mugsy

Junior Member
Dear FliteTest and friends!
(Sorry this is very long and not related to just the transmitter, but oh well)

I have finally worked up the courage to sign up and write something after being a VERY long time watcher and lurker… and a VERY unsucessful flyer. I used to do a lot of indoor flying with any number of helis, quads and modified garbage that are little more than toys. I have always wanted to progress to flying simple uncomplicated park flyers and trainers. I have never really wanted to do crazy stuff or spend lots of money on planes I will not want to use due to fear of destruction!

The real issue that I have had is that i have never felt very akin to the controls layout on any or all of the available transmitters/remotes that i have used and have been eagerly waiting with baited breathe for someone to release something I can relate to, this of course… is a flight stick. The only mistake and panic free flights i have ever had on the simulators was with a simple PC flight/combat stick (currently i am using a Thrustmaster T16000M which is by far the smoothest and most natural feeing stick i have ever used).

After borrowing a Spektrum DX6 and a T rex from a friend for about a year, doing ok and flying very carefully and very slowly with the T rex and making a few repairs along the way, i progressed to destroying a few RTF and BNF beginner planes without really seeing any great progression in being able to not crash (mostly due to wind and poor plane choice), only to go back to the simulators to practise with the DX6 (which I have now returned because my friend has moved to New Zealand #sadface). I have noticed with unfortunate certainty... that realistically, I do not enjoy flying on the transmitters… any transmitter. Even when i have had a particularly good flight, I find i get more enjoyment using the flightstick on the computer. It feels more natural, I am more confident in understanding which input I am actually using in a pressure situation and why and how the plane will respond to my movements comes easier to me simply by changing from the DX6 to the T16000 in the simulators.

My questions are these:
Are there any viable ways that are easy to pursue that will allow me to fly using the T16000?
Are there any transmitters that are specifically built in this fashion that i may have overlooked and don’t set me back absurd amounts of money?
Are there any transmitters/programs/emulators (or combination thereof) that I can plug into a laptop/tablet/mini pc that can receive and send inputs from my flightstick or other devices? I have button panels and rudder pedals too but obviously you won’t be taking that outside very often… a HOTAS setup mounted on a board with some shoulder straps however… would be pretty damn cool.
If all the stars align and I get a solution to my controller problem, what are good beginner options for low street flying (above ground powerlines and trees in my area will prevent using much height and still keep line of sight) and slow park flying (with my son as he gets older).
Can you make Peter do a segment on this style of control? I love his shenanigans! And he always seems to have fun even when things don’t work as intended or expected.

I have alway been very partial to the Mikeys RC FPV_V3 since he released it and have considered this to be the plane I should build for quite some time now, though I do not really intend to do FPV (at least not soon) with it as I am unsure what the laws for it are like here (I’m in Queensland, Australia in the state's major city of Brisbane). I do not think I would build it as my first scratch plane even though it seems extremely forgiving. Have any of you ever built one of these?

Cheers,
mugsy
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
...
My questions are these:
Are there any viable ways that are easy to pursue that will allow me to fly using the T16000?
Are there any transmitters that are specifically built in this fashion that i may have overlooked and don’t set me back absurd amounts of money?
...


absurd amounts of money and viable depends what you mean. There's this which ~$600. Expensive maybe but there are fare more expensive TXs.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__96849__Quanum_V52_Ground_Control_System.html

I takes module like this...

https://alofthobbies.com/frsky-xjt-jr-graupner-type-16ch-duplex-transmitter-telemetry-module.html


It's definitely doable DIY. Most TXs use potentiometers to track the gimbals. You may have to hack the game controller you want to use and replace whatever they use with suitable potentiometers to interface with a standard TX. The ones used in the game controller might be optical or hall effect or have different potentiometers.

Another possibility is to use a single stick controller. These have three axes on one stick. The top of the stick turns. So you can have elv and ail in the normal place and rudder on the knob.

Here's one you can add to a 9X or 9XR Pro... and possibly other TXs with some messing about.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...l_Upgrade_for_Turnigy_9XR_9XRPro_Tx_39_s.html

Here's another that DIY jobber for a Taranis where you modify a stock gimbal.

I'm sure you can find other examples of that.
 

pressalltheknobs

Posted a thousand or more times
As a suggestion you might try to find a local flying club and see if it's something for you. These come in all forms from formal to casual an many people find them very helpful.
 

mugsy

Junior Member