Honeycomb stuff - wow!

[flyinpilot212121 724]

5 hours ago, Drumcode said:

I would post this on my social media account, but none of my friends or family appreciates my aviation nerdiness, heh.

Just received my alpha and bravo yesterday. Coming from years using CH Yoke to use these two outstanding pieces of hardware is so amazing. The quality of it and everything else people talked about is true, probably the best investment into this hobby I've ever made. 

I did the same, had a ch yoke and a saitek  throttle setup. It was hard for me to justify spending some 800$ on the honeycomb yoke and throttle considering I had the above controls, however after diving in and receiving them I am very happy I did. The yoke feels so good compare to what I was used to, and the throttle adds so much to my simming experience. In a way the honeycomb suite enticed me to try and get as much immersion from the sim. I since purchase a radio panel and also purchased a butt kicker to try and get as complete of an immersion experience within my budget (short of going VR or full motion.)

For anyone on the fence about the honeycomb controls, I’d say you wouldn’t regret it, it does take room on the desk (keyboard space) so I purchased an Ri x8 mini keyboard to go along with my main keyboard and it’s helped a lot! Should note my pc station is strictly dedicated to flight simming only. 

[Drumcode 1,910]

1 hour ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

For anyone on the fence about the honeycomb controls, I’d say you wouldn’t regret it, it does take room on the desk (keyboard space) so I purchased an Ri x8 mini keyboard to go along with my main keyboard and it’s helped a lot! Should note my pc station is strictly dedicated to flight simming only. 

Now all you need is a better spec machine and a 46" curved 4K monitor and you're balling! 🙂 I'm having a helluva time right now with my setup.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Drumcode

[flyinpilot212121 724]

5 minutes ago, Drumcode said:

Now all you need is a better spec machine and a 46" curved 4K monitor and you're balling! 🙂 I'm having a helluva time right now with my setup.

Agreed!!!! Not even kidding when I say this but I just about hit the buy now button on a new system most every night for the past 2 months! So much money though 😬

[bobsama 1]

1 hour ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

I did the same, had a ch yoke and a saitek  throttle setup. It was hard for me to justify spending some 800$ on the honeycomb yoke and throttle considering I had the above controls, however after diving in and receiving them I am very happy I did. The yoke feels so good compare to what I was used to, and the throttle adds so much to my simming experience. In a way the honeycomb suite enticed me to try and get as much immersion from the sim. I since purchase a radio panel and also purchased a butt kicker to try and get as complete of an immersion experience within my budget (short of going VR or full motion.)

For anyone on the fence about the honeycomb controls, I’d say you wouldn’t regret it, it does take room on the desk (keyboard space) so I purchased an Ri x8 mini keyboard to go along with my main keyboard and it’s helped a lot! Should note my pc station is strictly dedicated to flight simming only. 

I tried a friend's full Saitek set before I bought my Alpha & Bravo. It's ridiculous how much better the Honeycomb's feel. Logitech fell way behind. The CH was the only other one I was thinking of getting mostly because it has that 3-axis throttle on top, but now I'm just glad I didn't waste my money there. The Honeycomb's are actually a great value, since a 2nd throttle quadrant, switch panel, and AP panel would add $250 to Logitech's basic yoke & throttle, so it was really only about $100-200 more for Honeycomb's.

I think the flight pedals will determine if I buy Honeycomb's or if I splurge on Thrustmaster TPR's. I'm getting tired of waiting for the Charlie pedals but we'll see. Right now, I mapped the rudder and brakes to an old Logitech joystick. It works okay, but its inaccurate sensor sometimes interferes with the rudder I mapped to my Alpha (kind of like a TBM yoke's ground steering).

I was about to buy a pair of Logitech radio panels but decided not, since they're oversized like Duplo blocks. Now I'm looking into options. I'd love if Honeycomb came out with their own renditions, mostly just want the knobs etc and I could skip the screens especially if it saved me a few hundred bucks. If I did have screens I'd much rather have a 6-digit LED (it irks me to see .875 rounded up to .88) but those aren't really forthcoming. Or I could put $300 towards a GNS 530, but none of the units that I've seen would let me do everything I want with just a single unit. Instead I'm thinking of building my own so I can put together a chimera that would stand in for old-school Comm or Nav radios, single or dual GNS's, a single GTN 750, a weather radar, the buttons of a G1000, the aux touchscreens on a G3000, etc.

[flyinpilot212121 724]

12 hours ago, bobsama said:

I tried a friend's full Saitek set before I bought my Alpha & Bravo. It's ridiculous how much better the Honeycomb's feel. Logitech fell way behind. The CH was the only other one I was thinking of getting mostly because it has that 3-axis throttle on top, but now I'm just glad I didn't waste my money there. The Honeycomb's are actually a great value, since a 2nd throttle quadrant, switch panel, and AP panel would add $250 to Logitech's basic yoke & throttle, so it was really only about $100-200 more for Honeycomb's.

I think the flight pedals will determine if I buy Honeycomb's or if I splurge on Thrustmaster TPR's. I'm getting tired of waiting for the Charlie pedals but we'll see. Right now, I mapped the rudder and brakes to an old Logitech joystick. It works okay, but its inaccurate sensor sometimes interferes with the rudder I mapped to my Alpha (kind of like a TBM yoke's ground steering).

I was about to buy a pair of Logitech radio panels but decided not, since they're oversized like Duplo blocks. Now I'm looking into options. I'd love if Honeycomb came out with their own renditions, mostly just want the knobs etc and I could skip the screens especially if it saved me a few hundred bucks. If I did have screens I'd much rather have a 6-digit LED (it irks me to see .875 rounded up to .88) but those aren't really forthcoming. Or I could put $300 towards a GNS 530, but none of the units that I've seen would let me do everything I want with just a single unit. Instead I'm thinking of building my own so I can put together a chimera that would stand in for old-school Comm or Nav radios, single or dual GNS's, a single GTN 750, a weather radar, the buttons of a G1000, the aux touchscreens on a G3000, etc.

The Logitech radio panels are chunky for sure, but in my opinion they are great value for the cost of them which is why I went that route, that and they bolt right onto the honeycomb bravo perfectly with some provided screws. 

[Rudiii 257]

Love my Yoke. Dropping some money on the Throttle soon too.

Just need them to announce the release date for the pedals now!

[flyinpilot212121 724]

1 hour ago, wainwj said:

Love my Yoke. Dropping some money on the Throttle soon too.

Just need them to announce the release date for the pedals now!

I’m certain you’ll like the throttle! 

[Paul_Yorks 97]

+1 for this kit.  I love it.  Had the yoke for over a year but adding in the throttle just recently has been a delight.  6 axes means you can run from a simple throttle prop to a complex 2 engine bird with thr/prop/mix levers x 2, and a second set of levers allow 2 / 4 engine jet controls with reversers and even a TOGA switch, plus speedbrake + flaps.  The icing on the cake is a trim wheel, gear and flaps knobs and a whole AP button/dial suite that works flawlessly.  Very impressive.

[bobsama 1]

7 hours ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

The Logitech radio panels are chunky for sure, but in my opinion they are great value for the cost of them which is why I went that route, that and they bolt right onto the honeycomb bravo perfectly with some provided screws. 

So here's my question: do the knobs feel realistic or even just clicky?

I'm not seeing anything out there that matches what I really want. I'm definitely hopeful that Honeycomb releases something, they think they did tease a Garmin G1000 or something, but I'm not going to wait for 2-3 years for them to maybe get there. I only really see 3 commercial options in my budget-- the a PWS or Logitech radio panel, a GNS-430/530 stand-in, or a GTN 650/750 stand-in. The first is off the table (too limited), the second sounds like it might be my best option (but doesn't sim any more modern parts), and the third simply doesn't have enough knobs or buttons.

So then the 4th option is for me to DIY something. A bigger touchscreen for a GTN 750, all the buttons & knobs of a GNS 530, plus a rocker switch on the side so I can change the knobs to control other devices. Finally, if I have pin headings still open, maybe add a section with buttons numbered 0 thru 9 that I can use to dial in the transponder, the ADF, and to talk to in-game ATC.

[flyinpilot212121 724]

35 minutes ago, bobsama said:

So here's my question: do the knobs feel realistic or even just clicky?

I'm not seeing anything out there that matches what I really want. I'm definitely hopeful that Honeycomb releases something, they think they did tease a Garmin G1000 or something, but I'm not going to wait for 2-3 years for them to maybe get there. I only really see 3 commercial options in my budget-- the a PWS or Logitech radio panel, a GNS-430/530 stand-in, or a GTN 650/750 stand-in. The first is off the table (too limited), the second sounds like it might be my best option (but doesn't sim any more modern parts), and the third simply doesn't have enough knobs or buttons.

So then the 4th option is for me to DIY something. A bigger touchscreen for a GTN 750, all the buttons & knobs of a GNS 530, plus a rocker switch on the side so I can change the knobs to control other devices. Finally, if I have pin headings still open, maybe add a section with buttons numbered 0 thru 9 that I can use to dial in the transponder, the ADF, and to talk to in-game ATC.

When you are tuning a radio frequency with the Logitech you don’t hear them “click” but you do feel a “detent” when your turning the dial. It’s not the most eye appealing unit, but as I mentioned for the price that they go for its so much better than using your mouse to dial in frequencies, or change you transponder code etc. it’s also nice to have the ability to have a DME read out on the unit, I will be purchasing one more to add to it.

Ive also been looking at the real sim gear units and while very nice, I’m not sure I’ll get much use out of them when the likes of PMDG and fenix etc start releasing they’re airliners, at least with the Logitech units I will still get use out of them.

I once built a unit using a couple Leo bodnar cards, while it worked extremely well, I’m not too crafty so my home built units looked like shrek after getting hit by a bus, so now I’m much more content purchasing pre-built units and having a nice clean looking setup, accepting the fact that I pay a premium compared to if I were to build my self. But to not stray off topic, I have no regrets paying some 800$ for the honeycomb suite and all my other hardware I’ve purchased in the last couple months…Now only if my butt kicker I ordered can arrive I’d be all set!

Cheers!

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,799]

The Logitech panels are a bit cheap and "consumer" but work.

You can actually get them upgraded with better encoders:

https://www.motivemods.com/Saitek-Pro-Flight-Radio-Panel-p/mm-sa-rp.htm

Quote

This kit allows for the replacement of the OEM frequency encoders that come with the Saitek Radio Panel, while preserving all of the original functionality while using all original drivers. Our custom circuit board allows the push button on the encoder to be used as the ACT/STBY button, which can be turned on or off.
 

Options Explained:

• - I Will Provide My Radio Panel For Install: Send us your panel and we will install the kit for you.
• - Radio Panel With Kit Pre-Installed: Receive a modified Radio Panel.

 

[bobsama 1]

2 hours ago, flyinpilot212121 said:

When you are tuning a radio frequency with the Logitech you don’t hear them “click” but you do feel a “detent” when your turning the dial. It’s not the most eye appealing unit, but as I mentioned for the price that they go for its so much better than using your mouse to dial in frequencies, or change you transponder code etc. it’s also nice to have the ability to have a DME read out on the unit, I will be purchasing one more to add to it.

Ive also been looking at the real sim gear units and while very nice, I’m not sure I’ll get much use out of them when the likes of PMDG and fenix etc start releasing they’re airliners, at least with the Logitech units I will still get use out of them.

I once built a unit using a couple Leo bodnar cards, while it worked extremely well, I’m not too crafty so my home built units looked like shrek after getting hit by a bus, so now I’m much more content purchasing pre-built units and having a nice clean looking setup, accepting the fact that I pay a premium compared to if I were to build my self. But to not stray off topic, I have no regrets paying some 800$ for the honeycomb suite and all my other hardware I’ve purchased in the last couple months…Now only if my butt kicker I ordered can arrive I’d be all set!

Cheers!

Might fit my needs, but I'm really not into the jumbo sizing. The extra features sound cool, a pair at 75% scale sound like they'd be a top contender for me, meh encoders and all. I don't fly much of the airliners/jets, I spend most of my time flying piston or turboprop. That's why I'm really thinking I'm going to have to go DIY. I'm sure I can find a metal enclosure. Maybe even go so far as to wrap it or even to 3D print something suitable. Maybe I can find a rubbery button set or rearrange a rubber-key keyboard (directly setting 0-9 as the ZXCVB row, removing & replacing the other keys so I don't have to source a game controller board, etc) as long as N-key rollover doesn't cause too big of an issue when installing the rocker switches etc.

56 minutes ago, Glenn Fitzpatrick said:

The Logitech panels are a bit cheap and "consumer" but work.

You can actually get them upgraded with better encoders:

https://www.motivemods.com/Saitek-Pro-Flight-Radio-Panel-p/mm-sa-rp.ht

Now that makes the encoders look a lot more suitable, but wow that price tag! That's almost as much as a PWS GNS-530 or an Etsy version, though that's not speaking to the quality of those 530's (but I'd think they'd have at least equal if not a lot better encoders).

[Drumcode 1,910]

A little update from me. Over a week into using the alpha, I have to say that not only I started to really enjoy GA, my landings are so much better than with the CH Yoke. I couldn't be any happier with this purchase. 

Edited November 5, 2021 by Drumcode