Control, Yoke recommendations?

[Chuck Dreier 75]

I'm currently using the CH FlightSim Yoke and it's served me well.  I like the way I have my buttons and switches programmed.  But the beast is very old and seems to be failing - the aileron axis is spiking and I can't tame the fluctuations even with FSUIPC calibration.  I'm inclined to purchase another yoke just like the one I have, but wonder if there's some unanimity (big word!) on another yoke that has the same number of buttons or switches but is "better".  

[fakeflyer737 991]

If youre looking to spend under $500 then get the HoneyComb. Ive used mine on 25 or so flights and its awesome 

 

[johncott 177]

I’ve had my CH products Yoke and pedals for at least 10 years, still working great after 2500 hours of flying.  Will get another CH Products yoke when this one quits. 

[fppilot 4,352]

53 minutes ago, fakeflyer737 said:

get the HoneyComb. Ive used mine on 25 or so flights and its awesome 

I'm on the fence on the Honeycomb. Even on it's own support site are numerous complaints about stiffness and about the mounting system.  I'm waiting it out to see what develops....  Meanwhile my 8 yr old Saitek Pro Cessna yoke is still excellent.

Edited December 6, 2019 by fppilot

[fakeflyer737 991]

7 minutes ago, fppilot said:

I'm on the fence on the Honeycomb. Even on it's own support site are numerous complaints about stiffness and about the mounting system.  I'm waiting it out to see what develops....  Meanwhile my 8 yr old Saitek Pro Cessna yoke is still excellent.

It feels like a real airplane yoke, as close as you can get before spending stupid amount of money. The mounting braket is perfect 

[Patco Lch 1,464]

I moved from a CH yoke to Honeycomb (a self Christmas gift) and am quite happy. Much heavier and more solid built. The elevator is a bit stiff but I got used to it. Great for the price point.

[slait 169]

I love my Honeycomb. Best money I've spent in quite some time.

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Hello all,

I think I would have to recommend the Honeycomb as well, despite not owning it. 

Second choice would be the Saitek Cessna yoke with its fairly realistic roll movements. I would very definitely add hall effect sensors to replace the potentiometers and the Leo Bodnar board. That may actually give you something a little better, in my opinion, than the Honeycomb and slightly cheaper.  The mods, however void any warranty, you may have.

I have the OLD, OLD original Saitek yoke with the Hall effect sensors modification and rubber bands to stiffen it all up. it rejuvenated my flying, but, I feel the Leo Bodnar board would just top it all off.

My only problem is the restricted travel of the roll, which the Cessna Yoke does not have.

Good luck with the hunt.

Tony

 

[MarkDH 234]

6 hours ago, fppilot said:

I'm on the fence on the Honeycomb. Even on it's own support site are numerous complaints about stiffness and about the mounting system.  I'm waiting it out to see what develops....  Meanwhile my 8 yr old Saitek Pro Cessna yoke is still excellent.

The Honeycomb mounting system is at least as good as any other yoke that's commonly available. You don't have to use the sticky pad at all and the clamps are better than Saitek and even the standard Yoko. clamp. As for the stiffness, that's that's an asset, not a problem. It is still 25% less stiff than the Yoko, which is the de facto benchmark for a quality yoke. The Cessna "Pro Flight" yoke is okay (although no longer sold), but it's nowhere near as good as the Honeycomb.

Edited December 6, 2019 by MarkDH

[Ray Proudfoot 8,929]

Consider the Fulcrum yoke. https://www.fulcrumsim.com/

It was due to be released before Christmas but is slightly delayed. Not only does it look great it uses Hall Effect sensors for both axes rather than potentiometers which eventually fail whatever the quality. It has 8 inches of travel too - 4 inches in each direction. All metal case and quality switches / buttons.

The other benefit of buying British is the exchange rate. The price is expected to be around 358 GBP plus your local state tax. Plenty of discussion here... https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/543272-fulcrum-yoke-demonstrated-at-cosford-fs-show/

 

[MarkDH 234]

8 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

That may actually give you something a little better, in my opinion, than the Honeycomb and slightly cheaper.

Good grief, this simply highlights what you said in your first sentence, which is that you don't own the Honeycomb yoke. Reading between the lines, I presume you also don't have the Saitek Cessna yoke. I have owned all three and have investigated the relative designs in some detail.

First off, there is absolutely no way the Saitek Cessa yoke (which is in any case no longer for sale) can be made into a better yoke mechanically than the Honeycomb. Yes, it has 180 degrees of travel, which I presume is what you mean by 'its fairly realistic roll movements'. You can argue that this is necessary for realism but it is not sufficient. The Saitek Cessna also has the same cheap plastic bearings as its cheaper "Pro Flight" sibling, the same mechanical detent in the middle of each axis and (essentially) the same flawed aileron mechanism that causes the roll axis to interfere mechanically with the pitch. The latter is mitigated by a re-design of the aileron springs but it is not absent.

The honeycomb yoke, by contrast, has dual and widely-separated parallel steel shafts sliding on ball bearings and the roll action is mechanically isolated from the pitch action. It is also reported to use a rotary potentiometer that has been tested to 100,000 cycles and a slide potentiometer rated for 25 million cycles. Which brings us to the second point, that it is very likely a waste of time and money to replace the potentiometers in either yoke with contactless sensors until they develop a problem and need replacing anyway, in which case you might as well use contactless sensors as not. Precision may be a factor for the discerning simmer, but for the majority it will not. The Honeycomb yoke runs 8-bit A/D conversion and this means it can detect movements of less than a degree. Most people will in any case be running their P3D or FSX at half that precision because that's the default setting in FSUIPC. With higher precision you might achieve better fine control with FSX and P3D because those sims have hard-wired exponential scaling of analog axes and the only way to straighten this out is to use FSUIPC's slope settings, which involves effectively throwing away data. 

[himmelhorse 1,276]

Mark,

I accept all the implied criticism. 

I was aware that the Cessna yoke was no longer available and I have not owned it (I simply do not have the financial resources to own all three). I also only changed to the Hall effect sensors because my pots were simply past "their use by date" AND it was cheaper than buying a new yoke.

You may also note the use of the words "may actually" were used. It was NOT a statement of fact, and, was used in reference to the fact that the OP may have actually owned that model and it may have been cheaper to mod his existing one.

I was unaware of the finer details of the Honeycomb and that information was interesting. 

I would also like to raise, (again) your YouTube video, modification of the Saitek Yoke which is a further mod that I will use, and soon,  before I actually purchase a new yoke,

This may well be sounding like a defensive response, but I do stand by my original statement, with the addition, of the fact, that, like you, I think the Saitek yoke is cheap, plasticy, not well though out and probably designed with obsolescence in mind. However I have had mine now for over 10 years and, with the mods, it is still serving me well. 

From all reviews that I have seen, the Honeycomb yoke is a good one, particularly at that price point, and I have been looking forward to its release. It is also on my shopping list when I can afford it and there is no way, I stress, no way, I would buy a new Saitek, if it continues its current trend, if the Honeycomb is available at the time of my purchase.

Regards

Tony

[MarkDH 234]

9 hours ago, himmelhorse said:

like you, I think the Saitek yoke is cheap, plasticy, not well though out and probably designed with obsolescence in mind

Okay, not going to war or anything. Sure, patching up an old yoke can be cheaper than buying a new one and sometimes just dong the project is more rewarding than actuallyflying the sim. BTW, I have never thought (or said) the Saitek was designed for obsolescence, I think it's built down to a price at a minimum quailty that they found they could sell. That's business, of course. Thankfully Honeycomb seems to be taking a different approach to the business. Time will tell if it's sustainable.