The HOTAS thread

[Gman109]

EDIT: Moved from BST thread - Mod


Bit of a necro bump. Some pics of my primary Star Citizen/DCS Hotas/Hosas setup right now. I have another couple 9900k/2080ti sytems in our main gaming room (this is my office). I have a couple T50, 2 Warbrds, a couple Gunfighter/Kosominas, and a pile of other hotas (several dozen overall I've collected/bought/used over the years). Same with pedals, use the VKB mostly but I have the Slaw/MFG/etc and about a dozen sets total. Using the 34" Alienware right now for Star Citizen and run our 2 4k 144hz Gsync PG27UQ in the game room which our nephew and nieces like for 4k gaming. I prefer the widescreen for Star Citizen right now. Running 2 Odyssey+ and a Pimax5k, have the Index on order, and am waiting for the 6th to order the Reverb, which is going to be "the" HMD for DCS I hope.


I just got the MonsterTech mounts for the Virpil sticks, and bought the mounting plates for my Warthogs, Cougars, CH Fighter/Combat sticks, their throttles, plus the VKB Gunfighter/Kosomina base/gimbals too. The center keyboard and right hand mouse plate make reaching for the desk using deskmounts a thing of the past, at last.

 

[MARSTG]

You gotta pay for your passion !

 

[Gman109]

True enough. PC/Sim gaming costs will never compete with firearms/ammunition/shooting, or worse yet cars/motorcycles, but it's getting up there in the past few years. So much great tech out there to try out and buy, especially with VR now. Hotas too, the Slaw RX Viper pedals were over $900 CAD after shipping and duty alone. The new Virpil T50 CM2/mark 2 unit coming out shortly will be pushing 800+ after the same this summer sometime. Even the nearly decade old Thrustmaster Warthog with it's un-updated poor gimbal (the rest is very solid) is $700 CAD after tax/shipping from Amazon.

I buy up a lot of stuff for good deals from Kijiji and other sources online. I got a brand new, and I mean new as in not a speck of dust on them, set of CH Fighter stick/throttle hotas for $25 plus $15 shipping off Kijiji last month. Another TM Cougar for $75, which I've put a 3d printed upgraded gimbal system, along with new Hall sensors, for a total cost of about $200 for both the Cougar stick and F16 throttle. That'll be great for the new DCS F16 module coming shortly.

MonsterTech mounts are the shit, not cheap either, 5 mounts along with the keyboard and right hand mouse plate, along with bonus/extra plates for 3 other hotas sets, cost $1000 CAD after ship/tax/duty. Very worth it though, their construction and design is the best out there IMO.

Crappy res pics, I'll take better ones when I take some pics of the rest of the hotas collection and the gaming room setups, but these closer pics show the Monstertech right hand mouse plate and keyboard mount - the problem with hotas desk mounts is that they place your kb/mouse pretty far out of reach, especially in VR where you end up groping around for them like a 17 year old on prom night. Really what sold me on Monstertech as I had Virpil mounts already. Still have to do the cable management.

 

[Gman109]

Ugg, sorry mods/etc, I didn't realize this thread was in buy/sell/trade, I just found it in my PMs as I remembered it being the "hotas" thread. Perhaps move it out to the peripheral or gaming threads if that's ok with the OP maybe?

 

[moocow]

I converted my serial port CH F16 Fighterstick and Throttle to USB using an adapter chip. However, they been collecting dust because I simply couldn't get my chair / sitting position right as I'm using an Ikea office chair. Since it's a wheeled and swiveled, I can't use the rudder peddles (flight) and gas peddle (G27 racing) correctly. Plus the sitting position is too weird for flying and driving. How did you solve the chair / sitting position problem? I been looking at an Obutto Revolution as a solution but it's damn expensive.

 

[Lysrin]

I have the same mounts for my dual Warthogs sticks, allows you to get a comfortable position for your arms. And for my chair I bought locking casters. Only takes locking one or two to keep you in place for rudder pedals etc. Reasonably cheap solution that works great for me as my space is hard floors = very easy to roll away from where you want to be.

Only problem is once you're locked in place it takes time to get out of it to answer the phone!

 

[Gman109]

^^ I did the same thing, a locking caster (I use chocks which are similar to the ones used to keep aircraft landing gear wheels secured in place) is the best solution for a chair with wheels.