Honeycomb Yoke/Throttle help please.

Guys, please take it easy on me, I am brand new to the gaming/flight-sim world and I need some help. I just received Honeycomb Aeronautical's Yoke and Throttle Quadrant, but I have no idea how to set these up. The owners manual included with the hardware was minimal to say the least. I downloaded the FSX driver from their website, but all I'm seeing with that is a "configurator", which I have no idea how to use. I'm wondering if I'm supposed to use this "Honeycomb configurator" to get things going, or do I go through the control settings within FSX? To complicate things even more I downloaded the PMDG 737NGX that I'd like to use as my primary aircraft--since that's an add-on I don't know if that will require additional configuring or not?

Are there any step-by-step instructions out there to help get these set up for FSX, or perhaps a YouTube video that's used for reference? I've been doing a lot of searching but so far all I've found are examples for MSFS, P3D, Xplane etc. I've reached out to Honeycomb customer service but so far haven't heard back. Any help for this novice would be greatly appreciated!

 

FSX Steam Edition

Alpha Yoke and Switch Panel

Bravo Throttle Quadrant

 

Device name DESKTOP-MMK0OSL

Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5800 8-Core Processor 3.40 GHz

Installed RAM 16.0 GB

System type 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor

 

Edition Windows 10 Home

Version 20H2

Installed on ‎8/‎30/‎2021

OS build 19042.1288

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3920.0

The support forum is here. You will find a lot of chatter about this in there. Edited November 4, 2021 by Mark Hurst

Thanks for the reply Mark. I've gone through those threads, but to me at least, those seem more like graduate-level issues. By going through those again I DID discover that the Honeycomb Configurator driver is just used to configure lights, so that answers my question that I will need to configure the controls within the FSX settings. I'm just surprised that there are no step-by-step instructions guiding us through that configuration process. There are a lot of examples within those threads for MSFS, but I have yet to discover a yoke/throttle configuration aid for FSX--I feel like I'm missing something, these Honeycomb controllers are compatible with FSX right? I chose to go with FSX instead of MSFS because PMDG's 737 add-on is not available for MSFS yet, and I'd like to use their realistic platform for FMS training and practice approaches.

Primary issue 1: I feel like there must be a checklist-style guide on how to configure these controllers (Honeycomb product, or aftermarket). I have discovered some of those examples for MSFS, but not for FSX.

Issue 2: I'm assuming these aren't "plug and play", and will require some configuration inputs, but when I attempt to do this within FSX I don't get far (example, when I try to configure the throttles to the "throttle increase" command it says to "press the joystick button you want to assign" but when I advance the throttles forward it doesn't recognize the button position, the field stays blank, I'm probably doing it wrong, but with no guidance anywhere I have no idea).

Issue 3: When I just plug in and start playing the yoke pitch-and-roll works, but the remaining buttons command random inputs and need reconfiguring. On the throttle quadrant the gear handle works, the trim wheel works, the smaller flap lever on the dashboard works, however...the flap lever on the quadrant effects throttle increase/decrease, the throttles on the quadrant have no effect, the speed brake lever turns the ailerons. Is it supposed to automatically work properly, do I have faulty hardware, or do I just need to configure the controls so they work properly with my Flight Simulator platform (which I assume is the case but have no idea how to do).

Sorry for the super long post, as you can see with still no reply from Honeycomb customer support I'm desperate. Just thought someone may recognize these issues and know of a solution. I have combed through threads, google, and youtube and am having no luck finding how to get these going on FSX. Does Honeycomb really expect new users to have an understanding of how to get this hardware working with no instructions (other than "go to our website and download our driver", which apparently only configures the lights). I feel like I'm missing something?

Okay, I will try to address some of that helpfully. The good news is, you can get most of the functionality without special Honeycomb software and with a little bit of patience. The problems you have described are common to most other flight controls too, so once you understand what's going on you should be okay. I would suggest that for the moment you put aside any Honeycomb software.

 

When you plug the yoke and quadrant in FSX will see them as joystick controllers and apply default control mappings for them. This will be hit and miss, so as you have discovered, often the main analogue axes (pitch, roll, maybe throttle) will be correct but the button mappings will often be wrong. You need to go through each control one by one and map them to the correct things. You do this in the Options/Settings/Controls screen, and there are separate tabs for analogue axes, joystick buttons and keystrokes. The Honeycomb Configurator program lets you map the controls in a different place (an external program) and somehow inserts these mapping into FSX, which for now is just going to be confusing. This is why I suggest you figure it out using the default way to program controls first. There should be detailed instructions on this in the Help Centre, available from the FSX main screen.

 

You will find that there are certain things you can't program directly from FSX. These include (from memory) the three right-most positions of the Magneto switch on the yoke, and also the black switches on the quadrant. This is because FSX uses an older way of interfacing to joysticks that limits the number of buttons to 32. You will also not be able to use the two rotary knobs on the quadrant for controlling the autopilot, as this needs functionality that isn't built into FSX. (This is one of the reasons you will eventually need to figure out the Honeycomb program, or use an alternative way such as FSUIPC or SPAD.neXt. But don't go looking for those now or you'll really get confused!) And, of coruse, you won't get lights on the autopilot or annunciator displays on the quadrant without the Honeycomb software. You will be able to program the autopilot buttons just fine, but it may take a bit of head-scratching to decide what to map them to.

 

See if any of that helps for now...

I cant afford one but i googled it! It seems you need to see this guys videos on youtube

Best of luck it looks a nightmare tbh, did you research before buying?

It seems you need to see this guys videos on youtube

 

That's for X-Plane.

That's for X-Plane.

 

Shouldnt matter XPlane is pretty much similar to FSX under the bonnet

Shouldnt matter XPlane is pretty much similar to FSX under the bonnet

 

Oh really? Different OS, different app software... unless you know better?

Shouldnt matter XPlane is pretty much similar to FSX under the bonnet

 

The OP is a complete novice but you're directing him to watch a tutorial for a sim he doesn't have, about how to use a piece of software he doesn't need, on the basis of your Google search for a product you don't have. I don't think it's going to help.

Mark thanks so much. I took your advice and dug through the learning center within FSX. While their instructions aren't very in-depth, it was enough to get me pointed in the right direction. Through much trial and error I've managed to at least get some basic functionality out of my throttles. I'm still having issues with throttle range of motion (can only retard power back to 40% instead of idle) but at least I'm up and flying now using both my yoke and throttle set-up. I'm hoping the more I tweak the control settings the more precise it will make everything.

Taking your advice, I still haven't attempted to adjust anything using the Honeycomb Configurator as that still seems a bit overwhelming at this point. I'm guessing I'll need to figure that out though if I wanted to get even more functionality. My hope is that PMDG will soon release their 737 for MSFS20', as it seems these Honeycomb controllers will have much more functionality with that platform.

Thanks again guys, still have a long way to go but at least now I'm up and flying, as opposed to still sitting in the chocks.

Tom

Sorry posting on the fly! I meant P3D which is similar under the hood to FSX. Apologies for any confusion guys, teach me to post without checking first

Greetings, thought I would add based on my very recent experience. I've had the Honeycomb Yoke for several months and just received the Bravo Throttle a few days ago. While the hardware is great the software setup is very involved but I'm getting close to complete after about 10 hours !!

There is also limited support for those of us still using older Sims like FSX, I will move to FS2020 eventually but that will require a computer upgrade.

With regards to the question about the throttle not matching the Sim, this also affects the spoiler axis as well. Basically the issue seems to be that the throttle quadrant is using the X and Y axis for Spoiler and Throttle 1, this is an axis that is normally centered so the calibration procedure doesn't help, I've tried it several ways with no luck.

I'm afraid the easiest solution is to download and install the registered version of FSUIPC for FSX, once installed it is a very easy to correct those two axis. It also makes programming buttons easier than using the Honeycomb software.

You still need to use the Honeycomb software to program the 7 toggle switches, AP controls and LED's on the throttle.

When I have finished my setup I will make my profile available to at least give other FSX users a starting point. Given that FSX does not support individual aircraft profiles like FS2020, my throttle setup is a bit of a compromise so that I can switch between GA and Commercial without have to re-assign the axis each time. I understand that FSUIPC does support aircraft profiles, I'll pursue that option one I have my basic setup working.

 

Glen

As an added incentive to get the registered version of FSUIPC, it does allow for multiple aircraft profiles in the same way that MSFS2020 does. This gives FXS and other older Sims this same capability which is a real bonus with the Bravo throttles.

As an added incentive to get the registered version of FSUIPC, it does allow for multiple aircraft profiles in the same way that MSFS2020 does. This gives FXS and other older Sims this same capability which is a real bonus with the Bravo throttles.

 

Good grief, he doesn't need FSUIPC to solve his problem. Most likely all that's going to do is leave him £25 poorer with more of a headache than he has now.

I just got the Alpha yoke myself. Great quality yoke but Honeycomb software is shit. I'm currently on the lookout for a better 3rd party programing/calibrator tool. If any 3rd party software developer is listening we could really use one. Every time a company makes their own programing/calibration tool they almost always suck at it.

Every time a company makes their own programing/calibration tool they almost always suck at it.

 

Aerosoft makes Honeycomb's software. But again, the Alpha yoke doesn't require any special software unless you are determined to use the mag switch. There are several well-established third-party solutions available that will let you do that (FSUIPC, SPAD.neXt, Axis and Ohs).

Hello there. I've found the thread that supposedly takes care of all of the profiles. It's a preset by Glenn Hall. In search results go to FSX, honeycomb profiles alpha and bravo. I believe it's under FS X–FSX Misc. the actual file name is fsx_profiles_alpha_bravo.zip .I haven't had a chance to work with it yet. Try it out and post back on how it works. In the meantime when I do get a chance I will work with myself.