoretical models suggest but I'm waiting on the parts arriving so I can see how well (or if) it works. Think of it like a distance detector that doesn't measure absolute distance, rather the change in it.
@@AlmostAviation Hi (I've done some background) and guess what ... people are having issues with the *really cheap* open potentiometers and are already having to open their yokes to spray something like Super Servisol in to get them working again. support.flyhoneycomb.com/portal/en/community/topic/juddering-control-surfaces
@@AlmostAviation Bad quality pots screw up calibration. My training was in electronics in the 70s and even then it was well known that crummy parts drifted with use and time. My apprentice could design a better setup than Honeycomb.
I'm not sure what you're comparing here. Yes, you can mark the shaft and return it to a fixed position but you will get much better accuracy by measuring the rotation out at the handle.
Thank you very much Mark for explaining and demonstrating how to calibrate my Honeycomb Yoke. That’s great! I got my Honeycomb yesterday morning. After following your instructions it now works perfectly. Thank you & happy flying ✈️✨😉
Just received the updated XPC model. Trying to use this method to eliminate the large elevator deadzone. However I cannot get it to go into calibration mode. After setting the switches as described, holding buttons 1 & 2 and plugging in, the LED flashes then goes off. Regardless of when I actually release the 2 buttons, or in what order I release them. The LED never goes to solid bright to indicate calibration mode. I wonder if they've changed the calibration method with the new XPC firmware, and it's once again secret?
Interesting. I have not had an XPC, so it may be that there's a difference. I would expect the need for the calibration is jus the same, as it is about the limits of the physical spring mechanism. Perhaps I will be able to get one to play with...
@@AlmostAviation Thanks, that would be awesome if you could. The instructions in the KB are exactly as you describe, so no update there. I've submitted a query about the XPC, no response to date. So with your experience if you find one it might be a way forward.
Mine was consistently showing a left bias to 49.50% instead of 50% and over a period of 1 NM or more the plane left wing would dip left and slowly track left. I tried multiple calibrations and none could get rid of it. Root cause? The cable that connects the yoke to the base was too stiff and putting a light left pressure on the yoke making it bank. Removed it, tugged it to stretch it out, and now it sits at 50% most of the time.
i just purchased the yoke and initially it seems i dont have any deadzone, im a sim racing enthusiast so a deadzone would be immediately noticeable to me as its a no no with driving but this yoke seems pretty good for deadzone, maybe its because the nature of an aeroplane is to be more floaty rather than planted to a track which helps them get away with some deadzone. great video regardless i think it will help a lot of people and ill certainly keep the process in mind if things go awry down the road, thanks.
Thanks! Although my dead zone was almost imperceptible, it was there. It didn't bother me, but being curious I followed these instructions and now I cannot touch the roll axis without seeing appropriate movement on the screen in both the yoke and the control surfaces. I currently don't have a general aviation airplane to try this on, but I wonder if the cables on a real plane stretch and cause a similar phenomenon. When I was actively flying I never thought about it. Understanding this will be especially useful as the yoke ages and does not return precisely to center - now we will know how to slightly adjust center to compensate for some slop as time passes. On the subject of Honeycomb not making this public, I would suggest that is not unusual. I make adjustments to the configuration file in FSX that were not public. Similarly, I use a Kobo eReader, and it has undocumented features that can be adjusted and added. I am not angry at Honeycomb for not making it public.
I found out that if u get the yoke in to the re-calibration mode, you can then disconnect the Ethernet cable connecting the base and buttons on the yoke, then proceed with the free floating method. I got better results as there is less pull/resistance on the yoke due to the cable being attached.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. you make mention ". Please read the instructions. " where can I find them or do I have to memorize the steps in your video? Just asking if there is a written instruction set. Again, thanks
Hi, thank you for this useful video; before I try this, may I ask whether this might help stabilise a Honeycomb Yoke that seems every now and then to lose it's "centre" such that the "Joystick L - Axis X" becomes slightly offset as shown within the MSFS 2020 sensitivity settings window? To temporarily fix this recurrent problem, I fully swing the yoke through its rotational axis whereupon the "ball" then re-centres itself.
It may be that what you see is a dead zone that is too small. So yes, recalibrating ought to sort it out. It won't do any harm anyway, so you might as well give it a try :)
Thanks. Just had Thrustmaster new Yoke home and returned it today also due to deadzones on x and y axis... So no Honeycomb to order also :) Safed me some time :)
I have a problem: when I pull the yoke toward me the elevator goes down and visa versa. Can you help me, please. I calibrate exactly as shown, but no luck to have this fixed. Thank you in advance for your help.
You will need to describe this in a bit more detail, including if you ran the manual calibration and something changed. You may have accidentally done the calibration steps in the wrong order, which would reverse an axis.
@@AlmostAviation yes, I done the manual calibration and that caused the elevator mix up. I tried the manual calibration three times there after, but no luck. Thanks for trying to help.
@@louding11 If you are consistently following the instructions correctly it seems most likely that you have mapped your elevator control in reverse in the sim at some point. Perhaps you can check that. Of course, you could just ru nthe manual calibration and the push-pull actions out of sequence, which at face value should fix your problem. But that would suggest your yoke is somehow wired up backwards, which seems implausible. Your problem is more likely to be software-related.
@@louding11 I would suggest (1) Delete all your yoke axis mappings in whichever sim you are using; (2) Run the Honeycomb manual calibration, making sure you follow the instructions precisely; (3) Calibrate the yoke in Windows Control Panel; (4) Map your axes in the sim.
I’m wondering whether to modify it with bu0836x. Stock A-to-D is 8bit, which is 0 to 255, as you graph movement showed (20mV resolution). Bu0836x has 12bit, 4096 which is 1.2mV resolution). Presumably 20x finer movement detection. That would help smooth out dead zone.
I wouldn't do this. You will lose the dead zone of course, since you are throwing out the Honeycomb interface, but you will need to add it back in software if you want the yoke to centre properly. I doubt if the improved resolution will make much difference.
I did it. Centering of the yoke is mechanical. Just be sure to calibrate it under Win10 Setting-Device/Printer as you should. Flight in MSFS2020 is very very nice, finely controlled. I actually had a tougher time centering both Saitek yoke and Honeycomb, both came native 8bit. Now I can easily increase or decrease VS rate, then release the yoke, and it will stabilize near that VS value, whereas the old 8bit would let VS continue to change. Other movements are extremely smooth. You can play with Sensitivity to set the response to your liking, while enjoying its smoothness. There’s no looking back for me. I had no clue what I missed using 8bit, until I went 12bit. So so so nice.
To be honest, I bought the Honeycomb Alpha for its mechanics, not its electronics. Use other’s electronic to do 12bit. Its native 8bit is noticeably coarse, but that feel is only apparent after you’ve experienced 12bit. Once you’ve done 12 bit, you probably won’t go back to 8bit ever. I can now land the A320 easily at 100-200fps, right at touch down. VS control is much more stable, rather than oscillation.
Thank you for a very interesting video. I quite agree with you in that I too can see no reason why Honeycomb cannot share this recalibration method openly, let's be honest it's not rocket science and clearly does not take too much time and effort. Having said that, I again agree that you have to ask yourself is it worth it? baring in mind the small degree of dead zone involved.
@@AlmostAviation Hmm. It needs quite some force to push the a/c down. I had hoped it would be like my (sadly defect) PFC yoke, resistance constant all the way but more like friction, not spring-like...
hi, i like your reviews they are detailed and thorugh, can I ask you out of the honeycomb and former saitek Cessna pro, which one has the better feel alone not including the amount of buttons etc but just feel of the yoke, resistance, weight etc.
Hi, thanks for the video. I have a new Alpha yoke and I have a problem: the y-axis oscillates when moving! The x-axis is ok and runs smoothly. I've already done the internal calibration, but without any changes. What else could that be? I fly the MSFS in Win10. Thanks.
@@AlmostAviation No it's not. It's an Alpha flight control with switch panel. But good to know, then I have to complain and I don't need to look any further in my pc system! Thanks again and best regards
Thanks! My doubts has been dispelled and I'm also considering to get one now. The manufacturer should show some gratitude to you. It's a bit frustrating that this bug is not actively communicated by the maker.
Recalibrated my Alpha with the free-floating method and BANG...no dead zone anymore...! Perfect ! Thanks !
Great!
Once again, Mark, You say it as it is. I truly get fed up of so-called reviews where the reviewer just reads what's on the side of the box
Thanks so much for this. My yoke was in the 20 degree out category. I've just followed your guide and successfully recalibrated it. It's now the excellent yoke I expected it to be. The only puzzling thing is why the manufacturer just didn't issue a fix themselves. Simple to do and would not harm sales. Anyway, this is very appreciated.
Glad it helped. By the way, I wonder if it would be helpful for people to let Honeycomb know that they hav eused this procedure to improve their yokes. As for your question, the only reasoning I was given for keeping the information secret was "we don’t want customers trying out this process yet and potentially messing up the yoke". Then Mattijs Kok of Aerosoft said in response to my video that they don't support this because it can "brick" the yoke.
I think the latter claim is unconvincing. However, the fact is you can easily mess up the yoke if you calibrate it wrongly, and I am sure there would be a fair proportion of people who would then return it as 'faulty' afterwards. I think the situation is most likely a consequence of a retail system that has become far too biased in favour of the consumer. Honeycomb (and Aerosoft, as its representative) is catering to the lowest common denominator, so ends up treating everyone like an idiot.
Thank you for speaking it out, as well as your previous video of explaining the possible mechanisms behind it and other useful information, which is very helpful and helped my friends to figure out how to calibrate it correctly. He has been given the "instructions" as well but failed to make any difference after doing it at first. What he did then after watching your video is, using some wire to make an "aim" and tied it on the column of the yoke, and aligned the aim to some sort of marking behind when logging the center position, to make sure they are at the same position each time. HC's action of dealing with this issue makes me unhappy, but unfortunately, there is no alternative at this price point. Their upcoming throttle is even more so. Just hope they can make it better this time.
Got mine a month ago. Love it. No yoke experience with others. No dead zone. Not sure what all the dead zone talk is in the community, mine didn't have it. Thanks for showing the calibration mode on the yoke. Cannot wait for the Bravo TQ to come out.
Fitting on this Easter Sunday that Mark has now enabled us to resurrect our Alpha Yokes from the "dead" zones!
Mark, Honeycomb should give you a free Bravo Throttle Quadrant for providing customer service to us. I requested the procedure from them 11 days ago, have not gotten a response yet, maybe they are not servicing the support tickets remotely while staying at home.
This would have been an opportunity for them to be proactive and get ahead of the dead zone issue by letting customers know about the possibility of mis-calibrated yokes and how to correct it ourselves. Proactive communication about a possible issue would have made for confidence and brand loyalty, as you would know they are transparent and accountable. As it is, seems like they have just wanted to keep it quiet, and made it a bigger "issue" than it needed to be.
My yoke went from 5mm elevator and 9° aileron deadzone to none detectable, but my centering was not as repeatable as I thought it was - had to mark the shaft and watch the end of the yoke handle to get the exact same centering every time. So now i can setup a small dead zone to taste in my software, instead of having a fixed amount in the yoke. THANKS!
I'm glad people appreciate it. I kind of wonder if Honeycomb wanted someone to leak this, since it might protect them if anyone screws up their yoke!
@@AlmostAviation I posted a link to this video in 6 different YT videos where the dead zone was being questioned, to spread the word. It's in the wild.
@@automaton450 Great, thanks.
@@AlmostAviation I think the truth might be halfway... they don't share the information to protect them if anybody screws up their yoke, but the leak was due to a rookie mistake by the "global manager"
@@attiliodariva5417 Maybe. I have had one other person say he was given the calibration info by tech support, although perhaps it was by the same person!
Honeycomb should pay you for this vidéo.
I have no more deadzone, a big thank you from Belgium
Thanks, I need to start keepng score!
Why the blazes don't they just provide a manual with this information in it... most people are intelligent enough to figure it out if it's explained.
Thanks Mark. Checked the output of my yoke in DIView and there was a small but appreciable deadzone on the roll axis so calibrated it as you described (letting it oscillate back to its own center) and its appears it's now totally eliminated. Very pleased, good work!
A HUGE THANK YOU. I just bought the honeycomb yoke several months ago and found the deadzone to be excessive. I fly for the airlines and upgraded my old yoke to this, and was frustrated with the deadzones, especially with the Ailerons. I did the 45 degree calibration and its a new yoke! It worked perfect at correcting the deadzone issue. Thank you for sharing this calibration method, it has helped me tons!!! Much more functional yoke now. I currently use Prepar3d for my sim training at home.
Great, glad it helped!
I just received my Alpha Yoke & Bravo Throttle yesterday, and so haven't yet even got it fully set up. However this info could be very useful in my near future so thank you very much for going through the process and showing us how to enter the calibration mode.
I've already had issues with just getting the lights to function on my throttle. You earned a new subscriber and thank you very much!
Thank you for sharing this - I've been on the fence about buying this for the last few weeks, but now I'm going to backorder it, now that I'm fairly confident calibration can be resolved. If Honeycomb Aeronautical
have a problem with this video then let me know as I will then cancel my order, as videos like this are what help....not marketing BS. I just wish they'd release more info on the rudder now
Your free floating method absolutely helped, thank you. While I didn't have a huge dead zone issue this really helped improve it to virtually negligible on both axes. Subbed :)
Good to hear it's actually helping people out!
Thank you so much for this video. It has helped fixed my yoke after nearly 4 years of owning it with the issue. I also used the free-floating method. I highly appreciate your videos. Eric
Very informative, especially the bit about “chatter”. My new Honeycomb is fine but my old Saitek Yoke had this “chatter” at center - I had to clear the calibration values with a console app every time I booted up my PC. Thanks for shedding a little light on that with this in-depth explanation!
The knowledge you delivered has been incredibly helpful! I was considering cutting apart my brand new, less than a week old Honeycomb Alpha to install an Arduino to fix the dead zone when I found your video. Thank you so very much!
Ha, good timing! I do sympathise with anyone who's done this, although I suppose at the end of the day they still have a well-functioning yoke.
@@AlmostAviation Agreed! I'll be further reviewing your videos, very educational. I do also hope to identify how to use all 5 positions of the starter switch, I'm currently using the 2 positions available for panel lights on/off. Using FSX Acceleration and FSUIPC.
Thank you so much for this - I had a significant deadzone which was a real immersion breaker when using the yoke. This method has almost removed it completely!
Great!
MAN! This helped me so much! I had like 1 to 2 inches of deadzone in the pitch axis. This completely fixed it. I used the second method you showed and I couldnt be happier! Thanks again!!
Great, glad to hear it's helping :)
Thank you. 3 year old Vid still applicable today. You saved this company a return. Many thanks
Good thing too, seems like they're in no position to accept returns at the moment!
Hello sir, Although the yoke is great but definitely has a dead zone.... and thank you for sharing this very important issue and calibration.... Hopefully, the throttle in production does not have a problem!
Just tried this technique and it is day and night difference! I was so disappointed when I got this yoke as I had at least 8-10 degrees deadzone - especially since there didn't seem a way to calibrate this at the time and I didn't find your video. That deadzone is simply too much to make fine adjustments in small aircraft. I ended up flying almost as if I was pressing buttons on a gamepad. Not very satisfying after spending so much money on a yoke. People even swapped the control board to make this better. But now, with a new calibration, the yoke is finally usable! Thank You!
Yes, it was kind of sad to see people swapping out the guts to make this work better. Thankfully Honeycomb has now come clean about the calibration.
@@AlmostAviation There is a second issue folks wanted to resolve by swapping the guts: The low resolution used for the yoke. I'm not sure how many bits it actually uses but it does look like 8bits, so only 256 different values from all the way left to all the way right. Modern controllers should at least use 10 bits, better 12-16 bits. USB supports this out of the box and there is almost no added cost, depending on the microcontroller used in the joystick.
@@TimoBirnschein Yes, it is an 8-bit controller, so roll resolution is about 0.7 degrees, pitch resolution about 0.3mm.
Thanks for the help on this one Mark. I had a small dead zone but now I’ve got it tuned in perfectly. In regards to the RJ45 jack in the based, a previous comment made mention of the vulnerability there. I’m my case, the jack totally failed about 3 months ago. I returned it to Honeycomb and they sent it back as “fixed”. Unfortunately nothing was fixed or replaced. I’m not sure what they did, if anything. I took it upon myself and did a permanent repair by hardwiring an Ethernet cable into the base. It was a fun and educational project and I am very happy with the unit now. Keep up the good work. I always enjoy your videos.
Yes, I have seen a number of people having issues with the connector cable, so that seems like a vulnerability. Your solution is probably the best, if you don't mind opening the box. Someone else suggested just getting a longer vable, as the curly one supplied strains the connector every time you move the yoke.
Matt - It's very disheartening for a potential customer, me, to read about these very bad customer responses from Aerosoft. This type of 'head in the sand' reaction is very very bad, and to return a faulty unit to a customer, unchanged or not fixed, is disgusting. Aerosoft - YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED! Grow some balls and rspond to the criticisms.
Cheers for that Mark that is most helpful. My Yoke has a slight stiction when initially pulling or pushing on the elevator away from centre. This seems to be over just a short amount of travel say 5-8mm but it is certainly noticable when trying to make slight flight corrections. I also feel the connecting cable between Yoke handle and body is too stiff/short and will not last too long before problems come. If you put your fingers on the back of the cable at the rear of the RJ45 plug on the yoke body and then rotate the yoke full deflection right and left you will feel the strain on the cable. In fact there is considerable rub on the coiled section when rotating full right. Anyway will give the recalibration a go and see what happens.
Have you already done a new calibration ??? Has it helped remove the dead zone? I also have a 5-8 mm dead zone, but calibration did little (or nothing helped).
@@tombulva Sorry for late reply. No I have not done the recal bit yet but I have replaced my R45 cable with a 250mm long patch cable and that is a lot better. I still have a slight sticky point at elevator centre but not sure if I should return the unit back to Aerosoft but I can anticipate that will cost me in postage and packaging and doing without my yoke for many weeks.
Thank you, sir, for this very instructional video. I had no concern about the dead zone but my yoke's calibration had gotten way out of whack and the Windows device calibration wasn't helping. I went through the built-in calibration that you showed in this video and my yoke is now calibrated properly. I appreciate your time.
Thanks for this great video! I (unfortunatly) already bought the Logitech / Saitek yoke system, which has logic-board dead zone faults. But i will soon buy a Alph Yoke instead, so this info is great to have! You make really good vids!! :)
I bought the yoke and literally just received it. I was so surprised that they did not have any diagnostic software about checking functionality and calibration (or recalibrate). The manual as well would require some attention in my opinion as only refer to a drivers web page that doesn't really exist. Thanks for the walkthrough. It's a shame because as a piece of hardware this yoke is amazing. You gained a subscriber sir!!
Great! Yes, their documentation leaves a lot to be desired :\
Thank you - I just got the Alpha and it did have a noticeable dead zone out of the box. Nothing too extreme and liveable with, but your advice in this video has reduced that deadzone to a very very minor "unconscious" zone - I only notice a slight pause on the onscreen yoke when turning very slowly. Consider yourself subbed.
By the way the calibration mode is now documented on Honeycomb's website, but doesn't offer as much info as you as to how to minimise the dead zone
Great!
Thanks for doing what honeycomb should have done from the beginning! I get mine tomorrow and have been worried since Ive seen people talk about this dead zone problem (saw it after I ordered it) now I can relax a bit.
Completely fixed my yoke. THANK YOU! Literally stopped me from returning it.
Great! I think they should ship these instructions with the yokes :)
Very informative. Thank you!
I had a decisive discovery on this question. After dealing with the sloppy and dirty sensibility, I decided to take my yoke off and see if I could clean up or see anything. I found that when pushing or pulling on the yoke, the ROLL potentiometer plug and cable moved on the circuit board due to the travel of the yoke. I took a small zip tie and secured this cable to others nearby, so that when you push or pull the yoke, the plug isn't affected. My yoke is BETTER than new now, super responsive and no more dirty jerking or off-centering. I also sprayed my X and Y axis potentiometers with contact cleaner while I was at it. Easy solution, hope this helps!
Thank you so much Mark!
With the "Jiggle technique" you showed us I got no dead zone at all anymore! its perfect. I mainly fly the P38 in Il2 sturmovik ww2 flight sim so accuracy is key. I've been using it with the (4-5%) deadzone the day it came out. I did notice it and it bothered me a bit, but i got used to it. But now its like a completely different yoke!
It baffles me how i put up with it all these months!
But what baffles me even more is how honeycomb don't simply address the problem by making the calibration sequence public knowledge!!!!
They have dragged their name through the dirt for no reason.
It is an awesome yoke I definitely recommend it!!!
Subscribed!
Thanks, I guess if people let Honeycomb know they might change their approach, although their present stance must be working for them regardless. P38 - good choice! I used to have one for FSX, I need to find it again...
Well , definitely the best review of this Yoke . So glad you went the extra mile and also found that dead zone fix . I may purchase one now .
Thanks, it's a worthy contender for our money.
YOU are The MAN Thank YOU soo much for the help. I was just going to return it. and then I saw your video and I love it now.. That is why You are THE MAN.... Thank you once again!!!!!!
Well okay, I'll be the man :)
Got my yoke today. Was disappointed with the feel in the middle. Calibrated and its much better. Small movements are now registered. Thank you
Great!
Thank you, holding GA on final approach a lot more precise/easier :)
Great Video, attempt Calibration mode by using your second suggestion of letting go the yoke roll axis no dead zone, pitch axis slight dead zone barely noticeable, overall great improvement over stock Calibration, flying feels a lot better
Amazing how facts are helpful in getting everyone happy and on the same page and that disingenuous / confusing marketing speak and denial can switch customers off and lead to unnecessary product return and dissatisfaction. With this information on the calibration feature I'm convinced this is a good device with good hardware inside it, which is why I've ordered one and will be arriving tomorrow (Wed - 26th Aug). Thanks for this information.
Thanks for the encouragement. I do wonder how many sales Honeycomb is missing out on, and particualrly how many returns they are getting due to this issue. Maybe it's a small proportion, I guess they have some rationale.
Thanks Mark again for this very helpful video. Saw it a while back already but since I thought that the dead zone on the elevator of my yoke was a bit too large (and with the A2A 172 you fly a lot with steering around the dead zone) I decided to try your method of 'turn and let go' calibration. Worked perfectly. The deadzone is now nonexistent (checking with DIView). At least I can now use fsuipc to create the deadzone I want (I used -129 to 129) instead of what is given by the manufacturer :)
Awesome. It's notable that Honeycomb has now come clean about the calibration and included the instructions in their knowledge base (although not the 'let it go' method!)
I love the Honeycomb yoke, but there was a flaw with the stiff z-axis. I was able to mod to it by replacing the bungee with a .25 inch (6.35mm) bungee. It is absolutely a great yoke now. I am glad this yoke doesn’t come with a center detent. I prefer the Honeycomb over my former PFC jet yoke-which I promptly gave away.
I'd be interested to know what kind of trade-off this has for the centring of the pitch axis. If you run the calibration mode it will compensate, but you will likely end up with a bigger null zone. Perhaps it's a good trade, although personally I like the weighty action. If I was going to experiment I think I'd try adding extra weight to the roll action!
Excellent, as ever. Though Austin Meyer made no comment on it, the "dead zone" was very evident in his review.
Bob Gilchrist
I saw no dead zone on Austin,s review. the Homeycombe Yoke is fine when using with Xplane but P3D and FSX users seem to experience a dead zone. I own one of these for the past couple of weeks now and my Sim of choice is Xplane and I have no issues with it and neither do many other Xplane Users who also own the product.
@@Stringbean421 As you will know if you have been paying attention, I measured both of the dead zones on camera without any simulator running. Think more, talk less.
Thank you for the video. It helped me to get rid of asymmetrical deadzone on pitch axis on my Alpha XPC yoke that I got brand new.
Good to know it works with the XPC too!
@@AlmostAviation @_hepukt4e Thank you both,
Fixed my deadzone, amazing thanks
Woo! I should start keeping score :)
Thank you for such in depth videos. This fixed my issue. Also the video you did on calibrating a full range yoke for FSX helped a lot since I play both MSFS and FSX.
Great, good to know it helps!
Thank you very much,you fixed my honeycomb yoke’s dead zone in such an amazing way.
Great, good to hear people have been successful with this!
Almost Aviation expecting more nice videos from your channel - one of your Chinese fans
Thank you so much!! i just bought an Alpha yoke on the used market with a noticeable dead zone on pitch. Its enough that i thought it was damaged or age related. Now i know its not uncommon. and correctable.
A very educated content creator, similar to myself in views of others’ logical fallacies. One of the problems I see in society is egos and lack of cognitive dissonance.
It's absolutely bananas that a manufacturer of a yoke/stick would be completely oblivious to this, especially when they're not even in the "budget" range of hardware. I noticed it within the first 5 seconds of flight and was very shocked to see it's not configurable at all. Not one review I watched mentioned this..
Hopefully this calibration works otherwise it's a pretty easy decision to return this thing.
Another one here joining to thank you! Fixed my deadzone completely!
Thanks, good to know!
Thank you very much for this (and previous) film.
I have made several attempts at calibration (in various ways), but almost nothing (or minimal) has changed it the behavior of yoke.
I have a continuous (about 5-7 mm) minimal dead zone. So I can live with it, but it's strange I can't get rid of it completely.
Yes, unfortunate that your experience doesn't match mine :(
@@AlmostAviation BINGO :-). I was tired yesterday.
Now I did calibration again and the zero zone was completely missing :-).
Please tell the secret, what are your settings for CONTROL RESPONSE and STABILITY AUGMENTATION sliders in XP settings ???
The sliders on the right are probably all set to 0.
And the sliders (Pitch, Roll, Yaw) on the right ???
@@tombulva I'm not using X-Plane.
thanks. your let go method fixed my yoke!!! all the best!
Thanks for doing this Mark. It has put my mind at rest that this issue can be resolved. My yoke will be arriving soon hopefully for my birthday tomorrow 8th May V.E. day 🇬🇧. This is the first thing I'll be doing with it. Keep up the great work. 😷 subscribed 👍.
Thanks, and hopefully it will be a happy birthday!
@@AlmostAviation 🤞
This is really helpful information, I was finally able to fix some very bad jittering on my honeycomb yoke. Thank you mate, love your content
Thanks, another success story! I think I may do a follow-up video on this at some point.
Very good informative video, thank you. Can you explain why you say that the dead zone is necessary, is that because there can never be a perfect center?
Yes, pretty much. I talked about this a bit more in the previous video.
Manyyyyy thanks my man, you saved me pain and suffering and no one else but you was able to help me. Sending blessings and good karma your way!
Great, glad it helped!
Thank you for this Info. Worked first time
Had a really bad deadspot between centre and 20deg right aileron. Followed this calibration 10 times to no avail. Seemed to be a mechanical issue so popped the 8 Philips head screws out along the sides at the base, top comes straight off, and I could immediately see that the grub screw that is supposed to secure to the trimpot was very loose. Tightened up and it's no longer got the deadspot. Followed this calibration again along with the one in Windows and flying is now back to how it was when I first received the yoke.
Success! There do seem to be a few quality control issues, including strain on the curly connecting cable.
Thankyou so much. Mine is still boxed, just waiting for FS 2020 to drop next week.
Hopefully no problems . You did the right thing as these yokes are not cheap.
P.s im a big AUM user myself and i wanted to listen to that little mix you had there!
Great! I will be checking out MSFS in due course but I'll probably leave it a month or so to get some honest reactions from others. Oh, and hope to do some more music stuff too :)
I'm glad I saw your video. It works!!. I've now got one smooth motion through both axis. Thanks
Cool, glad to hear it helped!
Very helpful video. I bought this yoke recently but have yet to set it up. Keep up the good work.
Thanks, glad it was helpful!
Thank you for sharing this and being so thorough.
Yep, you're welcome!
My best guess is that the folks at the factory are shortcutting the calibration. Just hitting the button early to get through more of them per shift, probably because the management doesn't want to employ enough of them to do it right every time. Honeycomb should include the calibration procedure in the box.
They do now publish the procedure, though you have to drill down for it on their knowledge base.
This contribute of yours is priceless.
Thank you so much
This is great info Honeycomb should MAN up people arent dummys and realize that things need calibrated .... Everything needs recalibration at some time or another thanks for the video
Yes, we should expect the mechanism to drift over time, so if you're going to use on-board calibration I think you need to provide a way to reset it.
Almost Aviation exactly maté
When I reviewed this yoke, I noted how surprised I was they were using potentiometers rather than a solid state mechanism. I expect they're good quality ones but I'm aghast that (as good as it is) this yoke didn't employ what amounts to a relatively simply rotary encoder as found in older mice. With an optical solution or even hall effect that would be even sharper.
Honeycomb's argument against Hall Effect sensors is the relative cost. I haven't heard of any such devices using rotary encoders.
@@AlmostAviation Hall sensors are used in the triggers for the XBox One and probably others. I haven't pulled any others apart to look. So I don't buy that argument. ;)
Rotary encoders using Gray code (which is a slightly aphasic pair of bitstreams) were used for decades in "ball" mice. They met their end when optical came out but it was dirt on the shafts that caused the problems - the encoders are mostly solid state and the moving parts aren't under a lot of pressure.
If I had the money, I'm willing to be it would be possible to replace the roll axis with a similar design and drive a X9315 (Intersil solid state potentiometer) that would replace the pot they are using. The X9315 is about $12 so more costly than a pot, but not a dealbreaker.
Rotary encoders aren't expensive but you'd need one that doesn't have idents so hence something al-la 1980s mouse would do the trick.
The pitch axis is a bit more tricky but I've been working on a design that could (IF it works) do the same thing for that too. Basically (and because I detest patents so this is some open source prior art) the idea uses pulse-train with PLL to detect changes in distance as the yoke is moved in and out. It might turn out to be less practical that my theoretical models suggest but I'm waiting on the parts arriving so I can see how well (or if) it works.
Think of it like a distance detector that doesn't measure absolute distance, rather the change in it.
@@AlmostAviation Hi (I've done some background) and guess what ... people are having issues with the *really cheap* open potentiometers and are already having to open their yokes to spray something like Super Servisol in to get them working again.
support.flyhoneycomb.com/portal/en/community/topic/juddering-control-surfaces
I'm not sure what this has to do with calbration.
@@AlmostAviation Bad quality pots screw up calibration. My training was in electronics in the 70s and even then it was well known that crummy parts drifted with use and time. My apprentice could design a better setup than Honeycomb.
You are a brilliant man. Cheers from Canada 😊
Eek, well okay then :)
I just ordered Alpha and Bravo combo. First thing I’m doing if free floating calibration.
Thanks for the help! Good on you for sharing this information.
I guess I got a good one. Mine appears to have no deadzone
Just mark the metal spline near the collar with a fine marker pen to create a more accurate returning position for both roll and pitch.
I'm not sure what you're comparing here. Yes, you can mark the shaft and return it to a fixed position but you will get much better accuracy by measuring the rotation out at the handle.
Mine has the dead zone. It is very slight, but there none the least. The trim wheel on the Bravo is the real problem. They deny that one too.
Made a substantial difference. Thank you.
I have absolutely no deadzone on mine that I've noticed. I guess I got lucky but it's good to know this anyway. Thanks
I just bought mine and got it delivered was made 3 months ago. Wonder if they fixed it. I hardly notice anything currently
Thank you very much Mark for explaining and demonstrating how to calibrate my Honeycomb Yoke. That’s great!
I got my Honeycomb yesterday morning. After following your instructions it now works perfectly.
Thank you & happy flying ✈️✨😉
Great, happy landings :)
Just received the updated XPC model. Trying to use this method to eliminate the large elevator deadzone. However I cannot get it to go into calibration mode. After setting the switches as described, holding buttons 1 & 2 and plugging in, the LED flashes then goes off. Regardless of when I actually release the 2 buttons, or in what order I release them. The LED never goes to solid bright to indicate calibration mode. I wonder if they've changed the calibration method with the new XPC firmware, and it's once again secret?
Interesting. I have not had an XPC, so it may be that there's a difference. I would expect the need for the calibration is jus the same, as it is about the limits of the physical spring mechanism. Perhaps I will be able to get one to play with...
@@AlmostAviation Thanks, that would be awesome if you could. The instructions in the KB are exactly as you describe, so no update there. I've submitted a query about the XPC, no response to date. So with your experience if you find one it might be a way forward.
I may need to try this...i dont have a dead zone really, but my yoke rolls to the right for some reason......
Thank you
edit: got my yoke and it definitely needed to be recalibrated!
Mine was consistently showing a left bias to 49.50% instead of 50% and over a period of 1 NM or more the plane left wing would dip left and slowly track left. I tried multiple calibrations and none could get rid of it. Root cause? The cable that connects the yoke to the base was too stiff and putting a light left pressure on the yoke making it bank. Removed it, tugged it to stretch it out, and now it sits at 50% most of the time.
i just purchased the yoke and initially it seems i dont have any deadzone, im a sim racing enthusiast so a deadzone would be immediately noticeable to me as its a no no with driving but this yoke seems pretty good for deadzone, maybe its because the nature of an aeroplane is to be more floaty rather than planted to a track which helps them get away with some deadzone. great video regardless i think it will help a lot of people and ill certainly keep the process in mind if things go awry down the road, thanks.
this video really helps me. thanks from Indonesia
Thanks! Although my dead zone was almost imperceptible, it was there. It didn't bother me, but being curious I followed these instructions and now I cannot touch the roll axis without seeing appropriate movement on the screen in both the yoke and the control surfaces.
I currently don't have a general aviation airplane to try this on, but I wonder if the cables on a real plane stretch and cause a similar phenomenon. When I was actively flying I never thought about it.
Understanding this will be especially useful as the yoke ages and does not return precisely to center - now we will know how to slightly adjust center to compensate for some slop as time passes.
On the subject of Honeycomb not making this public, I would suggest that is not unusual. I make adjustments to the configuration file in FSX that were not public. Similarly, I use a Kobo eReader, and it has undocumented features that can be adjusted and added. I am not angry at Honeycomb for not making it public.
You've clearly helped a lot of folks including me! Thanks!
Woo!
Many thanks. Factory calibration is probably (should be) done without the handleset attached and turns/pulls the rod via a measured jig.
I'm not sure I would agree with that, assuming the calibration is suposed to be adaptive to the particular nuances of each assembled mechanism.
Thanks !! Worked perfectly. My deadzones are gone.
Great!
I found out that if u get the yoke in to the re-calibration mode, you can then disconnect the Ethernet cable connecting the base and buttons on the yoke, then proceed with the free floating method. I got better results as there is less pull/resistance on the yoke due to the cable being attached.
Yes, worth experimenting with.
Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. you make mention ". Please read the instructions. " where can I find them or do I have to memorize the steps in your video? Just asking if there is a written instruction set. Again, thanks
I was being rhetorical, just do what I do in the video! It's actually very simple but easy to miss a step.
Very useful video. One question: I didn't get the name of the program you used to watch for dead zones and chatter on the yoke. What is it?
Thanks, that would be DIView. It's available for free, just google it.
Hi, thank you for this useful video; before I try this, may I ask whether this might help stabilise a Honeycomb Yoke that seems every now and then to lose it's "centre" such that the "Joystick L - Axis X" becomes slightly offset as shown within the MSFS 2020 sensitivity settings window? To temporarily fix this recurrent problem, I fully swing the yoke through its rotational axis whereupon the "ball" then re-centres itself.
It may be that what you see is a dead zone that is too small. So yes, recalibrating ought to sort it out. It won't do any harm anyway, so you might as well give it a try :)
@@AlmostAviation Thank you, and I will try!
Fixed my deadzone. Thankyou!!!
Thanks. Just had Thrustmaster new Yoke home and returned it today also due to deadzones on x and y axis... So no Honeycomb to order also :)
Safed me some time :)
Sorry, I don't understand...
You know one thing you could do to be accurate is put a spirit level on the top of the yoke at the centre point.
Yes, I suppose so, although I'm not sure how accurate it would be.
I have a problem: when I pull the yoke toward me the elevator goes down and visa versa. Can you help me, please. I calibrate exactly as shown, but no luck to have this fixed. Thank you in advance for your help.
You will need to describe this in a bit more detail, including if you ran the manual calibration and something changed. You may have accidentally done the calibration steps in the wrong order, which would reverse an axis.
@@AlmostAviation yes, I done the manual calibration and that caused the elevator mix up. I tried the manual calibration three times there after, but no luck. Thanks for trying to help.
@@louding11 If you are consistently following the instructions correctly it seems most likely that you have mapped your elevator control in reverse in the sim at some point. Perhaps you can check that. Of course, you could just ru nthe manual calibration and the push-pull actions out of sequence, which at face value should fix your problem. But that would suggest your yoke is somehow wired up backwards, which seems implausible. Your problem is more likely to be software-related.
@@AlmostAviation Thanks for your reply, but what is your advice to try next, please?
@@louding11 I would suggest (1) Delete all your yoke axis mappings in whichever sim you are using; (2) Run the Honeycomb manual calibration, making sure you follow the instructions precisely; (3) Calibrate the yoke in Windows Control Panel; (4) Map your axes in the sim.
I’m wondering whether to modify it with bu0836x. Stock A-to-D is 8bit, which is 0 to 255, as you graph movement showed (20mV resolution). Bu0836x has 12bit, 4096 which is 1.2mV resolution). Presumably 20x finer movement detection. That would help smooth out dead zone.
I wouldn't do this. You will lose the dead zone of course, since you are throwing out the Honeycomb interface, but you will need to add it back in software if you want the yoke to centre properly. I doubt if the improved resolution will make much difference.
I did it. Centering of the yoke is mechanical. Just be sure to calibrate it under Win10 Setting-Device/Printer as you should. Flight in MSFS2020 is very very nice, finely controlled. I actually had a tougher time centering both Saitek yoke and Honeycomb, both came native 8bit.
Now I can easily increase or decrease VS rate, then release the yoke, and it will stabilize near that VS value, whereas the old 8bit would let VS continue to change.
Other movements are extremely smooth. You can play with Sensitivity to set the response to your liking, while enjoying its smoothness. There’s no looking back for me. I had no clue what I missed using 8bit, until I went 12bit. So so so nice.
To be honest, I bought the Honeycomb Alpha for its mechanics, not its electronics. Use other’s electronic to do 12bit. Its native 8bit is noticeably coarse, but that feel is only apparent after you’ve experienced 12bit. Once you’ve done 12 bit, you probably won’t go back to 8bit ever. I can now land the A320 easily at 100-200fps, right at touch down. VS control is much more stable, rather than oscillation.
This works in 2024, mine came with about 5 degree dead zone in the middle the floating method fixed perfect
Does it void warranty?
I can't see why it would, it's a feature built into the yoke. Besides, Honeycomb now describes this procedure in its own support centre.
@@AlmostAviation thank you for the clarification
Real engineer, no BS
Thank you for a very interesting video. I quite agree with you in that I too can see no reason why Honeycomb cannot share this recalibration method openly, let's be honest it's not rocket science
and clearly does not take too much time and effort. Having said that, I again agree that you have to ask yourself is it worth it? baring in mind the small degree of dead zone involved.
Do you feel, as I do, that the resistance in the pitch axis is too great? Can I change that?
You can't change it. Is it too great? I don't think so, although perhaps it is out of proportion to the short travel.
@@AlmostAviation
Hmm. It needs quite some force to push the a/c down. I had hoped it would be like my (sadly defect) PFC yoke, resistance constant all the way but more like friction, not spring-like...
hi, i like your reviews they are detailed and thorugh, can I ask you out of the honeycomb and former saitek Cessna pro, which one has the better feel alone not including the amount of buttons etc but just feel of the yoke, resistance, weight etc.
Honeycomb, definitely!
Hi, thanks for the video. I have a new Alpha yoke and I have a problem: the y-axis oscillates when moving! The x-axis is ok and runs smoothly. I've already done the internal calibration, but without any changes. What else could that be? I fly the MSFS in Win10. Thanks.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'oscillates'. Also which axis are you calling X - the pitch or roll?
@@AlmostAviation I mean the pitch that trembles. Stable in the center but flickers when you pull or push.
@@kamow5296 Sounds like a bad or dirty potentiometer. Or is it the new Alpha XPC? That should have contactless sensors.
@@AlmostAviation No it's not. It's an Alpha flight control with switch panel. But good to know, then I have to complain and I don't need to look any further in my pc system! Thanks again and best regards