Should I wait for the new version of the honeycomb alpha? It has spring loaded key ignition, new form factor, xbox compatibility. I'm not sure if I should go for the original alpha or wait for the xtc model. What do you guys think?

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by captain420

Depends on how happy you are with your present yoke. Development to delivery seems to be extremely slow with these guys then there’s the supply chain to shipment drag time. I don’t know but you may be waiting along time to come.

Yes wait for it if nothing else for the fact that they are using Hall effect sensors vs potentiometers. High quality pots are fine and from what I understand (but have never verified) is that the original alpha uses more premium pots. HESs however allow higher resolutions and longevity. Definitely worth it. 

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by snglecoil

3 hours ago, snglecoil said:

HESs however allow higher resolutions and longevity. Definitely worth it. 

Agreed. Even high quality pots get noisy over time. That's what finally killed my old Saitek X45, which I still miss. The throttle axis pot got so noisy that I could only control 0-20%, and then 80-100% throttle. Anything in between was fairly unpredictable as to what input it would send, and even the "good" areas were twitchy. Made landings kinda challenging, but not in a good way. 😉

 

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by eslader

2 hours ago, eslader said:

Agreed. Even high quality pots get noisy over time. That's what finally killed my old Saitek X45, which I still miss. The throttle axis pot got so noisy that I could only control 0-20%, and then 80-100% throttle. Anything in between was fairly unpredictable as to what input it would send, and even the "good" areas were twitchy. Made landings kinda challenging, but not in a good way. 😉

 

Hey, you are the only other person I know that uses (used) the X45.  That is what I am using now.  I have just started to notice some noise in the rudder paddle.  I have some questions if you don't mind:

• Did you ever try to take it apart to clean the pots (blow out the carbon buildup)?
• Do you know if they used 'high' quality pots?
• Would you expect the hall effect sensors to have a higher resolution and range?
• What joystick/throttle combo do you have now and are you happy?

 

 

8 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

Did you ever try to take it apart to clean the pots (blow out the carbon buildup)?

Yep. Helped a little, but by the time I got to it it was too far gone, so I had to trash it anyway.

8 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

Do you know if they used 'high' quality pots?

I couldn't say for certain, but I'm guessing they did, because mine lasted over a decade before it finally died. Meanwhile my less than 2 year old Thrustmaster is already showing signs of pot noise on the rudder axis.

8 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

Would you expect the hall effect sensors to have a higher resolution and range?

I wouldn't hazard a guess without seeing the specs of both. But I would expect the HE sensors to last a lot longer and not get jittery on you. 

 

8 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

What joystick/throttle combo do you have now and are you happy?

TM T1600M. Reasonably happy. It has hall effect sensors, but what I didn't recognize is that it doesn't have HE sensors on *all* the axes. That'll teach me to read the marketing materials without doing in depth research. So the stick's fine, throttle's fine, but the rudder axis is already jittery, which irritates me. Also, you will have to take the throttle apart as soon as you get it and coat the throttle axis with damping grease. Otherwise, the sensor's great but the friction on the throttle rails will make it notchy anyway.

On the other hand, try finding one in its price range that's as good.  I'm waiting on the Alpha upgrade to release from Honeycomb, then I'll get a set from them.

 

 

 

Edited October 5, 20214 yr by eslader

Save a few more months and invest in a Fulcrum instead, it is a smarter investment in the long run, HoneyComb is good value for the money, but it is still a plastic toy.

On 10/5/2021 at 11:34 AM, Ixoye said:

Save a few more months and invest in a Fulcrum instead, it is a smarter investment in the long run, HoneyComb is good value for the money, but it is still a plastic toy.

yeah, but that is yoke vs stick.  I am trying to get a good stick and a full range (throw) throttle quadrant.  I dont think the 'airbus' one has a good throttle.  But since I cant go anywhere in my area to actually see one, I dont know for sure.

46 minutes ago, Mike S KPDX said:

yeah, but that is yoke vs stick.  I am trying to get a good stick and a full range (throw) throttle quadrant.  I dont think the 'airbus' one has a good throttle.  But since I cant go anywhere in my area to actually see one, I dont know for sure.

My suggestion was meant for the thread starter, but I can recommend TH Warthog Hotas, that is a great stick and throttle.

Over on the MS Forums, about every 4th post is about somebody trying to get the honeycomb to work the way it should.  At their price, I doubt that it is the most used hardware, but sure does raise a lot of issues.  I want a yoke, but I am afraid of the price vs. performance issues.

Edited October 10, 20214 yr by Blueline308

I own both HC controllers and love them immensely.  My Bravo arrived with a broken trim wheel and I kept it 2 months before I (last week) finally sent it in on the RMA they gave me.  Why?  I knew I would miss it badly and I do.  That being said you can map key axis to rocker buttons and still have what you need on the Alpha alone.  But I digress...

Pros:

Replicates GA aircraft control feel (based upon stick time working toward an incomplete PPL years ago).  Yoke is a bit stiff in elevator axis but otherwise is great for feel.

Pre-set buttons for key functions.

Lots of buttons and rockers switches, 6 axis on the Bravo.

Bravo comes with enough levers for a twin piston or turboprop with throttle, condition and mixture levers for both powerplants.

Bravo comes with 4 heavy type throttle levers with reverse toggle, speedbrake and flap levers.

Mountable under or above desk.  I've mine mounted on a 36 inch aluminum bar attached with knobs to the underside of my desk.  Perfect height (almost).

 

Cons:

Pre-set buttons are mixed bag.  All seem to constantly fire their state so if mapped to a button that is repeatable I believe you would get constant inputs.  That being said they are labeled for binary functions already and work great for those in nearly every aircraft.

Spoils you.

 

 

On 10/5/2021 at 5:36 PM, Mike S KPDX said:

Would you expect the hall effect sensors to have a higher resolution and range?

Dunno what you mean by 'range', but the Alpha XPC has 10-bit sensors. That brings the resolution up to Saitek standards 😉

Edited October 10, 20214 yr by MarkDH

6 hours ago, badgenes said:

Pre-set buttons are mixed bag.  All seem to constantly fire their state so if mapped to a button that is repeatable I believe you would get constant inputs

The Honeycomb's buttons do nothing special, the auto-repeat is an issue introduced by MSFS. Any controller with buttons that can be left in the ON position will behave the same in MSFS. And conversely, the Honeycomb will work as expected in FSX, P3D and X-Plane.

On 10/10/2021 at 2:12 AM, MarkDH said:

Dunno what you mean by 'range', but the Alpha XPC has 10-bit sensors. That brings the resolution up to Saitek standards 😉

12-bit sensors.

Plastic toy? As opposed to a metal toy?