check MP , Eckhart !
;-)

@ Feulefalke: Ive looked at the MOD for the x52 I am quite keen on giving this a go, does it make much difference? (there are no pictures to go with the instructions?).

You won't note a difference on normal flight or with minimal input, but in a dogfight, recovering from stalls and flying your plane at the edge, you'll easily notice the difference.

Rightclick you profiler-icon in the task-bar to the lower right and click the calibration-window. I don't know what it's called in English - in German it's "Steuerleiste", directly above close. Now you can see the movement and function of all buttons. If you move the stick in a full circle at maximum angle, it the little cross will either move into the corner or describe a more diamond-shaped path. If the later is true, you can see that pulling your stick full back and to the side, only half of your input actually moves your aircraft.

Besides that the mechanics of the original mechanism allow the stick to be moved almost a centimeter, measured from the top of the stick, without moving the magnet-holder enough for the Hall-sensors to notice.

In the thread I posted, there are a lot of good informations how to do the modification. It's not difficult, but finding the right spot for the magnet takes a little time. I fixed my magnets with double-sided tape on a piece of a CD I cut in pieces. That got me the right distance between the sensor and the magnet.

Feel free to drop me a PM if you need further instructions or help.

I like the "idea" of having these over-the-top sticks and controllers available. Being a severe lefty, they simply aren't practical for me, but were I not so southpaw-inclined, I'd seriously consider one of these setups.

I got the same looks from people when I bought a 27" monitor for $1,000 (when 24" versions could be had for half that) so I could enjoy my sims and games more. With the longevity these controllers would seem to have, the amortized investment could be easily justified.

Couldn't agree more.

On the other hand, as I always tend to modify and fiddle around with my input devices, I'd be really p*ssed, if I'd break a 1.000$ stick, compared to my X52 ;)

But then it's the question if I would even have to modify it.... :cool:

have just modded my x52 and finding the result quite nice, thanks for the link Feuerfalke.
This might buy me enough time now to save for one of those beauties. ;)

Cool! :cool:

I'm glad you like it. I bet you agree that it's really not hard to do, compared to the improvements.

not hard, well worth the slaying the dragon. [I] dont like messing with technology, but now the stick responds like t should.

How do these Tarmac Ace controllers interface with IL2? IOW, is there any programming software that comes with these devices? I absolutely love the look of these controllers, but going from all of my buttons and modes on my CH setup could be a scary proposition. :D

as they are based on a leo bodner bu0836 controller they are recognised as such by windoze, and can be assigned directly as dx buttons in game- this is the way i'm running mine anyway.

tarmac aces don't recommend the use of software but any keyboard emulator should be fine, svmapper for xp (free)
http://forum.sukhoi.ru/showthread.php?t=46137
or digital transforms for vista
http://www.digitaltransforms.com/
(not free but free trial) would be my suggestions to look at- there are others.

for all those 'other' controls on your ch setup there are several ways forward:-

use ch throttle and you'll still have all these commands;) - use the stick aswell as a button bay?

make a custom controller (using another bu0836 or similar). i'm doing this using a beta innovations plasma lite for 88 buttons/switches/rotary encoders.
this transferred (nearly)all my cougar programmed controls.

get a touchscreen and use touchbuddy
http://www.touch-buddy.com/forums/fa...aster-faq.html

and with any of these if you haven't got tir- get it:!:

hope this has given you some ideas and eased the scare factor