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Control Yoke: Any Information?


Tango29

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In the SB promotional video found on the SB home page, I can see players using what appears to be a new type of control yoke (new to me, anyway): a white box with two handles on either side, each carrying a number of control buttons. From what I can see, this item is a Godsend for left-handed players like me. Can anyone tell me anything about this item: name, manufacturer, features, source...any background at all will be most welcome. With a birthday and Christmas coming slowly into range, I know for a fact what would be top of the list if I could find this thing. TIA for any info! :bigsmile: :clap: :bigsmile:

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I'm sorry, but these control handles (by AFV Sim Ltd.) are not for sale to the general public. Not only is the price "consumer-prohibitive" (around 3,000.- per piece), it's especially all the red tape associated with foreign exports as the British government considers them war materiel (ridiculous as it sounds, it's true).

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Well-l-l...

Thanks for your quick response! Maybe I could "borrow" one (thus removing the price constraint), just to do an in-depth consumer report on its effectiveness and "general public usefulness." It shouldn't take more than... say... five or six years to complete my study (maybe longer, depending on how effective it is). And because it's "borrowed" it would not have been "exported," and therefore would not upset Her Majesty's government.

I must give this further thought...:sonic:

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I don't know if you are old enough to remember the Star Wars arcade game (pic) which inspired the guy on the site provided by Sabot but here is a place where you can get an almost genuine replica control yoke for $275. It will require addition modifications and probably another ~$100 to make it PC compatible.

Site: http://www.ram-controls.com/order-sw.html

Manual:

starwars_manual_zip.be1674d09b212dee0638

starwars_manual.zip

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I was curious about the Star Wars controllers after reading this thread and found the following site:

http://arcadecontrols.com/hosted/yoke/

Could be the start of something... ;)

PS - I loved that arcade game as a kid! :)

EDIT - The ram-controls.com SW controller is viewable here in pieces to get a better idea of construction:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=99056.0

Q

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Couldn't you use a flightsim yoke instead?

I haven't tried a flight yoke with SB Pro so can't really say. The difference is the movement of the controller though.

The handles/grips on the AFVSim and Star Wars controllers are designed to control all axis of movement, whereas a flight yoke has to be pushed in to look down (or dive when flying) and pulled towards you to raise the view. Could be a bit 'weird' to use in a tank...

Q

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Seems pretty similar - pull back to elevate, push forward to depress?

Is that how it works in a tank? :shocked: I never thought the who unit had to be pushed or pulled to raise or lower the main gun. I've always assumed it was just the handles that did all the work from what I've seen from the AFVSim stuff.

Q

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No you don’t move the whole unit (it tends to be affixed to the turret), just the control itself (be it single like a joystick or dual).

I was just saying the direction of movement was the same.

You said push forward to dive, I said push forward to depress, etc.

The range of movement is certainly not as great as in say an aircraft control (which I guess the “yoke” represents).

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I'm a fan of crisp response from the mouse. Perfect consistency during traverse, no dead zones, and no miles of sloppy travel from a stick. Jeez, I can't stand travel...

Nevermind transitioning between the stick and mouse for tasks like using menues.

For what it's worth, I believe you'll have far more control with the mouse. The enemy is bad enough; you don't need to fight the interface, too.

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I was curious about the Star Wars controllers after reading this thread and found the following site:

http://arcadecontrols.com/hosted/yoke/

Could be the start of something... ;)

PS - I loved that arcade game as a kid! :)

EDIT - The ram-controls.com SW controller is viewable here in pieces to get a better idea of construction:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=99056.0

Q

That second link doesn't inspire confidence in the company producing it or I would snap one up.

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No you don’t move the whole unit (it tends to be affixed to the turret), just the control itself (be it single like a joystick or dual).

I was just saying the direction of movement was the same.

No, it's not. The real control handle requires a rotational movement for elevation while a flight yoke requires a translational motion.

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No, it's not. The real control handle requires a rotational movement for elevation while a flight yoke requires a translational motion.

That's what I was getting at, but I wasn't using the correct terminology. :redface:

The handles rotate forwards and backwards to raise and lower the gun, and you turn them steering-wheel style to rotate the turret. Same principle with the S/Wars controllers, unlike a flight yoke that you push and pull to climb and dive (or in theory to raise and lower the gun).

How many buttons are there on a real tank controller - say the M1A1 or Leopard? Do you have a single firing trigger on one handle or available on both? Plus there's the lasing button - is that duplicated? What else?

Q

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M1, Leo 2, Bradley are all rather simplistic. One- or two-way laser button, trigger, eventually dynamic lead, eventually separate triggers for coax and main gun, and that's it (plus palm switches, of course).

The trend however is to add more and more functions to the control handle; see evidence exhibition model #1, the Leclerc with its reported 17 different functions, or the CV90s with a comparable amount - ammo feed select, laser first/last return, or manual range toggle, fuze modes for programmable munitions, field of view/zoom switch, etc.

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CH flight yokes have a bit of stickiness in them when you pull or push for elavator control. You get a bit of a jarring motion when gunning in SB, not the fine control that true gunner's handles give you.

The only comparison I can make for sure is between the CH flight yoke, generic joysticks, the Cadillacs on a real M1A1, and generic mice. A mouse gives similar precision to the Cadillacs, but feels really weird. A joystick feels about right, but doesn't have nearly the precision. The CH flight yoke feels better than the mouse, but still not quite right; it seems more precise than a joystick, but not as precise as a good mouse.

I have switched to using a mouse exclusively for turret gunnery in SB. I sometimes use a joystick in SB when following dismounted troops or using the TC position, but only if it is convenient to bring a joystick along.

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Joysticks - especially those that have multiple buttons, are programmable, and that have a relatively soft centering spring (unless you want to play the ASLAV, then a really stiff spring that helps to build muscle is the right choice) - can be a good choice for vehicles like the CV90 where you actually have multiple programming modes etc.

While it is possible to have all these functions on a keyboard, it does become a bit convoluted and rather ungainly. Integrating all this on a single multi-button stick can be a lot more elegant and convenient, and arguably is a better representation of reality than the mouse/keyboard combo.

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I haven't tried a flight yoke with SB Pro so can't really say. The difference is the movement of the controller though.

The handles/grips on the AFVSim and Star Wars controllers are designed to control all axis of movement, whereas a flight yoke has to be pushed in to look down (or dive when flying) and pulled towards you to raise the view. Could be a bit 'weird' to use in a tank...

Q

True

Although you can get the flight yokes that have wads of buttons, including hat style buttons on the yoke that would deal with that (i.e. using the hats with your thumbs).

I dunno, just me thinking aloud... i have no experience with real tank stuff (despite having a previous step-father in the aussie armoured corps).

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