New VKB modular throttle from VKB coming up later in August

[JV44Svejk]

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by JV44Svejk

[dburne]

Looks like a do it yourselfer's dream.

[spreckair]

I hope they come out with an instructional video on the detents.

[KpaxBos]

https://www.checksix-forums.com/viewtopic.php?p=1937311#p1937311

Some videos on setting STECS.

Edited August 21, 2023 by KpaxBos

[LukeFF]

It's up for sale now in the North America and Asia stores.

[spreckair]

Perfect timing--my TWCS is acting up, so my order is in.  I wonder how long the wait will be?

[Charger_]

Ive pulled the trigger on a Mini Plus.

 

Normally i would never buy anything at launch, but im a unashamed VKB fanboi, i have several of their products and when i had some software drama with a driver update, the guys on their discord provided top notch support. So im fairly confident whatever bugs exist in these launch models will get sorted.

 

That and my POS TWCS throttle that i have modded, cleaned, un bloody screwed a million times still wont stay at 100% throttle and just bounces around. 

 

Mine wont arrive till early next month but ill post a review here.

[dburne]

Well while I certainly do not need it I actually considering ordering the Standard STECS. Just to check it out more or less. I have a 300 dollar gift card my wife got me for my birthday earlier this year that I have not used. Unfortunately though I see no way to be able to use it to partial pay and put the balance on my regular CC. Total with shipping is around 360. Maybe that is a good sign for me to not worry with getting one as I am still quite happy with my Virpil CM3. I am sure I can find something else to use my gift card on.

Edited August 23, 2023 by dburne

[LukeFF]

I'm probably going to wait til the year's end to decide what upgrade path I want to take. While these new throttles from VKB look great, they really aren't what I have in mind for flying warbirds here and GA planes in MSFS. That, and I know the next thing I want to buy from VKB is the upgrade kit for the Gunfighter, which I hope will be out by the month's end. 

 

But otherwise, yes, I will be getting a new throttle at some point. The axes on my GVL224 throttle are starting to get really noisy, and some of the buttons are starting to fall apart. 

[spreckair]

I ordered the STECS Standard on Wednesday and it is on the way from Huzhou, China.  My Thrustmaster TWCS is getting dodgier by the day, so it gave me a good reason to pull the trigger.  I was going to wait to see what Phase 2 looked like, but I suspect the prices are only going to be higher, so I decided not to wait.

[spreckair]

So, the VKB STECS Standard just arrived yesterday and I used it on a couple of flights.  I was using a Thrustmaster TWCS, and the STECS is many grades nicer in my opinion.  (Actually, my wife walked into the room and said, "Wow, you got a real throttle?")  Also, the TWCS (my second in two years) was starting to act up, with inputs jumping all over the place, so the timing was perfect.  The throttles on the STECS are on a pivot axis, which takes some getting used to after years with a slide throttle.  I haven't set up the detents yet, but I have fiddled with them a bit, and they are very fiddly.  There is also a learning curve with the detents as they need to be adjusted in the VKB Config software, so this could take me some time to totally figure out.  One of the nicest features is the ability to easily swap out buttons for hat switches, and vice versa.

I purchased the Standard, which also has an additional large button module, because it also comes with the full set of detents and additional button/switches.  However, I wonder if I will ever assign functions to the button module--it is just way too many buttons for what I need.  Maybe I should have gotten the much cheaper STECS Mini and added the ala carte detent/button/switch set?  Oh well...

[LLv34_Flanker]

S!

 

Still waiting for some WW2 style controllers that have the feel and functionality good for prop planes, single or twin engined. Most are catered for more modern planes or space games. In process of getting new throttle, My own project on a bit of a standstill

 

 

[czech693]

$57.00 for shipping?  Ouch!  I'd expect overnight delivery for that, with a pizza, delivered by a busty Chinese delivery girl.

Edited August 30, 2023 by czech693

[dburne]

29 minutes ago, czech693 said:

$57.00 for shipping?  Ouch!  I'd expect overnight delivery for that, with a pizza, delivered by a busty Chinese delivery girl.

 

Good quality should be pretty heavy I would think.

However obviously these companies also mark up shipping costs as well.

 

You can get the weight and check rates for how they ship to get a pretty good idea how much they are marking it up.

Edited August 30, 2023 by dburne

[czech693]

Well, there's not any point in checking them out.  It is what it is.  I thought that when they created the US store that they would ship here by sea in containers until they built up inventory.  Shipping by sea is a lot cheaper than by air.  But everything I've bought from them has come directly from China and shipping by air has cost a bundle.  I've always gotten things quickly but it's costly.

[dburne]

8 hours ago, czech693 said:

Well, there's not any point in checking them out.  It is what it is.  I thought that when they created the US store that they would ship here by sea in containers until they built up inventory.  Shipping by sea is a lot cheaper than by air.  But everything I've bought from them has come directly from China and shipping by air has cost a bundle.  I've always gotten things quickly but it's costly.

 

 

Edit: Disregard.

 

Edited August 31, 2023 by dburne

[spreckair]

The item was shipped to me by FEDEX and arrived in about four days, but it is a lot.

[Charger_]

How have STECS owners set up the rotary dials / encoders to work with trim settings? I know on my Gladiator NXT i could never get the encoders to work with trim. I see this throttle has several dials

[spreckair]

Short answer--I haven't figured out how to yet.  I am just as interested as you are for an answer.

[dburne]

I personally would not think rotaries would be good for trim settings.   I know with my Virpil CM3 I would not want to use them for that. I use buttons or axis, typically buttons for most part depending on the plane. 

[KpaxBos]

Hello,

First batch (air lift) available on EU store ?

https://flightsimcontrols.com/2023/09/08/stecs-in-eu/

 

 

[czech693]

I like VKB's approach to modules that connect and create one physical controller.  However, would this one controller run into the per controller button limitation in IL-2?

[kestrel79]

That's a legit concern. Do all these VKB and Winwing ecosystems of controllers all combine together to only take up 1 usb port into our PCs? Or do they all have to be plugged in separately?

 

A good example is the Fanatic wheel and pedals for simracing. They can all plug into the pedalboard, and then you only have to run one usb cable to your computer instead of having the wheel, pedals, and shifters be 3 separate usb devices. Pretty cool.

[keithbriscoe99]

Wow, I was literally about to start researching usb hubs and max ports for different USB 2.0 vs 3.0 etc..

 

Very interested because I'm about to pull trigger on both throttle and stick.

[kestrel79]

I got an answer on the DCS forums, each thing is it's own usb plugin.

[spreckair]

On 9/6/2023 at 5:12 PM, Charger_ said:

How have STECS owners set up the rotary dials / encoders to work with trim settings?

VKB has an excellent video on how to configure the switches, encoders, and buttons as axes.  These can also be adjusted as far as speed.  The video is found on their support Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAIB6Y3RLKEpanqiPv62fkA/videos.  I haven't tried to reconfigure any yet, but since the dials and buttons on my STECS could be used to control trim and engine cooling, I will give this a try soon.

 

Also, I have been using this for over a month and I really like it and recommend it.  I have only had experience with the Thrustmaster TWCS, so I cannot compare it to any of the better HOTAS out there.

Edited October 10, 2023 by spreckair
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